Here is one of the most cherished sights of many Route 66 travelers — the neon of the Blue Swallow Motel sign in Tucumcari, N.M.

The sign was recently repaired after being damaged by a severe hailstorm this spring. As you can see, save for a slightly balky transformer in the “Motel” letters, it’s looking pretty great.

To coincide with the International Route 66 Mother Road Festival this weekend, the Springfield (Ill.) Journal Register published a quiz to test your knowledge of America’s most famous highway.

I gained Big Daddy status (barely) by getting 12 of the 15 questions right. The Springfield questions might trip up even the most devoted roadies.

Here’s a video of the funky sights of the quintessential Route 66 town of Seligman, Ariz. You’ll see a lot of the Sno-Cap Drive-In, Angel Delgadillo’s barbershop and other businesses along the main drag.

I and some other bloggers have noticed a plethora of rumors that Disney/Pixar will make a sequel to its 2006 summer hit, “Cars.”

So I thought I’d e-mail Michael Wallis, who supplied the voice at the Sheriff of Radiator Springs in the animated film, and ask whether he’s heard anything about a “Cars 2.” He ran into some folks from Pixar during a tour for his Lincoln Highway book and asked that very question.

Here’s Wallis’ take:

No news has reached me regarding a CARS sequel. In August some of the Pixar team attended my very last Lincoln Highway signing event in San Francisco. Afterwards at dinner, I raised the sequel question, and all I heard was “wouldn’t it be nice,” and “maybe someday,” etc.

If there’s a sequel, believe me, the Sheriff will know. I’ll keep you posted.

So it sounds like Pixar is giving an answer similar to Al Gore’s when people ask whether he’ll run for president again:

Not very likely, but not completely discounting it, either.

If you’re a roadie who happens to be in Florida, you may want to stop at Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center and check out the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, which starts today and runs through Nov. 11.

And why would Route 66ers be interested? Well, there’s this excerpt from a report by the Orlando Sentinal:

It’s Oklahoma, OK? That’s right, O-k-l-a-h-o-m-a. Why focus on a state more renowned for its land rush than its grape crush? Because this is the Sooner state’s centennial, that’s why. And what can we expect? Well, according to festival coordinator Stacia Wake, there will be a chuck wagon and Native American cooking demonstrations. There will also be a display featuring Route 66 [my emphasis], which is all most people from other parts of the country usually see of Oklahoma as they go from one end to the other, and three 16-foot-high exhibits called Walls of Wonder that showcase trailblazing Okies.

Little other information about the Route 66 display is in the article or the Food and Wine Festival guide (it’s a 40-page Acrobat document).

So … is anybody going to check it out?

The Springfield (Ill.) Journal-Register, previewing the International Route 66 Mother Road Festival this weekend, published a great story about car exhibitor Tony Peterson of nearby Staunton, who collects Ford Pintos.

Yes, Pintos. That car that safety advocates said was a fire trap. A model that contains as much infamy as the Edsel.

Peterson has nine Pintos. Peterson says with a straight face: “They’re probably one of the best-looking cars ever made. They’re a lot more stylish than a Mustang ever was.”

Then there’s this gem:

Peterson, however, disputes an assertion in Mother Jones magazine that as many as 900 people died because of faulty fuel tanks. The federal government, he said, documented only 27 cases of people burning to death in Pintos.

Well, that’s a relief.

You can also read about Peterson driving a mint Pinto across the country only at night, because it tended to overheat.

It’s quite a story. Check it out.

I don’t yet have the first DVD box set of the first half-season of the “Route 66″ television show. It’s not going to be released until late October, and review copies haven’t yet been mailed.

However, the folks at Roxbury Entertainment sent a promotional DVD of one episode from 1960 — “The Swan Bed,” shot on location in New Orleans. Tod and Buz’s adventure with an ill-tempered woman, a nervous young girl, sinister smugglers and an epidemic was the third episode of the series.

I watched “The Swan Bed” on my laptop. Even while viewing it with a small screen and dinky speakers, it was apparent that Roxbury Entertainment transferred the original film footage to DVD. The picture was so sharp, you could see co-star Martin Milner’s freckles in several scenes. The sound was clear and didn’t have the muddiness of other TV shows from that era. If nothing else, putting these “Route 66″ episodes on DVD is a form of preservation.

