town names on water towers

[Irish Pat]

An old fire chief that I loved to listen to told that he had been an officer in the Louisiana National guard in the 1930s and ran the railroad depot in Ferriday La at that time. he told me that back then the Army planes (P-40s) that were participating in the Louisiana maneuvers would get lost, fly along the railroad tracks to a town’s water tower to figure out where they were. They would circle the tower to read the name on it then they would follow a track to where they were headed. Irish ☘️ Pat

[SHOOTIN FOX]

IFR( instrument flight rules). I follow rivers, roads, rail roads.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

There used to be large (100 yards or more) concrete arrows in the deserts east of LA pointing at LA.  Not many landmarks or water towers out there and few railroads at that time.  Not even a lot of highways, either.  Strangely there were quite a lot of "airports" all over the place, but there were not a lot of marked ones, and a huge percentage were grass or dirt strips near a farm or ranch.

 

I understand they were put there because of the contract mail planes.  Can't have your Ladies Home Journal, Time magazines, or grandma's birthday card getting lost.  

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

2 hours ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

There used to be large (100 yards or more) concrete arrows in the deserts east of LA pointing at LA.  

I watched a Youtube video a couple weeks ago that showed that a lot of them still exist. 

[Stump Water]

1 hour ago, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

I watched a Youtube video a couple weeks ago that showed that a lot of them still exist. 

 

https://www.dreamsmithphotos.com/arrow/

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

I saw a lot of them in Utah and Idaho when I was a kid.  I'm amazed at the numbers that are still there and the great shape some of them still are.

[Subdeacon Joe]

LOL! Timing is everything!  Last week I deleted a dozen or so photos of Concrete Arrows that I had downloaded. 

 

4 hours ago, Stump Water said:

 

https://www.dreamsmithphotos.com/arrow/

 

Great site! Thanks. 

 

Some others 

 

https://savingplaces.org/stories/the-true-story-behind-those-giant-concrete-arrows

 

 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/concrete-arrows-america

 

From the CNN page 

 

 

"This is Brian Smith's favorite arrow in Elko County, Nevada on the San Francisco-Salt Lake airway. 

Courtesy DREAMSMITHPHOTOS.COM"

 

https://patch.com/california/lamorinda/what-are-these-concrete-arrows-on-top-of-acalanes-ridge

 

 

 

www.wayalife.com/threads/concrete-arrow-quest-search-for-transcontinental-airway-beacons.13576/

 

(I had to play with that to get it to post.   I think you'll need to copy and paste into your browser)

 

 

 

An amazing system.  Most of the Arrows were straight. Some off at an angle.  Some 2 tails and 1 point.  Others 1 tail and 2 or 3 points.   Or, as the second photo,  2 and 2.

 

Must have been quite a job of work to get all the materials in to some of the more remote areas. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dapper Dave]

All I know is my stepfather, (US Army Air Force, 1943-1946), used to say you could always tell a flight of Naval Aviators over land, a loose gaggle of planes all following the same set of railroad tracks. 

The little town I work in has the name on the tiny water tower, but you would have difficulty reading it from any distance up. However, we have hills never most towns that have the town initials on them, large enough to read from pretty far up. 

[watab kid]

i kike seeing the town name on the water tower , the local team name is fun too , it was part of growing up and in my third quarter of a century of life soon my fourth i think all towns should still proudly displayt the info , - so often we are driving , passing by , i like knowing what i passed by - i wish i could stop and spend time in every community ive ever passed by , i feel a little loss at not having experienced their home town , 

 

i left mine decades ago - its not that i miss it really but ive always wanted to experience more , ive traveled a lot anfd lived in many places - worked all over the country , but ive been here more that half my life now , 

i once moved seven times in five years m ive been thinking to leave here - im sick of the california style politics and the taxes , we are a red state that suffers from the few large blue pockets m sorry didnt mean to change this to politics , but thats why i want to leave a state that i love dearly - ive lived in seven so far , looking to add another based on my wifes research 

[Wild Eagle]

When I first started flying back in the mid 70's GPS was not used for navigation.  If you lost track of where you were it could be a pain to find your place on a paper map again.  Especially if you were flying alone.  I usually was because I had just started flying and no one wanted to fly with me.  😄Can't say I blame them.  So, I liked that many towns painted the name of the town on the water towers.  I could just drop down, read the name and then find the town on the map.  Much easier than triangulating off of several distant points.  

[watab kid]

now thats a great reason , when the GPS gets shut down , i have a lot of paper maps in my car , i dont trust our electronics will always work , 

[Stump Water]

10 hours ago, watab kid said:

i dont trust our electronics will always work

 

Here's a fun exercise - especially with younger folks.  Pick a place that you go to fairly regularly.   Tell someone from out of town how to get there.  Give street/road names/numbers and, for the bonus, state distances between turns. 

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

44 minutes ago, Stump Water said:

Here's a fun exercise - especially with younger folks.  Pick a place that you go to fairly regularly.  

Better, tell your Millennial Grandkid to navigate ANYWHERE on a paper map. 

A few years ago when I was planning my first Arizona to Ohio road trip, I went down to the Truckstop and picked up an Atlas. When I showed the guys at work, they were astonished. Even the other truck drivers. Same thing when I pulled out a collection of CDs the I keep in the Jeep.   

[Caprock Kid]

Map reading is a lost skill.  Was assigned to Germany in the 80’s and when your car arrived on the boat, you had to have an emergency triangle, a first aid kit, and an Esso map to travel. Traveled all over Europe with those Esso maps. Still have the triangle and first aid kit (although the car has changed a few times in 40+ years). Still have the Esso map. Wife and I live to “re-travel” Germany looking at that old map in the keepsake box. 

[watab kid]

11 hours ago, Stump Water said:

 

Here's a fun exercise - especially with younger folks.  Pick a place that you go to fairly regularly.   Tell someone from out of town how to get there.  Give street/road names/numbers and, for the bonus, state distances between turns. 

a friend did that for me to his home in another state a number of years ago - its hard to find - ive used those hand written directions for about eight years now - road constrruction caused a couple issues but they always work , my GPS didnt work there the first couple years , haven't tried the new truck yet but we shall see this fall ,