View allAll Photos Tagged Overlander
The first train I bothered photographing on the Overland Route after following it on US30 from Ames, IA was the IG2OA, the same damn Oakland stack train I shot in my California days. After a detailed briefing with Pinky the possibility was discussed of chasing this to California. By the time I arrived in North Platte 18 hours later he was only 100 miles ahead of me in Sidney, NE. About 23 hours after this shot when I arrived in Cheyenne I was ahead and he was in Emergency east of town. I laid over in Green River and he was wayyyy behind with an engine failure to boot! By the time I cleared the Salt Lake City area I had overtaken the IG2OA from the day PREVIOUS to this one.
Persepolis, Iran: 25 December 1971
It is the morning of Christmas Day 1971: the 37-seater AEC Reliance bus I was driving from London to India is seen here parked beneath the forty-odd feet high Grand Terrace at Persepolis. That's not an item of seasonal traditional decoration behind the windscreen — it's an inflated condom.
Eventually we had arrived in Tehran, running about two weeks late. Once we entered Iran the weather slowly began to improve, so that when a diesel injector pipe split on the engine I was able to replace it, even though the temperature had warmed up to about minus 15°C. At the time we were on the almost deserted main trunk road from the Turkish frontier to Tabriz; the absence of traffic was because the road was a continuous sheet of ice – and no-one else was daft enough to drive on it. While I fixed the engine the passengers were enjoying themselves sliding down the road – and then the bus slowly began to move. With the bus side panels opened up to access the underslung engine, I squatted in the road and wondered why the injection pump was moving away from my hand that held the spanner – the bus was very slowly sliding on the ice, with the parking brake on, and nobody in it . Someone heard me shouting, saw what was happening and jammed a couple of the large wooden chocks under the tyres and luckily the thing finally stopped moving.
We stayed in Tabriz that night and drove on to Tehran the following day and booked into the usual place – the Amir Kabir Hotel. This establishment was the halfway-house on the overland trail to India, and a favourite haunt for travellers; but this time, one night there was enough – it was far too cold in the unheated rooms, which were on open balconies. Most of us moved to the nearby Armstrong Hotel; it was more expensive but the rooms had heating. Another plus-point of the Armstrong was that it sold alcohol in the basement restaurant. The local beer came from the Shams brewery in Tehran; of course, all that went with the overthrow of the Shah at the end of the 1970s.
Under the Overland Ave. bridge crossing Ballona Creek; Culver City, CA. 2021
Mamiya 6 75mm f/3.5 lens, Ilford HP-5 Plus 120 film, HC-110 Dil.B developer, Epson Perfection V550 Photo Scanner
Metcalf South Shopping Center opened in 1967, and was one of the most popular malls in the Kansas City area. When we lived in Overland Park in the mid-1970s this place was hopping. My sister worked at the Woolworth's. It began to die in the 1980s after the Oak Park Mall opened up 3 miles away. Today it is probably one of the cleanest dead malls out there. The fountains all work except for one. My oldest son compared it to scenes from the recent movie "I Am Legend". Both he and my youngest were a bit freaked out by it.
In early 1977 I drove this Bedford SB8 bus (UDL 137) on a trip to India – it had a Duple C41F body and a Leyland 350 engine with a 4-speed gearbox.
The body code C41F means that it was a single-deck, 41-seater with the passenger door at the front. The Bedford model type SB had the suffix '8' which was for those chassis fitted with Leyland 350 engines.
The bus was first registered in May 1960 and operated by Shotters Ltd. on the Isle of Wight, until they sold it in 1971; I've no idea where it spent the next six years before I drove it.
This bus was operated by Tour East, a sister company of Budget Bus. The photo was taken somewhere in Austria by its then owner, John H, who ran Tour East.
Two of the passengers on the Safaris Overland trip to India, that left London in July 1971. This photo was taken in Turkey, of Sylvia and Hillary (looking at camera).
Nepal: October 1975
The Dutch 45-seater Van Hool, left-hand-drive bus I had driven from Istanbul to Delhi with a full load of passengers. Now empty, it is photographed on the road from Pokhara to Kathmandu, in Nepal. On arrival in Delhi, enough new passengers were found to fund a two-day round trip down to Agra and the Taj Mahal. This bus was not returning to Europe so I drove it empty across northern India and up into, and across Nepal so it could be sold in Kathmandu. There was no hurry so I took my time; it was strange to drive the thing with no passengers to think about. I'd been tempted to buy the bus myself and run it for two or three or trips between Istanbul and Kabul, and back. I'm glad now that I didn't buy it because not every trip could've run as smoothly as that particular one.
Although it was a superb bus to drive, it was too large for most of the Nepalese roads, with their narrow mountain passes and hairpin bends – it had already proved to be almost too long to negotiate the very tight left turn required to access the roadway deck of the old Attock Bridge across the River Indus in Pakistan.
#140: Grasslands and bushes of Western Victoria blowing past windows of The Overland, as I started my jouney to the Australian Red Centre with a 10-hour train ride into Adelaide. Seats were large and comfortable with generous reclines, definitely airline-first-class standards despite being on a regular-fare Red Service cabin.
