Gribblenation.Org Updates

[CanesFan27]

This past Saturday, my friend Joe and I headed into Southside Virginia.  Came across some great abandoned motels along US 1 and 301.  And grabbed a state named I-95 shield or two to boot.

Blog:
http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2011/02/run-into-southside-virginia.html

Flickr (103 photos):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15530177@N05/sets/72157626038096107/

[agentsteel53]

not only is the NC I-95 shield state-named, but it is essentially '61 spec.  It has 15" numbers on the 36" blank ('61 spec) but with the tall crown of the '57 spec, but also with small '61 styled word INTERSTATE.  It's a real mix-and-match of a standard that NC used between about 1961 and 1980.

a true '57 spec NC shield would be quite the find, as they abandoned it so early on.

did you see the old inspection station on the NC/VA state line on US-1?  I do not have the photo available offhand, but I know that "VIRGINIA" was signed in 1940s porcelain and I think with neon too!

[froggie]

This one?

[CanesFan27]

Froggie, yep that one.

Jake, we didn't pass it on this trip - but we did in 2009.

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2009/01/first-photo-trip-of-new-year.html

I have a few more of the service station -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15530177@N05/sets/72157612076696199/

I do have to wonder what it would be like late at night with that sign lit up.

[CanesFan27]

Photos from our tour of some of the Washington, DC monuments and memorials with Adam Froehlig and Doug Kerr.

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2011/03/strong-along-mall.html

Flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15530177@N05/sets/72157626108614455/

[CanesFan27]

It's been awhile...

But here's the recent roadtrip to the Charleston Road Meet hosted by Billy Riddle!

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2011/11/2011-charleston-roadmeet.html

Check out the contractor installed US 17 shields at the bottom

[agentsteel53]

you note that North Carolina used that white-square design... a lot of places did, as it was a federal standard of 1948.  there was, until recently, a 17 in Charleston SC, which was one of the very last of its kind.



as far as I know, there is only one left of that style... a US-202 in Massachusetts.  there are a lot which have been repainted with a black background to update them to 1961 spec.  there are also a couple of 16" variants surviving in Alabama.

[CanesFan27]

Well aware of that shield in Charleston (first discovered it in 2000)...it's still there.

Here's my 2000 photo
http://www.gribblenation.com/scroads/photos/oldus17.jpg

[agentsteel53]

Well aware of that shield in Charleston (first discovered it in 2000)...it's still there.

I looked for that shield in Nov 2010 and I believe it was gone.  Unless I totally took a wrong turn?

[CanesFan27]

I was in Charleston twice the past two months.  It's there.  It could have been blocked by a parked vehicle when you went by.

[Mapmikey]

Would these qualify as the same 1961 spec your suggest the US 17 sign is the last surviving example?

http://www.vahighways.com/oldsigns/220white.jpg - photographed by me in 2010
http://www.vahighways.com/va-ends/va000/va008_nt.jpg - still there in 2011

There are also at least 3 other VA state route shields like these (VA 244 and 2 VA 197) that were still present in the late 2000s but I have been by those locations recently to see if they are still up...

I can't decide if the shields at the VA 123-243 intersection are vintage or not.  They definitely were there in 1995.  VA 243 was designated in 1960.

Virginia had a couple dozen that were still up in the late 1990s (most in the Tidewater area) but as far as I know they are all gone.

Incidentally when I move away from Charleston in 1995, there were also examples of white bordered US 52 and US 78 shields.

Mapmikey
Co-curator Virginia Highways Project
www.vahighways.com

[agentsteel53]

Mapmikey: yes, I had totally forgotten about Virginia.  those shields are small-size (18", I believe) but they do reflect the spirit of the 24" 1948 specification that I had described.  in that way, they are similar to the Alabama examples which I had mentioned.

[NE2]

Florida may still have some like that where yellow has faded to white

[Takumi]

The VA 197 white border shield where it turns from Laburnum to Saunders was still up earlier this year. I-95's bridge over Laburnum wad just reworked, and since the white border shield was under the bridge, it may be gone now. Both white border unisigns (thr VA 36/156 in Hopewell and the US 360 in Skinquarter) are still around, however.

[Mapmikey]

The VA 197 white border shield where it turns from Laburnum to Saunders was still up earlier this year. I-95's bridge over Laburnum wad just reworked, and since the white border shield was under the bridge, it may be gone now. Both white border unisigns (thr VA 36/156 in Hopewell and the US 360 in Skinquarter) are still around, however.

This is the first I've heard of a white border US 360 unisgn.  Do you have a photo?  Or could you send me offline its location at mroberson62@hotmail.com?

Mapmikey

[Mapmikey]

never mind...I found it with Street View.  Awesome signage I never knew it was there and is only the second vintage white-border unisign I've seen.

I don't think I can get over there to get a picture for a while.  Does anyone have one or is any Richmond area roadgeeker willing to go get one?

Mapmikey

[Takumi]

I have a few. I'll send them to you tomorrow.

[agentsteel53]

never mind...I found it with Street View.  Awesome signage I never knew it was there and is only the second vintage white-border unisign I've seen.

if it is the sign I am thinking of, it was at one point repainted to be a black-background sign, likely to bring the early 50s sign into 1961 standard compliance, but the black paint has almost entirely fallen off, yielding the original white appearance.

[Takumi]

Yes, that's the one, Jake.

[Takumi]

Mike, I've sent you an email with pictures of the unisign.

[CanesFan27]

It's nine months behind but photos from the March ICC Meet.

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2011/12/catching-up-march-2011-icc-meet.html

[CanesFan27]

Another catching up post:

US 401 North of Raleigh.
http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2011/12/catching-up-us-401-north-of-raleigh.html

[WillWeaverRVA]

The VA 197 white border shield where it turns from Laburnum to Saunders was still up earlier this year. I-95's bridge over Laburnum wad just reworked, and since the white border shield was under the bridge, it may be gone now. Both white border unisigns (thr VA 36/156 in Hopewell and the US 360 in Skinquarter) are still around, however.

I hate to sort of necropost but the VA 197 white-border shield on Saunders is still there. In fact, the one on Laburnum just before Saunders (it's easy to miss as it's under the overpass) is not only still there, but it's been righted. It had been leaning forward for a while and I was worried it would be removed.

[Takumi]

Good to know. I figured it would be a casualty of the bridge work but I'm glad to be wrong in this case.

[CanesFan27]

Bob Malme takes a look at Massachusetts freeway signage replacement projects uo non the blog:

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2011/12/latest-on-massdot-sign-replacement.html