All posts by Michael F Ballard

Michael F Ballard is the author and administrator of the Southern California Regional Rocks and Roads website, https://socalregion.com, since 1995. I have been studying the geology and highway history throughout southern California for most of my life. I am also the President of the Ridge Route Preservation Organization. Founder of the Historic Highway 99 Association of California, https://historic99.org .
History

A bit of historical trash

2 Comments

A while back, my husband and I went on a cleanup of my section of I-5 in Grapevine Canyon. While cleaning at the upper watering hole on the southbound side, I noticed a bit of newspaper. When I grabbed it, the first thing I noticed is that it looked rather old. Normally, when I find a newspaper out in the field, assuming it is not too dirty, I try to find a date on it. I’m always curious how long it may have been out there. This time, however, I saw an advertisement on it that told me it was older than normal. The ad was for Six Flags Magic Mountain and was for a ride that had been gone since 1986. Looking a little more at the paper, I found a date, Sunday, July 1, 1984. As the cleanup was in late July 2018, I was rather amazed at the find.

The ride in question was known as the Sarajevo Bobsled, a ride named after the location of the winter olympics in 1984 and was an Intamin bobsled type ride. The ride was closed in 1986 and moved to Six Flags Over Texas, where it continues to operate today.

  • The portion of the paper I saw first.
  • Closeup of the Six Flags Ad.

Another time I found a Los Angeles Herald newspaper from the late 1950’s hanging onto a railroad switch near Holtville, CA in the Imperial Valley. You just never know what you might find out there.

Website News

SoCalRegion is moving

Aside Leave a comment

This site will be moving to a different host in the next week or so. Outages may occur during the move and pages may have errors. Hopefully, it goes smoothly.

Geology, Los Angeles County, San Gabriel Mountains

Mt Wilson Observatory Geology Talk

Lectures

On Saturday, June 16, at 5:30 pm Mount Wilson Observatory will be hosting a talk by Dr. Tanya Atwater, professor emeritus of geology at UC Santa Barbara. Dr. Atwater played a major role in piecing together the plate tectonic history of our part of the planet. She will talk about how the motions of the Earth’s crust created the current topography of southern California (including the perfect site for astronomers to explore the Universe). The talk will be followed by a rare chance to look look through Mount Wilson Observatory’s 60-inch Telescope, which revolutionized telescope design and allowed astronomer Harlow Shapley to find our place in the Milky Way Galaxy. Tickets are only $20 and proceeds will all go to the maintain the Observatory.

Caltrans, District 6, Highways, Old Alignment, Roads, Tulare County, US 99

US 99 – Tipton to Tulare

2 Comments

In doing some research recently, I found an original section of US 99 from Tipton to Tulare. It had been a while since I looked at maps of this section, as most of my research has concentrated between Los Angeles and Bakersfield. The map below shows the alignment of US 99 in 1926.

Portion of 1926 Division of Highways map showing former alignment of US 99 between Tipton and Tulare.

Until 1931, US 99, and by extension Legislative Route 4, went on the west side of the Southern Pacific tracks from current Ave 164 north of Tipton to Bardsley Ave in Tulare, following Tulare County Road 112. This section was most likely paved with a 20′ concrete slab around 1917.

1928 USGS map showing the original alignment of US 99 at its crossing at Ave 164.
A short section of the original concrete at the southern connection to the current alignment is also visible just north of the canal crossing on the left side of the railroad tracks. Current State 99 is at center. Ave 164 runs to the right.

The roadway also retains three original bridges.  The two North Branch Tule River bridges (46C-0004 and 46C-0010 respectively) are from 1917 and retain their original pipe railing. Two other bridges, Elk Bayou and Bates Slough are also original, with the former dating to 1916. The telltale cracking of asphalt over concrete is also visible near the northern North Branch Tule River bridge to near Ave 184 at Octol.

The realignment in 1931 eliminated two railroad crossings without the use of bridges at the tracks. The new road was also built a little higher to help ease flooding problems that were common in the Central Valley. Today, some of the bridges built at that time still remain, albeit widened or otherwise modified.

For further information see – US 99 – Tipton

Highways, History, Old Alignment, Old Bridge, Roads, US 466, Website News

US 466 Tour Expansion

Aside Leave a comment

Fairly deteriorated paving east of Mojave.

After a long hiatus, my US 466 tour is getting expanded. I recently went on a motorcycle trip covering the roadway and most of the old alignments from Morro Bay to Barstow. Watch for updates in the coming weeks as tour stops get added. At this time, the tour is more than half complete.

Virtual Tour of US 466