Monday, November 27, 2006

Iditiroad
As I have said, Eisenhower, gave us the modern Interstate system. To appreciate what we have you have to go back to the time when our country had no road systems at all. Washington, thats George, saw the need for a national road and being a surveyor himself set things in motion to transform Indian trails into roadways linking our states for the purpose of common defense and commerce These roadways were first travelled by wagon and on horseback. The most famous of wagons and a version of the modern truck-trailer was the Conestoga. The conestoga drivers were our first truck drivers and they smoked cigars hence the name-Stogey
The wagons gave birth to the bycycle. The bycycle industry gave rise and technology to the automobile.

Our nation was well underway to what we almost take for granted but we had a long way to travel.

Poised tonight in Omaha, NE to dash over to Indiana at daylight . Bloggin to you later

6 comments:

RangerBill said...

By the way what's the definition of a moderate Arab-one thats out of bullets

Stan Harrington said...

Tell us the punch line? Doesn't involved a well endowed blond does it?

Stan Harrington said...

You rate your highway system way to high! You have not even considered that our nation was united from coast to coast by the railroad - long before a highway! You also do not give any credit to our early maritine industry - was not our major river systems utilized as water ways long before roads appeared. I see pictures of George Washington crossing the Delaware in a skiff - I have never seen one of him driving a truck over a bridge! How about the Erie canal which linked all the great lakes to the Atlantic ocean - the only roads involved followed the canal so the donkies could pull the boats. the donkeys did stink but at least they did not smell like cigars! How abouyt the Pony Express, they were delivering packages and the mail long time before you saw any UPS or Fed Ex trucks on the trails! How about the famous cattle trails from Texas to Kansas, thousands of cows and cowboys traveled these trails long before the cattle truck or highway was invented. After a review of the history, even you will have to admit that the truck and driver came on the scene very late and just a blip in the history of transportation - look in the rear view mirror, see that train moving along the tracks with a hundred cars in tow, each car carry four fifty foot vans stacked two high - that is the future not to mention that 747 flying overhead that is going to deliver his load within a few hours instead of a few days that it will take the old truck. The one thing that the truck industry did have a big influence on was "truck stops" and "lot lizards" - by the way if I am driving my Suburu, am I allow3ed to stop at a truck stop? I want to back in, let my engines run the entire time I am drinking coffee and then when I come out, take an iron bar and beat the hell out of my tires!

Stan Harrington said...

Wherever you are at, looking at the national weather, I bet you are getting your butt kicked!

Stan Harrington said...

With the big storm hitting Missouri, you are not stuck on Cherry Street are you?

RangerBill said...

Oh brother, The railroads proved themselves extremely limited as they could not really get the product to it's final destination. Even worse the canals only served a limited role.
The versatility of the truck has proved that the goods can be delivered to your door safe and secure-who has a landing strip for a 747. Of course some people overestimate the size of their parking lot and give no thought to the 40 acres required to turn a 53 foot trailer around.
Thanks to the driver the recreational sex markets now come door to door, the coffee is hot and stimulating(same with those lot lizards), and we have given birth to the lizard bomb(milk jugs containing a mysterious yellow liquid often sprouting up in the medians). Top that cowboys.
Truckers are all class-Trucker UP