http://gelwood.railfan.net/other/lightrail/pat-1676r.jpg P&L E Canopy & Clock -- Smithfield St. Bridge
brathke at juno.com
brathke at juno.com
Mon Sep 18 16:50:11 EDT 2000
Note that the models of the Wabash and Smithfield St. Bridges at the W.
Pa. Model RR Museum include a model of the canopy. At least the canopy
roof is visible in the photo at
<http://www.fyi.net/~wpmrm/pittsburgh.html>.
Bob 9/18
-----------------------------------
On Mon, 18 Sep 2000 07:58:52 -0400 "Dietrich, Robert J."
<bob.dietrich at unisys.com> writes:
> Here is everything you ever wanted to know about the Smithfield
> street
> bridge. This is a long scary link.
>
>
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=hhphoto&action=browse&fileNam
e=p
>
a/pa0000/pa0073/photos/browse.db&recNum=0&itemLink=D?hh:108:./temp/~ammem
_kB
>
kj::&title2=Smithfield+Street+Bridge,+Spanning+Monongahela+River+on+Smith
fie
> ld+St.,+PITTSBURGH,+Allegheny+County,+PA.&displayType=1
>
> If it doesn't work for you try this
> http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/hhquery.html
> and enter Smithfield Street Bridge into the search field.
>
> This document does not show the P&LE canopy indicating that it was
> not
> officially part of the bridge. Of course that doesn't deter me from
> including it as part of the bridge in my mind.
>
> My mind also tells me that the clock was always on Eastern Standard
> Time.
> Not to get off subject but didn't the railroads always run on
> Standard Time?
> Something tells me they switched over to Daylight Savings during
> their
> troubled decades, 60's and 70's timeframe. I guess it doesn't
> matter except
> Professor Holland will want to have it right when he builds his
> model of the
> bridge.
>
> Bob
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Holland [mailto:pghpcc at pacbell.net]
> Sent: Sunday, September 17, 2000 10:26 PM
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> Subject: Re:
> http://gelwood.railfan.net/other/lightrail/pat-1676r.jpg
> P&LE Canopy & Clock -- Smithfield St. Bridge
>
> 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
> To e-mail privately, please click here:
> mailto:pghpcc at pacbell.net
> N.M.R.A. Life member #2190; http://www.mcs.net:80/~weyand/nmra/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------
Have you ever been to a garage sale that WASN'T selling an exercise bike?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------
________________________________________________________________
YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET!
Juno now offers FREE Internet Access!
Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.
More information about the Pittsburgh-railways
mailing list