In commemoration of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the US highways, I am publishing a book, available in 2025. The title is Great Lines Across America, subtitled "Looking back at the first 100 years of the United States Numbered Highways, the country's original inter-state route system". It is intended to complement usends.com (http://www.usends.com) by providing additional, deeper information gleaned from a review of all 13 route logs that AASHO/AASHTO published, and from a review of all 58,000 pages of material in AASHTO's archive. I expect the book itself will be less than 1% of that length (around 500 pages), so in that sense it could be thought of as the Cliffs Notes for the AASHTO archive. But it's not just facts and data; there is also some analysis, including a discussion of the four distinct phases in the history of the US route system.
If this kind of thing interests you, you can click here and sign up (https://www.usends.com/us-highway-book.html) to be notified when the book becomes available.
Registered my email.
Quote from: usends on November 02, 2024, 10:36:34 AMIn commemoration of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the US highways, I am publishing a book, available in 2025. The title is Great Lines Across America, subtitled "Looking back at the first 100 years of the United States Numbered Highways, the country's original inter-state route system". It is intended to complement usends.com (http://www.usends.com) by providing additional, deeper information gleaned from a review of all 13 route logs that AASHO/AASHTO published, and from a review of all 58,000 pages of material in AASHTO's archive. I expect the book itself will be less than 1% of that length (around 500 pages), so in that sense it could be thought of as the Cliffs Notes for the AASHTO archive. But it's not just facts and data; there is also some analysis, including a discussion of the four distinct phases in the history of the US route system.
If this kind of thing interests you, you can click here and sign up (https://www.usends.com/us-highway-book.html) to be notified when the book becomes available.
Great news! Congrats in advance.
Quote from: usends on November 02, 2024, 10:36:34 AMIn commemoration of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the US highways, I am publishing a book, available in 2025. The title is Great Lines Across America, subtitled "Looking back at the first 100 years of the United States Numbered Highways, the country's original inter-state route system". It is intended to complement usends.com (http://www.usends.com) by providing additional, deeper information gleaned from a review of all 13 route logs that AASHO/AASHTO published, and from a review of all 58,000 pages of material in AASHTO's archive. I expect the book itself will be less than 1% of that length (around 500 pages), so in that sense it could be thought of as the Cliffs Notes for the AASHTO archive. But it's not just facts and data; there is also some analysis, including a discussion of the four distinct phases in the history of the US route system.
If this kind of thing interests you, you can click here and sign up (https://www.usends.com/us-highway-book.html) to be notified when the book becomes available.
Bump this thread when it does.
The book is available now! Amazon is currently offering it at half price, but I don't know how long that will last. So for those who might be interested, I wanted to let you know asap so you can save about $50.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F26W4VK5
It's still kinda pricey, but it is a big book: 536 pgs, 8x11, 1.5" thick, hardcover, so feels comparable to a textbook. Full color with several photos and other graphics. The link above has more details, and also has a "Read sample" button that allows you to check out the first several pages.
Congratulations on the book being published. The front cover pic I am going to guess is somewhere in Nebraska like around maybe Blair? Too green to be west of like Kearney. And too rural to be east of Ames, IA.
Quote from: hobsini2 on April 01, 2025, 05:16:06 PMCongratulations on the book being published. The front cover pic I am going to guess is somewhere in Nebraska like around maybe Blair? Too green to be west of like Kearney. And too rural to be east of Ames, IA.
Yeah, the font gives it away as Nebraska. It actually was west of Kearney; that's the town of Brule in the distance. Maybe they had more rain than usual (it was June 2020).
Just got my copy. You weren't kidding with the textbook comparison! Part of me is even a little afraid there will be a test after I read it! :biggrin:
Kidding aside, it looks like it will be a great read. It's very well-organized and readable, and I can see from my first flip through it that it's packed with information I'm going to really enjoy poring through.
Kudos for all the work that went into it, and I hope it sells well for you.
Quote from: xonhulu on April 05, 2025, 06:46:56 PMKudos for all the work that went into it, and I hope it sells well for you.
Thank you! And thanks for making the book better by contributing some of your excellent photography.
I also have received my copy. Concur it is terrific and the photos are lovely. It is a wonderful compendium of the mainline US Highway system and should be viewed as a foundational resource for the roadgeek hobbydom.
