31 replies to this topic

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

I recognize that some of my friends here on American Road are Map Impaired Roadies (MIR’s) who lack vintage maps of some of the areas they are so fortunate as to visit. I have been trying to figure out some way to reward them for their many kindnesses and I have come up with a possible answer. I will copy some of my maps and guides and make them available here.

Because high resolution files take up lots of space, and download like cold molasses, I am going to experiment with a dual strategy. First I am going to try out Zoomify, which allows rapid downloading, magnification, and panning, on the web. I will post them here.

Then I may make a CD of the whole map (or maps) available free to those who post on AR ...maybe I’ll charge for postage.

So let’s see if this works. Click on the link below. If it works, let me know. You will be looking at a 1926 Indiana map as a test.

http://www.pair.com/.../IndianaMap.htm

(UPDATE, 10/22/2007. Many of the state maps and other vintage maps are now up at HistoricRoadMaps.Com. At this time I only respond to map requests posted on the American Road Forum)

BTW, it will take some time to post all 48 states (this is 1926, remember), so if you have a need for a particular state, let me know. The atlas I'm using is a 1925 or 26 Clason's Touring Atlas from the auto trails period. It is not the best, but it is relatively easy to copy and I have a duplicate in case I damage this one.

Keep the Show on the Road!

[DennyG]

Zoomify works quite well. The map is readable and easy to navigate.

Does Zoomify somehow greatly reduce the storage so that storage online is feasible or is this a one time experiment to test the technology with storage ultimately planned for CD only? What is the the storage requirement for a map like this?

[Alex Burr - hester_nec]

Seems to work quite well - is a little difficult to get a good idea of a given area, because of having to blow it up so far to even begin to make out road numbers, etc. And I haven't yet figured out if it's possible to save the file.
Other than that I found it easy to navigate down a given road.
Interesting to note the route numbers were apparently local numbers - I think a later map in one's lap would be of assistance in figuring out that Route 3 east of Indianapolis, for example was renumbered U S 40.
Thanks for the effort in putting this venue out for us to study.

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

Zoomify works quite well. The map is readable and easy to navigate.

Does Zoomify somehow greatly reduce the storage so that storage online is feasible or is this a one time experiment to test the technology with storage ultimately planned for CD only? What is the the storage requirement for a map like this?

Denny,

Good!

The tif was 47 megs, the jpg was 4.7 megs (at pretty high compression), and the zoomified files were 9 megs. The fact that they were bigger than the jpg surprised me because I thought they were supposed to be smaller. That has been my prior experience. It may be that there is a certain "overhead" and that the benefit isn't realized with smaller original jpg files.

I'm going to experiment further.


Keep the Show on the Road!

[mobilene]

That's wonderful, Keep! The Zoomify approach seems to work fine... it's pretty fast and the resolution is excellent. I can absolutely make use of this, and will be glad for the resource as I plan my trips. You are giving a very generous gift to the road-loving community.

Of course, my own collection is growing... I just got a 1925 Rand McNally Auto Trails Map of Indiana today, and it's in fine nick.

Your map has piqued my curiosity as it shows SR 10 between about Paxton and Vincennes as complete, while my 1925 map shows it as under construction.

Alex, Indiana renumbered all of its state roads when the federal numbering system came in. SR 3 did indeed become US 40 and SR 1 became SR 31, while SR 22 became SR 37 and SR 15 (Dixie Highway between Indy and Rochester) became variously US 421, SR 29, and SR 25. Anyway, yes, a 1927 map serves as a decoder ring.

jim

[cityboy1986]

Zoomify does work well, even on dial-up (ah, to live in a place where that is the only service available).

There is a 1926 Rand McNally map at the Broer Map Library, but it is nice to see how other maps were drawn. There were always the inconsistencies between mapmakers regarding road completion, too.

Thanks for sharing,

Tracy

[Alex Burr - hester_nec]

Zoomify does work well, even on dial-up (ah, to live in a place where that is the only service available).

There is a 1926 Rand McNally map at the Broer Map Library, but it is nice to see how other maps were drawn. There were always the inconsistencies between mapmakers regarding road completion, too.

