Monessen Junction

[Don Galt]

>From Ed Lybarger:

>> Monessen Jct. was where Route 88 and the Monessen Bridge met, and the
Westside ... tracks went across the river.  Lockview
was just north of this spot, where the side-of-road r/w diverged from the
highway (Rt. 88 turns left here, going north) ... the photo of the PRCo
spray car we published a couple decades back ...  was taken at or very near
Lockview! <<

I suppose that Monessen Jct is a no-brainer.

But, then, Lockview station was on the hillside right smack above Old Lock
4, and just north of the Lock 4 School. Yet my maps show Lockview itself
farther up the road (and, undeniably, more remote from the interurban
line.)

Were there stops at Bridge#1, Bridge#2, Bridge#3? Barring these, I see no
note of any stations between Lockview and Eldora.

>From Jim Holland:

>> I have an absolutely super photo from John Brinckman <<

Certainly sounds super, from the description.

I have to do my usual weekend fade now, but want soon to pursue the task of
locating the Charleroi line exactly. Ed scribbled some notations on my topo
map xerox when I saw him in April, but I need to refine all this - for one
thing, to scan the original map at a larger scale for easier reading.

Your (Jim's) bridge drawings will also figure in the calculations, since
they can be compared with the contour lines on the map.

All the same, I'll bet that *somewhere* there are maps kicking around, of
Charleroi, of North Charleroi, of Carroll Township, showing the line
exactly. If anybody with access to libraries and local government offices
in the greater Pittsburgh area is interested in this pursuit, I'd be happy
to outline the searches I've made so far.

Those of you with photographs, of course, are singularly blessed.

The one other picture I took in the neighborhood, besides the one at
Eldora, is from Birch Street, Lockview, looking south toward town. Not
wanting to trespass, I made no attempt to walk over to the edge of the
bluff and look down - seemed a long shot anyway - so the shot shows no
interurban information at all.

Parting shot: what is the location of the photo on the first page of the
1944 INL article by Ira Swett, showing a car just beyond a section of
double track?

Don