Crazy things you've found in Google StreetView

[kphoger]

How is that any worse than every US coin except the penny being the same color?

The newer rarely used $1 coin is golden color.

The older frequently-used 20 MXN bill is blue and flat.

[Scott5114]

I know it probably means "Without value", but thanks to cognates, I can't help but read "sin valor" as "without valor", which makes me chuckle.

I have an older 20 MXN bill in my collection (still new enough to be plastic, but it's of a different design than the one you posted). Looks like they're phasing them out in favor of coins.

[CoreySamson]

Either alien levitation technology or an extremely strange camera glitch in this old imagery on I-27 south of Amarillo:

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9844133,-101.8844904,3a,23.2y,175.03h,93.3t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8e2pbpPHMVMWObhb17yPvg!2e0!7i3328!8i1664

[bm7]

Either alien levitation technology or an extremely strange camera glitch in this old imagery on I-27 south of Amarillo:

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9844133,-101.8844904,3a,23.2y,175.03h,93.3t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8e2pbpPHMVMWObhb17yPvg!2e0!7i3328!8i1664

I think that's just glare from the light post.

[wxfree]

As a result of the discussion about grade crossings on I-10 in Texas, I found this oddity.  Why do these roads exist?

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.0550205,-104.9519571,503m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

But it gets stranger.  The StreetView car exited on the westbound side.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.0541604,-104.9489242,3a,75y,303.23h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sEAgnbqGyxMO2nIQJJqjctw!2e0!7i3328!8i1664?hl=en

It then turned left onto what appears to be a concrete creek.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.0548462,-104.9526283,3a,75y,200.72h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sU51yx0HAY7XMyqFpIHP8sg!2e0!7i3328!8i1664?hl=en  In this one, turn around the other way to see what appears to be the remnants of an old bridge along US 80.

It drove through the two culverts.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.0544176,-104.952817,3a,75y,200.24h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sSwK_EKomn1KDevq-6qlR-A!2e0!7i3328!8i1664?hl=en

It received an encouraging message at the entrance to the second culvert.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.0542464,-104.9528889,3a,75y,200.24h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sxuk6J2Trma6PbsGcoirU-g!2e0!7i3328!8i1664?hl=en

It then turned left and went up the entrance ramp back to the freeway.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.05367,-104.9529483,3a,75y,118.74h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sfviPVL4jj13Td5csotWAtQ!2e0!7i3328!8i1664?hl=en

TxDOT built all that.  The westbound ramp is even marked as an exit.  The road on the eastbound side appears to be gravel.  I don't know what the purpose of it might be.

[GaryV]

6000 miles from anywhere, and the tunnels are still covered with graffiti.

[andrepoiy]

Well that's what taggers want: to put their tag all around the world

[kphoger]

As a result of the discussion about grade crossings on I-10 in Texas, I found this oddity.  Why do these roads exist?

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.0550205,-104.9519571,503m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

But it gets stranger.  The StreetView car exited on the westbound side.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.0541604,-104.9489242,3a,75y,303.23h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sEAgnbqGyxMO2nIQJJqjctw!2e0!7i3328!8i1664?hl=en

It then turned left onto what appears to be a concrete creek.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.0548462,-104.9526283,3a,75y,200.72h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sU51yx0HAY7XMyqFpIHP8sg!2e0!7i3328!8i1664?hl=en  In this one, turn around the other way to see what appears to be the remnants of an old bridge along US 80.

It drove through the two culverts.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.0544176,-104.952817,3a,75y,200.24h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sSwK_EKomn1KDevq-6qlR-A!2e0!7i3328!8i1664?hl=en

It received an encouraging message at the entrance to the second culvert.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.0542464,-104.9528889,3a,75y,200.24h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sxuk6J2Trma6PbsGcoirU-g!2e0!7i3328!8i1664?hl=en

It then turned left and went up the entrance ramp back to the freeway.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.05367,-104.9529483,3a,75y,118.74h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sfviPVL4jj13Td5csotWAtQ!2e0!7i3328!8i1664?hl=en

TxDOT built all that.  The westbound ramp is even marked as an exit.  The road on the eastbound side appears to be gravel.  I don't know what the purpose of it might be.

My guess is ranch access.

[Roadgeekteen]

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2092367,-71.1387468,3a,75y,306.67h,97.49t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sVKr4gY4uVsQfFPEHLFav6Q!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DVKr4gY4uVsQfFPEHLFav6Q%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D6.316345%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

Old I-95 stub ramp

[NJRoadfan]

Someone had a bad day getting on the Atlantic City Expressway: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.4351144,-74.5911437,3a,89.2y,318.73h,64.61t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sPNEPetjnzlnZ5PLuCuJpdA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!5m1!1e1

[kphoger]

Not quite sure how a truck ended up like this at an Atlantic City Expressway toll booth.

