(cross-posted to general highway talk)
I'm the author of the Houston Freeways book (2003) and webmaster of DFWFreeways.com and HoustonFreeways.com
I'm pleased to announce that the new eBook Dallas-Fort Worth Freeways, Texas-Sized Ambition is now available for free download.
http://www.dfwfreeways.com/ (http://www.dfwfreeways.com/)
The book is near-final and I'm hoping to get feedback from the user community before finalizing it.
As you will see, the book has around 520 pages (with dozens of topic-specific excerpts) and covers numerous topics which are well known
* Stemmons Freeway and the John F. Kennedy Assassination
* SH 114 and the Delta 191 Crash
* Texas Stadium Freeways, including the stadium implosion
* Central Expressway and the Telecom Corridor
* Huge freeway celebrations
* Much, much more
Any feedback, especially critical feedback, is greatly appreciated.
Looks excellent!
I've enjoyed what I've read so far (even though I could do with fewer pictures of the Bush family.)
Looks like a great book! Well-designed, very informative and I love the old aerial pictures of pastureland at LBJ!
It looks like the same attention to detail and hard work that makes the Houston Freeways book such a joy to read. I've never been to Houston, but still bought the book :-)
I've only been to D/FW twice, and have little to add. Still curious about "missing" interstates 235 and 435. I think the radio station - 820 story might be true, but would love to see something more authoritative.
Amazing, I love the old aerial photos of undeveloped land of what is currently endless suburbia. There is a lot of interesting data as well, I like the construction history of Texas freeways in particular.
Max, excellent job on the new book! It does a fantastic job of capturing so many times and places that are now sadly gone. At first, I wasn't sure about the change in tone from Houston Freeways, but eventually, I came to understand just why you made that choice. Thanks again for all the work!
I can't download Chapter 10: Mid-Cities freeways as a PDF by the way.
Exellent book. Love old photos. The more, the better.
BTW- the Ft Worth section quick view isn't working-getting error message.
The DFW Turnpike section was particularly interesting, with all of the signs advertizing the highway. Kinda proves my theory that DNT trailblazers plastered all over north Dallas are there to advertized the highway, esp considering that all the other highways don't get the same treatment.
Concerning the Walton Walker section of Loop 12:
I am finding conflicting info. You state that it was complete as a state highway in 1949. Yet, the 1953 Official Texas Map ( see below) shows a non-state road on this alignment, utilizing the now-abandoned Singleton Blvd across the W Fork Of The Trinity River. There is a gap in my Official map collection, the next one I have is 1957, and it shows Loop 12 complete in this area.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1209.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fcc395%2FBrian5561%2FDallas1953.png&hash=330c02041fd4fab5cd771954453c1aaf119c0704)
Concerning the outer loop:
I have a 1971 Lewisville master plan map (too big to scan) that shows the "Outer Belt Frwy" passing just south of the Lewisville Lake Dam, and running along FM 407.
Concerning Mid-Cities Frwy:
This map shows it crossing FM 3040 at Garden Ridge, then turning west along approximatly Forest Vista Dr.
Concerning SH 121 Lewisville bypass: This map shows it on a different alignment as a non-freeway, leaving original 121 at FM 3040, heading NE crossing I-35E near Corporate Dr, rejoining original 121 near Huffines Blvd.
Quote from: kurumi on July 09, 2012, 11:49:32 PM
I've only been to D/FW twice, and have little to add. Still curious about "missing" interstates 235 and 435. I think the radio station - 820 story might be true, but would love to see something more authoritative.
What exactly is the "radio station - 820 story"? I did not uncover that story during my research.
Quote from: Brian556 on July 10, 2012, 02:56:58 PM
BTW- the Ft Worth section quick view isn't working-getting error message.
Quote from: Chris on July 10, 2012, 01:41:13 PM
I can't download Chapter 10: Mid-Cities freeways as a PDF by the way.
Thanks for the reports. I will get those fixed tonight - check again on Wednesday.
Quote from: Brian556 on July 10, 2012, 04:25:28 PM
Concerning the outer loop:
I have a 1971 Lewisville master plan map (too big to scan) that shows the "Outer Belt Frwy" passing just south of the Lewisville Lake Dam, and running along FM 407.