And about halfway through “The Swan Bed,” I started to understand one big part of the show’s appeal. Film director Werner Herzog calls it the “voodoo of location,” and “Route 66″ had it in spades. I recognized several real-life places in New Orleans, including the Mississippi River, the riverfront, the city’s above-ground graveyards, a French Quarter neighborhood and a lightly disguised Cafe Du Monde coffee shop. “Route 66″ wasn’t just on a set; it was in the middle of real places and real people. It may have been fiction, but a dose of reality was always there.

I can’t wait to see the full offering of “Route 66’s” first half-season. Pre-orders for the four-DVD set can be taken here.

Required public hearings about designating Oklahoma’s Route 66 a national scenic byway are working their way across the state, and reports from newspapers are coming with them.

The Associated Press has an article.

The Sapulpa Daily Herald has one.

And the Daily Oklahoman in Oklahoma City attended a hearing in Edmond:

“More neon,” Marilyn Emde said.

Mel Norton said he’d like to see it rebuilt with a mind toward his fellow bicyclists.

“I’ve biked down Route 66 before, and I’d like to do it again, but it needs to be in better shape,” he said.

Bikers come from all around the world to travel Route 66 in Oklahoma, but the state of the road is squandering their good will, Norton said.

Some hesitated to give their suggestions, fearing them too extravagant, but Carter-Burgess representative Lynne Marie Whately said this is the time to think of the best.

“There are many pots of money out there,” she said. “This is the ‘dream big’ part.”

The most popular request was for more signage and to preserve what could be saved of the old Route 66.

Andrews said preservation was a goal, but that it has to be balanced with safety.

Emde, by the way, is executive director of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association.

And I’m presuming the cyclist is referring to western Oklahoma’s portion of Route 66 being in worse condition. Parts of the road west of El Reno are admittedly primitive, mainly because they were built in the 1930s. However, I’m not real keen on replacing original, historic roadbed. And neither is the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program.

A Saturday night music show, titled “Route 66,” soon will air on St. Louis’ flagship radio station, KMOX-AM.

This was initially reported on the STLmedia.net rumor site Tuesday. KMOX account executive Randy Raley confirmed it in an e-mail Wednesday and added that he’s “thrilled” to host the show.

Here’s the announcement in a news release that Raley sent:

Route 66, the iconic highway memorialized in song, winds across the United States, through St. Louis, down through Missouri, Oklahoma, New Mexico and beyond.

KMOX, the iconic radio station established in 1925, blasts its 50,000 watt signal across the vast stretch of Route 66.

Now KMOX debuts a new Saturday night show titled “ROUTE 66 .” ROUTE 66 is hosted by St. Louis radio veteran Randy Raley.

ROUTE 66 on KMOX is a hip, retro slice of life, featuring the music heard on AM radios in the Chevys, Buicks, and Fords driving across this exciting American Highway. On ROUTE 66, you’ll also hear historic moments from the huge KMOX audio vault. ROUTE 66 returns radio to its American roots.

So whether you’re out on the road this Saturday night, or relaxing at home, please enjoy ROUTE 66 on KMOX.

The release provides a sampling of music that will be heard on the “Route 66″ show — Elvis Presley, Percy Sledge, Righteous Brothers, Bobby Darin, Chuck Berry, Frank Sinatra, Temptations, The Byrds, Martha and the Vandellas, Roy Orbison, Tony Bennett, The Platters, and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. So the music skews from the 1950s to about the mid-1960s, when AM radio ruled the roost and Route 66 was still a certified U.S. highway.

And the vintage news clips sound like a nice touch.

There’s no word yet when the show will debut. Many broadcasts will be partly pre-empted by St. Louis Blues games during hockey season, but the “Route 66″ show still ought to get some air time unless the team is on the West Coast.

KMOX can be heard on the Internet here. KMOX’s clear-channel signal also can be heard in 43 states and several foreign countries after sundown. I can attest to hearing the “Mighty MOX” loud and clear in Florida and south Texas at night.

So if you’re east of the Rockies, chances are good that you will be able to turn your radio to the 1120 AM frequency and hear Raley’s show on Saturday night.

UPDATE: I e-mailed Raley some questions to get more details on the show.

