South Hills Junction

[Jim Holland]

Greetings!

Dietrich, Robert J. wrote:
> 
> what is the Photo #PI
> 0303 from Harold A. Smith?  Is it on line somewhere.

	It is not on the web - it is one that I purchased from him.  He sells
B&W photos of various systems with some interesting shots of PRCo going
back into the 30s.  He also sells a few color shots as xerox copies of
prints he has.  These take a little getting used to but are quite good!

> 
> Bob
> 
>  -----Original Message-----
> From:   Jim Holland [mailto:pghpcc at pacbell.net]
> Sent:   Saturday, November 06, 1999 3:06 AM
> To:     pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> Subject:        Re: South Hills Junction
> 
> 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
>     To e-mail *off-list,* please click here: mailto:pghpcc at pacbell.net
> N.M.R.A.  Life member #2190; http://www.mcs.net:80/~weyand/nmra/

James B. Holland
------- -- ---------
        Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRCo), June of 1949 -- June of 1953
    To e-mail *off-list,* please click here: mailto:pghpcc at pacbell.net
N.M.R.A.  Life member #2190; http://www.mcs.net:80/~weyand/nmra/