In December 1971 we were travelling along the eastern end of the Mediterranean coast road, heading towards Syria, when we saw this wrecked Turkish bus that had been abandoned, so I stopped and the passengers swarmed over the remains of the bus. There was very little traffic on that road in the winter, and mile after mile of the coast was still unspoilt by developers and builders.
Photo by John H.
We took off from Cheyenne and paralleled the Overland Route into North Platte before making our way to Omaha. Just east of Dix, Nebraska, UP #2654 splits the steam era signal installations with a westbound manifest.
Beyond doubt the star of the show at this Sarasota classic car event. In 1914, Overland was second only to Ford in overall US sales, pitching to a more upscale clientele. Acquired by Willys in 1908, the Overland name was phased out as a separate marque in 1926.
Future New Overland Park Fire Station 45 and Police Sub-Station at 16279 Antioch Road.
Picture ID# 1775, 1776, 1777
HDR - High Dynamic Range
Lahore, Pakistan: October 1975
This is a left-hand drive Van Hool bus that I drove from Istanbul to Delhi with a full load of passengers. It was one of two buses owned and operated by a Dutch sub-contractor of the North London based overland firm, Budget Bus. The bus had an underslung 9.2 litre Fiat engine and five-speed gearbox. This vehicle was a great improvement on the others I'd driven to India previously; for a start, it was in superb condition and never broke down – it didn't even have a puncture, which would've been easier to deal with as it had Tri-lex wheels. Another thing it had was an effective (engine) exhaust brake.
The photo shows the large overhang at the rear of the bus; in fact, 17 passengers sat behind the rear axle centreline.
The 45-seater bus was photographed while parked in the cheap-hotel district of Lahore, not far from the main railway station. The windscreen had been shattered by a stone on a dirt road in north-east Iran, so we'd driven from there with the front of the bus open to whatever came in – luckily, the dirt roads finished soon after the screen went, the main road through Afghanistan is sealed, as is the Grand Trunk Road through Pakistan and India. Every night, at least two people slept in the bus to look after the vehicle; there was never any shortage of volunteers for this as many passengers preferred to save money by doing so. A replacement windscreen was made by hand from perspex sheet in a Delhi workshop; about a dozen men and boys were involved in making a cardboard template for the shape of the screen, cutting it out in two halves from a large sheet of clear perspex, and hot-forming the (single) curvature with the careful use of paraffin blowlamps. This operation took a whole morning; the end result was a perfect fitting two-piece, or split windscreen, with an aluminium strip down the centre of it. Perhaps fortunately, I never had to use the windscreen wipers from Delhi to Kathmandu, where the bus was going to be sold – any use of the windscreen wipers would have soon scratched the perspex, reducing visibilty through it.
I really love this picture, although I'm not exactly sure why. I guess I just think it looks cool. Side shot from our Land Rover while driving the Laki Loop (F207) in Iceland.
The first clear sunset we saw,was by this lake in Tanzania,on the way to the Serengeti. Please see my set Africa Overland for more information.
www.americanroads.us/autotrails/dixieoverland.html
Dixie Overland Highway
US 80 Map
Dixie Overland Highway marker The Dixie Overland Highway was an early American auto trail. It connected Savannah, Georgia on the Atlantic with San Diego, California on the Pacific. The Dixie Overland Highway has a rare privelege among named auto trails. Most of the trails were ignored when numbered US highways were created in 1926. The Dixie Overland, in contrast, almost exactly corresponds to U.S. Highway 80.
Pates Bridge on Dixie Overland Highway The Dixie Overland Highway Association formed on July 17, 1914. The association formed after a pathfinding trip was made across the state of Georgia, from Savannah to Columbus, by the Automobile Club of Savannah. This was the first auto trail association formed that would follow any part of what would become US 80.
Dixie Overland Highway SignThe Dixie Overland Highway Association was officially incorporated in the state of Georgia on February 14, 1917. It's motto was "The Shortest and Only Year Round Ocean to Ocean Highway." Way ahead of the rest of the country, Colonel Ed Fletcher and the citizens of San Diego County decided they wanted all of their California section of transcontinental highway paved. The California section would eventually become part of the Southern National Highway, Lee Highway, Old Spanish Trail Highway and Bankhead Highway as well. By 1917, most of the California section was paved with a narrow roadway of either Portland cement or plank road from Yuma all the way to San Diego.
Mountain Springs Survey GroupIn May 1919, with encourgement from Ed Fletcher, the Dixie Overland Highway Association chose San Diego as its western terminus, and elected him as president of the association. One month before the final approval of the US Numbered Highway System in 1926, Colonel Ed Fletcher decided to head a single-car time-race along the Dixie Overland Highway from San Diego to Savannah in a Cadillac sedan. The team in the Cadillac made the run in 71 hours and 15 minutes across a distance of 2535 miles, a transcontinental record-shattering feat at the time and still impressive today. The group later traveled south to St. Augustine, Florida to begin the return journey via the Old Spanish Trail.