Time slot for “Route 66″ is 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Central time on Saturdays. The debut is tentatively set for Oct. 14, unless ESPN “bumps” the Oklahoma-Missouri football game to that time slot.

As for whose idea it was for the show …

The idea came from our GM, Dave Ervin, who thought that we needed to freshen up what we were doing on Sat. night. I don’t think he wanted to syndicate anything and decided away from the “Snake Oil” selling programs.

KMOX is iconic and so is Route 66. KMOX reaches about 85% of the road from Chicago to the mountains of California. There is just a certain mystique about the road and we wanted to come up with a name that symbolizes and represents in a few words the music and feel of what we are doing. We wanted to capture what it must have been like to travel that road circa 1956-1965 and what was going on at that time culturally. [...]

I grew up on a farm and really dug the old powerhouse AM giants … WLS, KAAY, WLAC and, of course, KMOX. I have been in the business for over thirty years, doing a number of different formats, but my first love were the guys who could tell stories and make you laugh over the intro of a song. I have extensive work in oldies but the show won’t really be about me. We have production pieces, old commercials and drops that will blow your mind. Our imaging guy has kept everything over the last fifty years. We plan on doing requests, high school shout-outs and all of the stuff that the “boss jocks” used to do.

I am very pumped about it.

The Arizona Republic published an excellent preview about this weekend’s Standin’ on a Corner Festival in the Route 66 town of Winslow, Ariz.

Unless you’ve not heard pop radio in the past 30-some years, you know that Winslow’s claim to fame is being mentioned in the Eagles‘ hit song, “Take It Easy,” co-written by Jackson Browne.

The Republic’s article contains a few interesting tidbits:

• Proceeds from the festival go into Standin’ on a Corner Foundation, which works to revitalize Winslow’s downtown. The foundation springboarded from the La Posada Foundation, which saved that town’s marvelous Harvey House.
• After tense moments in recent years, the Standin’ on a Corner Park is open to tourists again. A building, on which a mural depicted a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowing down to take a look an easy-going drifter, was destroyed by fire in 2004. The mural survived the blaze, but city officials were concerned the wall could collapse. It’s been shored up now, and the site of the destroyed building will eventually be turned into a park.
• The Eagles have never performed at the festival, but they have indeed visited the Standin’ on a Corner Park. They’ve come late at night, to avoid a big hubbub. Also, “when Jackson Browne played in Window Rock a few years ago, he mentioned stopping at the park at three in the morning to avoid the crowds.”

The Journal Record reports that an old Phillips 66 cottage-style gas station at 602 S. Elgin in Tulsa recently opened in its new configuration — as an Avis rental-car business.

The station, built about 1932, was part of an older alignment of Route 66 through downtown. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places.

Local developer Michael Sager acquired the property and used a Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program cost-share grant to help renovate the building.

The other old-style Phillips 66 station in town is here, on Admiral Boulevard.

The Daily Oklahoman caught up with Laddie Williams, who’s cycling east across the country to raise money for the families of nine firefighters who died in a furniture store fire in Charleston, S.C. He was in Oklahoma City on Monday, and had raised $6,000 to $7,000 so far.

Williams’ site is here; information on how to donate is here.

Longtime readers Dan and Cyndy Imming, who are relocating from Las Vegas to Route 66 in Galena, Kan., have informed me that the Green Parrot Tavern in Galena will be torn down Thursday.

The building, which is more than 100 years old, became structurally unsafe when a sinkhole unexpectedly opened up behind the property in August 2006, causing part of the building to fall into the hole. The sinkhole was caused by a collapsing underground mine that was abandoned many years ago. The town is peppered with such mines.

The Immings sent me these photos of the demolition preparations around the building on Tuesday:

You can see in the second photo how badly damaged the building is, even before it was torn down.

The Immings said this about the razing operation:

The plan is to drill holes through the masonry walls, marked by the little white crosses on the side of the building, run a cable through the holes and connect the cable loop to the giant backhoe pictured. As you might guess, the backhoe will then begin pulling the cable tighter and tighter until the first floor wall is pulled out far enough for the second floor walls to collapse inward. At least that is the plan.

In the photo above, the Immings say it is the first of more than 300 test holes that are being drilled. The idea is to find the most dangerous undermined spots and fill them with coal ash and water. It’s estimated it will take up to $60 million to rectify Galena’s problem mines.

