Highways / Signs in Movies, TV Shows, and Videos

[epzik8]

Did someone already say Sleepless in Seattle when Meg Ryan is driving down the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and there's a sign with Maryland Route 295 on it?

[theline]

The series 11.25.63 was mentioned upthread, but I'm just getting around to watching it on Hulu. One of the first three episodes has Jake driving his convertible across a four-lane bridge. The lane striping strikes me as unconventional, even for that time (1960). The center line between opposing directions is striped as a single solid white line.

I was 9 years old in 1960. I recall in Indiana that the centerline was a dashed white line, with a solid yellow on either or both sides to prohibit passing. (It would surely be prohibited for both directions in this location.) Other states omitted the white dashed line wherever the double yellow lines existed.

Is anyone aware of a place in that era where a single white line would be used in this situation? I can't recall just where Jake was in that scene, but it was most likely one of the locales of those episodes, Maine, Kentucky, or Texas.

[halork]

ESPN is using state highway marker outlines in its promos for the NCAA Championship playoff shows. Included: Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Alabama, and Washington.

[bing101]

I just noticed a US 6/US 322 during the scene where Nick Fury is being chased in Captain America Winter Soldier.  Basically that would put the filming location in Cleveland, seemed like that would have been an easy fix to edit that out in post production.  You can see the sign assembly very clearly for a couple seconds starting at 3:32:

That's kinda cool.
Yes, definitely Cleveland. All of it Downtown, mostly east. Where you see the diamond lane is Euclid, and that's the BRT line. The project that almost killed Cleveland's theater district, as if it needed help dying at that time.
I don't think anyone would ever mistake Downtown Cleveland for DC, even with some CGI. I'm not sure it would be worth the effort to try and fix anything.

One of the Spiderman sequels also filmed on pretty much the same locations in downtown Cleveland.

The funny thing is that I thought it was a pretty good stand-in for the neighborhood around the Georgetown Law Center and I-395.  3rd Street NW even kind of resembles the scene in Winter Solider:

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8982246,-77.0151563,3a,75y,180h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s5ZJN8f9F0jSbNjQ3rDGN0Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

But then again I would find it highly questionable that anyone would really notice the significance of highway signage aside from people who are regulars on forums like this.  The one that always drove me nuts was US 395 and US 8 in Hill Valley in the back to the future movies in 1955.  They couldn't throw in a US 299, CA 36, OR even US 40A since they went that far in trying to replicate a northern California town?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_Valley_(Back_to_the_Future)

Well Hill Valley according to this was originally going to be about Petaluma, and some have referenced a place in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

[Max Rockatansky]

^^^

Supposedly Hill Valley was on a train line that directly shot to San Francisco according to the map Doc and Marty are looking at in Part III:



I'm not a rail expert but one thing is certain, that sure can't be Donner Pass since US 395 is all the way in Nevada at point.  I know for sure there was rails in the US 395 area north of Reno but I have no idea if they crossed westward over the mountains or if they would have been there in 1885 and 1985. 

[kkt]

North of Reno, there was the Feather River route across the Sierra, for both rails and road.  Very scenic, and takes gentler grades and a lower elevation pass so it's less likely to get delayed by snow. 

[Gulol]

From the TV Series "Alice" opening credits about 24 seconds in - gantry for I-10 west to Phoenix, east to El Paso.  Not sure where this would have been ... I-19 maybe?

[noelbotevera]

From the TV Series "Alice" opening credits about 24 seconds in - gantry for I-10 west to Phoenix, east to El Paso.  Not sure where this would have been ... I-19 maybe?

Correct. Gantry is a little different and it's obviously not button copy anymore.

[Max Rockatansky]

North of Reno, there was the Feather River route across the Sierra, for both rails and road.  Very scenic, and takes gentler grades and a lower elevation pass so it's less likely to get delayed by snow.