Dixie Overland Highway National Highways Association MapThe US Numbered Highway System was created in November 1926. Much of the Dixie Overland Highway became US Route 80. The only parts of the DOH that were not incorporated into US 80 were three sections in Georgia, two short sections in Alabama, and one across western Texas. The sections not included as part of US 80 were:
•Between Savannah and Stilson, Georgia
•Between Stateboro and Twin City, Georgia
•Between Haskins Crossing and Colombus, Georgia (State Route 26)
•Between Browns and Uniontown, Alabama (mostly State Route 12)
•Between Demopolis and Livingston, Alabama
•Between Roscoe and El Paso, Texas (US 84, 380, 70, and 54)
Dixie Overland Highway cities and towns by State
•Georgia
Savannah, Brooklet, Statesboro, Register, Metter, Twin City (Graymont), Swainsboro, Adrian, Scott, East Dublin, Dublin, Dudley, Cochran, Hawkinsville, Montezuma, Oglethorpe, Ellaville, Buena Vista, Columbus.
•Alabama
Phenix City, Crawford, Tuskegee, Shorter, Waugh, Mt. Meigs, Montgomery, Benton, West Selmont, Selma, Potter, Marion Junction, Uniontown, Faunsdale, Prairieville, Demopolis, Coatopa, Livingston, York, Cuba.
•Mississippi
Toomsuba, Russell, Meridian, Lost Gap, Graham, Meehan Junction, Chunky, Hickory, Newton, Lawrence, Lake, Forest, Raworth, Morton, Clarksburg, Pelahatchie, Guide, Rankin, Brandon, Jackson, Clinton, Bolton, Edwards, Bovina, Vicksburg.
•Louisiana
Delta, Mound, Tallulah, Delhi, Dunn, Holly Ridge, Rayville, Girard, Crew Lake, Monroe, Calhoun, Choudrant, Ruston, Grambling Corners, Simsboro, Arcadia, Gibsland, Ada, Minden, Shreveport, Greenwood.
•Texas
Marshall, Longview, Dallas, Fort Worth, Weatherford, Palo Pinto, Breckenridge, Albanay, Abilene, Greatwater, Snyder, Gail, Tahoka, Brownfield, Plains, (into New Mexico), El Paso.
•New Mexico
Roswell, Alamagordo, (El Paso, TX), Deming, Lordsburg.
•Arizona
Douglas, Lowell, Bisbee, Tombstone, Benson, Pantano, Vail, Tucson, Florence, Superior, Apache Junction, Mesa, Tempe, Phoenix, Tolleson, Avondale, Liberty, Buckeye, Palo Verde, Arlington, Gila Bend, Piedra, Sentinel, Stanwix, Aztec, Stoval, Mohawk, Colfred, Wellton, Dome, Yuma.
•California
Winterhaven, Holtville, El Centro, Seeley, Dixieland, Jacumba, Boulevard, Pine Valley, Guatay, Descanso Junction, Alpine, El Cajon, La Mesa, San Diego.
Dixie Overland Highway routes and directions by State
•Georgia
•Alabama
•Mississippi
•Louisiana
•Texas
•New Mexico
•Arizona
•California
Dixie Overland Highway Links
United States Route 80: The Dixie Overland Highway (Federal Highway Adminstration)
The Plank Road - Journal of San Diego History
On a recent trip north I saw a couple of Wedge Tail Eagles around 70kms North of Port Augusta. After heading into the scrub to capture them, I was amazed to find piles of old tins, wire & rubbish laying about the shrubs & sand of the Arid Lands . I also noticed what can only be discribed as tree branches lined up for miles at 20 or 30m intervals. I finally made the correlation when I noticed that most of these posts had wire & or metal brackets on them. I'm assuming that this is the original Overland Telegraph Line that ran from Adelaide to Darwin. Erected in 1872, running a single Telegraph Line between the two capitals, if my vague memories from school are correct, this line did run through the Flinders Ranges.
A little more research tells me that the single strand line spanned 3,178kms.
Now that I've gone to this trouble to explain my find & shot, I'm certain someone will inform me that I was nowhere near the Overland Telegraph Line!
Portrait of moi taken by (Jt). You can visit his photostream here: www.flickr.com/photos/44290369@N08/
Ya gotta View On Black
julie in the dining car of the overland, the interstate train that runs between tarndanya/adelaide, south australia, and naarm/melbourne, victoria
Agri, Turkey: October 1971
The Safaris Overland bus I was driving from India to London, seen here parked in the town of Agri, in north-eastern Turkey. Several hours beforehand we had driven into Turkey from Iran at the Bazargan border crossing. I'd been driving through snow, on and off, since we'd been in north-eastern Iran, near the Afghan frontier. I hadn't expected the snow to come so early; in fact, I'd hoped to be back in England several weeks before, considering we'd left London back in July for a trip that included diversions down to Athens, the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, and Srinagar in Kashmir. The Ford Transit mini-bus parked in front of the bus was operated by Frontier International, another British overland company.