It’s a shame the Green Parrot is coming down. But the residents of Galena may look back in future years and say that the historic tavern’s demise provided the impetus to do something about the long-ignored mines. Galena didn’t want to become another Picher, Okla., that is being abandoned because of undermining.

The residents of Pulaski County, Mo., were asked to choose the cover of its tourism bureau’s brochure. According to the Waynesville Daily Guide, the cover that spotlighted Route 66 won by a 2-to-1 margin.

You can see the cover image here, which will undergo some minor revisions before going to press.

About a week ago, I received a message from a reader in Albuquerque, expressing concern about the old Nob Hill Motel on Central Avenue, aka Route 66.

And, well, I’ll let the reader explain what he saw:

The Nob Hill Motel (3712 Central Ave. SE) is just a few blocks from where I live and I pass it daily. It has recently been condemned and shut down. [...] So I was quite surprised when one day I passed it and noticed that the neon had been stripped from it and that one side was now a different set of colors, like it was being prepped for restoration. Then sure enough, yesterday I saw them out there putting in new neon and the sign was completely repainted in a new color scheme. This place is going to be bulldozed and I don’t understand why someone (who?) is spending the money to replace a sign that will never be turned on.

After talking to someone in the city and a co-owner of the property, we’re not sure what’s going to happen to the Nob Hill Motel, but bulldozing it isn’t one of the likely options.

Ed Boles at the City of Albuquerque confirmed that the Nob Hill Motel had been condemned earlier this summer because of several violations. He also confirmed that the Nob Hill sign (shown above) was being restored with the help of matching funds from the National Park Service.

Boles said the owners of the Nob Hill probably won’t reopen it as a motel, even if the problems are repaired:

They are weary of running motels and dealing with on-street residents of the area. We don’t know what these owners will do with all their properties but we are trying to help them find ways of preserving as many motels as possible.

Matthew Terry, one of the partners in the group that owns the Nob Hill and several other vintage Route 66 motels in Albuquerque, said the future of the Nob Hill Motel is “up in the air” for at least a couple of months while the group consults with preservationists and architects. Terry casually mentioned he was about to talk to Kaisa Barthuli at the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, so the group seems earnest about preserving at least some of its motels.

Terry said the group is looking at the possibility of converting the Nob Hill and other motels in its portfolio into other commercial ventures, but he said it was too early to tell which direction it’s heading.

Stay tuned.

(Photo of Nob Hill Motel sign by Steven Doherty.) 

The Joplin (Mo.) Globe reports that the first of 10 public meetings about designating Oklahoma’s Route 66 as a national scenic byway was held Monday at the Civic Center in Miami, Okla.

Those meetings will help develop a corridor management plan to help market the road.

Pam Lewis, with the Oklahoma Byways Program at the University of Oklahoma, said a national designation would provide federal grant funds for communities to upgrade infrastructure along the route, put up signs, and develop brochures to market the section of the route that passes through the communities.

If the plan is approved, communities could submit joint grant applications for a regional approach to encouraging public awareness of the historic route. [...]

“By summer, we should know something,” Lewis said. “We’re hopeful and optimistic.”

The eventual goal is to make all of Route 66 a contiguous national scenic byway. The states of Arizona, Missouri, Illinois and New Mexico are part of it. Oklahoma is working on it. All that’s left is to get Texas, Kansas and California aboard the program. The Lone Star State will be the toughest nut to crack, but people are working on it.

I’ll post more about the Oklahoma meeting times when I get them.

UPDATE: Just got the meetings schedule.

Tulsa
Tuesday, Sept. 25, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
Central Park facility, 1028 E. Sixth St.

Sapulpa
Tues., Sept. 25, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
1st United Bank, 2nd Floor,
Dewey Ave and Route 66

Stroud
Wed., Sept. 26, 7-8:15 p.m.
City Hall, 220 W. Second St.

Edmond
Wednesday, Sept. 26, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
Holiday Inn Express, East Second Street

Weatherford
Thursday, Sept. 27, 2-3 p.m.
City Hall, Blair Hall, 522 W. Rainey

Clinton
Thursday, Sept. 27, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
Frisco Center, 101 S. Fourth St.

