West End Lines

[mrb190]

Hi,
Most of you probably received this already.  One of you suggested I post
it on "pittsburgh-railways...." so that's what I am doing.   Plus I
added some questions at the end that I wonder if anyone can answer.
THANKS!


I purchased the "West Ends Lines" video in Transit Gloria Mundi's (TGM)
continuing Steel City Traction Series, and am very pleased.

#1:   God bless all of you guys who had the foresight to film these
fantastic streetcar lines so that TGM could produce such a fine video!

TGM added realistic sounds with this feature and really did an excellent

job of splicing the films they had into a cohesive product that led one
right from the Downtown Stanwix Street loop on out to the various West
End Loops.   And most of all of the footage is in color.

They even included some footage of the old P&LE Transfer car and the
Thornburg car.  Sadly, there wasn't any footage of the Schoenville
shuttle or enough of the films they apparently had of the 23 Sewickley
route.

But that aside, it is a kick to "travel" up the right-of-away along
Noblestown Road and onto Crafton Blvd.  and even moreso, ride on the
streetcar as it glides along the paved right-of-way called Idlewood
Road.   There's great footage and detail throughout Carnegie and
especially on the Heidelburg route.   TGM painstakingly sharpended and
steadied shaky footage to the point that it seems that these films are
only a few years old as opposed to over 40 years!

One could complain that no mention was made of the fact that the West
End communities fought the motorization of the lines upon the June 1959
closure, and that TGM never added a gong to the realistic sound, but all

in all, this is a treat, and garners four stars in my book nonetheless.

I was't old enough to recall the West End routes in operation, but I do
recall that the trackage and even the overhead was intact in various
places on the lines even in the mid-sixties.  I remember my brother
driving us up Chartiers toward Sheradan, and rounding a bend near where
the Temple theatre stood and seeing the lines and trackage looking
completely operable.  In fact, at my young age, I thought there
definitely were streetcars somewhere in the area.    And the West End
Circle didn't change much for a good number of years; the wires and
trackage remained even though Carson Street had apparently been long
paved over with overhead removed.       Which brings me to a question:
                 Does anyone know when the West End settled their
dispute with the city or the PUC or Pgh Railways or PAT or ???
regarding the removal of the carlines?
Obviously, the lines were never reinstated, but it is something that the

people over there rallied to keep them.

1.)   as aforementioned, when did the dispute end?
2.)   does anyone know if the old P&LE transfer trackage was considered
for use when the West End lines were denied trackage on the Ft. Pitt
Bridge?   This would have directed the cars onto the Smithfield Street
Bridge, which I suppose would have caused trolley traffic congestion at
rush hour.
3.)  what entity denied trackage on the new Ft. Pitt Bridge?

Thanks!
Matt