Lincoln HWY

[colliehauler]

Anyone do a road trip following the Lincoln hwy? I know route 66 is the (mother road) but the Lincoln hwy is older.

[bobsallyh]

Having lived in Chambersburg, PA. for years if you drive US 30 from Breezewood to Lancaster with an RV you have a heck of lot more patience I have.

[paulj]

Problem is that we want to drive a historic route at modern Interstate speeds. The 1919 convoy the Eisenhower traveled with took 56 days to drive coast to coast, averaging less than 6 mph. The Pennsylvania roads were some of the better ones - they may have been hilly and narrow, but at least they were paved.

[Passin_Thru]

30 in Pa is hilly curvy and 1 place reccommends no trucks. Take your pick but I'd stay off it in Pa. Takes too long to go from 1 county to the next. Drove a truck and used to run from York on 30 to Getttysburg and it takes over 1 hr to get 30 mi. West of Breezewood it is good for a ways then goes back to buggie path. U really wana drive through downtown Pittsburgh?

[paulj]

http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/research/audiovisual/images/1919_convoy/86_19_270.jpg
Post with link to Eisenhower's report from a 1919 drive on the Lincoln Hwy.

[Bea_PA]

The Flight 93 Memorial is just off US 30 here in PA.Fortunately we visited again last week before the Govt shutdown. The visitors center will open in 2016.

[tatest]

Found, been re-reading Michael Wallis's "Lincoln Highway" book, the one I referred to, which is not a mile by mile guide.

In many places, particularly east of the Rockies, there was a 1914-18 route, and a later route from the 30's that redefined the Lincoln Highway to follow U.S. numbered highways, older route reverted to state or county maintenance, or abandoned entirely. Some of the Lincoln Highway signage was moved accordingly, before it became an obsolete designation. Restoration markers can thus be found on both original and post-1930 routes.

If you want to follow the Lincoln Highway, you must figure out what you mean when you say that, which Lincoln Highway, and find guidebooks or online resources that fit. Because I live near Route 66 and travel sections regularly, I have collected resources for that. My Lincoln Highway book was a recent gift, have not yet put much into researching a trip, beyond recognizing that I've been regularly following old and new sections across northern Indiana, and between Chicago and Clinton.

[WoodGlue]

Awww yes, the Glory Road!

Some of it is rough, some of it isn't marked very well. I'd suggest getting a "companion book" for your journey and reading up on it before you embark on your journey.

Amazon has several good books on the Lincoln Highway:

Lincoln Highway on Amazon

Good luck and have fun,

WoodGlue

[tatest]

john&bet wrote:
This would be US-40 parallel to I-70 would it not?

Through most of the eastern part of the country, that would be the National Road, not the Lincoln Highway.

[tatest]

The Lincoln Highway pre-dates the 1930's US numbered highway system. There is not a single numbered highway nor a single Interstate that follows the original pre-1930 "highway" (it was a single track dirt road some of the way).

Like Route 66, the Lincoln Highway has a following, guidebooks, clubs, and at least one magazine. I've followed sections when the highway was going where I was going, have lived in places along it, and have at least one Lincoln Highway nostalgia book that I cannot rank with my better Route 66 guides.

Best defined as the list of cities, maybe: NYC, Newark, Trenton, Philadelphia, York, Bedford, Pittsburgh, Chester, Canton, Mansfield, Van Wert, Fort Wayne, South Bend, Joliet, Aurora, Clinton, Marshalltown, Denison, Omaha, Kearney, North Platte, Sidney, Cheyenne, Medicine Bow, Rock Springs, Fort Bridger, Salt Lake City, Ely, Austin, Fallon, Truckee, Auburn, Sacramento, San Francisco.

Some people confuse the Lincoln Highway with the National Road, which went from the nation's Capitol to San Francisco on a slightly more southern route. The National Highway also has its folwers, and similarly can't be tied to a single US numbered highway or Interstate highway.

[paulj]

The official association map shows the highway crossing Donner Summit on both Donner Pass Road and Old Donner Summit Road, plus an alternative following US50 around the south side of Lake Tahoe.

Several years ago when traveling through that area in a car, I took Donner Pass Rd simply because it looked more interesting than I80.

It looks like, in most parts of the country, you can choose between I80 (or US30) or local roads, and not be far off. I see from the map that it used to follow Roosevelt Rd through the western suburbs of Chicago. I drove that plenty of times without any sense of driving something historic. Same would go for US20 through South Bend and Elkhard IN.

[Blazing_Zippers]

If you make it out to California, the Lincoln runs right along Donner Lake west of Truckee. Then follow it over Donner Summit on the old highway. The summit portion is 2.5 miles of two lane, and will make you really appreciate interstate hwys.--This used to be one of the major routes east out of Cali and has volumes of history about it. At the summit, there are railroad tunnels, snow sheds, hand built walls, wagon train trails, and more! Just the summit is good for a days exploring.
I enjoyed many hours up there, and you might also. Summer only!!! Winter has 20 to 35 feet of snow.

[reasley]

We've done much of the 1913 route thru Nevada. It follows the general route of hwy 50, but not the exact route. It's mostly dirt and at times requires 4 wheel drive.

[paulj]

1926 map through York, PA This set only goes to Pittsburg

http://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/map/
The Association's official map (using Google Maps)

There's an important difference between Route 66 and the Lincoln Hwy. US66 was a designated federal highway, that was gradually replaced by interstates. Lincoln Hwy was the result of promotion, by individuals, associations, and locals businesses. It wasn't a federally designated route, not even a state designation. As such the route evolved as local and state roads were developed or rerouted.

But the two are similar in the sense that a lot of what you see (or used to see) are the businesses and tourist attractions created to capitalize on the road's fame.

[schlep1967]

Like many above have said following the original lincoln Highway can be tough to do. One site that may help you in PA is here I just looked at York County and the first mention of Rt 30 Lincoln Highway is on the 1941 maps. You should be able to look at new and old maps to figure out where the original road was.