That's definitely going to be the best fit.  Granted the rail construction from 1906 to 1909 is two decades late...but it's not going to get closer than that.  Basically I'm going with Hallelujah Junction as the most likely spot for Hill Valley given it's on US 395 and what would have been another US Route with US 40A in 1955:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hallelujah+Junction,+CA+96105/@39.7751158,-120.0408054,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x809eae97309be497:0x51e9e4f7e1cdb7b3!8m2!3d39.7751158!4d-120.0386167?hl=en

[Big John]

ESPN is using state highway marker outlines in its promos for the NCAA Championship playoff shows. Included: Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Alabama, and Washington.

[vtk]

ESPN is using state highway marker outlines in its promos for the NCAA Championship playoff shows. Included: Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Alabama, and Washington.

The Ohio one is poorly-drawn.  I think they used the Wikipedia version, which still hasn't been updated with the correct outline...

[roadman]

One of the NFL's "Football is Family (so you should go spend your money on League-sanctioned T-shirts and hats)" commercials I saw during a game on Thanksgiving featured a BGS in downtown Detroit.

[bing101]

LA Law the final episode in 1994 had a shot of I-405 in its final episode in the opening credits. See 3:06 of this video.

[bing101]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SFDElJimWFk


Hunter Season 4  yes its the widely filmed CA-110 and US-101 for the Downtown L.A. Scenes.

[Max Rockatansky]

In Rain Man there is a scene after Raymond says he'll only fly on Quantas where there is a fatal accident on I-275.  Basically Raymond has to walk off the Interstate and there is plenty of I-275 signs that can be seen.  Pretty decent continuity considering Raymond is picked up by Tom Cruise's character in Cincinnati.

[roadman]

Saw the movie Fandango for the first time the other night.  There's a great scene where a private pilot is given directions to follow certain freeways.  Every time he approaches an interchange, he swoops down to read the overhead signs and ends up flying under the gantries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBvWoT_s-R8

[PHLBOS]

Having seen the movie Manchester By The Sea last night; one does see some route/highway related signs during the course of the film.  Such signs include:

1. Advance BGS' for Exit 19 (Brimbal Ave./Sohier Rd.) along MA 128 northbound (early part of the movie).

2. Advance BGS for Exit 16 (Pine St.) along MA 128 northbound.

3. Distant shot of a SOUTH 127 BEVERLY SALEM D6 LGS in the downtown Manchester area.

4. MA 128 trailblazer sign (missing the TO) in the downtown Manchester area.

5. During some of the riding scenes in Casey Affleck's Jeep Cherokee ('97-2001 vintage); one can see (but not read) some green mile markers... presumably along either MA 127 or 133 depending on the storyline or where such was actually filmed.

One location faux-pas (only a North Shore native would know this): one early scene shows Affleck's character driving from Quincy (later revealed in the film) to Beverly via MA 129/Humphrey St. in Swampscott at this location.  Nobody in their right mind would drive from Quincy to Beverly by passing through Swampscott (let alone via 129); they would use I-93 North to US 1 North to MA 128 North.  I guess the directory was looking for the right visuals for filming and that location had it. 

During the closing credits, the Town of Swampscott was not listed but the "Town" of Lynn (as opposed to "City" of Lynn, which it actually is) was listed.

[roadman]

The series 11.25.63 was mentioned upthread, but I'm just getting around to watching it on Hulu. One of the first three episodes has Jake driving his convertible across a four-lane bridge. The lane striping strikes me as unconventional, even for that time (1960). The center line between opposing directions is striped as a single solid white line.

I was 9 years old in 1960. I recall in Indiana that the centerline was a dashed white line, with a solid yellow on either or both sides to prohibit passing. (It would surely be prohibited for both directions in this location.) Other states omitted the white dashed line wherever the double yellow lines existed.

Is anyone aware of a place in that era where a single white line would be used in this situation? I can't recall just where Jake was in that scene, but it was most likely one of the locales of those episodes, Maine, Kentucky, or Texas.

