" A PIONEER ... THE PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE " 1960s PENNSYLVANIA IHIGHWAY SYSTEM PROMO FILM MD10124
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- Опубліковано 16 чер 2023
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Presented by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, this film "A Pioneer...the Pennsylvania Turnpike" by Robert E. Hetherington looks at what goes into the day-to-day operations on America’s first highway, the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It begins with a short historical overview including what makes the Turnpike so unique. This is followed by an overview of those that work on and along the highway including: tollbooth operators, maintenance crews, state police and emergency response crews, tow trucks, fire fighters, tunnel operators, radio operators, and snow clearing crews. There is also an overview of some of the amenities offered such as service stations, picnic areas, and a tourist information. The film was shot by Eugene Visconti. Narrator Robert Hetherington served as the director of the Pennsylvania Highway Information Association, which has as its mission "...to help policymakers, the media, and the public understand that economic prosperity and a good quality of life simply cannot exist without a sound highway system."
0:08 an Amish or Pennsylvania Dutch horse drawn carriage going down a street, 0:33 Title “The Pennsylvania Turnpike”, 1:14 aerial overview and road views of the PA Turnpike, 2:01 Delaware River bridge, 2:15 Ohio Turnpike toll booth, 2:36 picture of a car from the initial opening of the turnpike, 2:55 engineers looking over diagrams, 3:43 cars driving into a tunnel portal, 3:52 Pennsylvania state capitol building 4:08 Interstate map of the US, 4:20 foreign engineers visiting the turnpike, 5:21 cars driving into the Lehigh Tunnel, 5:49 cars filling up at a gas station, 6:02 the PA Turnpike Commission Building followed by a meeting of the Commission, 6:39 Turnpike toll both, 7:19 maintenance crew painting traffic lines, cutting grass along the side of the highway, painting guard fences, replacing road sections, and scheduling work, 8:38 workers placing a mile marker, 9:17 road works sign and flagmen giving notice of construction, 9:38 an ambulance leaving its station, 9:48 state police officers answering the phone, inspecting the highway, and performing desk duties, 10:58 officer meets with an ambulance team, 11:21 an officer boarding a Bell helicopter, operated by the National Guard and with U.S. Army markings, to check for speeders 12:28 a car breaking down on the side of the road and an officer stopping to help out, 13:11 a tow truck shows up and tows the car, 13:38 overview of a service station, 14:04 inside of a service station restaurant, 14:31 tourist information center at a service station, 15:04 a family sets a picnic table, 15:56 workers putting up a guardrail, 16:38 a man and a women exchange driving seats before getting on the highway, 17:15 different examples of turnpike signage, 18:00 aerial footage of a tunnel entrance, 18:21 cars drive into tunnel and turn their lights on, 18:37 tunnel safety appliances like a fire truck and air fans, 18:51 overview of the control center of the tunnel, 19:28 turnpike personnel doing first aid training, 19:51 a car with an oversized speedometer driving down the road to make drivers aware of their speeds, 20:12 police officers inspecting their car’s fire fighting gear, 20:30 Harrisburg Turnpike radio operating center, 21:27 snow removal units clearing the road, 21:45 men sitting in the weather office, 22:32 a hostess at a service area writing weather information on a board, 22:46 snow plow or clearing vehicle coming in for maintenance, 23:41 a toll booth at night, 23:53 different cars with out of state license plates driving through a toll booth, 24:53 overview of Philadelphia, 25:23 view from a rearview mirror on a car driving into a tunnel, 25:38 different bridges across rivers, 26:19 summary footage of all employees working on the turnpike, 27:49 a car driving down the turnpike, 28:09 sun setting over the turnpike, 28:26 American flag being lowered in the sunset as the film comes to an end.
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13:33 The footage of the HoJo Service Plazas is a great memory. When my family rode the Turnpike in the late 60s, the oil companies were Boron, Esso and Gulf.
Remember when our public servants took their jobs seriously and worked hard to keep the public safe?
Pepperidge Farm remembers.
Always wanted to work for the PA Turnpike, love that highway. lots of memories of having picnics on the highway, made many day drives to random spots when i was a kid. Miss PA.
Traveled with my Dad as a child he was a truck driver so knew where good food was. We always stopped at Howard Johnson’s I loved the orange sherbert .
where u now ?
@@kidkique Texas
I have done some consultation work for the Turnpike on the history end. So I was employed by them for one day which resulted in a book the PTC published~
5:41 There is nothing better than being out on the open highway with a '60's model Cadillac.
Go FORD or go home! Cadillac pooie!!!!
@@davidcampbell1899 Never driven a '60's Cadillac, have you?
