Flying J in Breezewood, PA is closed

Some of you do not know your history in Breezewood. I don't mind taking flak about grand pa this or that. That does not bother me

Here is some light reading. Breezewood was positioned on a new highway that once was a abandoned railroad grade. So most of it is literally no value after it was surveyed as a railroad route. So someone created a highway for it. Presto... Eisenhower the father of our interstate system designated the Pike as the first of many.

Military Convoys Historical Marker

Troops train for Iraq using ambush alley near Breezewood

Our History – Gateway Travel Plaza

Visiting the Abandoned PA Turnpike near Breezewood, Pennsylvania

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/pa/pa3100/pa3193/data/pa3193data.pdf

 

And a post to seperate the pile of links.

Breezewood was a first set up by Washington in the French and Indian war era when he was about 20 years old. The area was selected as a military problem against the french. Fort Necessity on US 40 SE of there is a site of his defeat among other problems. Braddock, GW's Superior was eventually killed by the enemy and was deliberately buried in one of the major dirt pathways and run over by many wagons until there is no way to know someone is buried there. Its possible we may drive over Braddock even today. Its unknown

This military march dates to the time of Williamsburg VA when they were part of the British Crown, the VA Governor was the one responsible for putting together this military effort and GW took advantage of the situation to be a part of it.

https://www.dot7.state.pa.us/CRGIS_Attachments/Survey/1997-M002-042.pdf

 

When you swing off of US 30 onto the turnpike access road in Breezewood,that's where the old tollbooths used to be,all 2 of them, right across from the old Snyders Gateway. When the built the bypass up the hill and did away with the tunnels,the mile long access road to the tollbooths from US 30, is the old turnpike.
My dad was one of the first persons to ever transverse the Pa. Pike. In 1939,before the road was officially opened,my dad and a buddy moved the sawhorses,and sneaked onto the tpk. in his 29 Chevy,with no reverse. Drove from Irwin,where it started back then,all the way to Carlisle,without getting caught,running out of gas,or breaking down.

Hard to believe there is only one real truckstop in Breezewood anymore, sign of the times,I guess.

 

You could say the same things about any community that sits at a geographic "choke point". The fact is military movements had no major role in the town's economy. There is no "ghost town" of derelict buildings or infrastructure like there is in other former military town's. If I looked a bit I could probably find several other fuel stations within a 50 mile radius that also had military contracts.

There are town's that were created by the existence of the military and or military movements. Breezewood isn't one of them.

No, the highway was built for commerce, and the military used it. The military had no involvement in the funding or building of the roadway.

 

It was a crap hole. But it was a good place with plenty of showers and a large laundry room. Probably the only reason to stop.

 

Thank God. I ran from Somerset to Petersburg VA a lot and always ended up staying there cause the TA was full. If you called that place a landfill you'd be insulting a landfill. I always wished Pilot would revamp that place because it really is in a convenient location. If you're running 522 instead of 70 down to VA there's really no other truck stops until Fredericksburg besides a couple little ones. That place was dirty and always smelled terrible. I refused to eat at their "kitchen" because the one cook had a popcorn Sutton beard that pretty much touched all the food. The only thing that made it worth going to was the blue beacon and the CAT scale

 

As bad as that F’n J was it did serve a purpose. Let’s hope Loves or Pilot/J or whomever comes in and puts up a respectable truck stop.

 

Ive been having some trouble locating a truckstop in the Kansas region. I remember a cotton tree grove, two acres of a little gravel, room for 2 tables if that, grill on east side inside room and two women who cooked to order. Ive been trying to recover that little truckstop as a change of pace from the BW group stop talk.

 

Whelp. That sucks. They had pierogies all the time on the deli in there which was awesome.

I didn't care that the place was run down. It hadn't been modernized (other than the Perkins) so that was a huge plus for me as I really hate the mindless 'modernize everything' attitude. Modern style is bland, awkward and largely colorless.

Glad I don't run that way anymore in any event. Parking was tough enough as it is, I figure with the loss of that place, y'all are down about 200 spots on that corridor, it's gonna get ugly.

 

Can somebody put in a call to the Sapp brothers, see if maybe they want to take it over? I know they only have stops up on the 80 (and I think only like five or six at that), but that's a great location (albeit not the easiest for us trucker types to navigate)...and once they find out about that Crawford's Gift Shop down the hill on 30 there...so yeah, I think I could work!