Although the 1948 and 1961 editions of the MUTCD called for the yellow/white center line combinations for no passing zones, use of a single solid white center line was still permissible for use on rural roads.  So the markings shown in 11.24.63 would be appropriate for the era of the show, and were likely used in Indiana at some point.  Also recall that, even after adoption of a new MUTCD and related changes, older markings would still remain in place at some places for up to several years later.

Other notable movies and TV shows that had single white center lines include the rural driving scenes in It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, as well as several driving scenes showing the bus in early episodes of The Partridge Family.  The broken white center line flanked with solid yellow lines marking you note, that was also popular with several western states for some time, was prominently featured in several scenes in Vanishing Point (the 1972 version).

[D-Dey65]

Got a few old signs and signals in the 1953 Ephemeral film "The Talking Car."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0260415/

https://archive.org/details/TalkingCar1

It stars Larry Thor as the voice of a 1953 Chevy, and two unknowns as pre-teen kids.

[Max Rockatansky]

This was mentioned early in the thread but Dante's Peak was filmed in Wallace, ID and has a scene where I-90 collapses from the volcano erupting.  Managed to find a picture of the freeway with I-90 from the movie online:




I'll have to re-watch the movie but the 1986 version of The Hitcher was filmed out in the Californian Mojave.  The Route 66 collectibles in the background at Roy's Cafe in Amboy are very apparent and I want to say there was some actual route signage strewn about throughout the movie:

http://www.thennowmovielocations.com/2012/06/hitcher-1986.html

[theline]

The series 11.25.63 was mentioned upthread, but I'm just getting around to watching it on Hulu. One of the first three episodes has Jake driving his convertible across a four-lane bridge. The lane striping strikes me as unconventional, even for that time (1960). The center line between opposing directions is striped as a single solid white line.

I was 9 years old in 1960. I recall in Indiana that the centerline was a dashed white line, with a solid yellow on either or both sides to prohibit passing. (It would surely be prohibited for both directions in this location.) Other states omitted the white dashed line wherever the double yellow lines existed.

Is anyone aware of a place in that era where a single white line would be used in this situation? I can't recall just where Jake was in that scene, but it was most likely one of the locales of those episodes, Maine, Kentucky, or Texas.

Although the 1948 and 1961 editions of the MUTCD called for the yellow/white center line combinations for no passing zones, use of a single solid white center line was still permissible for use on rural roads.  So the markings shown in 11.24.63 would be appropriate for the era of the show, and were likely used in Indiana at some point.  Also recall that, even after adoption of a new MUTCD and related changes, older markings would still remain in place at some places for up to several years later.

Other notable movies and TV shows that had single white center lines include the rural driving scenes in It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, as well as several driving scenes showing the bus in early episodes of The Partridge Family.  The broken white center line flanked with solid yellow lines marking you note, that was also popular with several western states for some time, was prominently featured in several scenes in Vanishing Point (the 1972 version).

Thanks for the education, roadman. It looks like the producers did some pretty good research. It also looks like my memory after 57 years is less than perfect, which is no surprise.

[Quillz]

Might have been mentioned, but "Live Free or Die Hard" has a scene towards the end that is supposed to be taking place in Maryland, but very clearly has CA-118 shields on the BGS. (Because that's where the scene was actually filmed, around the Pacoima area).

[Big John]

A rare Partridge Family intro of its pilot, signs in the beginning:

[machias]

Spotted this scene from Pat Benetar's 1983 video "Love Is A Battlefield". I've been trying to figure out where this bus is located. I was surprised to see the exit plaque right justified as that was pretty rare in the early 1980s, at least based on my experience.  The sign back facing the camera is green and extruded - who used these type of panels back then?  Rough guess - New Jersey?

[BamaZeus]

It has to be somewhere in the northeast, since I'm pretty sure that's a Shop Rite truck in the background