That's definitely interesting. The canceled alignment shown in the book is the alignment from the 1971 regional plan map (page 54). I'm thinking I'll stick with the alignment shown in the 1971 plan since it was more official.
Quote from: Brian556 on July 10, 2012, 04:25:28 PM
Concerning Mid-Cities Frwy:
This map shows it crossing FM 3040 at Garden Ridge, then turning west along approximatly Forest Vista Dr.
I was definitely hoping to find a map which showed the northward path of the Mid-Cities Freeway, and you may have found it. As you can see on page 54, I could only draw the path to the edge of the planning boundary.
Does your map show it going north of FM 407? Did it merge back into IH 35?
Quote from: Brian556 on July 10, 2012, 04:25:28 PM
Concerning SH 121 Lewisville bypass: This map shows it on a different alignment as a non-freeway, leaving original 121 at FM 3040, heading NE crossing I-35E near Corporate Dr, rejoining original 121 near Huffines Blvd.
Interesting that it was proposed as early as 1971. Would it be possible to take a digital photo of that section of the map and email it to me at author@dfwfreeways.com? That way I can mention that it originated as early as 1971 in the SH 121 history section.
Quote from: Brian556 on July 10, 2012, 02:56:58 PM
Concerning the Walton Walker section of Loop 12:
I am finding conflicting info. You state that it was complete as a state highway in 1949. Yet, the 1953 Official Texas Map ( see below) shows a non-state road on this alignment, utilizing the now-abandoned Singleton Blvd across the W Fork Of The Trinity River. There is a gap in my Official map collection, the next one I have is 1957, and it shows Loop 12 complete in this area.
Information on the origins of Loop 12 was very difficult to find. I'll go back to my sources and check if the information in the book is correct.
Quote from: MaxConcrete on July 10, 2012, 09:14:53 PM
Quote from: kurumi on July 09, 2012, 11:49:32 PM
I've only been to D/FW twice, and have little to add. Still curious about "missing" interstates 235 and 435. I think the radio station - 820 story might be true, but would love to see something more authoritative.
What exactly is the "radio station - 820 story"? I did not uncover that story during my research.
Supposedly, Amon Carter, who owned the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and radio station WBAP (820 AM), lobbied for the I-820 number.
I'll take pics of the Lewisville master plan map tomorrow.
Concerning the SH 121 Lewisville Bypass- the frontage roads from Denton Tap Rd to I-35E were constructed in the 80's, in conjunction with the development of Vista Ridge Mall. A 1986 Aerial photo in my posession shows them under construction. They were designated SPUR 553 until SH 121 was routed over them.
This is a little off topic, but do you know the answer to this? I just got a Dallas-Ft Worth map that shows the partially completed US 287 freeway between I-30 and I-820 as I-20. Was this ever signed in the field?
Here's a map that flaroads posted that shows this freeway as complete and marked as I-20:
(//www.aaroads.com/forum_images/mid-south/1977_P66_Gousha_Ft_Worth_inset.jpg)
I also cannot download Chapter 10.
Quote from: bugo on July 16, 2012, 11:38:34 AM
This is a little off topic, but do you know the answer to this? I just got a Dallas-Ft Worth map that shows the partially completed US 287 freeway between I-30 and I-820 as I-20. Was this ever signed in the field?
Here's a map that flaroads posted that shows this freeway as complete and marked as I-20:
(//www.aaroads.com/forum_images/mid-south/1977_P66_Gousha_Ft_Worth_inset.jpg)
Way before my time, but judging by the incomplete Loop 820 South, I could see it happening.
The green Turnpike on the map became free in 1977 and now is the present I-30. The present I-20 west of Benbrook (not even shown as a proposed freeway on this map) was built west to Aledo to connect with today's I-30, and I-20 continues west.
I don't know if they changed all the exit numbers on I-30 when this finalized route happened. All I know is today, I-30 is Mile 0 at the I-20 split and Mile 224 at the Arkansas state line.
Quote from: bugo on July 16, 2012, 11:42:23 AM
I also cannot download Chapter 10.