Thanks for sharing,

Tracy

Tracy - great pics. I can identify, somewhat with the ones around Winona - my daughter, KC, was born there back in 1958.
Thanks for sharing and bringing back a bit of the past in an area I wandered around in back in the mid-50's. Working on another trip down that way one of these days.

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN
http://www1.freewebs...eller/index.htm

[beckyrepp]

Wow! What a great resource. I have an offer. If you would like to put downloadable files on our server that would be fine - since it looks like zoomfly basically only lets you view the images. That way - there's no postage. We could have them posted as a map library. If you want them only accessible to Forum members, we could password protect them.

Let me know what you all think.


Becky

Denny,

Good!

The tif was 47 megs, the jpg was 4.7 megs (at pretty high compression), and the zoomified files were 9 megs. The fact that they were bigger than the jpg surprised me because I thought they were supposed to be smaller. That has been my prior experience. It may be that there is a certain "overhead" and that the benefit isn't realized with smaller original jpg files.

I'm going to experiment further.
Keep the Show on the Road!

I don't know if this is an option, but, would a pdf file be smaller?
b

[Bucfan]

Excellent! Thank you, KtSotR.

I like Becky's idea, too.

[Dave Reese]

KTSOTR

I love this idea. If you can get these maps on line at the AR servers so that we can follow them and see the results in pretty clear definition, it would be a great tool for many. And great new avatar too. I have not been online much recently and had not noticed the change earlier.
Thanks for offering the servers for this Becky.

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

OK, I have heard the suggestions. Thanks!! I have promised Becky the whole atlas set when it is scanned. I will give my friends who post here a copy of the atlas on CD on request, but that will wait until I scan it.

I ordered a tabloid size (11 X 17 inch) scanner to reduce stitching smaller scans together. When it comes, I will scan the rest of the atlas. In the meantime I will scan smaller maps.

I enlarged the viewing window for Alex, and kept the Zoomify for Cityboy (and speed), acquired a new domain name, and have the beta up. I have a few indiana and a few Ohio maps up as a test. Everything else is to come.

So if you want to see what the site will generally look like, take a look at the HistoricRoadMaps.com

I will add maps and fix bugs ASAP. Nothing is in concrete so feedback is greatly appreciated.

Keep the Show on the Road!

[mobilene]

This is marvelous, Keep. I already got lost following an alignment of US 40 through Ohio (through Dayton?!!!).

I think Zoomify is a fine solution for displaying the maps.

jim

[Dave Reese]

...Nothing is in concrete so feedback is greatly appreciated...

David,
And as we know with old alignments, even concrete is not necessarily permanent. Your site looks great. Thanks for doing this...

Edited by Dave Reese, 02 October 2007 - 07:26 AM.

[DennyG]

I saw that posts were occuring but didn't have a chance to even read them until just now. But, instead of getting caught up, I see I'm now behind by one entire website

Looks great, KtSotR, but as sorely tempted as I am, I don't dare go beyond the home page today. Good looking avatar, too. MGA?

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

I saw that posts were occuring but didn't have a chance to even read them until just now. But, instead of getting caught up, I see I'm now behind by one entire website

Looks great, KtSotR, but as sorely tempted as I am, I don't dare go beyond the home page today. Good looking avatar, too. MGA?

Denny,

Your coaching on this played a large part in my getting it going. But it is still a test site. The software that creates the map pages (makes thumbnail, does the zoomify, and creates the web page) apparently was never fully developed so I have to go into the html to tweek things. Too bad, because it is a wonderful foundation and it would have been easy to have added controls for font size, etc.

I put up some Ohio and some Indiana maps, and in the next few days I will try to add a few more items from states where I know we have active posters here. The large maps will have to wait until I get the tabloid size scanner.

Yes, that is my MGA from college days. I have had a string of sports cars over the years, but that is the one I liked most. The avitar was inspired by a combo of your's and Dave Reese's.

Well, back to tweeking the layout.

Keep the Show on the Road!

David,
And as we know with old alignments, even concrete is not necessarily permanent. Your site looks great. Thanks for doing this...

Dave,

You are welcome. I'll add a few maps of Pennsylvania in a day or so. Still testing layout, etc.