Just got it. (Sunday delivery?) Thick hardcover, scanning through it looks very involved and encyclopedic.
Edit, reading US 141, the ending was shortened in segments around 1979, but the final segment was done in 1981 when the last segment of I-43 was completed between Denmark and Green Bay (WI 54/57 interchange).
Got my book yesterday, and I love it (especially my dad)!
My copy arrived yesterday. Looking forward to reading it.
On my first time flipping through it, by chance I came upon the photograph on pages 464/465. The 8-story building in the bottom center was my workplace from 1984 to 1991. My office window was the leftmost one on the top floor. This was built by AT&T Long Lines in the late 1950s and originally housed the telephone switching equipment that enabled direct long-distance dialing from SE Michigan. My crew's job was installing special service circuits. The analog LD switcher was replaced with a digital one in the early 1980s.
Quote from: Big John on April 06, 2025, 04:05:47 PMEdit, reading US 141, the ending was shortened in segments around 1979, but the final segment was done in 1981 when the last segment of I-43 was completed between Denmark and Green Bay (WI 54/57 interchange).
I know you've only skimmed through at this point, so you probably haven't seen the note in the Preface regarding dates. In short, the dates listed are when AASH(T)O approved the change, not when the state DOTs completed carrying out the change.
Quote from: usends on April 06, 2025, 09:59:54 PMQuote from: Big John on April 06, 2025, 04:05:47 PMEdit, reading US 141, the ending was shortened in segments around 1979, but the final segment was done in 1981 when the last segment of I-43 was completed between Denmark and Green Bay (WI 54/57 interchange).
I know you've only skimmed through at this point, so you probably haven't seen the note in the Preface regarding dates. In short, the dates listed are when AASH(T)O approved the change, not when the state DOTs completed carrying out the change.
The debates begin...
The problem I've encountered with my own writing associated with AASHTO database stuff is that the applications don't account for temporary field signage staying in place. A good example of this was when US 66 was truncated to Needles in 1963. Continuation signage lasted in field on California highways way west of Needles into the 1970s. Really unless you have first knowledge of how long that continuation signage stayed up past the official truncation there isn't a good way to account for it.
But yeah, got my book copy today. I have a pretty good idea how much of a Herculean effort this was to condense the entire AASHTO database into a single digestible and chronological book.
I'm glad this book exists, I can't fathom the AASHTO database will last forever. It is pretty much an essential piece for anyone doing serious writing about the US Route System.
Quote from: usends on April 06, 2025, 09:59:54 PMQuote from: Big John on April 06, 2025, 04:05:47 PMEdit, reading US 141, the ending was shortened in segments around 1979, but the final segment was done in 1981 when the last segment of I-43 was completed between Denmark and Green Bay (WI 54/57 interchange).
I know you've only skimmed through at this point, so you probably haven't seen the note in the Preface regarding dates. In short, the dates listed are when AASH(T)O approved the change, not when the state DOTs completed carrying out the change.
OK thanks.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on April 06, 2025, 10:44:18 PMith my own writing associated with AASHTO database stuff is that the applications don't account for temporary field signage staying in place. A good example of this was when US 66 was truncated to Needles in 19
Has anybody downloaded the entire archive?
Quote from: bugo on April 07, 2025, 10:21:17 PMQuote from: Max Rockatansky on April 06, 2025, 10:44:18 PMith my own writing associated with AASHTO database stuff is that the applications don't account for temporary field signage staying in place. A good example of this was when US 66 was truncated to Needles in 19
Has anybody downloaded the entire archive?
Seemingly Dale has based off what I've read in his book. I honestly only have interest in saving stuff that I ended doing work on with GN.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on April 07, 2025, 11:01:02 PMQuote from: bugo on April 07, 2025, 10:21:17 PMHas anybody downloaded the entire archive?
Seemingly Dale has based off what I've read in his book. I honestly only have interest in saving stuff that I ended doing work on with GN.
Just to set the record straight, I have not downloaded the archive; just reviewed it and made notes.
Amazon has been messing with the price of the book. After starting out at $62, and gradually raising it as high as $107 a few days ago, it's currently back down to $73.
