[PRCo] Re: Liberty and Seventh Avenues

[Matt Barry]

Thanks much.
So, the track connections from Seventh Ave to Liberty were severed back 
then for some reason?    Not yet connected?   Just getting started?

matt
Fred Schneider wrote:

>Let's tear it apart element by element.
>
>1.  Once I printed it, I could see a trolley span wire and an ear at  
>the bottom of the picture ... so we still have trolley service on  
>Liberty Avenue.    I suspect it might have been taken on a Sunday or  
>a Holiday morning because of the lack of traffic.
>
>2.  Pittsburgh Railways Company did have a fleet of GMC diesel  
>coaches with the bulging headlights but there were a lot of other  
>companies that also ran such vehicles such as Ohio River Motor Coach  
>Company.
>
>3.  I do not see any vehicle newer than a 1942 - 1948 design.    
>Perhaps the lack of traffic relates to wartime gasoline rationing.
>
>4.  Union Station has not yet been sand blasted.   That happened in  
>1948.   So this was before the summer of 1948.    The fact that there  
>isn't a single clean building and there is a clear sky might suggest  
>a long holiday weekend with three days off in a row ... since  
>Independence Day then was not necessarily a Monday holiday, I'm going  
>to suggest this was Memorial Day holiday weekend during the war.
>
>5.  The total lack of streetcars makes one wonder if it might have  
>had something to do with the September 1946 Duquesne Light Company  
>labor dispute were it not for people standing on the safety islands.
>
>The longer I look at it Matt,
>
>                          the more I want to believe it was taken  
>during World War II.
>
>
>
>
>On Nov 7, 2005, at 1:47 PM, Matt Barry wrote:
>
>  
>
>>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
>>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>>Hello all,
>>
>>Browsing through Historic Pittsburgh again, and noted the attached
>>photograph.    At first look, I thought it was something taken a few
>>years after the abandonment of the East End lines, given the  
>>disconnect
>>between the Liberty and Seventh Avenue tracks.     Closer look at the
>>vehicles and manner of dress of the pedestrians, I think this is the
>>1930's or 1940's.
>>
>>Anybody?
>>
>>The description is:
>>Title: Liberty Avenue Street Scene
>>Date: unknown
>>Creator: Judge of Good Pictures
>>Description: The intersection of Liberty Avenue and Seventh Avenue in
>>downtown Pittsburgh. In the right center of the photograph is the
>>Triangle Building, an example of Victorian architecture. Andrew  
>>Pebbles
>>designed the building in 1884. The structure was constructed in three
>>stages. Three stories were built during the first stage. Three more
>>floors were added during the second stage to accommodate demand for  
>>more
>>office space. Eventually the structure was expanded to occupy the  
>>entire
>>block bounded by Liberty Avenue, Seventh Avenue, and Smithfield  
>>Street.
>>In the left background is the Pennsylvania Railroad's Union Station.
>>Construction of the Union Station at Grant Street and Liberty Avenue
>>lasted from 1898 to 1903. The building's designers, Bottle Burnham &
>>Company of Chicago, incorporated French heads and leaf  
>>ornamentation to
>>give the rotunda its striking appeal. The structure has recently been
>>converted to apartments and is currently called The Pennsylvanian.
>>
>>Matt
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>-- Attached file removed by Ecartis and put at URL below --
>>-- Type: image/jpeg
>>-- Size: 78k (80747 bytes)
>>-- URL : http://lists.dementia.org/files/pittsburgh-railways/ 
>>LIBERTY_SEVENTH.jpeg
>>
>>
>>
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