Keep the Show on the Road!
historicroadmaps.com

[DennyG]

I finally had time to play a wee bit and I like it. Zoomify seems a very good way to handle images of this sort. The layout looks good but I'm curious about growth plans. I'm guessing that a hierarchy will develop as content is added. For example, will the Indiana series of PP-OO Guide pages (nice pick, BTW;-) some day be moved down one level and accessed by a "PP-OO" button?

Now, I must respond to mobilene's getting lost (virtually, I assume) in Ohio.

I already got lost following an alignment of US 40 through Ohio (through Dayton?!!!).

The basic problem is that US-40 doesn't go through Dayton. Both the National Road and US-40 passed to the north of Dayton but the National Old Trails Road went right through it by following the "Dayton Cutoff".

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

I finally had time to play a wee bit and I like it. Zoomify seems a very good way to handle images of this sort. The layout looks good but I'm curious about growth plans. I'm guessing that a hierarchy will develop as content is added. For example, will the Indiana series of PP-OO Guide pages (nice pick, BTW;-) some day be moved down one level and accessed by a "PP-OO" button?

Now, I must respond to mobilene's getting lost (virtually, I assume) in Ohio.
The basic problem is that US-40 doesn't go through Dayton. Both the National Road and US-40 passed to the north of Dayton but the National Old Trails Road went right through it by following the "Dayton Cutoff".

Yes, a hierarchy would be useful, and it is probably necessary. I have lots to figure out yet, not the least of which is what maps to put up first. Obviously the 1926 atlas maps are among the first, as soon as the bigger tabloid flatbed scanner arrives, which will be in about a week. My thinking is to put samples from a specific source (eg PPOO) up and see if people ask for more.

I’m thinking that maybe, at least initially, I will only respond to requests from American Road members who have posted here. In fact I may just take my e-mail address off the site and direct inquiries to the Trip Planning Forum here. That way, AR folks get first priority, and I get inquiries only from serious fellow road trippers. Any thoughts on that issue?

I have had to do a fair amount of html tweaking...which is largely foreign to me...to accomplish what I wanted, including a viewing window of sufficient size. If someone has knowledge of a piece of software that combines page generation of album type pages and a zoom capability like Zoomify, please let me know. It isn’t the fault of the Zoomify people. The separate software that produces the thumbnails and uses (integrates) Zoomify needs to be updated. I looked around but most software is designed for the budget of the Library of Congress, not me.

I added a couple of Pennsylvania maps from the 1926 Pennsylvania Motor Federation guide last night, thinking of Dave Reese, and I don’t know if DennyG noticed the 1928 National Old Trails through Ohio or not. More stuff to follow.

I continue to seek advice.


Keep the Show on the Road!

[roadhound]

Keep, I would like to commend you on this endevour. I haven't had much time lately to follow this thread or your progress but I took a look this evening and the website looks fantastic. With all the scanning that you are going to do adding content will be no small task but I know it will be appreciated by me as well as others. I look forward to seeing some west coast maps posted.

Roadhound

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

Keep, I would like to commend you on this endevour. I haven't had much time lately to follow this thread or your progress but I took a look this evening and the website looks fantastic. With all the scanning that you are going to do adding content will be no small task but I know it will be appreciated by me as well as others. I look forward to seeing some west coast maps posted.

Roadhound

Rick,

You got it! I'll do some Bay Area material in the next day or so.

Keep the Show on the Road!

[DennyG]

...I don’t know if DennyG noticed the 1928 National Old Trails through Ohio or not.

I did and assume that's where mobilene got lost. I have photocopies of the 1925 and 1932 guides and there are some interesting differences between the three. Where the 1928 guide has "US ROUTE 40" in a big box, the 1925 guide has

NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD
NEW YORK
TO
LOS ANGELES

and the 1932 guide has nothing. I'm guessing that the 1928 guide replaces this with "US ROUTE 66" further west and maybe something else somewhere else. The 1932 guide actually includes US-66 in its title.

In a conversation with roadmaven over the weekend, I mentioned that western folks tend to associate the NOTR with US-66 and eastern folks tend to associate it with US-40. Apparently that change occurs somewhere between Cincinnati and Indianapolis since this forum has a "National Old Trails Road / Santa Fe Trail / U.S. 66" sub-forum