Route 66 1926

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Norman Kling
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Route 66 1926

Post by Norman Kling » Mon Nov 14, 2022 11:12 am

Story my dad and uncle told me. My grandfather had a Model T. Probably about a 1924 or 1925. His family had come to Los Angeles from upstate New York about 1895. He wanted to go back and see the old home and many relatives along the way. So he took one of his sons who was my Uncle and they left Los Angeles. They took a tent and some camping equipment on the running board and wherever the were at sundown, they set up camp for the night. I have the tent in my loft over the garage and we used to use it when our children were young. Anyway, they went across the country and made a log of all the people and places they visited. In the 1990's I visited some of the same people who were children when my grandpa came by who were by the time I visited in their late 80's or 90's and still remembered his visit.
Along the way somewhere they went into a ditch and a lot of people came around to look. They helped set the car back on it's wheels on the road and they went on their way. Another place the crankshaft broke and it was towed into a Ford dealer and was there overnight and they drove on the next day.
They went all the way to Plymouth Rock and then up into Ontario Canada to see some relatives there and then drove back to Los Angeles. I think it took several months to make the trip and all the visits.
Norm

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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by Craig Leach » Mon Nov 14, 2022 11:50 am

While planning out the SMTC Reliability Run I have spent some time on Route 66 as the route is partly on the old "Mother Road" and to
some of the Route 66 museums. The road from Needles to Kingman would have been some of the road your dad & uncle drove on. I can
hardly imagine what it was like before 100 years of improvements have been made. Our forefathers where definitely made of better
better metal than the present generations are made of.
Craig.


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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by Norman Kling » Mon Nov 14, 2022 12:11 pm

Oatman was along that route. Interesting place. We went there with the club a few years ago and were having a break in a local diner. Some motorcyclists were in there and someone came rushing in and asked if anyone had motorcycles. They rushed out and found a local wild donkey had hit one of the cycles and they had all been parked alongside each other and it was a domino effect!
Norm

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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by Steve Jelf » Mon Nov 14, 2022 2:43 pm

I can hardly imagine what it was like before 100 years of improvements have been made.

I can testify what it was like 75 years ago. From Topoc on the Colorado River it was a steady climb to Oatman. The road was paved, but by today's standards it was narrow and twisting. From Oatman you would be driving in second gear. Most likely you would be in a string of cars backed up behind a truck as it toiled up Oatman Grade toward the summit at Sitgreaves pass. At every turnout there would be at least one car pulled off the road with its hood up as the driver waited for it to stop boiling. East of the pass you might go a little faster on the downgrade, but not by much because the road was still narrow and twisting. When you got out of the mountains the road was straight for long stretches, but followed the topography up and down over dry washes and the small ridges between them. In California the center line was white, but in Arizona it was the yellow that's used everywhere today. The road surface varied. In New Mexico it was pretty rough asphalt in poor repair, and when you crossed the state line into Texas it felt like you were suddenly driving on a sheet of glass.

Today you can drive on long stretches of old US 66. In California it remains from Barstow nearly to Needles, well over a hundred miles. In Arizona there's one segment from Topoc to near Kingman, about fifty miles. and a longer stretch from Kingman to Seligman, about 87 miles.


OATMAN GRADE.jpg
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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by John kuehn » Mon Nov 14, 2022 3:54 pm

Songs about Route 66 have been made for years. Get your kicks on Route 66! From country to rock and everything in between. And of course the TV show too.

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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by Craig Leach » Wed Nov 16, 2022 12:29 pm

Don't forget the Burma-Shave signs.
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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by John kuehn » Wed Nov 16, 2022 12:41 pm

I wonder if there are any “survivor” Burma Shave signs are left on roadsides these days. The last I saw around here were around 15 years ago. A lot of the main roads here in central Texas have been widened and the older black tops have either been redone or turned in more of a main highway. And the smaller signs of whatever have disappeared.

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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by Steve Jelf » Wed Nov 16, 2022 1:21 pm

I wonder if there are any “survivor” Burma Shave signs are left on roadsides these days.

I think all the survivors are in museums and private collections. There is a set of reproductions on old US 66 going into Seligman from the east. I don't know if there are others. :)
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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by Norman Kling » Wed Nov 16, 2022 1:54 pm

That long winding grade posted by Steve was traveled by our club about 5 years ago when we took a tour centering at Kingman. We also went to Seligman and to a place north called Chloride. This was almost a Ghost town until the Hippie area when it was re-settled. A lot of yard art there. and spent a day visiting the museums at Kingman.
We also went to the Riverside Casino in Laughlin and saw two Automobile museums. They have some Model T's and other era cars and also a more modern museum which included a DeLorean. Very interesting area.
Norm

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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by George House » Wed Nov 16, 2022 1:57 pm

Burma Shave - you axed for it:
Drinking drivers,
Nothing worse.
They put the quart
Before the hearse..
I don’t know why I turned out this way. My parents were decent people 🤪


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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by Jerry VanOoteghem » Wed Nov 16, 2022 2:31 pm

Beneath this stone
Lays Cross-Eyed Jake
Grabbed her knee
Instead of the brake.


