Abilene Motor Express....A New Place To Call Home

They're kinda quiet to me but the little green light flashes when you get the pass. No as brightly or as often as the old Capt. Crunch, but the tone beeps a lot longer, as someone else here also noted. So far the only scales it hasn't responded to seem like ones that normally leave their transponder off when open anyway. Yeah, NC, I'm talkin' about you.

 

I got the green light on 95 in NC yesterday at the first scale. 2nd one was closed when I got to it. Got red lighted in VA. I don't believe there is much difference in the sound of the tone, so you actually have to look at the dang thing. I kept looking up for it when in the Volvo it's at the bottom of the windshield now. And ugly.

 

Durham and Mt. Airy are the two that usually don't give me a tone when they're open.

 

All I can tell you is:

--US 33 is supposed to be really unpleasant. The dispatcher at Armstrong is an old trucker and says he won't even drive it in his car, much less in an 18-wheeler. The other Abilene trucker I talked to yesterday said he'd run it empty just for laughs, but he wouldn't run it loaded.

--US 219 is pretty hairy as I mentioned, so if US 33 is even worse, yowza. However, the view from US 48 once you get on the new, Interstate-like bits is spectacular in spots. I coulda probably made the run from Beverly to Sandston in six hours if I hadn't missed the turn south on 259 in Baker.

-- If you go US 219/US 48, just follow the signs and ignore the GPS. The GPS thinks there's a bridge in Parsons that isn't rated for trucks, but I didn't see any actual signage indicating that. US 219 and US 48 run together starting in Elkins, just north of the Armstrong plant, and you can pretty easily follow the signs for US 48 the rest of the way.

--US 48 turns into the nice, new Interstate-quality freeway in Davis. You'll pass through Thomas (yes, you really do need to take the right-hand road -- try not to hit any of the parked cars) first, and then you'll turn left onto WV93/US48 a mile or two later.

So, to sum up:

--US 48 from Elkins to Baker. Just follow the signs. Keep an eye out for a right turn in Parsons to stay on US 48. Turn left at Davis.

--US 259 (or maybe it's WV 259) south at Baker. This will put you out on I-81 around Harrisonburg, south of I-66, north of I-64.

If you're feeling froggy, take a right out of the Armstrong plant and go south on US219 for 80 miles until you reach I-64 and let us know how it goes.

 

Little chart at the front of the atlas says that section south of Beverly from 250 to Valley Head is off limits, so no, not THAT froggy.

How long was the trip the way you went? I'm assuming you took 66 to 17 from Strasburg. Load's not due til tomorrow and I know they'd prefer it tonight but if I'm outta time I'm outta time.

 

Yeah, that's how I went. VA 37 around Winchester, south on 81, east on 66 to 17, yadda yadda yadda. Probably took me six and a half hours.

 

Haha take it from someone who just took 33East from Fairmont WV to Elkton VA, I highly advise not taking it. IF you are loaded DO NOT take it. 10% grade for 4.5 miles with 25 mile an hour curves that thank God noone was coming towards me cuz you cant make them in just your lane. I was empty thankfully but it is right up there with 1 of the worst roads I've driven. When you enter VA and go up Shenadoah Mountain omfg lol. It seriously reminded me of the mountain that the coyote used to always chase the roadrunner on lmao. Seriously just 1 big circle until you're at 4000ft elevation. So glad to be on flat ground in Ohio now. Oh and i took it in the dark between 3 and 6am. Yea I'm an idiot lmao

 

As an epilogue, I took 33 and really had little trouble. Note, I had about the best circumstances one could: it was dry, bright, clear the whole way, and I had the forethought to run my tandems up as far as they'd go. Allowed me to maintain my lane on all but two curves and what little traffic was with me seemed to be on their best behavior today. It's very easy to see how that route can be as bad as folks say if any one of those conditions were less than optimal but I have to wonder how many of those accidents were because a driver just didn't do any research on the route beforehand or didn't treat the situation with the respect and professionalism it demands. I took it low and slow. Probably didn't get over 20 on the downslopes and I never saw above 45 before I got back to 81. Whole trip around 4.5 to 5 hours.