El Reno
Thursday, Sept. 27, 10-11 a.m.
County Commissioners Chamber,
201 N. Choctaw

Elk City
Friday, Sept. 28, 3-4 p.m.
Elk City Chamber of Commerce

Erick
Friday, Sept. 28, 6-7 p.m.
Roger Miller Museum

There a few things coming up that should be of interest to Route 66ers:

• On Friday, Sept. 28, a ceremony will be held at 2:30 p.m. to dedicate a historical marker at the site of the former Pig Hip Restaurant Museum in Broadwell, Ill. The Pig Hip was destroyed by fire in March. Longtime Pig Hip owner Ernie Edwards is scheduled to be there. For more, call 217-732-8687.
• The Oklahoma Route 66 Association is holding a Fall Museum Cruise on Saturday, Oct. 13. It begins at POPS in Arcadia, Okla., at 9 a.m. and works its way west to the Oklahoma History Center, Canadian County Historical Museum and Historic Fort Reno. A few details for meals are still being worked out; for more information, call 405-258-0008.
• On Saturday, Oct. 20, the Railsplitter Antique Auto Club and the Route 66 Heritage Foundation of Logan County are teaming up for a car-show fundraiser at The Mill, a long-closed historic restaurant on Route 66 in Lincoln, Ill. There will be tours of The Mill, meals of schnitzel strips, chips and soda for $7, a drawing and, of course, all the antique cars there. All proceeds will go to The Mill’s restoration. For information, call 217-732-8687.
• A sharp-eyed reader noticed in a newspaper article that the McKinley Bridge that connects Venice, Ill., to St. Louis will reopen on Nov. 10. The historic bridge, which once carried an alignment of Route 66, was closed in 2001 for major repairs. This site says the bridge was originally dedicated Nov. 10, 1910, which may explain why the date was chosen for the reopening.

On an obscure 1926-38 alignment of Route 66 between Kellyville and Bristow, Okla., sits the remnants of old motor court. It’s mentioned in Jim Ross’ “Oklahoma Route 66″ guidebook, but little else seems to be known about it.

It’s been closed for many years, but its seems the owner is doing a good enough job to keep the stone structure usable for storage.

Near the entrance of this half-mile alignment from newer Oklahoma 66 is a rusty old sign that says “Stop — Private Drive,” although it’s probably county jurisdiction. But I’ve heard the owner is very protective of his property, and there are dogs around. So if you check it out, it’s best if you stay in your car, or at least stay on the old road if you’re there for a photo op. The alignment dead-ends near this property, so you’ll have to double back to Oklahoma 66.

Also, on Sunday evening we went back to POPS in Arcadia, Okla. The wait for dinner seating was less than 15 minutes this time, and the food was delicious. It was apparent that the operational kinks seen during the restaurant’s first week had been ironed out.

A certain song once said:

Seems it never rains in southern California
Seems I’ve often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California, but girl, don’t they warn ya?
It pours, man, it pours

That sure seemed to apply at the annual Route 66 Parade in Duarte, Calif., on Saturday.

At least cooler heads prevailed.

In Mark Muckenfuss’ column in the Inland Press-Enterprise, he said he was doing some research about old Route 66 in Southern California when he uncovered a 1967 newspaper article by Earl E. Buie about Interstate 40 road-construction plans through the Bristol Mountains.

Normally, construction crews would have blasted their way through the hills with dynamite and bulldozers. But the project directors had more intriguing materials in mind.

Nuclear bombs.

No kidding.

According to Buie’s column, “Two nuclear blasts at either end of the proposed cut would be set off, literally lifting an estimated 68 million tons of rock out of the mountain.”

The resultant gash in the ground was expected to be 2 miles long, 300 feet deep and 1,200 feet wide at the top.

The minor annoyance of radioactivity didn’t seem to have bothered the planners, or Buie for that matter. Its potential problems aren’t mentioned in the piece. Perhaps the designers felt such negative aspects would be outweighed by being able to drive the highway at night without needing headlights.

They did expect to save money.

Conventional explosives, Buie reported, would have cost $22 million for the project. Nuclear bombs could do the blasting for $14 million.

Wow, radioactivity and a savings of nearly 60 percent.

You certainly couldn’t accuse these folks of not thinking outside the box.

Such a plan would have given Route 66 travelers more than just a nostalgic glow.