Gribblenation

In far eastern Citrus County along the Withlacoochee River there is a small ghost town known Pineola along former Florida State Road 39/County Route 39.  Pineola once was a siding of a Atlantic Coast Railroad line which as the sight of the "Great Train Wreck of 1956." The former Atlantic Coast Railroad line is now part of the Withlacoochee State Trail which details the Great Train Wreck of 1956.  The Great Train Wreck of 1956 was a head-on collision between two trains; one heading south from Dunnellon and the other heading north from Croom.  Both trains were heading towards each other with a full payload of freight at speeds close to 50 MPH.  The wreck was blamed on foggy conditions leading to a failure to notice that both trains on the same track until was too late.  Apparently both trains had just been fitted with radios which the engineered involved refused to use until they were given pay as radio operators.  Apparently one of Croom Station agents attempted in vein t

After returning to US Route 191 from Utah State Route 313 I turned south towards Moab and Arches National Park. This blog serves as Part 16 of the 2016 Fall Mountain Trip Series; Part 15 can be found here: 2016 Fall Mountain Trip Part 15; A Dead Horse of course and Utah State Route 313 Modern access to Arches National Park from US Route 191 is via the Arches Scenic Drive which is located slightly north of the Colorado River and UT 279.  From the entrance station of Arches National Park the Arches Scenic Drive climbs above the Moab Fault and provides a vista of US 191. Access to Arches National Park used to be via the first Utah State Route 93.  UT 93 used to run from what was US 160 (modern US 191) directly east into Arches National Monument along Willow Springs Road.  UT 93 would enter Arches National Monument approximately where the Balanced Rock Trailhead Parking Lot is located now.  Former UT 93 is still a maintained roadway and is listed as Bureau of Land Management

After reaching the western terminus of US Route 212 I entered Yellowstone National Park from the Northeast Entrance Station. This blog serves as Part 15 of the 2016 Summer Mountain Trip Series; Part 14 can be found here: 2016 Summer Mountain Trip Part 14; US Route 212 over the Beartooth Highway Yellowstone National Park is the oldest National Park in the United States having been signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872.  Yellowstone National Park consists of land located on the Yellowstone Caldera mostly in Wyoming but also in parts of Montana and Idaho as well. Contrary to what Google Maps might tell you, the US Routes cease to exist within Yellowstone National Park.  Yellowstone instead is traversed by a series of roadways maintained by the National Park Service, many which actually shutter in the winter months.  The Northeast Entrance Road begins at the west terminus of US Route 212 and follows the Lamar River to the Grand Loop Road at the confluence with th