[PRCo] Smithfield St. Bridge trolley canopy.

[Bob Rathke]

Harold,

We believe that the canopy was torn down in 1967, about ten years before
Station Square opened in 1978.  The canopy was still in photos that I took
in early 1967.

The P&LE had three round trip commuter trains as late as 1966, and one of
them ran from Pittsburgh to Youngstown, the other two going only as far west
as College, PA.  After 1966 only one commuter train was left and it ran from
Pittsburgh to College until the early 1980's.  This was after Station Square
opened, so most commuters walked down the stairs from the Smithfield St.
Bridge directly to the train platform.  This train was the last
railroad-operated and -financed commuter train in Pennsylvania.  It used a
P&LE GP7 and four NYC Pullman green coaches (three streamlined and one
heavyweight).

I have a P&LE system timetable from 1957.  It is a substantial timetable,
and it shows P&LE trains from Pittsburgh that had through car service via
Youngstown to Chicago, Cleveland, Boston and Toronto (these two latter
cities were reached via the NYC line near Pymatunning, PA and Ashtabula,
OH).  The through car and Pullman service ended in 1962.

The P&LE also had pool trains with the Erie RR from Pittsburgh to Cleveland,
and P&LE trains made connections with B&O trains at the P&LE station in
Pittsburgh.

Bob 1/2/04

-----------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Harold Geissenheimer" <transitmgr2 at earthlink.net>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Friday, January 02, 2004 8:35 PM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Smithfield St. Bridge trolley canopy.


> Bob
> I believe the trolley canopy was gone by 1978.
>
> What year did the  P&LE commuter train quit?
>
> Harold Geissenheimer
>
> Bob Rathke wrote:
>
> >I found another Station Square brochure from 1978.  It's a large,
oversize
> >piece, full of architectural renderings of the new Station Square that
was
> >about to open, and photographs of the old P&LE station.  A couple of
> >observations:
> >
> >- The trolley canopy is not illustrated nor mentioned in the text.
> >
> >- There is an aerial view rendering of the Station Square site, and a
> >passenger train is shown at the platform track along the Grand Concourse
> >building.  Text states that there would be special trains bringing
shoppers
> >to Station Square from parts of the Tri-state area.  I don't believe that
> >those plans ever materialized.
> >
> >Bob 1/2/04
> >
> >-----------------------------
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Edward H. Lybarger" <twg at pulsenet.com>
> >To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
> >Cc: "Scott Becker" <sbecker at pa-trolley.org>
> >Sent: Friday, January 02, 2004 2:11 PM
> >Subject: [PRCo] Re: Smithfield St. Bridge trolley canopy.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >>Hi, Harold,
> >>
> >>I wasn't paying attention when that happened...but Scott Becker helped
> >>broker the deal.  I'm forwarding this to him and perhaps he will recall.
> >>
> >>Happy New Year!
> >>
> >>
> >RR
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>