Thanks for the error report. It is now fixed.
Chapter 8, page 365, in the blue box under "Key Dates in the History": Hurricane Katrina occurred in 2005 not 2004. I think this error is also in the text somewhere.
Awesome book otherwise. Enjoyed the historical photos especially.
Quote from: bugo on July 16, 2012, 11:38:34 AM
This is a little off topic, but do you know the answer to this? I just got a Dallas-Ft Worth map that shows the partially completed US 287 freeway between I-30 and I-820 as I-20. Was this ever signed in the field?
That's interesting. I checked my historical sources to see if I could find any mention of IH 20 being aligned on US 287, but I could not find confirmation. (However, news reports rarely include such information.)
IH 20 between Dallas and Fort Worth opened in 1975.
IH 20 (the part that forms the Loop) in southwest Fort Worth was completed in 1982. It provides a connection to present-day IH 30 (which was originally IH 20).
The IH 20 connection from IH 30 west of Fort Worth to IH 820 in southwest Fort Worth did not open until 1986.
So, it seems likely that US 287 was signed as IH 20 from 1975 to 1982. With the 1982 completion of the Loop section of IH 20, traffic was probably routed along the south and west loop to present-day IH-30.
Quote from: Urban Prairie Schooner on July 17, 2012, 07:46:25 PM
Hurricane Katrina occurred in 2005 not 2004. I think this error is also in the text somewhere.
Thanks for spotting that error. I have corrected the text and posted the updated version on the book web site.
Great job!!! I love all the old photos and the side stories; the airports, Six Flags, Texas Stadium, etc. Makes me wish that more historical photos were more accessible online. I am very happy to see that you took the time to compile all of this and look forward to when you are finished.
You may want to post requests on the Fort Worth Architecture Forums (http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/forum/ (http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/forum/)) to get photos in the Fort Worth/Arlington area if you haven't already.
It has been just over a year since the original release of the preliminary version of the book, and yesterday I posted the final version online including a single PDF document with the 540-page book, as well as a convenient quick view of the entire book. (Still free download)
http://www.dfwfreeways.com/ (http://www.dfwfreeways.com/)
I also posted a post-mortem report for the book, providing details on the market survey during the past year and the failure of the book to attract interest. The level of interest has been far below the 2003
Houston Freeways book and worse than a worst-case scenario for interest when the book was released.
http://www.dfwfreeways.com/dfwfreeways-book-post-mortem-report.html (http://www.dfwfreeways.com/dfwfreeways-book-post-mortem-report.html)
In short, my opinion on the reasons for the failure are (see link above for more details)
Main reason
- Less interest in the subject of freeways in Dallas-Fort Worth as compared to Houston
Contributing Factors
- The subject of freeway history is past its peak
- Lack of promotion or publicity
- Lack of a printed book or integrated eBook
- Efforts to attract a wider audience backfired
- Associated historical topics were a bust
Other Possible Factors
- Book title and especially the subtitle
- Lack of a second opinion during writing
- Inconsistent quality of the product
- Free distribution may have devalued the perception of the product
Since the only feedback I received about the book during the past year was from AARoads forum participants, I'm certainly interested in any opinions why it failed. Harsh critics are encouraged to reply. You can also respond to the quick survey question on the home page.
Quote from: MaxConcrete on July 21, 2013, 12:16:05 PM
Harsh critics are encouraged to reply.
Well, OK then. It failed because Bengoatse.
Perhaps people thought it was more of the same. But it may also have to do with the increased amount of information easily available on the internet. Back in 2003, Wikipedia was pretty much unknown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EnwikipediaGom.PNG) and tools like Google Earth did not exist yet.
On the other hand, the volume of large-scale road projects in DFW is unprecedented, you'd think that generates some additional interest in freeway history. But freeway history will always be a niche market beyond several hundred road enthusiasts and (former) TxDOT employees. I may be the only person in the Netherlands genuinely interested in the DFW freeway system.
Quote from: Chris on July 21, 2013, 03:39:04 PM
But it may also have to do with the increased amount of information easily available on the internet. Back in 2003, Wikipedia was pretty much unknown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EnwikipediaGom.PNG) and tools like Google Earth did not exist yet.
