[PRCo] Re: Washington & Charleroi

[Fred Schneider]

I find it difficult to understand that it could be downhill most of the 
way from Pittsburgh to Roscoe, because both ends are next to the 
Monongahela River.  I think the writer must have found a way to reverse 
the flow of the river.   The Charleroi line ended in the borough of 
Roscoe, not near it.  The loop was just inches shy of the Elco borough 
line.  And the Charleroi line was 36 miles long, not 29. 

Did anyone else ever hear the term "sawmills" or is it new to the rest 
of you too? 

I do not contest that the Charleroi line was the more beautiful of the 
two routes.  I recall thinking how beautiful was the ride down past 
Mingo and Crookham, and again over Eldora Summit and over the three 
trestles north of Charleroi.  Yes, I rode it.   It was also astonishing 
how many people lived in the Mon valley back in 1953 or even more in 1945. 

Matt Barry wrote:

>from, http://www.erha.org/timepoints/v7n1.htm
>July 1953
>
>1.  PITTSBURGH:  On June 10th we began our tour of the crumbling 
>interurban system after some morning rush hour general photography.  
>(See June TIMEPOINTS for the complete news story on the facts of the 
>abandonments.)  At the time of our visit, both of the Charleroi and 
>Washington lines were yet in operation for the entirety of their 
>distance.  And one of the three local routes within Washington was still 
>functioning, as it turned out three days before its demise.
>
> We rode Charleroi first.  This is the longer of the two interurbans 
>main lines.
>
>Service to Charleroi and to Washington was cut some months ago to hourly 
>instead of half hourly, with the alternate trips terminating at the 
>points where by the time this reaches our readers all service will be 
>terminating.
>
>In its full glory, the Charleroi line was a long and beautiful affair 
>indeed.  Of course PCCs, which in recent years have entirely replaced 
>conventional cars, slow the service somewhat (even though they operate 
>at what for PCCs are good speeds), and also make it generally bouncier 
>and less inviting.  A superficial appearance of being "streamlined" is 
>no substitute for sold riding quality, as a ride on one of these routes 
>will testify.
>
>Western readers who know nothing of the East will be unable to imagine 
>the luxuriant profusion of greenness which gives the interurbans their 
>"scenery" in the summertime, nor the contrast between that and the bleak 
>bareness of the same surroundings in long winter months.
>
>The Charleroi line spends a good deal of its time on single track 
>right-of-way plunging through verdant woods.  Occasionally it finds 
>itself on the streets of a town; and even through the vistas of greenery 
>the dingy ugliness of industrial activity may often be observed.
>
>Outbound the trip is nearly all downhill, but there is a certain portion 
>of the route that is far more spectacular in this respect than any 
>other.  Between Monongahela and Charleroi the right-of-way suddenly 
>confronts the Monogahela River from the top of a high bluff, turning, 
>the line parallels the water in a rapid descent nearly to its level.  
>Three spectacular bridges over ravines enliven the stretch; they are at 
>least as high as the Fletcher Drive trestle on the PE Glendale line.
>
>The Charleroi line does not end in the city of its title.  Instead it 
>continues via side of the road running to a loop in rural territory near 
>Roscoe.  Its entire length is thirty miles; and its recent abandonment 
>on June 27 has deprived the railfan of a great deal of highly photogenic 
>track.
>
>
>Returning to Washington Junction, we proceeded to travel on the second 
>route to Washington.  There is less of the spectacular to be found here; 
>but the right-of-way, which is through agricultural rather than 
>industrial scenery, provides many pleasant rural dips and rises and 
>curves.  Washington, Pa., has long been famous as the home of a 
>toonervillesque local system, one of the three lines of which was titled 
>in homely simplicity, "East-West."  But it was later than twilight for 
>the orange cars there when we arrived; dusk was at hand and final 
>darkness delayed only long enough for us to ride the last remaining 
>route, "Jefferson-Maiden," three days before busses of another company 
>began serving its patrons.  After the PCCs the few "sawmills," as 
>conventional PRys cars are known to the local fans, seemed extremely 
>different and pleasurable.  We carried good full loads, for it was the 
>evening rush hour.  Spartan wooden seats (no new thing for an Angeleno) 
>and slow, grinding motors seemed to fit will into the atmosphere.  
>Washington, Pa., had been, since 1951, the smallest American city to 
>enjoy local streetcar service of its own.
>
>We returned to Pittsburgh, boarding our PCC at the antique interurban 
>station in Washington, into which the cars wye.  Darkness was falling, 
>and we had spent an entire day on verdant rights-of-way, far removed 
>from the hustle of the huge PCC system that blanks Pittsburgh itself.
>
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