Someone had a bad day getting on the Atlantic City Expressway: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.4351144,-74.5911437,3a,89.2y,318.73h,64.61t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sPNEPetjnzlnZ5PLuCuJpdA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!5m1!1e1

Popular truck driver...   

[Roadgeekteen]

Someone had a bad day getting on the Atlantic City Expressway: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.4351144,-74.5911437,3a,89.2y,318.73h,64.61t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sPNEPetjnzlnZ5PLuCuJpdA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!5m1!1e1

What's blurred out?

[kphoger]

Someone had a bad day getting on the Atlantic City Expressway: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.4351144,-74.5911437,3a,89.2y,318.73h,64.61t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sPNEPetjnzlnZ5PLuCuJpdA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!5m1!1e1

What's blurred out?

You tell me.

[ErmineNotyours]

A full-sized Google car heads towards Seattle's Gum Wall.  Crowds part ahead and behind.  And if you haven't heard of the Gum Wall, allow me to say EW!  GROSS!!!!

[Roadgeekteen]

A full-sized Google car heads towards Seattle's Gum Wall.  Crowds part ahead and behind.  And if you haven't heard of the Gum Wall, allow me to say EW!  GROSS!!!!

This triggered my tryphobia.

[dlsterner]

A full-sized Google car heads towards Seattle's Gum Wall.  Crowds part ahead and behind.  And if you haven't heard of the Gum Wall, allow me to say EW!  GROSS!!!!

Don't tell Bandit!

[andrepoiy]

Here's non-functioning signals with an officer directing traffic, and for some reason one of the signals is no longer on the pole.



https://goo.gl/maps/4ZEAtYfiKMGtKbav5

[ErmineNotyours]

Rail access to a Safeway bread plant.  Only the railroad misspelled it as Saveway on the milepost.

[JoePCool14]

In Indianapolis, on I-70 east of the split with I-65, we have a nice shot of the four eastbound lanes in front completely empty except for one car.

https://goo.gl/maps/CiUG6KUFeVHTPjfY8

Maybe this isn't that crazy, but it seems a bit crazy considering the location. And no, it wasn't taken during COVID.

[ethanhopkin14]

Rail access to a Safeway bread plant.  Only the railroad misspelled it as Saveway on the milepost.

This brings up a burning question.  There is a jersey rail on the tracks and even the signal says the tracks are out of service, yet the signal must remain.  What's the difference between an abandoned railroad and a railroad that's out of service?  We have a line in Austin that is out of service and the rails are pulled up in some places, but some of the signals have stayed and the line is still owned by UP.   

[Dirt Roads]

Rail access to a Safeway bread plant.  Only the railroad misspelled it as Saveway on the milepost.

This brings up a burning question.  There is a jersey rail on the tracks and even the signal says the tracks are out of service, yet the signal must remain.  What's the difference between an abandoned railroad and a railroad that's out of service?  We have a line in Austin that is out of service and the rails are pulled up in some places, but some of the signals have stayed and the line is still owned by UP.

Even though they are financially the responsibility of WsDOT, the crossing signal equipment belong to the railroad.  The state still needs to pay the railroad to remove them, which drains funds from the Federal crossing safety improvement coffers that is better spent on (surprise!) safety improvements.  Also, once the tracks are pulled up, most railroads are reluctant to send signal construction crews off of the operating railroad to deal with stuff like this, even if the funds are authorized by the state.  After years of disuse, railroads either sell the property or lose access to their right-of-way/land grants/easements and other folks can pull them down and give them back to the railroad.

Fun fact:  the term "right-of-way" on the railroad almost always means ownership of a narrow piece of property, whereas out here in the boonies the term "right-of-way" means that NCDOT has a right to maintain a road through our property.  Since we own on both sides of the road we own the property that the road is on, but here in Orange County the deeds show all of our neighbors only owning up to the edge of the right-of-way.

[ethanhopkin14]

Rail access to a Safeway bread plant.  Only the railroad misspelled it as Saveway on the milepost.

This brings up a burning question.  There is a jersey rail on the tracks and even the signal says the tracks are out of service, yet the signal must remain.  What's the difference between an abandoned railroad and a railroad that's out of service?  We have a line in Austin that is out of service and the rails are pulled up in some places, but some of the signals have stayed and the line is still owned by UP.