Yes, I definitely agree. And the more I think about it, the increased availability of information was probably more influential than I realized. I think if
Houston Freeways was published today, interest would be much lower. I cited the reason "The subject of freeway history is past its peak" as a contributing factor, but I'll probably revise the list with a new reason like "Increased online availability of historical and current information makes a book less relevant" and cite it as a major factor.
Quote from: Chris on July 21, 2013, 03:39:04 PM
But freeway history will always be a niche market beyond several hundred road enthusiasts and (former) TxDOT employees. I may be the only person in the Netherlands genuinely interested in the DFW freeway system.
I know of one other person in the Netherlands who is interested in the subject. :-)
And I also agree, this is a niche subject with a very small audience. For that reason I attempted to broaden the audience by including the related historical topics which I perceived are popular in North Texas - the JFK assassination (a whole chapter), Texas Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys (another entire chapter), Tom Landry, the Delta 191 crash, Six Flags Over Texas, technology and the Telecom Corridor, and Las Colinas. But those topics fell short and are the least viewed topics in the book, usually around 10-15 views per month.
By the way, I did a European road trip in May (Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Netherlands) and I was really impressed with the Netherlands freeways. Definitely the best of what I saw in those countries. I may post on the international forum sometime with some questions/comments.
Seriously - outside the several hundred (1-2 thousand, roughly) active roadgeeks, there's almost no market for a book about roads. This has been demonstrated before when people have tried to publish books. If I ever do a book, it will be about travel stories, with a few selected photos of scenery.
I like both books. Although I'm clearly part of the "niche," I would have preferred the book to have been less "popular" and more informative, even at the risk of becoming pedantic. I preferred the tone of the Houston work.
Also, the geographic organization makes it almost seem like Ft. Worth and the mid-cities are an afterthought, since they only come into the last two chapters. Ft. Worthians are somewhat used to being subsumed into Dallas, but they do not like it; "Cowtown" has a distinct identity. (Even on the website, the Aerial Challenge is all Dallas-area.) I think I would have preferred a chronological organization that included the entire area, especially given the title "DFW Freeways."
Most people have much less disposable income now than in 2003, and part of me wonders how much of this factor might have combined with the fact of increased availability of information on-line. I still would've bought print copies, but I do understand that physical books are becoming quaint and antique.
These are my relatively minor criticisms of what I consider to have been a good book. I appreciate and thank you for all your hard work in writing it.
Good effort nonetheless. Hope you're able to monetize your research.
Thanks for the feedback.
The "dumbing-down" of the book was a conscious decision to try to expand the market. As noted in the post-mortem report, that plan not only failed but caused a loss of audience since I lost much of the core market and did not gain any new audience.
As for neglecting Fort Worth, there just isn't much interesting freeway history in Fort Worth. In fact, writing the Fort Worth chapter was painful but it had to be done for a complete historical record. In retrospect, it would have been better to have done a Dallas Freeways book since it would have been less work and would have still covered just about everything of interest in North Texas.
Quote from: Steve on July 22, 2013, 03:54:04 AM
Seriously - outside the several hundred (1-2 thousand, roughly) active roadgeeks, there's almost no market for a book about roads. This has been demonstrated before when people have tried to publish books. If I ever do a book, it will be about travel stories, with a few selected photos of scenery.
I agree, the market is very small. But the roadgeek market is only a small fraction of the overall market. For
Houston Freeways about half of the 5000-unit print run was bought by the highway and construction industry. They bought in bulk and distributed the copies for free to their suppliers, associates, customers, employees, etc. I don't know if this represents a true "market" (since many cities like NYC probably have a minimal highway construction industry) or just that I was lucky. But even without a large customer who buys in quantity, the engineering, construction and consultant industry market is larger than the roadgeek market.
Another market segment which is larger than the roadgeek market is architects and urban planners.
The roadgeek market is next, followed by the market of persons with a general interest in history.
The market is very regional - I would estimate that 98% of Houston Freeways book were purchased locally. The few books that left the Houston area overwhelmingly went to Austin (probably TxDOT folks).
