I know this information has been published many times over the years in MR and other magazines. So this is a two part question. Is there a search function for the past issue articles? I’ve tried the MR search but the results don’t come up with any relevant articles that relate to the subject I’m trying to find. More importantly, what would be a typical mid 1950’s country road width? And perhaps a typical “main” street? Thanks for any information.
cpsrrguy:
First, there is a search function. Go to the right side of this page and scroll down to “Search Our Community”. Select “Model Railroader Forums” for the broadest search and then enter your subject. There are lots of threads related to your topic.
As far as I can determine based on my own research, here are the approximate widths:
Paved Road:
Hwy lanes - 12’ wide
Urban roads - 11’ wide
Residential - 10’ wide
Shoulders - min 8’ on modern roads. Edit: As others have pointed out, there are lots of roads with little or no shoulder.
Gravel Road:
9’ wide lanes with 2 1/2’ shoulders but this is highly variable
Narrower lanes can be used in areas where traffic is light as long as there is enough shoulder to allow for passing traffic.
Parking:
7’ min - 8’ is more realistic
Sidewalks:
6’ wide min in front of buildings (wider in larger urban areas)
4’ wide in open spaces
All these are generalizations. Selective compression obviously can be used.
(Just my own 2 cents worth - if you are going to compress a street scene then resist the urge to park cars where there will not be enough space for traffic to pass by. Everyone who has ever driven a car will notice!)
Dave
Thanks Dave for the information. I see the search now. Must be getting old.
Bill
Good information.
There are still many roads with much less than an 8’ paved shoulder. There were many more in the 1950’s. There are still a few California State highways where the is only an inch or two outside the white edge line.
I would say sidewalks 4’ in single family residential areas.
Also note that while yellow paint was used for some striping and pavement markings as early as the 1930’s, yellow center lines (separating traffic going in opposite directions) and white edge lines (edge of traveled way) did not become a nationwide standard until the mid 1960’s.
Here in the crowded east, many elevated expressways still do not have shoulders of more than a foot or two. Many secondary and rural roads are nothing more than 24’ or 28’ of paving - no shoulders at all.
And many such roads are busy state highways. It pays to know the area and history of what you are trying to model.
And, as noted by DSchmitt and others, all these “uniform” standards did not come into effect until the 60’s. Before that standards varied widely from state to state.
Sheldon
Here in Anderson Indiana, each lane was about 12 feet wide. It was dependent upon the type of roadway (main street, residential or back country road, etc.) but most business streets and highways were built at about 12 feet per lane. Earlier, in the twenties, roads were only about 20 feet wide total, so, if the portion of the town you wish to model was built in that era, a 20 foot roadway is fine.
If each lane were 10 feet wide, that would be 1 and 3/8s inch. So a two-lane street would be 2 and 3/4 inches. 10 feet is what I use for the lanes of my city streets. Modern hiway lanes would be wider. Parking lanes would have been more narrow in the 50s, say 8 or 8 1/2 feet.
As a guide in HO:
8’ = 1 1/8
10’ = 1 3/8
12’ = 1 5/8
In parts of Southern Illinois, there were a good number of rural roads with one paved lane, in the middle of the roadway, and the rest still dirt & gravel. Passing meant getting the passenger side tires off the pavement, and sharing the middle. It was no more than a decent’ car’s width of concrete; some of these lasted till at least the early 1960s. Steve