@@mexicanspec Of course not!!! I drive a Toyota, LOL!!!!
@@davidcampbell1899 I once drove a 1962 Formal Limo, with divider, from LA to Vegas then down to Arizona and back. It was like riding on a cloud. It is even better when it is a '60's hearse.
Imagine if they did equipment checks today before you got on the turnpike!
there were less stopovers and cars were less reliable
@@harrisonc985cars were more reliable if anything…
That sure isn't the turnpike today.
Going west to east (early 1970's), our first time through a turnpike in Oklahoma. my mom explained how the card worked that they gave you at the start of the turnpike. How they would check the time at the end of the turnpike. If you had gone too fast, you would get a ticket. So, we stopped at a rest stop for two hours and also stopped to eat at a restaurant. When we got to the end, we gave the card to a man in a booth. He punched it into a machine, then looked at the read out. He asked if we stopped somewhere. "We stopped for gas", which was the truth, but just a small part. "Okay" he grumbled, and we went on our way.
Time and distance can get you a ticket if you're not careful good observation 👌
I doubt that ever happened. You gave the to the collector, he took your money and you were off.
@@mitchelldakelman7006 agree drove turnpike 100s of times
No one was checking entrance and exit times
I’ll take ‘Things that never happened’ for $100, Alex.
Remember how safe you used to feel back then . I traveled the TP as a kid and now when I stop at one I'm always aware of my surroundings . Much of that was just being a kid but things have changed along with the faces .
Hart-Celler Act.
Eisenhower made a mandate in the 50s to have a national high-speed highway network for military use in a possible war emergency scenario. He was a fan of the German autobahns built by Hitler. I grew up around Youngstown, Ohio, and we used to get on the Ohio turnpike yo the PA turnpike just to cruise and relax. At times, it was practically vacant in that rural section. We'd drive to Pittsburgh just to party.
Cool!
Same! I'm from Sandusky, Ohio. Although it has changed a lot.
Heavy military equipment doesn't like steep grades and it was for national security purposes
Of course it was a federal highway, built with your money. Who invited Pantsylvania to charge tolls?
@@jaydowling213 The Pennsylvania Turnpike was built by the state of Pennsylvania with groundbreaking occurring in 1937. It was in no way part of the US interstate Highway System. As the video clearly states, it was funded by the sale of bonds and tolls. Congress decided in 1956 to authorize the Bureau of Public Roads (Later the FHWA) to incorporate toll facilities in the Interstate System to ensure connectivity without added expense.
Section 113(a) of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956
Upon a finding by the Secretary of Commerce that such action will promote the development of an integrated Interstate System, the Secretary is authorized to approve as part of the Interstate System any toll road, bridge, or tunnel, now or hereafter constructed, which meets the standards adopted for the improvement of projects located on the Interstate System, whenever such toll road, bridge, or tunnel is located on a route heretofore or hereafter designated as a part of the Interstate System: Provided, That no Federal-aid highway funds shall be expended for the construction, reconstruction, or improvement of any such toll road except to the extent hereafter permitted by law: Provided further, That no Federal-aid highway funds shall be expended for the construction, reconstruction, or improvement of any such toll bridge or tunnel except to the extent now or hereafter permitted by law.
These old videos of the Pa Turnpike are fun to guess where they are at and what service plaza they are showing. So much has changed in look. I recognize some areas of roadway easily though.
Production date on this film is about 1963.
I certainly miss HoJo's!
I love me a good turnpike!
15:15 “most occasions tables are shaded by broad trees” … shows family eating lunch at a table situated in baking, blazing, full-on, direct sun.
Due to Federal Highway Administration rules, the roadside picnic tables were removed years ago.
Those road-side tables were not safe, and all of them had to go. Besides, people were real pigs in those days. It was amazing and disgusting how much and how casually people littered back then! They thought nothing of it.
@@misterwhipple2870 I don't remember the litter because it was everywhere back then. I loved those tables, and remember picnics and short hikes, but even as a kid, I knew how dangerous it was getting back onto the road. Not surprised they're gone, but I still miss them.
I find these things so fascinating. Who was the original audience for this? Where would it have screened? Traveled the turnpike many times in the 70s on family trips to Illinois to see family.
Maybe as an infomercial at a movie theatre. Back then before the movie started you would see infomercials like this instead of previews of future movies
The film, made in 16mm, was made by folks who worked for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. It was not a theatrical film, but shown to civic groups, in schools and as a public relations film for local TV. Only a dozen or so prints were made, the one you see here is one of them and probably the best preserved.
@@thefrase7884: Investors. PA Turnpike Commission's initial funding was generated with muni bonds.
