Road-Geeky Things Of The Past That You Miss...

[1995hoo]

Small, compact versions of games

Sometimes magnetic so you didn't lose pieces.

I seem to recall we had a Scrabble game that was not magnetic but instead used some sort of plastic such that the letters stuck to the board but were easily removable when the game was over. That was useful when we passed the board around (my mom, sitting in the front passenger seat, always played).

[wanderer2575]

Stuckey's!

[RobbieL2415]

MassHighway's Project CLEAN.

You could call *321 where you saw trash on the side of a surface road or freeway and they would come out an clean it.

[thenetwork]

Howard Johnsons at every service plaza along the Ohio Turnpike...

...and just off of damn near every exit off the Turnpike as well (at least between Toledo and Youngstown)!!!

[jeffandnicole]

Howard Johnsons at every service plaza along the Ohio Turnpike...

...and just off of damn near every exit off the Turnpike as well (at least between Toledo and Youngstown)!!!

The NJ Turnpike was mostly HJs as well. The evidence they left behind includes street names leading to the rear of the plazas for employees and deliveries.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/9NCAJRLuUWkUfYW66

[Quillz]

At some point, California switched the green that it used on BGS. The "old" green was considerably darker, while the new green is much brighter. I think the change was made when button copy became obsolete, as I've never seen the newer green in use prior. (And any older BGS will just have strips of the newer green with copy). Maybe this wasn't limited to California, but I always liked the darker green.




It's a bit hard to see the difference unless the lighting is exact, but if they were side-by-side, it would be easier to notice.

[Big John]

^^ and no mention of the US shield on "state" route 86?

[1995hoo]

MassHighway's Project CLEAN.

You could call *321 where you saw trash on the side of a surface road or freeway and they would come out an clean it.

Your post prompted me to remember something I hadn't thought of in years. At one time, Virginia had something called "Project Hero" for HOV lane enforcement. People who saw HOV violators were encouraged to get the license plate numbers and call a toll-free number whose last four digits spelled "HERO." No tickets would be issued, of course, but the alleged violators would receive letters in the mail about the HOV rules and the penalties for being caught violating them.

I remember it provoked some controversy when one fellow proudly proclaimed, in a letter to the Washington Post's Dr. Gridlock column, that he didn't care what VDOT says the HOV rules are—he and his carpool reported anyone carrying any children in the car and would continue to do so because only licensed drivers are relevant. Carrying anyone else does nothing to relieve traffic, in his mind. (Never mind that there are adults out there without driver's licenses and you can't tell who does or doesn't have one just by looking at them. I knew a fellow in his 50s or early 60s who didn't have a driver's license and took public transportation everywhere. He died in 2022.) That letter-writer was a prime example of why Project Hero could not issue tickets, of course!

[thenetwork]

At some point, California switched the green that it used on BGS. The "old" green was considerably darker, while the new green is much brighter. I think the change was made when button copy became obsolete, as I've never seen the newer green in use prior. (And any older BGS will just have strips of the newer green with copy). Maybe this wasn't limited to California, but I always liked the darker green.




It's a bit hard to see the difference unless the lighting is exact, but if they were side-by-side, it would be easier to notice.

Ahhh, the days when many states had a slightly different shade of green for their BGSs.  Missouri, for example had a more olive green tint to theirs.

[epzik8]

At some point, California switched the green that it used on BGS. The "old" green was considerably darker, while the new green is much brighter. I think the change was made when button copy became obsolete, as I've never seen the newer green in use prior. (And any older BGS will just have strips of the newer green with copy). Maybe this wasn't limited to California, but I always liked the darker green.




It's a bit hard to see the difference unless the lighting is exact, but if they were side-by-side, it would be easier to notice.

I'd say you have a keener eye than me.

[Max Rockatansky]

I like the weathered look of that darker green shade. 

[pderocco]

Ahhh, the days when many states had a slightly different shade of green for their BGSs.  Missouri, for example had a more olive green tint to theirs.

Not all olives are olive green, either.