That being said, my view is that in 2003 under normal circumstances a high-quality book which is priced correctly (not too high) and aggressively marketed in a market with 5-6 million people had a top market size of around 2000 units over a period of years. The book market is continuously shrinking so by 2013 that market size could be as small as 1000 units. Expect a much smaller market if quality is lower, marketing is low or the city is smaller.
Dallas-Fort Worth Freeways was victim of numerous problems and mistakes, causing it to fail with a market size of a few hundred hundred units, even when offered for free. Fortunately there was never any consideration of actually printing the book, but of course I still lost a lot of money and sunk a lot of time into it.
I don't have my notes available, but I seem to recall the
L.A. Freeway book had 5000 units printed and was in print for a very long time, more than 10 years.
So the bottom line is that you are never going to make money on a highway history book. In fact, you can expect to lose tens of thousands of dollars in direct costs and receive nothing for the time invested (which will be more than a man-year for a book like
DFW Freeways). But of course you don't do it for the money, you do it for other reasons - like achieving a personal goal or documenting history as a service to society.
That being said, I would certainly be interested in knowing any other sales figures that are known or available. For example
The American Highway (William Kaszynski)
The Roads That Built American (Dan McNichol)
Around 2002 I remember contacting Tom Lewis, author of
Divided Highways, to ask him about sales numbers. He would not disclose information, which leads me to believe that sales were low.
I just posted an updated version of the eBook with functioning hyperlinks within the book for ease of navigation.
www.dfwfreeways.com
A new updated version has been placed online and printed books are now available for purchase.
Printing a small quantity of this 550-page book using print-on-demand was obscenely expensive and the obscenity was passed on to the book price, $150. I'm not expecting any individuals to drop that kind of money on the book, especially since the eBook is free. I'm hoping to get some sales from organizations with acquisition budgets (engineering firms, consulting firms, libraries) or people who can put it on a company expense account. The real reason for offering the book for sale is to satisfy I.R.S. requirements that the project is not a hobby; if the books don't sell, I'll get my sponsor to contribute more funds and donate them to libraries. I could also cut the price to clear them eventually (in addition to more donations to libraries), but that is at least a year in the future.
But if you are interested in printed copies, books will be distributed to local libraries this week including Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, Richardson, Mesquite, Southlake, Roanoke, Bedford and UT-Arlington. I'm hoping each library will have at least one circulating copy for check-out.
http://www.dfwfreeways.com/ (http://www.dfwfreeways.com/)
If we were to buy one, would it be possible to get autographs? If so, how would that work?
I'm reading the eBook version, and I'm liking what I see so far. Congratulations!
Quote from: Henry on May 06, 2014, 02:34:14 PM
I'm reading the eBook version, and I'm liking what I see so far. Congratulations!
I don't know much about Texas roads, but this is a
very well put together document that is definitely at the
minimum worth a download. :clap: Unfortunately, I'm dirt poor, so I can't provide any money for a hardcover.
Hey Erik, so glad you decided on making a paper version of the DFW book. I will definitely be interested, even though it will take me a bit to get the $$ together.
Sad to report that after all you did to procure me a copy of the Houston book, it was part of an ugly burglary at my previous apartment a few years ago. And of course, no renter's insurance at the time, either. :-(
To anyone who is interested in the printed book, I'm expecting to cut the price in the future (maybe 6-12 months). I first want to sell a few with a profit margin for IRS purposes to show it is a "business" rather than a hobby. Then I expect reduce the price down to cost (printing plus Amazon commission) around $110, or maybe lower. So check the web site occasionally. And yes I can sign any purchases, you'll just need to email me to let me know. (Email on the site.)
My main intent is to make the historical content available to anyone who is interested, which is why the eBook is free and available in different formats. And there will soon be books in libraries, and you can probably get a copy via interlibrary loan if you don't live in a city which has the books in its library. (See previous post for libraries. Tomorrow I will start delivering the 60 sponsored copies to libraries.)
Nice article from the Dallas Morning News on this.
http://transportationblog.dallasnews.com/2014/05/a-decade-spent-writing-a-book-about-how-dallas-built-its-freeways-and-how-its-freeways-built-dallas.html/