As a postscript, I know some folks who work at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, and recently received about 3000 feet of blank 16mm leader, and an unused 400 feet of Ektachrome film that Mr. Visconti, who filmed this movie, simply never used!
Im so glad they are making it 6 lanes in some areas. left lane hogs and heavy truck traffic make this highway a bad experience. But it cannot be denied that the route is very scenic and beautiful in all seasons. The large mountains, tunnels, cliffside vistas, and that epic straitaway pas carlisle (now 6 lanes) is fantastic. I have driven on much of the country’s highways and this one will always stand out as being perhapse the most beautiful and scenic on the east coast.
Amazing once again.
Thanks! This comes from the collection of a friend of ours who has preserved dozens of films about the New Jersey turnpike. Please consider becoming a channel member or join us on Patreon.com/Periscopefilm
@@PeriscopeFilmgoing to do that as I have enjoyed a number of your videos.
Some portions of Pennsylvania's turnpike carve along mountain sides. Pittshburg is beautiful city at night. when driving past its brightly lit bridges along the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers.
Turnpike doesn’t go anywhere near downtown pgh
When I lived in Allison park when I was a kid, we used the pike from exit 4 to the valley forge exit to visit grandma. Never knew how narrow the road was til I drove a Pete 379 over it. Loved the rest stops and going thru the tunnels. Used to duck below the window line of the car when we would Pass by TMI after it’s accident. And pump my arm to get the semis to blow their horns. Miss traveling on that road as a kid. Not so much as a trucker.
The Northeast Extension of the PA Turnpike (I 476) is the longest 3 digit interstate in the interstate system.. about 130 miles...
Only the 112.1 miles north of the mainline Turnpike are part of the Northeast Extension. The lower 20 miles are toll-free.
@@OldsVistaCruiser they were the parts constructed as part of the interstate highway system.
@@Insertgenericusernamehere809 - The Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike was PA route 9 for many years.
@@OldsVistaCruiser That was because only one Lehigh Tunnel existed when the route number was signed(the second tunnel was not added until the 1990s), meaning that it did not qualify for interstate standards. This is despite the fact they let the mainline was become part of the system in the late 1950s, even though all of the routes traveled through the two lane tunnels it had, which were not fully eliminated until 1971.
@@OldsVistaCruiser Also i was taking about the toll free segments. the toll segments oldest stretch of roadway actually predates the interstate highway system by a year.
Remember the old Howard Johnsons's along the way. If you find any of their old china, sell it, it's worth $. I found a small individual creamer in perfect condition here in Illinois. Sold on ebay for $50.
Was that a Japanese license plate at 24:03?
Special plate issued to US military personnel for use in Japan.
I can remember when Pennsylvania was a wonderful state. About 30-40 years ago. No more, too many New Jersey and New York people have moved in. And just like locus, they destroy everything they touch.
They did the same thing to Florida. I lived in the Amish Country only twenty years ago, and even since then PA has gone down-hill.
I have driven from Breezewood to the Ohio line, at least a hundred times!
Me too. But last year (2023) the toll from Youngstown cost $90+ so I'll be looking for a new route next time.
I could see myself working there a little tips and tricks safety person for you
The old school toll booths with the workers are cool. Today it's all electronic tolling. You either have an ez pass or the camera reads your plate and they send you a bill in the mail.
That started during the pandemic, before they did have toll collectors in some booths. They laid them all off during it and started the bill by plate and never brought them back
@@cuginoeddie8677terrible. You could always ask the toll booth collector for directions if you got off at the wrong exit. People are MUCH better than Google Maps in my experience.
@@cuginoeddie8677 The elimination of toll collectors had nothing to do with the Pandemic. It had been planned years earlier. The PA Turnpike started using EZ Pass in 2000. They started eliminating cash toll collection in 2016 and Toll By Plate (TBP) began being implemented prior to that.
@@guyintenn no they didn’t, I drive a truck for a living and been on 476 daily up to the pandemic, they still had toll collectors till covid. The PA turnpike system along with the bridges (WW and BF) laid their employees off and they did bill by plate. The bridges eventually brought their collectors back in maybe 2-3 months, PA turnpike system never did.
@@cuginoeddie8677 They eliminated the old toll booth near the turnpike toll bridge as part of the I-95 interchange project in 2016. The rest of the turnpike was converted later.
The newest cars I saw were 1963 models.
I believe this was filmed in 1962-1963 and released a public relations film in 1963, promoting the Turnpike. Bob Hetherington, who made the film for the PTC went on to make films for the Pennsylvania Dept of Transportation. Amazing that the film survived and available once again for public viewing.
What year is your Vista Cruiser?
@@stepheng3667 - I owned three 1969 models between 1982-2020.