Quote from: usends on November 02, 2024, 10:36:34 AMIn commemoration of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the US highways, I am publishing a book, available in 2025. The title is Great Lines Across America, subtitled "Looking back at the first 100 years of the United States Numbered Highways, the country's original inter-state route system". It is intended to complement usends.com (http://www.usends.com) by providing additional, deeper information gleaned from a review of all 13 route logs that AASHO/AASHTO published, and from a review of all 58,000 pages of material in AASHTO's archive. I expect the book itself will be less than 1% of that length (around 500 pages), so in that sense it could be thought of as the Cliffs Notes for the AASHTO archive. But it's not just facts and data; there is also some analysis, including a discussion of the four distinct phases in the history of the US route system.
If this kind of thing interests you, you can click here and sign up (https://www.usends.com/us-highway-book.html) to be notified when the book becomes available.
I have bought the book recently, and it is an incredible resource, for both the roadgeek community and the public at large, as the US Highway system is definitely underappreciated, and not as well-known as it should be with the legacy it has and how important it has been for our transportation for all of these years. The book is incredibly interesting and very well-written, and the pictures also look great. Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication in bringing this book to fruition, and I think this book will be an essential resource for many years to come.
My parents got me a copy of it for my birthday, and I've been enjoying it so far! :clap:
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on April 06, 2025, 10:44:18 PMI can't fathom the AASHTO database will last forever.
Boy, you are gonna love the fact that the wiki folks made their own copy of the whole damn thing.
https://wiki.aaroads.com/wiki/AARoads:AASHTO_minutes
Quote from: Scott5114 on July 20, 2025, 09:17:27 AMQuote from: Max Rockatansky on April 06, 2025, 10:44:18 PMI can't fathom the AASHTO database will last forever.
Boy, you are gonna love the fact that the wiki folks made their own copy of the whole damn thing.
https://wiki.aaroads.com/wiki/AARoads:AASHTO_minutes
Indeed, that is going to find a place in my bookmarks tab as soon as I get home. Even still, I'll take the physical media backup. I have a pretty large library of physical highway media at my house.
Quote from: Scott5114 on July 20, 2025, 09:17:27 AMQuote from: Max Rockatansky on April 06, 2025, 10:44:18 PMI can't fathom the AASHTO database will last forever.
Boy, you are gonna love the fact that the wiki folks made their own copy of the whole damn thing.
https://wiki.aaroads.com/wiki/AARoads:AASHTO_minutes
Has there been any thought to creating a navigation system for the wiki so that stuff like this can be easily found? Right now you have to know it exists and search for it.
Quote from: vdeane on July 20, 2025, 04:54:40 PMQuote from: Scott5114 on July 20, 2025, 09:17:27 AMQuote from: Max Rockatansky on April 06, 2025, 10:44:18 PMI can't fathom the AASHTO database will last forever.
Boy, you are gonna love the fact that the wiki folks made their own copy of the whole damn thing.
https://wiki.aaroads.com/wiki/AARoads:AASHTO_minutes
Has there been any thought to creating a navigation system for the wiki so that stuff like this can be easily found? Right now you have to know it exists and search for it.
I'm not really sure what sort of navigation system you have in mind, since the way most wikis are navigated is by following links from article to article. This list isn't an article and is technically intended to be used by the editors, thus it's "off the grid" in project space. The intended "navigation system" is supposed to be "You look up US Route 91 and everything from the AASHTO file about US 91 is in the article and cited to the relevant AASHTO minutes".
It's just that not everything from the AASHTO file has been written about yet. The wiki always needs more editors.
Quote from: bugo on April 07, 2025, 10:21:17 PMQuote from: Max Rockatansky on April 06, 2025, 10:44:18 PMith my own writing associated with AASHTO database stuff is that the applications don't account for temporary field signage staying in place. A good example of this was when US 66 was truncated to Needles in 19
Has anybody downloaded the entire archive?
I have except for a few years where the maximum number of results are reached and I don't know if anything's inaccessible.
Quote from: Scott5114 on July 20, 2025, 11:08:55 PMQuote from: vdeane on July 20, 2025, 04:54:40 PMQuote from: Scott5114 on July 20, 2025, 09:17:27 AMQuote from: Max Rockatansky on April 06, 2025, 10:44:18 PMI can't fathom the AASHTO database will last forever.
