What year did they start using yellow lines for no passing zones ?
I started driving in 1959 and can remember only dotted white and solid white lines
then but i forget when they changed
I have a short section of highway on my layout and I’m modeling 50s to early 60’s
I am not sure what year they went to the yellow lines, but I am almost certain that in the time frame you are modeling the lines would be white. Others will chime in with more detailed answers. Mike
I remember my Dad commenting on someone crossing a yellow line to pass (and thus comming right at us!) in the mid 1950’s (in Indiana).
I live here in Indiana, and some of these nuts will still will pass you in a double yellow lined no passing zone! A lot of them are so much in a hurry, they will even risk going around crossing gates at RR crossings to beat the train. A prime example of this was around 3 weeks ago in Gary, Ind. that video was taken of a woman racing down a parking lot to get ahead of one train in an attempt to beat it to the crossing, and her van was hit by a train from the opposite direction, and then by the very train she was trying to beat. Her young daughter was killed, and her and her son are in critical condition in a Gary hospital.
I live here in Indiana, and some of these nuts will still will pass you in a double yellow lined no passing zone! A lot of them are so much in a hurry, they will even risk going around crossing gates at RR crossings to beat the train. A prime example of this was around 3 weeks ago in Gary, Ind. that video was taken of a woman racing down a parking lot to get ahead of one train in an attempt to beat it to the crossing, and her van was hit by a train from the opposite direction, and then by the very train she was trying to beat. Her young daughter was killed, and her and her son are in critical condition in a Gary hospital.
According to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, yellow lines for opposing traffic was implemented in 1971.
http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/kno-history.htm
Rick
Boy, if you want a consistant source of misinformation, you can always count on this site to provide it.
The 1948 MUTCD Manual addresses the subject as follows: White is used for all applications except the double center line on multi-laned highways…, where yellow is recommended.
However, this choice proved controversial, such that white remained “permissible” for the time being.
The 1961 MUTCD Manual flatly states: The color of highway center lines will be YELLOW.
A decade later, the 1971 MUTCD Manual simply re-affirms paint color usage for highway lines in general, when it says: Yellow to be used for lines separating traffic flowing in opposing directions. White lines to be used for separating lanes where traffic flows in the same direction.
Granted, the color change wasn’t applied universally overnight but it was adopted by all Interstates, state and large municiple highway systems by the early to mid 1960’s.
CNJ831
You’re mostly correct, however, the 1971 MUTCD made the change to yellow for opposing traffic, not re-affirmed.
To answer the OPs question, yellow was mandated for no passing zones in 1961.
This link gives this information plus more, even how states used different colors based on pavement type (asphalt versus concrete, etc).
http://tcd.tamu.edu/documents/evolution.stand-alone.pdf
Rick
Is “Terry in Texas” modeling Texas? One source for him would be back issues of the state highway dept produced magazine Texas Highways Every issue had some article bragging about a new road project with pictures. My public library has bound volumes going back into the 1950s.
No i’m Modeling WVA
Terry, To really be acurate, you need to contact the Highway dept. of the state in question.
I started driving in 1954, here in Texas and traveled over much of the western US. During the late '50s and '60s, I saw Solid White center stripes, Solid Black center stripes, Solid Yellow center stripes. You could see dashed center lines in the above colors as well as dashed or solid “No Passing” lines. It all depended on which state you were in and in some cases which county.
Again, the Highway Dept. of the state your interested in is the only place to get a reasonably acurate answer. While there were many recommendations, standardization didn’t come about until massive Federal Highway Funds became available in the late '60s early '70s — “big brother” has the money he can tell you what to do [^] John T.
This is good advise. Also some secondary paved roads had no edge or center markings. The road our farm was on was dirt then paved back in the early 50’s. Only markings on that road was center line in white on the curves. This lasted up into the eighties, then even those lines disappeared. Also I remember stop signs were yellow into the fifties where I lived. Ken
When I got my drivers license in 1981 I was taught that Yellow lines are for roads with 2 way traffic and white lines are for roads that have lanes that travel in the same direction, like 2 lane Highways.