MTFCA Forum

I have been enjoying my drives on the rural roads in the Klamath Falls area. I can put the car in high gear and drive for many miles with no stops or traffic. Only rarely am I passed by another vehicle and then nearly always the passing vehicle (more often than not a farm truck) is driven by someone who gives a friendly wave. Coming from traffic clogged SoCal this is a kind of automotive paradise. It allows me to relax at the wheel rather than fighting the constant starts, stops and close calls with moronic drivers of modern iron.

These roads are well surfaced, well marked and smooth. Mostly I see horses, cattle, sheep & birds. Once in a while there will be a small cluster of buildings, and often they are marked by a "CONGESTION" sign. This always strikes my funny bone & a few days I stopped the car right in the middle of the road to shoot a couple of pictures. There is no traffic so this is hardly an issue.

When I got back to the office and looked the pictures over I saw that the sign actually says "CONCESTION", even funnier! Since I have seen other signs that do say "CONGESTION." I just happened to photograph the best one.

When the club I belong to meets at the Tubac, Arizona Car Show in January, we always meet up at the local "Cementary".
Our only assumption is that there are a lot of gangsters planted there.

I know there are some long lonely roads out there. One time we were going south on highway 97 and had dinner at La Pine. We were headed to Reno and thought we might get a room at Klamath Falls. Well soon after leaving town we saw a sign pointing to the left which said Reno and gave the distance. We took that road and it went to Highway 395 to a place I think was named Lakeview. Anyway, it was almost midnight when we got there. It's just a good thing we had plenty of gas, or we would have been in big trouble. Then we looked for a Motel and they said NO vacancy but there was a place called Fairfield Inn which had a room. We got a handicapped room and spent the night. Next morning we had a good hot breakfast. I said,"this looks like an assisted living facility". They said, that was what it was built for, but only had about 5 residents, so they rented it out as Motel rooms! Anyway, that was a road you could take in a Model T and not have to start or stop or use the gears.
Norm

There wasn't the usual "NO PASSING" sign before the no passing zone just this one at the start of it. Scares me to think that it was needed.

They straightened out a side road near me, that I use to go to Grass Valley, and put one of these signs up there too. First time I saw it, I thought, "DUH! Of course a hill hides the view!" There is a side street coming in just beyond the top of the hill, so I assume that is what the warning is about. Still, think its kinda a strange sign!

Norm - That road you took out of town was 140, the main road east & west. My place is within sight of that highway just as it leaves town. It is indeed lonely. Lakeview is famous for an annual wild horse roundup & auction. There is actually quite a lot of fast moving traffic on 140 so I try to stay off of it. So far, I have found plenty of less traveled rural road that go where I need to go.

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I can't imagine why anyone would live in a place like L.A. if Model T's were
a big part of their life, but members here often relate fears of taking their
T's out, for all the traffic and nutters. Eastern Washington and Oregon are
wonderlands for the early car operator. 1000's of miles of backwater roads
to explore.

When did the congestion signs begin to appear? Going by the photos, it looks like an exercise in backside covering from here. You have been warned. There may be other vehicles on this road!!!!!!! Isn't that what roads are for? More madness to reduce the chances of being sued/held liable for some idiot's inattention.

Allan from down under.

Burger in Spokane wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:00 pm

I can't imagine why anyone would live in a place like L.A. if Model T's were
a big part of their life, but members here often relate fears of taking their
T's out, for all the traffic and nutters. Eastern Washington and Oregon are
wonderlands for the early car operator. 1000's of miles of backwater roads
to explore.


fairfield2.jpg

The big reasons are work, family & friends. Add to that all of the many things that big cities offer like unusual restaurants (my fave is Indian food) cultural attractions like museums and music. I play Model T era music on tenor banjo & tenor guitar. I used to play with pals in the SoCal area until the traffic became so bad we just couldn't get together often enough to be worthwhile. SoCal used to have a great vintage music scene, now much diminished from what it was. I will miss RagFest, the ragtime era music festival & Ticket to the Twenties, a roaring twenties 2-day festival where my Hudson & T were regular attractions.

Add to those attractions automotive museums & some of the best aviation museums in the world and you have a lot to like. When you decide to leave, there is a lot to balance. I made the decision to leave but I am fully aware of the costs.

Allan wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:36 am

When did the congestion signs begin to appear? Going by the photos, it looks like an exercise in backside covering from here. You have been warned. There may be other vehicles on this road!!!!!!! Isn't that what roads are for? More madness to reduce the chances of being sued/held liable for some idiot's inattention.

Allan from down under.

I have wondered the same thing. CYA is likely but it is also possible that highway funds might be allocated to congested areas. Mebbee all it takes to qualify is to put up a sign . . .

Patty and I noticed that in our area the county, townships, and state are putting up the signs that say "Hill blocks view" and the only reason that we can come up with is the groups are trying to spend their funding allocations so their budget doesn't get cut for not using all the budgeted money.

My grandfather always laughed when he saw a crew putting up a sign that said "Bump" . He said "They send out two trucks and 8 guys to put up one sign why don't they just have the 8 guys fix the bump!"

The "Hill blocks view" signs are interestng. Here the equivalent just says "Crest", and we have to work out what that may mean.
Allan from down under.

perry kete wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 23, 2021 2:40 pm

My grandfather always laughed when he saw a crew putting up a sign that said "Bump" . He said "They send out two trucks and 8 guys to put up one sign why don't they just have the 8 guys fix the bump!"

Yes, I get a chuckle out of that sort of thing also. The county was always good for "featherbedding" of this sort.

In much of the USA some of the best roads for Model T travel are US highways (or former US highways) that run parallel to interstates. Coming down through Missouri on US 69 the fast traffic was on I-35, and it was mostly just the Amish buggies and me.

US 69, Missouri.

Former US 50, Kansas.

Old US 66, Missouri,

Those roads look like the ones around here. It took me a while to get used to the idea that I can just stop right on the road and shoot pictures. If anyone did happen by there is plenty of room for them to get around. In SoCal there was always someone right behind trying to get by.

I found this wonderful cartoon somewhere on the internet and it really seems to sum up the issue of driving near urban areas: