Re: Old Stuff Found Along The Road

Did Caltrans just kill the G26 cutout US Route shields?

The US Route System was formally created by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926. Through the history of the system the only state to which has elected to maintain cutout US Route shields has been California. The G26 series cutout US Route shields have become a favorite in the road enthusiast hobby and are generally considered to be much more visually pleasing than the standard Federal Highway Administration variant. However, the G26 shield series appears to have been killed off on January 18, 2026, when Caltrans updated their Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. This blog will examine the history of the US Route shield specifications in California and what is happening with the 2026 changes. The blog cover photo is facing towards the terminus of California State Route 136 and at a G26-2 specification US Route 395 shield. In the background Mount Whitney can be seen in the Sierra Nevada range. ...

Trans-Sierra Highway Passes; Interstate 80 Donner Summit

Back in 2016 I attempted as many Trans-Sierra Highway Passes as I could upon my return to California. I started with Interstate 80 over Donner Summit during the late winter on the way to Lake Tahoe and Virginia City. Donner Summit is actually located north of the 7,056 foot Donner Pass. Donner Summit has a listed height of 7,277 feet above sea level which is listed at the rest area on the eastbound lanes heading towards Truckee. As I-80 begins to descend from Donner Summit there is an overlook of Donner Lake and Donner Pass. US 40, the Lincoln Highway, First Trans-Continental Railroad, and the Dutch Flat & Donner Lake Railroad all crossed Donner Pass on various different alignments to the south of Donner Summit. Previously I wrote a blog about Donner Pass which includes a history of early pioneer crossings, the Donner Party, the Dutch Flat & and Donner Road, the Lincoln Highway, and of course US 40 which can be found here: Old US Route 40 on Don...

Ghost Town Tuesday; Nichols, FL

A couple years ago I spent a lot of spare time exploring phosphate mining ghost towns in the Bone Valley of Polk County, Florida. One ghost town in particular called Nichols on Polk County Route 676 west of Mulberry caught my eye due to a relative lack of documentation on ghosttowns.com. Nichols was created in 1905 during the early phosphate mining boom in the Bone Valley region. For the time Nichols was unusual since it had company housing in the Nichols Mine site and private residences outside the gate. Nichols is only about two miles west of Mulberry which probably made it a somewhat reasonable commute even by the wonky standards of the early 20th Century. Most of the Bone Valley region was relatively remote which made commuting or homesteading impractical which is why there are so many ghost towns in the area. The company housing section of Nichols was phased out and abandoned by 1950. The Nichols town site is largely abandoned and could "possibl...