Those Safety Station Wagons are really something...do you think the driver was wearing a seat belt?
No seat belts, they had bias ply tires and no power drum brakes or power steering and I bet they drove them 100 mph, just like the cop cars!!
I wonder how much drag that roof-top speedometer created and how much extra gas it cost him.
@@davidcampbell1899 People think of it as a golden age, but cars were really crappy back then.
Lot different nowdays on the PA turnpike
“Courteous officers accept tolls” 😂😂😂😂 I found some of them to be the most grouchiest and nasty workers around.
Give them a break, those tolls didn't go to giving them air conditioning nearly as often as it should have after the roads were paid off.
@@SnepperStepTV I do in reality. That has to be a tough job. Standing there for 8 hours in all kinds of weather with vehicle exhaust in your face all day. And I’m sure the motorists can be just as nasty as anyone.
Unfortunately, all of the Pennsylvania Turnpike toll collectors were laid off in favor of toll-by-mail.
Also, PA toll collectors were friendly. NJ and NY toll collectors won't say hello, goodbye or "F-U"!
Several were able to get in-office jobs in Harrisburg and became good friends after learning my interest in the history and preservation of Turnpike artifacts.
13:33 did anyone notice the bullet holes in the sign??
Top left on the “L” and the “e”
think those are dents/reflections
I get the sense that it was very "modern".
In THOSE days it was! Middle-aged and old people in this film grew up riding Model-Ts and Model-As on dirt country roads.
@@misterwhipple2870 Modern for the time, but as we explain in a book I authored with Neal Schorr, its design while on par in 1940 became very outdated as newer roads had wider medians -- its mentioned in the film, and all new reconstruction projects, will reflect a modern 21st century highway losing the character of the original Turnpike.
Very interesting. When did they stop the maintenance assistance? I am from PA (and live there now) but I lived in FL for almost 10 years. There I was shocked that you could call the FHP and they would send a 'Road Ranger' if you got a flat or ran out of gas. I had never heard of such a thing in PA. But this film makes it seem like we did have something similar....once upon a time.
They still provide the service but you need to call on your cell phone or wait for police
Here's my experience driving through the 4 active tunnels of the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike: ua-cam.com/video/YbFQa5d1T80/v-deo.html
Didn't we as in NJ have the first turnpike?
No. Pennsylvania had the first turnpike.
@@margaretklos8937 NJ had primitive Turnpikes in the 18trh century, but it was the first modern Turnpike, in Pennsylvania, opened in 1940. Next came the Maine Turnpike in 1947, followed by New Jersey in 1951-52. Both Pa and NJ connected their turnpikes in 1956.
@@mitchelldakelman7006 the PA turnpike was also expanded from 1950 to 1956.
Of the original turnpike. Only about 40% of it was built on the old railroad grade. The rest of tjr turnpike was new construction.
Some of the unused South Penn is extant but on private property. But in Bucannon Forest on the now unused Turnpike there is lots to see just south of the old Turnpike
“ The best driver in the family should be behind the wheel during high speed driving “ While the video shows a car pulled over and mom gives up the drivers seat to dad. 😂😂😂
The makers of this film would be doxxed and cancelled by the feminists if this were made today. 😂😂😂
🤣
Let the teenager drive, you will get to your location faster! Only time the car will see the speed limit is on the way by it, if you look quick enough! I was always getting shit from my mother for doing 90mph!
Yes back in the day it was great and to say the least it was a pleasure to drive on. Now it's a money making racket. It was to only be a toll road until it was paid for well needless to say it's not and never will be. They make too much money off this friggen money pit! I absolutely will not run that thing because of the cost to run it. Needless to say OHIO, INDIANA and WEST VIRGINIA is following suit. Cost money money money that's all they think about money.
Yep. It was supposed to be toll free by the 1950s, but for whatever reason were never removed
$90 to travel the turnpike, de mon rat run.
Going west from new jersey it has always been faster than I80
@Harrison C - That's odd because I-80 in PA is 311 miles vs. 359 miles on the Turnpike.
@@OldsVistaCruiser it takes longer to get to I80 from cincinnatti than the turnpike. in my experience the drive on 80 adds time. its also easier to speed on the turnpike. less state troopers and lower chance of a deer encounter.
@@harrisonc985 - Cincinnati is in southern Ohio. I-80 is in the northern part of OH and PA. I was thinking more of Cleveland or Toledo. I use OH 2 to avoid the Ohio Turnpike.
@@OldsVistaCruiser I use 80-90 when I'm in a hurry, but OH 2 is a much nicer drive.
BTW I had an Olds Vista Cruiser. I loved it, except when the gang asked "who's gonna drive?" Guess who every eye went to.