[pderocco]

Your post prompted me to remember something I hadn't thought of in years. At one time, Virginia had something called "Project Hero" for HOV lane enforcement. People who saw HOV violators were encouraged to get the license plate numbers and call a toll-free number whose last four digits spelled "HERO." No tickets would be issued, of course, but the alleged violators would receive letters in the mail about the HOV rules and the penalties for being caught violating them.

I remember it provoked some controversy when one fellow proudly proclaimed, in a letter to the Washington Post's Dr. Gridlock column, that he didn't care what VDOT says the HOV rules are—he and his carpool reported anyone carrying any children in the car and would continue to do so because only licensed drivers are relevant. Carrying anyone else does nothing to relieve traffic, in his mind. (Never mind that there are adults out there without driver's licenses and you can't tell who does or doesn't have one just by looking at them. I knew a fellow in his 50s or early 60s who didn't have a driver's license and took public transportation everywhere. He died in 2022.) That letter-writer was a prime example of why Project Hero could not issue tickets, of course!

Washington state had that too, with the same sort of xxx-xxx-HERO telephone number. It always smelled bad to me that they would call you a hero for reporting a carpool violator, but not if you reported a drunk or reckless driver.

[RobbieL2415]

I miss freeway call boxes.

[Max Rockatansky]

I miss freeway call boxes.

Come to California, we have plenty.

[plain]

I miss the brown gantries and brown high mast light poles on I-95 through Baltimore. Now they're just bland.

[pderocco]

I miss freeway call boxes.

Come to California, we have plenty.

I wonder if they all still work. I imagine them with clapped out NiCad batteries, or covers that are rusted shut. I've never in my life actually used one.

[Quillz]

I miss freeway call boxes.

Come to California, we have plenty.

I wonder if they all still work. I imagine them with clapped out NiCad batteries, or covers that are rusted shut. I've never in my life actually used one.

Used one recently. Can confirm they do work. 

You can have CalTrans come and give you gas if you run out. 

[Max Rockatansky]

I miss freeway call boxes.

Come to California, we have plenty.

I wonder if they all still work. I imagine them with clapped out NiCad batteries, or covers that are rusted shut. I've never in my life actually used one.

Used one recently. Can confirm they do work.

You can have CalTrans come and give you gas if you run out.

I find them sometimes in weird places like  the dirt segment of Panoche Road.  I figure those can't be maintained as well as what Caltrans has.

[LilianaUwU]

I remember it provoked some controversy when one fellow proudly proclaimed, in a letter to the Washington Post's Dr. Gridlock column, that he didn't care what VDOT says the HOV rules are—he and his carpool reported anyone carrying any children in the car and would continue to do so because only licensed drivers are relevant. Carrying anyone else does nothing to relieve traffic, in his mind.

Imagine being proud of being an asshole.

[Max Rockatansky]

I remember it provoked some controversy when one fellow proudly proclaimed, in a letter to the Washington Post's Dr. Gridlock column, that he didn't care what VDOT says the HOV rules are—he and his carpool reported anyone carrying any children in the car and would continue to do so because only licensed drivers are relevant. Carrying anyone else does nothing to relieve traffic, in his mind.

Imagine being proud of being an asshole.

And at the end of the day his definition didn't even matter.  Despite being an asshole, he seemingly wasted the time of his carpool buddies and just himself?...odd flex.

[vdeane]

I remember it provoked some controversy when one fellow proudly proclaimed, in a letter to the Washington Post's Dr. Gridlock column, that he didn't care what VDOT says the HOV rules are—he and his carpool reported anyone carrying any children in the car and would continue to do so because only licensed drivers are relevant. Carrying anyone else does nothing to relieve traffic, in his mind.

Imagine being proud of being an asshole.

I find that most of them usually are.

[CtrlAltDel]

Overhead big green signs lit from below.

[CtrlAltDel]

Overhead big green signs lit from below.

One of the only times I saw them when I was a child was on I-294 as we headed to Florida to visit my grandparents.

[plain]

Overhead big green signs lit from below.

Come to Richmond. They're all over the place.