What's the flattest way out of Upstate NY?
March 10, 2017 5:41 PM Subscribe
I bought a vintage car and am driving it home to Chicago! It doesn't run well. Avoiding Interstates because I don't think it would make 70mph when new, is there one way out of the Appalachians that's flatter than another?
Putting shortest route/avoid highways into GMaps has not worked well. We are stopping for the night in a town off of NY-17A, on which I didn't think we were going to make it up the hills, on our way to US 6. 6 runs right through mountain country through the rest of NY and PA. This will not work.
We didn't bring the passports, so through Canada won't work. Will US 20 be flatter than 6? What's the flattest way to get from Greenwood Lake, NY to there?
If you're curious, the car is a '63 AMC Rambler with the old Nash 195.6. It can't get out of its own way.
Putting shortest route/avoid highways into GMaps has not worked well. We are stopping for the night in a town off of NY-17A, on which I didn't think we were going to make it up the hills, on our way to US 6. 6 runs right through mountain country through the rest of NY and PA. This will not work.
We didn't bring the passports, so through Canada won't work. Will US 20 be flatter than 6? What's the flattest way to get from Greenwood Lake, NY to there?
If you're curious, the car is a '63 AMC Rambler with the old Nash 195.6. It can't get out of its own way.
Best answer: The New York Central Railroad built the "Water Level Route", which you can see maps of in the Wikipedia article, from New York City to Chicago. It was explicitly intended to be flat so that they didn't have to get their trains up big hills. Basically you follow the Hudson River north to the Erie Canal, or in terms of modern roads, I-87 North to I-90 West.
posted by madcaptenor at 5:48 PM on March 10, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by madcaptenor at 5:48 PM on March 10, 2017 [12 favorites]
Best answer: Seconding the basic route that madcaptenor suggests, but it sounds like you'd be better off avoiding the major highways. I'd recommend Rt. 9 up to Albany and then Rt. 5 west. Those roads parallell the major highways, but the traffic will move more slowly.
posted by Betelgeuse at 6:50 PM on March 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Betelgeuse at 6:50 PM on March 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
Best answer: US 20 is large rolling hills from just outside Albany all the way to Skaneateles west of Syracuse. Rt. 5 is definitely flatter and even that gets a little hilly between Utica and Syracuse. You could avoid that by taking 49 to 365 to 31 before winding back up on 20 in Auburn, but that's not quick and it will put a lot of extra miles on your trip.
To get there from Greenwood Lake head north toward Monroe and Central Valley, then take 32 to Newburgh (or Kingston or Saugerties) where you can catch 9W northward. You're still going to run into hills but that's probably as flat a route as you'll find.
posted by plastic_animals at 8:52 PM on March 10, 2017
To get there from Greenwood Lake head north toward Monroe and Central Valley, then take 32 to Newburgh (or Kingston or Saugerties) where you can catch 9W northward. You're still going to run into hills but that's probably as flat a route as you'll find.
posted by plastic_animals at 8:52 PM on March 10, 2017
Is this like pet threads? Can we request a (mandatory) picture of the car? Pretty please?
posted by sardonyx at 10:56 AM on March 11, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by sardonyx at 10:56 AM on March 11, 2017 [6 favorites]
Are you sure interstates are a bad idea? Multiple lanes make it easier for others to pass you!
posted by actionstations at 1:15 PM on March 11, 2017
posted by actionstations at 1:15 PM on March 11, 2017
Response by poster: (Obligatory pic)
Whatever was making it run rough last night didn't like sitting below freezing overnight. No start this morning. My guess is gummed up carb. But that's a whole 'nother Ask.
So, we rented a truck and car carrier. Back on US-6!
posted by hwyengr at 5:28 PM on March 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
Whatever was making it run rough last night didn't like sitting below freezing overnight. No start this morning. My guess is gummed up carb. But that's a whole 'nother Ask.
So, we rented a truck and car carrier. Back on US-6!
posted by hwyengr at 5:28 PM on March 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
Very pretty! Good luck getting it home and running again.
posted by sardonyx at 5:51 PM on March 11, 2017
posted by sardonyx at 5:51 PM on March 11, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
This company says they can do it for about $500.
posted by notyou at 5:47 PM on March 10, 2017 [2 favorites]