Boy, you are gonna love the fact that the wiki folks made their own copy of the whole damn thing.
https://wiki.aaroads.com/wiki/AARoads:AASHTO_minutes
Has there been any thought to creating a navigation system for the wiki so that stuff like this can be easily found? Right now you have to know it exists and search for it.
I'm not really sure what sort of navigation system you have in mind, since the way most wikis are navigated is by following links from article to article. This list isn't an article and is technically intended to be used by the editors, thus it's "off the grid" in project space. The intended "navigation system" is supposed to be "You look up US Route 91 and everything from the AASHTO file about US 91 is in the article and cited to the relevant AASHTO minutes".
It's just that not everything from the AASHTO file has been written about yet. The wiki always needs more editors.
Well, it's certainly useful. I've long toyed with the idea of a refresh of the interstate system, going back to the 1969 system and selectively adding corridors back as full chargeable interstates, but such is completely infeasible without a resource like that since the additions to the interstate system aren't grouped in one place like that anywhere else. Maybe I'll actually get around to that now.
As for navigation, my gold standard is the Avatar Wiki (https://avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Avatar_Wiki), but the Tardis Wiki (https://tardis.wiki/wiki/Doctor_Who_Wiki) is good too. Memory Alpha (https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Portal:Main) used to be much better until they got rid of the drop-down menus recently, but still might have features to draw inspiration. Index/table of contents pages/portals would be nice; right now you're either relying on search or playing Russian roulette with whatever assortment populates the home page when you go there. The main Wikipedia (and many other wikis) also has templates that can go on the bottom of a page to make navigation to articles within a category easy (such as one for all the interstates).
Quote from: vdeane on July 21, 2025, 09:59:25 PMQuote from: Scott5114 on July 20, 2025, 11:08:55 PMQuote from: vdeane on July 20, 2025, 04:54:40 PMQuote from: Scott5114 on July 20, 2025, 09:17:27 AMQuote from: Max Rockatansky on April 06, 2025, 10:44:18 PMI can't fathom the AASHTO database will last forever.
Boy, you are gonna love the fact that the wiki folks made their own copy of the whole damn thing.
https://wiki.aaroads.com/wiki/AARoads:AASHTO_minutes
Has there been any thought to creating a navigation system for the wiki so that stuff like this can be easily found? Right now you have to know it exists and search for it.
I'm not really sure what sort of navigation system you have in mind, since the way most wikis are navigated is by following links from article to article. This list isn't an article and is technically intended to be used by the editors, thus it's "off the grid" in project space. The intended "navigation system" is supposed to be "You look up US Route 91 and everything from the AASHTO file about US 91 is in the article and cited to the relevant AASHTO minutes".
It's just that not everything from the AASHTO file has been written about yet. The wiki always needs more editors.
Well, it's certainly useful. I've long toyed with the idea of a refresh of the interstate system, going back to the 1969 system and selectively adding corridors back as full chargeable interstates, but such is completely infeasible without a resource like that since the additions to the interstate system aren't grouped in one place like that anywhere else. Maybe I'll actually get around to that now.
As for navigation, my gold standard is the Avatar Wiki (https://avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Avatar_Wiki), but the Tardis Wiki (https://tardis.wiki/wiki/Doctor_Who_Wiki) is good too. Memory Alpha (https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Portal:Main) used to be much better until they got rid of the drop-down menus recently, but still might have features to draw inspiration. Index/table of contents pages/portals would be nice; right now you're either relying on search or playing Russian roulette with whatever assortment populates the home page when you go there. The main Wikipedia (and many other wikis) also has templates that can go on the bottom of a page to make navigation to articles within a category easy (such as one for all the interstates).
Portals might be helpful. The problem is that we had portals on Wikipedia and nobody ever seemed to use them much, so people became disinterested in maintaining them. Obviously, the situation is different now that we're on a separate site, but it's hard getting people excited about something that previously nobody cared about much.
If you have the time, it would be helpful to get your opinion about this in front of the wiki editors and work with them to come up with a useful navigational system. The best place to do this is by creating a wiki account and posting to The Interchange (https://wiki.aaroads.com/wiki/AARoads:The_Interchange), but there is also a wiki Discord where this kind of strategizing and stuff is commonplace.