Route 66 historian Jim Ross put his sprawling, long-gestating Deep Tracks project that details all known Route 66 alignments onto his newly launched JimRoss66.com website.
JimRoss66.com also serves as an overview of a career that includes the database from the Route 66 bridges project that was turned into the “Route 66 Crossings” book, Ozark Trail research, his preservation work and photography, and an online store for his other books.
But the section that probably will get a lot of attention is the Deep Tracks maps series. He explains it in part:
The Deep Tracks series of maps are multilayered documents based on decades of work based on decades of field work and accumulated evidence brought together using current satellite views overlaid with vintage aerial photographs. More importantly, they verified pathways previously unproven, exposed others unknown, and revealed much of the elusive and poorly documented original route. In this regard the maps as a collection are ground-breaking, and will hopefully inspire additional research by others. Only through shared findings will the whole story eventually will be told.
Upon the announcement of the website’s launch on the Historic Route 66 page on Facebook, Ross said Deep Tracks is the culmination of about six years of work, with website help from Rhys Martin, president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association. Route 66 artist and historian Jerry McClanahan also did a lot of research with Ross into old Route 66 alignments during the 1990s.
Ross said his site is best viewed on an iPad-sized device or larger. An enterprising soul went to the site and said 260 maps had been available in PDF form. It took a few days, but maps from all eight states the route traverses were uploaded by Friday.
I emailed Ross and asked him whether Deep Tracks would make it to book form, like the “Oklahoma Route 66” volume he published about 20 years ago.
“No book version is anticipated,” Ross replied. “It would be about 600 pages. I felt that an on-line platform would be the best way to share them.”
Ross provided a hint of the Deep Tracks project last fall with his map of two Cedar Hill locations, plus photographs, of early Route 66 east of Tucumcari, New Mexico.
This is an exciting development for Route 66 enthusiasts. I spent many hours checking out obscure alignments of Route 66 detailed in “Oklahoma Route 66.” And that was just one state. The prospect of exploring little-known alignments in the other seven states is enticing indeed.
(Image of Spencer, Missouri, along old Route 66 by thelostadventure via Flickr)
We are long time fans of Jim’s work. It was “Route 66 Oklahoma” that awakened us to the remains of original segments in the middle of fields and hidden from the eye. Plus, many were near us. Thanks, Jim, for getting us hooked. This work is epic and will benefit all who love The Mother Road. I have used the location of the bridges in “Route 66 Crossings” to guide my explorations and refine my collection of older alignments. Locating and photographing the old bridges became a favorite part of our trips.