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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by TXGOAT2 » Wed Nov 16, 2022 3:17 pm

A tale of 66, mid-1930s:


John Steinbeck book: Chapter 15 of "The Grapes of Wrath"


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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by Jerry VanOoteghem » Wed Nov 16, 2022 3:25 pm

He lit a match,
to check the tank.
Now they call him,
Skinless Frank.

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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by Steve Jelf » Wed Nov 16, 2022 4:23 pm

We saw this one north of Wrightwood about 70 years ago. Mom said it was about Dad.

To kiss a face
That's like a cactus
Takes more nerve
Than it does practice
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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by John kuehn » Wed Nov 16, 2022 6:49 pm

Thinking about it on the roadsides in this area it we stopped seeing the Burma Shave signs about the same time as T’s and their remains around the 70’s and early 80’s. That’s 40 + years. Time flies and getting faster. Maybe it was different times in other places.

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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by Craig Leach » Wed Dec 07, 2022 3:16 pm

Powerhouse/ Route 66 museum in Kingman Az. Southwest Model T Club Reliability Run Nov. 29 & 30
IMG_2368.jpg
IMG_2367.jpg
IMG_2369.jpg
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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by modeltspaz » Wed Dec 07, 2022 3:31 pm

If you want to

Shake hands with the Devil

Then just keep pushin'

That there pedal...

BurmaShave.
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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by Allan » Thu Dec 08, 2022 6:11 am

John, "Get your kicks on route 66" brings to mind a pet peeve of mine. Route in the song is pronounced root, not the ridiculous rout used by many. A rout is an overwhelming victory. A router is a power tool used to machine timber in various ways. A router is not an electronic device used to route signals. That should be pronounced rooter.

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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by DLodge » Thu Dec 08, 2022 7:27 am

The challenge I remember when I was a kid was to look out the rear window, read the Burma Shave signs in reverse, and then reconstruct the rhyme.

Of all the rhymes I read through the years, the only one I remember is:

She put a bullet
Through his hat,
But he's had closer
Shaves than that.
Burma Shave


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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by 5 WoodenWheels » Thu Dec 08, 2022 9:19 am

Many years ago my girlfriend and I took a cross country trip to follow a long section of old Route 66. We'd stop where original parts of the road were still present and I remember some sections alongside the newer road were left intact. We talked to some homeowners who explained that when the old road was abandoned they gave the people living there the option of turning it back into grass or leaving it as-is. As a result, there are many sections that are basically running through front yards. They liked having the pavement for kids to skateboard and roller skate on. I'm sure there are other interesting things we learned along the way, but that one stands out. If I had to guess, I think this was somewhere in Oklahoma.

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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by Steve Jelf » Thu Dec 08, 2022 12:08 pm

...some sections alongside the newer road were left intact.

In Missouri there are some stretches where old 66 is so close to I-44 that it doesn't show up on maps.

IMG_9672.JPG
It's a good Model T road because the big trucks and most of the other traffic are on the interstate. Missouri has a lot of old 66, now designated as state or county roads but also marked with Historic Route 66 signs.
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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by JohnM » Thu Dec 08, 2022 2:39 pm

Steve is right. The 1926 alignment of route 66 through missouri is a great model T road. In 1932 it was rerouted a few miles to the south, just west of St Louis where it twice crosses the Meramec river. The remains of one bridge is in limbo. If it is not removed completely, it may be re-decked for walking/bicycle trail to enter Route 66 State Park. Saving and maintaining an old bridge is complicated and expensive, but I hope it can be saved.
20190727_134400_Burst01-1.jpg


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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by 5 WoodenWheels » Thu Dec 08, 2022 4:18 pm

"In Missouri there are some stretches where old 66 is so close to I-44 that it doesn't show up on maps."


It may have been Missouri where we saw those short sections in front of peoples' houses. Our home base at the time was Kansas City but we drove all through Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. What was curious is that some people opted to have the highway turned back into grass, while their neighbor might have had a part of Route 66 running in front of their house because they wanted to keep their piece of the old highway intact.

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Re: Route 66 1926

Post by Mark Nunn » Fri Dec 09, 2022 8:31 am

Here is my Runabout loaded up on the day I bought it from my aunt. That road in the background is old Route 66 in Marshfield Missouri.
T loaded.gif

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