http://gelwood.railfan.net/other/lightrail/pat-1676r.jpg P&LE Canopy & Clock -- Smithfield St. Bridge

[Jim Holland]

Greetings!

	The picture of the Smithfield St. Bridge on page 193 of
*Time-of-the-Trolley* by Middleton shows a similar portion of the bridge
but from on the bridge and facing south.  From the sidewalk, it appears
as though the bridge proper might be continuous to the P&LE canopy - but
the construction of the bridge differs markedly.  There is the main
*cantilevered* portion, an open portion, a thru-arch-truss, and then the
P&LE canopy with underpass.
	How wide is the underpass, incidentally?
	Also, comparing Bob's photo to the book, note the different style
*catenary-bridges* (2) to support the overhead before entering the main
portion of the bridge.

> brathke at juno.com wrote:
> 
> > I'm sure that the P&LE canopy clock was
> > changed to DST in April - at least after 1958,

Jim Holland wrote:

>         That is  m-u-c-h  sooner than I thought - thanks for the update.
>         Your following description of *facilities* around the P&LE station and
> the Smithfield St. Bridge raise some interesting questions as I am not
> at all familiar with the construction *down-under* at this location.
>         1)--Where does the Smithfield St. Bridge proper start?
>         2)--Behind 1676 is what looks like an arched thru truss - arches on
> both sides of the double track - but this was earth fill as I remember.
> Used to be a location for a crossover used by the Carson Street shuttles
> on pullouts until the turn was cut in at Carson.  So this part is on an
> embankment, No?  It is not actually a trestle in spite of the arches, or
> is it?  I would assume that the Smithfield St. Bridge itself starts on
> the north side of those arches, Yes?
>         3)--It seems as though the P&LE canopy itself was a small trestle with
> first a pedestrian underpass and then the same used for autos.  But this
> *trestle* is separate from the Smithfield St. Bridge itself, No?

>         Will be checking your photos on the P&LE station.
>         Do you have photos of the B&O station on the north side of the bridge?

>         MANY  THANKS!

> > The east (inbound) side of the canopy had a staircase that went down the
> > east side of the bridge structure, then you walked through a pedestrian
> > tunnel, past the taxi driveway to the course level of the P&LE station;
> > this tunnel is still there, but ioday it is used by automobiles going
> > from Station Square to the parking lot on the east side of the bridge.
> > Going back to the old canopy: people on the west side of the canopy
> > (outbound) simply walked across the auto lanes of the Smithfield Street
> > Bridge, entered the main doors of the station and walked down the grand
> > staircase to the concourse level: or...you could walk down a staircase to
> > the outside walkway along the railroad tracks(this walkway has been
> > enclosed and is now a dining room at the Grand Concourse Restaurant).

> > If you'd like to see some of my photos of the P&LE station, go the "P&LE"
> > page on the website
> > <www.dnaco.net/~gelwood>.  I also have photos of the PRR and B&O stations
> > on those railroad pages.

> > The P&LE canopy contained a large sign showing the numbers and names of
> > the trolley routes that stopped there.  There was a similar sign at the
> > Liberty Avenue trolley stop at the PRR Station.  And, there MAY have been
> > a trolley route sign at the old B&O station (torn down in 1957) on the
> > downtown side of the Smithfield St. Bridge.  I'll have to check my
> > photos. I assume (hope) that these signs were saved.  Does anyone know
> > their whereabouts?  I took a photo of the P&LE sign, but never
> > photographed the sign at the PRR station.

> > Bob 9/17

> > ---------------------------------------------------------

> > On Sun, 17 Sep 2000 15:24:50 -0700 Jim Holland <pghpcc at pacbell.net>
> > writes:
> > > Greetings!

> > >       This URL
> > > http://gelwood.railfan.net/other/lightrail/pat-1676r.jpg shows
> > > the P&LE Canopy.  It appears as though there were stairs leading down to
> > > the railroad tracks so one might assume that P&LE built the canopy.
> > >       The sign under the clock reads *Eastern Standard Time.*  The railroads
> > > *in-the-good-old-days* always ran on standard time so if this canopy was
> > > owned and maintained by P&LE, then I assume that this clock remained on
> > > Standard time 365-days a year - at least thru the end of PRCo and
> > > probably into the next decade!
> > >       Good assumption or No?!?!

James B. Holland

        Pittsburgh  Railways  Company  (PRCo),   1930  --  1950
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