South Hills Junction

[Jim Holland]

Greetings!

	I have viewed your website and find it very interesting; look forward
to following the progress of the modules.  Please drop a line here to
let us know when you have added to your site.

	There was a tremendous amount of evolution and construction and
reconstruction concerning South Hills Jct and yards, much more than
would be expected for such a capital intensive project!  I haven't
traced it all out yet but here are some thoughts which come to mind.
	I don't believe that the loop around the admin building was there from
the beginning but it was probably added very early on.  Some very early
drawings I have seen omit this loop.  But the track behind the admin
building might have preceeded the loop and was originally connected to
the inbound 38-39-40-42 lines.  And if the loop that passed under the
44-48 lines was in place, then pullouts in the morning left the yard,
turned behind the admin building, used the Warrington loop and returned
to go outbound on the interurbans etc.
	Early on, the route through the yard was quite convoluted and the east
side yard was very poorly defined and had very little storage.  The
routing through the yard was probably reconfigured some time after the
38 and 39 lines started using the ramp to the Palm Garden Trestle
(instead of entering and exiting the yard off Warrington).  And even
earlier, about 1910, there were only three tracks beside the carbarn
down through the yard according to information, track diagram, and photo
in the book by Ben Rohrbeck on Pittsburgh's CarBarns.  So three more
tracks were added here.  And some time during the reconstruction, the
outbound 38-39-42 line thru the yard was paved; I think this took place
during the mid 40's after the routing for these lines was reconfigured. 
This track was probably totally rebuilt as well but why it was sunk in
concrete with the inbound track remaining open "T" rail is another
mystery!  Officially, plot maps show this as Ravine Street; maybe there
was an intent to use this for a street.  But the paving only came up to
the bottom of the rail head and was concave between the rails, much like
the paved prw between Potomac and Wenzell - another mystery prw
pavement!
	And sometime during reconstruction, a wye was added mid yard on the
western side that also looped into one of the barn buildings.  This way
cars could be turned in the yard without looping at Palm Garden and then
backing off the main down the ladder track.
	But what really stumps me is the track that joins the outbound 40 line
from a point just south of the tunnel portal.  I can only assume that it
was a temporary bypass, possibly part of the original configuration,
while some of the other junction tracks were reconstructed.  Photo #PI
0303 from Harold A. Smith shows 3813 signed for CHARLEROI and at a point
near the boarding point for interurbans southbound with this track
apparent as well.  The angle is extremely shallow and there doesn't
appear to be any points but the car could be sitting on them.  The angle
of the rails belie the fact that this could be the normal switch for the
38-39-40-42 to take.  The date of the photo is 1936.  In the 1950s, this
was just a stub track off the 40 line to a point just south of the
restaurant; all the other rails in this track were removed.  I remember
seeing work equipment sitting there in the early 40s, possibly the
original Washington and Canonsburg cars converted for work service.  I
remember the *funny* (to me as a child) roof construction of the car. 
After the yard was cleared of the low-floor cars, the work equipment was
all stored near Palm Garden except for one or two pieces on track 2, and
this stub track off the 40 line was vacant.

	I hope to be able to model some of the PRCo system in 1950 *straight
up!*  Probably couldn't call this the best days of the system, but
virtually every type of equipment ever owned by the Railway was still in
operation from M1 used as a Pay Car to the newest PCC cars. 
Additionally, the Brill and St. Louis interurbans were still making
trips to Charleroi and Washington!  And of course the low-floor cars
were still making many rush hour trips and even some all day runs!

	If you are building South Hills Junction as a module, it will be quite
popular at a meet.  Look at all the different branches that can be
featured!  It will truly be a hub of activity!

Dietrich, Robert J. wrote:
> 
> Folks:
> 
> I am a modeler and my primary interest in street cars is from that
> perspective.  I belong to the East Penn Traction Club and have a couple
> trolley modules built to their standards.  I'm about to start on a new
> module of a specific place and time; South Hills Junction in the mid '50s.
> As I started gathering information it seemed only natural to share it, so I
> started a web site.  As you will see some folks on this list have already
> contributed, I especially want to thank Ed Lybarger and Bill Vigrass for
> their input.  Since there seems to be so much knowledge about the Pittsburgh
> Railways system in this group I'm asking for your help.  I would like to
> include some historical information but it is hard to come by.  When I build
> the module I intend to include the Administration building and the news
> stand.  I don't believe that plans for these structures exist but
> straight-on pictures would go a long way toward an accurate model.  Anything
> else that is appropriate I'll be glad to get.
> 
> Thanks for your help, and keep the rhetoric going on this list, it's been
> great.
> 
> Oh yes, the web site  -- http://www.voicenet.com/~dietrich/SHJ/default.htm
> 
> Bob Dietrich

James B. Holland
------- -- ---------
        Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRCo), June of 1949 -- June of 1953
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