Thread: 1959 film of Iowa’s US 30

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http://brianbutko.wordpress.com/2010...f-iowas-us-30/

YOU WILL LOVE this video of central Iowa’s US 30, filmed in 1959 to show congestion and the need for road improvements. Highway Relocations was created by the Iowa State Highway Commission (ISHC), now IDOT, to show the downside of gas stations, rest stops, and the skinny two-lanes they populate. Filming started just east of State Center at the junction of Iowa 64 (now Iowa 330) and US 30 (the Lincoln Highway) and continued west along US 30 through State Center, Colo, Nevada, and Ames, ending just west of Boone. The film is 16 minutes long and covers 55 miles. {Note: Please read the comments for more info on the cars and the year it was filmed.]


Amazingly, most of it was filmed by a camerman perched atop a ladder connected to a car and extending approximately 22 feet in the air above the roadway! The camera, on a 1958 Ford Ranch Wagon, followed and filmed a 1958 Plymouth Fury. “The unidentified cameraman had the precarious task of trying to hold the camera steady and stay on the ladder, notably without a safety harness or other protective device.”

“As part of the Iowa DOT’s effort to preserve and archive its historical resources, the original Highway Relocations 16mm film was recently professionally cleaned and restored to its original film quality.” Learn more here: http://historicalphotos.iowadot.gov and watch it larger here: http://historicalphotos.iowadot.gov/...ation_Film.wmv

Both US 40, the National Road, and US 66, the Mother Road, were of basically the same type. I was born a few miles south of US 40 in Dayton, Ohio and traveled on it a few times before it was replaced by I 70. I made a trip on US 66 from San Bernardino, Calif. to where it branched off at US 40 in Illinois in a 40 Ford 2dr Sedan in Dec of 62.

Enjoyed that video Barnsey - - - - that was my favorite era during the days of the family Cruisers.

I was born on Route 66, well, actually in a hospital in Shamrock, Texas which is on Route 66.

I enjoyed it to,I Like looking at some of the old big rigs as well as the old cars and filling stations.