Stop in for a cup of coffee

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This one is my grandfather’s old Jenny station as the setting...

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zkx14 said:
My parts pile has grown since Saturday. got the doors today. I will clean the glass and see if it is better than what I have. my driver glass has some scratches. I may sell the doors- they are actually better than mine were to start. Or gut and scrap...Also got wheel well trim and harnesses from engine and dash today. Probably get the disk brakes tomorrow. Just thinking through anything worth grabbing
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Mattax said:
Does your car have a front anti-sway bar? Rarely option on /6 cars. That's the biggest single handling improvement you can make . I saw you grabbed LCA arms with tabs...
:thumbsup:
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If you don't have one, I have one you can have, free of charge. Just pm me your address
 
Ddaddy said:
Yep, that’s an old gas station. You can tell by the design.
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I suspect the dark spots on the roofing may be rust. It wouldn't surprise me if it was a painted metal roof made to look like clay tile roof. Common in the early 20th century and much more likely material for that type of building and location.
 
Mattax said:
I suspect the dark spots on the roofing may be rust. It wouldn't surprise me if it was a painted metal roof made to look like clay tile roof. Common in the early 20th century and much more likely material for that type of building and location.
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I was amazed at how close the station was to the roadway. I wonder what the accident rate was for places like that?? Of course back in the day that was all people knew.
 
ZMan67S said:
Jenny...that's a new one for me. I don't remember seeing one before...neat pic!!
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Jenney was an old New England Brand (Boston based) that started making airplane fuels. The Aero 100 brand was 100 octane airplane fuel sold for automobiles. Jenny was later bought by Citi Service and became Citgo.
 
ZMan67S said:
I was amazed at how close the station was to the roadway. I wonder what the accident rate was for places like that?? Of course back in the day that was all people knew.
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The road probably was a lot narrower when the bldg was built.
 
Ddaddy said:
Jenney was an old New England Brand (Boston based) that started making airplane fuels. The Aero 100 brand was 100 octane airplane fuel sold for automobiles. Jenny was later bought by Citi Service and became Citgo.
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Very interesting...thanks, now I know.
 
ZMan67S said:
I was amazed at how close the station was to the roadway. I wonder what the accident rate was for places like that?? Of course back in the day that was all people knew.
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It was common for them to be right on the road with one of the fueling lanes in the same area as curbside parking. Everyone knew to give way for it and it wasn’t any more dangerous than someone parking against the curb.
 
Mattax said:
I suspect the dark spots on the roofing may be rust. It wouldn't surprise me if it was a painted metal roof made to look like clay tile roof. Common in the early 20th century and much more likely material for that type of building and location.
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That’s probably right. Most of that generation gas station had metal roofs. Almost all were oil company designs built to spec. The metal roof was designed to ensure longevity and offered a design distinction from other structures, highly visible in color to be easily identified by passing motorists. It was usually part of the entire visual appearance of the station so people knew exactly what it was. There were hundreds of service stations that looked exactly like my grandfathers station all over New England. The only design option was to flip the layout to have the service bay on the right instead of the left.
 
GTS Dave said:
The road probably was a lot narrower when the bldg was built.
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The paved part certainly did not go so far into the shoulder, assuming it was paved.
I can't recall that road having a drainage ditch, but it might have. Used to be very common in North Jersey on the local roads. Paved shoulders were always minimal. But this one has been a part of US 46 for a long time. Just checked Wikipedia, which dates its it 1936, and this section had been called Rt 5 before that.
 
Mattax said:
The paved part certainly did not go so far into the shoulder, assuming it was paved.
I can't recall that road having a drainage ditch, but it might have. Used to be very common in North Jersey on the local roads. Paved shoulders were always minimal. But this one has been a part of US 46 for a long time. Just checked Wikipedia, which dates its it 1936, and this section had been called Rt 5 before that.
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It is also entirely possible that the road bed was moved further away from the station in later years. It happened a lot when roads were rebuilt to give more room to the structures along the road and straighten the road path. In the earlier years, roads tended to be a lot closer to the structures and were more winded when the they had traffic speeds that were much slower.
 
All NJ roads outside of south Jersey require constant attention. With rare exception there's nothing straight, they follow the contours of the land and waterways, and like much of the East, sometimes trace back to Indian trail and deer paths.

This is Johnny's, a hundred yards or so further west along the road. When they are open (Spring, Summer, Fall) the parking lot is often full, 2 to 3 rows of cars. Not into into hotdogs myself, but one day I'll have to stop and have one, or maybe an after dinner icecream. Great location along the Pequest River. I'm guessing this place started in the '50's.

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Mattax said:
All NJ roads outside of south Jersey require constant attention. With rare exception there's nothing straight, they follow the contours of the land and waterways, and like much of the East, sometimes trace back to Indian trail and deer paths.

This is Johnny's, a hundred yards or so further west along the road. When they are open (Spring, Summer, Fall) the parking lot is often full, 2 to 3 rows of cars. Not into into hotdogs myself, but one day I'll have to stop and have one, or maybe an after dinner icecream. Great location along the Pequest River. I'm guessing this place started in the '50's.

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I bet the road used to be a lot closer to the building. On Rt 202 headed out to West Chester there is a sandwich place (Jimmy Johns, privately owned not the chain) that dates back to the 1940s. They have a front parking lot now but back in the 40s, the shop was only 10’ from the road. They have the vintage photographs inside the place showing how the road changed over the years. The building never moved...but the road did.
 
Ddaddy said:
That’s probably right. Most of that generation gas station had metal roofs. Almost all were oil company designs built to spec. The metal roof was designed to ensure longevity and offered a design distinction from other structures, highly visible in color to be easily identified by passing motorists. It was usually part of the entire visual appearance of the station so people knew exactly what it was. There were hundreds of service stations that looked exactly like my grandfathers station all over New England. The only design option was to flip the layout to have the service bay on the right instead of the left.
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Makes sense. Clay tile has always been choosen to create a certain look. It's not something used on everyday buildings. Slate was pretty common in these parts, even on barns, but not clay. And blue glazed tile would have been special - therefore big bucks.
 
Mattax said:
All NJ roads outside of south Jersey require constant attention. With rare exception there's nothing straight, they follow the contours of the land and waterways, and like much of the East, sometimes trace back to Indian trail and deer paths.

This is Johnny's, a hundred yards or so further west along the road. When they are open (Spring, Summer, Fall) the parking lot is often full, 2 to 3 rows of cars. Not into into hotdogs myself, but one day I'll have to stop and have one, or maybe an after dinner icecream. Great location along the Pequest River. I'm guessing this place started in the '50's.

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In fact, you can tell the road has been moved away from the building by the location of the power poles. The road would have followed the path of the poles. Roads move, but power poles usually don’t. They would have originally been right next to the road bed, only a few feet away.
 
Well shows you what I don't remember. Until 2009, it was the Post office.
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Ddaddy said:
In fact, you can tell the road has been moved away from the building by the location of the power poles. The road would have followed the path of the poles. Roads move, but power poles usually don’t. They would have originally been right next to the road bed, only a few feet away.
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Maybe some realignment, but not that much. That about the right distance if there was a drainage ditch. Opposite the old gas you can make out side road. There's not a lot of room to realign - its already a steep stop. Going to look for historic photos or postcards on the web.
 
Ddaddy said:
I bet it was a gas station before that. That design is entirely consistent with a gas station and not a Post Office.
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Oh I agree. Or it could have become a post office while still operating as a filling/service station.
 
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