[PRCo] Re: Brookline

[Edward H. Lybarger]

The trolley tunnel opened December 1, 1904, rather than 1907 as stated here.

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org]On Behalf Of Fred
Schneider
Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2005 3:12 PM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Brookline


Well, route 33 is a little different.   There are pictures around of  
cars awaiting scrapping with 33 signs turned up.    Route 32 P&LE  
TRANSFER is really nothing but a shortened route 33.    Ed Lybarger  
found some street pictures showing how bad the track was ... I think  
they may be Allegheny County streets pictures.

Only 3 months?   Remember that there was nothing out there.   There  
was this big flat wall called Mount Washington.   For years it was  
much easier and faster to live in and get to other parts of the city  
than the area behind Mount Washington.   The only way over it was an  
incline.   Or you could go out to Temperanceville, and around it  
where Saw Mill Run flowed out into the Ohio.   But there was no easy  
way.   The trolley tunnel was not opened until 1907.   Saw Mill Run  
Blvd. was an early 1920s road to connect with the West End Circle.    
The Liberty Tubes and the Liberty Bridge were finished early in 1928  
and that is when you really start seeing houses built in the South  
Hills.   Although there were little bits and pieces annexed to  
Pittsburgh all over the city over time,  most of the east was  
configured by 1868.   The sheer bulk of the North Side was annexed  
along with the City of Allegheny in 1907.  The South Side (along the  
River ) and Mount Washington came in during 1872.   But behind the  
mountain was the last major part of the city to be annexed.   West  
Liberty was annexed in 1907, the year the trolley tunnel was  
opened.    Beechview became part of Pittsburgh in 1908.   Overbrook  
in 1930.   Carrick and Knoxville in 1927.

At the risk of being sarcastic, I'm about to pick fault with our  
educational system.   My German friends who go through their  
universities tell me they are forced to take classes where they have  
to identify architecture by age by looking at it.   If we had similar  
requirements, we might recognize that most of the homes up in  
Brookline date to the 1920s, after the trolley loop to the interurban  
came and went.


On Oct 9, 2005, at 3:23 PM, Mark McGuire wrote:

>   Thanks guys!
>
> Wow!  Only 3 months?  Seems like a waste to build a double track
> line. I suppose a photo of a car on this line would be impossible
> to find. Just like the trying to find a car on the 33 Mt. Washington.
>
>                               Mark
>
> -- "Edward H. Lybarger" <trams at adelphia.net> wrote:
> The Brookline via South Bank service lasted only about 3 months in  
> 1910,
> rather than the "several years" mentioned in ER20.  The dates of  
> operation
> were 9-12-1910 to 11-1-1910.  Route number was 313A.  Note on route  
> card
> succinctly says "Traffic not sufficient."
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
> [mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org]On Behalf Of  
> Mark
> McGuire
> Sent: Saturday, October 08, 2005 11:25 PM
> To: Pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> Subject: [PRCo] Brookline
>
>
>   Speaking of Brookline, I was wondering if there are any photos that
> exist of the old trackage that once connected the Brookline route
> with the interurbans. I would love to see something other than the
> PERC map.
>   What years was this connection used and when was it abandoned?
>
>                           Mark
>
>
>