Bottled gas and tunnels - guidlines??

[arniland]

A naive question if I might. On our first trip with our TM a few months ago, we came across a sign directing us off the freeway at the next exit if we had bottled gas (with a picture of a gas cylinder). This was just before a tunnel and we ended up having to invent a way around with a poor map on the fly. Later reflecting on this experience, I realize that I already “knew” that gas was prohibited from the tunnels under the Baltimore Harbor near my home, but this tunnel was not marked on the map we had. How can you anticipate these things as you travel around the country?

Since then, Lois and I have looked and asked about an atlas or travel guide which would point these out and give the rules, as not all tunnels prohibit gas bottles. We have found nothing to give us guidance.

Based upon only my recollections, this seems to be a bigger problem in the east. What does everyone else do? Are there guides? Or does everyone just press on and hope for the best? With all the RVs out there, certainly I am not the first to ask this question. Help!

Arn

You can get a Motor Carriers Atlas that shows restricted routes and I'm sure that this info must be up on the web somewhere. I haven't stumbled across the correct Google search terms tho. Anyway check out a truck stop and they'll probably have an atlas that shows all these restrictions. We have a copy of the Rand McNally Motor Carriers Atlas but as a general use atlas I do not much like it. Truck routes are maked in yellow and on some states the whole page is blotted out in yellow and that obscures the other color coding on the map.

[Bill]

There is a lot of discussion about this in the various RV forums, and most of it is contradictory.

"You have to have less than 10 pounds" "No you have to have less than 100 pounds"
"You can carry it, but you have to turn it off." "No, you can't carry any at all"
"It is OK on bridges but not in tunnels".
"The cops won't stop you - they have better things to do" "Oh yes they will, and it's expensive!"

The one helpful comment I found was

"The Trailer Life Directory has a list of tunnels where propane is prohibited and where propane is restricted." I have not checked this out, but the TL directory is quite useful, and many of us have a copy.

Bill