[PRCo] Allegheny Center

[Bob Rathke]

Demolition of part of Allegheny Center Mall sounds like the conclusion of a 
friend's reaction to the place in 1966 shortly after it opened:

"I don't like Allgheny Center. It's an instant slum."

Those were his exact words in 1966.


Bob 4/11/07

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Herb Brannon" <hrbran at sbcglobal.net>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 9:10 AM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: PRR Federal St. Station & What Dreams May Come


> In reading the article on Northside I see they want to return it to 
> something of its original self. A very good idea, and one which I hope is 
> successful. It is indicated that if this plan is adopted, Federal Street 
> would be opened again. Also, and one of the best parts of the plan, is the 
> demolition of a part of Allegheny Center Mall.
>
>  As a personal comment, before I get to my main point, I believe both the 
> rebuilding (meaning destruction) of Northside and East Liberty were part 
> of the Robert Moses (the "sacred cow" architect who made parts of New York 
> City into crime ridden shoebox-tenement districts through his right-wing 
> brand of urban renewal) plan which he drew up for Pittsburgh way back 'in 
> the day.'
>
>  However, here is another chance for an operating Pittsburgh Railways 
> trolley museum ! PATransit is (or was) extending the light rail system 
> over to Northside somewhere in the area of the stadiums. Now, if the 
> Northside area is returned to something of its former self a nice 
> connector from the end of the LRV line into the Northside/Allegheny City 
> center als McKinney Street Transit Authority in Dallas would be excellent. 
> Any comments?
>
>  For the list member who mentioned it in this thread, yes, the PCC cars 
> can be heard on the city streets of Pittsburgh again.
> Bob Rathke <bobrathke at comcast.net> wrote:
>  I checked some old PRR timetables, and it appears that the Federal St.
> Station building (later the Studebaker dealership) was off the east-west
> schedules by 1950.
> However, the Pittsburgh-Cleveland trains still stopped at the Federal St.
> platforms until 1955, and the Pittsburgh area commuter trains stopped 
> there
> as late as 1964. (In 1951, the PRR operated six round trip trains a day
> between Pittsburgh and Cleveland.) Attached is a photo that I took on the
> Federal St. Station platform in June, 1957. The view is to the east, and
> the Federal Tire Co. store is visible on the east side of Federal St. 
> along
> the north side of the tracks. At that time, acess to the platforms was
> through a staircase off Federal St. under the tracks.
>
> Like Amtrak service to major cities today, the PRR had major "suburuban"
> stops on its mainlines to Pittsburgh:
> New York line trains stopped at East Liberty, St. Louis line trains 
> stopped
> at Carnegie, and Chicago line trains stopped at Sewickley.
>
> Bob 4/10/07