[PRCo] Re: 1936___Flood -Verona

[Matt Barry]

You mentioned the Verona line, Fred.

I believe the Verona line was abandoned in 1937.

What does the group know about this line?

I know bits and pieces, and please correct me if I am wrong about these.

It began it's routing at Braddock and Forbes Avenue.  Travelling through 
Wilkinsburg to Laketon Road, then up Monitor and then onto prw alongside 
Verona Road.   My nephews, who used to romp through that section of Penn 
Hills in their youth in the 1980's, tell me there were still ties and 
some trackage on the hillside next to Verona Road, between Frankstown 
Road and Sandy Creek Road.  That portion also held junked automobiles at 
that time -- perhaps it still does to this day.   (Hmmm...junked 
automobiles on abandoned trolley tracks, how ironic.) A map in the 
waiting room of  McCrackin Ford on McKnight Road in the North Hills 
shows a the carline pathway in that area,  and it is labelled "old 
Verona carline."

When the line neared the intersection of Verona Road and Sandy Creek 
Road, it would seem to me that there may have been a trestle to carry it 
over this intersection.   Anyone know?

 From there, I believe the line crossed over Verona Road and went down 
Third Street either directly on Third or on paralleling prw.  It dipped 
down into Verona and from there, I don't exactly know how it made it's 
way into Oakmont.  I have read stories in Oakmont and Verona history 
booklets that briefly describe some stories about the bridge or bridges 
that carried the cars into Oakmont from Verona, as troublesome.  
Apparently they were wooden and prone to fires.   The stories are sketchy.

In the late 1960's, I distinctly recall seeing the last segment of 
Allegheny River Blvd,  in Oakmont near Hulton Road, as being yellow 
brick with a section of black asphalt going straight up the middle of 
it.   Seeing this, I assumed that beneath that asphalt lie a single line 
car track.

I also know that early route planners were considering connecting up the 
88/87 trackage on Frankstown Avenue in Homewood, with the Verona 
trackage.  Of course, it never happened, but had it it happened, one 
wonders if the route would have lasted beyond 1937. 

Matt

Fred Schneider wrote:

>My parents lived in a rented home in Oakmont at the time.   Dad took
>quite a few pictures of Oakmont and Verona in the flood.  Sadly, as he
>got older the mind was no longer clear.  He threw everything out without
>the slightest question about their value.   There is a common picture
>that the Pittsburgh Press published (the marooned photographer probably
>walked out of their inbound loading dock onto the Pennsylvania Railroad
>elevated) showing a streetcar on Liberty or Penn in water up to the roof
>carlines (that would be something above nine feet of water on the
>street).   I think I may have the newspapers but finding them in this
>pit is problematic.
>As I recall from the route cards, every route was shut down which
>implies not that every line was under water but that the Duquesne Light
>plant on Brunot's Island was inundated.   The Oakmont - Verona line was
>never restored to service but that needs more research to determine if
>it was flood related or not.  The actually route was mostly above flood
>stage and also in paved streets in the Allegheny River valley.  If there
>was any flood damage, it might have been from gullies that fed
>tributaries to the Allegheny such as Sandy Creek.  I think think that
>line had simply expired from an overdose of gasoline.
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