Even though they are financially the responsibility of WsDOT, the crossing signal equipment belong to the railroad.  The state still needs to pay the railroad to remove them, which drains funds from the Federal crossing safety improvement coffers that is better spent on (surprise!) safety improvements.  Also, once the tracks are pulled up, most railroads are reluctant to send signal construction crews off of the operating railroad to deal with stuff like this, even if the funds are authorized by the state.  After years of disuse, railroads either sell the property or lose access to their right-of-way/land grants/easements and other folks can pull them down and give them back to the railroad.

Fun fact:  the term "right-of-way" on the railroad almost always means ownership of a narrow piece of property, whereas out here in the boonies the term "right-of-way" means that NCDOT has a right to maintain a road through our property.  Since we own on both sides of the road we own the property that the road is on, but here in Orange County the deeds show all of our neighbors only owning up to the edge of the right-of-way.

Only in a platted subdivision, but even then you technically own half of the road and don't own half of the road. 

[kphoger]

Depends on the situation.  Here's an interesting example.  When the railroad was removed from the west side of the Arkansas River here in Wichita, the street which replaced it (McLean Blvd) was constructed partly on the railroad r/o/w and partly on my church's property.  Rather than acquiring that strip of land to build the street on at the time, the city of Wichita simply reached an agreement with the church and paid it a certain sum of money for the right to build there.

Now, it may seem like there's not much difference, and really there wasn't for a good number of years.  Indeed, everyone seemingly forgot all about that little detail.  That is, until the city decided to tear down and rebuild the baseball stadium nearby a couple of years ago.  Those plans, drawn up in a protracted process with the city and the baseball stadium people and our church and the developers, included reimagining a big part of the riverfront area:  including, among other things, the possibility of a new pedestrian bridge over the river, tearing down part of our church building, and–pertinent to the discussion–removing or altering McLean Blvd.  It was quite a ways into negotiations that the interested parties realized half of McLean Blvd through there wasn't actually owned by the city of Wichita.  It was determined that our church owned that land basically out to the center yellow stripe.  That little strip of land ended up stalling negotiations for several months, because there was an impasse between the city and our church about what that meant to the redevelopment deal.

[ErmineNotyours]

Rail access to a Safeway bread plant.  Only the railroad misspelled it as Saveway on the milepost.

This brings up a burning question.  There is a jersey rail on the tracks and even the signal says the tracks are out of service, yet the signal must remain.  What's the difference between an abandoned railroad and a railroad that's out of service?  We have a line in Austin that is out of service and the rails are pulled up in some places, but some of the signals have stayed and the line is still owned by UP.

I've had bus commutes across crossings that were marked "Tracks out of service," and the driver stopped for them anyway.  I mentioned this on another board, and others said that drivers still have to stop for such crossings, unless marked "exempt".  The reasoning is that there could be a misdirected runaway train.  On one crossing the driver stopped stopping for the crossing only when the signal faces were turned towards each other.  Drivers kept stopping for this crossing even though a section was missing on the side away from the main line.  I would love to see a train try to cross through here.  And drivers stopped at this crossing, which has since been marked out of service, when it seemed unlikely a train would pass.

[ethanhopkin14]

Rail access to a Safeway bread plant.  Only the railroad misspelled it as Saveway on the milepost.

This brings up a burning question.  There is a jersey rail on the tracks and even the signal says the tracks are out of service, yet the signal must remain.  What's the difference between an abandoned railroad and a railroad that's out of service?  We have a line in Austin that is out of service and the rails are pulled up in some places, but some of the signals have stayed and the line is still owned by UP.

I've had bus commutes across crossings that were marked "Tracks out of service," and the driver stopped for them anyway.  I mentioned this on another board, and others said that drivers still have to stop for such crossings, unless marked "exempt".  The reasoning is that there could be a misdirected runaway train.  On one crossing the driver stopped stopping for the crossing only when the signal faces were turned towards each other.  Drivers kept stopping for this crossing even though a section was missing on the side away from the main line.  I would love to see a train try to cross through here.  And drivers stopped at this crossing, which has since been marked out of service, when it seemed unlikely a train would pass.

This crossing reminds me of the one you posted.  Not only is a driveway paved over the rails to the north and people that work at the building to the south regularly park on the tracks, but the part unknown to this picture is these tracks are a spur of a spur.  The spur they connect to is the aforementioned spur with several sections of rails that have been removed.  So even if the track in the picture were complete, a train can't even get to it because the rails on the "mail line" are in various states of not there. 

This is what I mean.  Obviously the line is never going to used, but I guess legally as long as the tracks cross the pavement, the crossing must be marked.