I hope everyone is aware of the series of Virginia county road order books 
published by the Virginia [Highway and] Research Council over the years, and 
still progressing under the Council's historian Ann Miller. All or most of 
these books are now online on vtrc.virginiadot.org. Years ago, the Council's 
Howard Newlon and Mason Pawlett published a long-running series of 
historical articles called "Backsights: Essays on Transportation History" in 
the monthly VDOT newsletter, which alas, these days, has no historical 
articles anymore.  About half of these essays were collected into one volume 
and published in 1985. The rest were collected and ready for publication 
when VDOT ran out of funds for such things. It's time for this second volume 
to be resurrected. For people like me, the Council's historical work is the 
best thing VDOT ever did.

Bill Trout
Virginia Canals & Navigations Society
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