South Hills Junction

[Donald Galt]

I'm looking at the 1927 topo of the area around South Hills Jct (a fragment of 
which, Bob, I sent you as a JPEG a while back.)

Even though it's possible that the city may not have paid really close 
attention to changes in PRCo trackage, I can think of no real reason to 
believe that the map would not be as current or accurate in this respect as 
it would be for streets and buildings. So let's assume that it shows the 
situation as of 1926 or 1927.

Therefore, some observations with regard to Jim's and Bob's comments (it's 
a little confusing to separate out which are whose):

> >         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. . .

The 1927 map definitely does not show a loop around the building, only the 
double tracks to the west and northeast. Plus a single track south of the 
building connecting the 38/39/40/42 with the Allentown lines. This has a 
couple of spurs (apparently gone by the time of Bill's map) and crosses the 
Overbrook line, but there is NO connection with the latter at this stage.

The only possible loop, in the absence of one at the junction, is at 
Haberman Avenue (Is this what you mean by "the Warrington loop"?) It 
utilises the horseshoe curve by which the Pittsburgh & Castle Shannon had 
doubled back to climb to its high-level tunnel; some trackage parallelling 
Warrington Avenue is obviously part of the old P&CS alignment, and there 
even remain 160 yards or so of track continuing up the hill toward the former 
tunnel.

> >> Where was the access to Warrington Ave.?
> 
> 	In the general vicinity of the Palm Garden loop - just north of that
> location.  Whereas Warrington Ave is higher than the yard on the north
> end and lower on the southern end, there is a point where they are close
> to the same level just north of Palm Garden - that is where the
> streetcars accessed Warrington.
> 
Okay: the map shows the 38/39 branching off as a single track at the west 
end of the car house, then splitting into outbound and inbound tracks where 
it crosses an imaginary easterly projection of the little street named Peck 
Way. The outbound line hugs the Beechview line on past the shops, then 
turns away to approach Warrington Avenue, finally entering into that street 
at Boggs Avenue.

The INBOUND line, on the other hand, continues along the single track up 
Warrington; where the street and its single track bend northeast, the 38/39 
branches off to continue in a gentle curve around to its junction with the 
outbound line referred to above.

There is a loop between the outbound and inbound lines about 100 yards 
south of the abovementioned bend in Warrington Avenue.

The map, by the way, clearly shows the Palm Garden Dance Hall sitting (on 
S.L. Boggs property!) above Boggs Avenue just north of where it bends east 
to Warrington.

Hope this helps.

D2