[PRCo] Re: Bethel Church Trestle

[Jim Holland]

> Bob Rathke wrote:
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>> Two to three blocks south of the location in the photo (to the left and out of the view) is South Park Road which was/is two lanes. I recall seeing an old photo of a larger, higher trestle over South Park Road.  Both trestles were removed by the time I lived in Bethel Park in the 1970's.
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>>     
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> The road leading to South Park  (so as not to confuse names of these roadways)  was directly across from the trestle in this photo and thus Could Be Considered a continuation of Bethel Church road or vice versa.     Beeses came up and down Brightwood to this location to and from Mesta and South Park.
> .
> There was Only One Trestle here that was removed in 1960 with a shoofly to maintain operation during such.     The Interurban is on the west side of Brightwood and   I~F   South Park Road starts at Brightwood and runs east it is impossible for the Interurban to Cross South Park Road Itself.
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> Jim__Holland
>   
http://tinyurl.com/2cq9tr
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Look closely at the above  URL  again of 1463 heading south across the 
Bethel Church Trestle  --  across Brightwood we can see South Park Road 
distinctly.     Two or three blocks south of here puts us at Boyer or 
further.
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I have gone a step further and am including a  GIF  map  (URL at the 
very bottom of this email)  of an isolated scan of Lindermere to Boyer 
from the drawing by Roy G. Benedict of the interurbans in 1963.     
Please Note Here that South Park Road runs East and West across 
Brightwood Road and underneath this trestle.     We had a discussion 
about this location some time back and John Swindler chimed in about the 
naming of the road  --  I remember him saying Bethel Church in relation 
to Drake but it seems what he indicated is that the  Car--Stop  at the 
South Park Trestle was known simply as  BETHEL    ----    I thus 
confused the naming of the Road and it stands as South Park Road east 
and West    ----    my apologies for this confusion.
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There was a trestle before  Brightwood--Stop  two stops north of Mesta  
--  this was before the grade crossing  --  upgrade on the trestle 
southbound and obviously downgrade northbound.     This trestle remained 
to the end and is probably still there unless filled in  --  doubt it 
would be a grade crossing but I could be wrong.     It was still a 
trestle into the 1970s when I left the area to move to the left coast.
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Jim__Holland
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>> From: "Jim Holland" <PRCoPCC at P-R-Co.com>
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>>     
>>> Hi Mark & Matt!
>>>
>>>
>>> Glad you like the photos  --  always nice to go back in time to view the
>>> TrolleyCars!!!
>>>
>>>
>>> Don't know what it is called today but the road heading east does go to South Park  --  sure many motorists called the trestle unpleasant names before it was removed  --  only one lane of traffic beneath.     Rode over the trestle many times and over the shoofly many times as well.     Believe there had always been an X-Over south of Mesta where DE cars could be turned if sent out on Fair trippers  --  this X-Over was used when the trestle was removed.       It was a single track shoofly used bidirectionally.      The shoofly was built while the trestle was still being used so they cut a switch into the outbound track for the fly.     Less than a car length beyond the switch they cut the tracks and it was a steep drop off  --  Didn't Not Nohow like operating through that switch onto the shoofly  --  never any problems but the psychology of it was terrible~!~!~!
>>> .
>>> Once the work was complete the double track grade just north of the crossing had a distinct zig-zag to it and I surmised that this was to allow settling // expansion // contraction over time.       Took Many Years but the zig-zag Did Disappear~!~!~!       Didn't Not Nohow like the traffic signal installed here which caused the Interurban to wait a length time  --  they did that at several grade crossings along Library.
>>> .
>>> Early AM pullouts on Sunday would drop newspapers at this stop.      I would finish delivering my newspapers Very Early on Sunday and then jump on the TrolleyCars with an Sunday Pass for All Day Riding~!~!~!
>>>
>>>
>>> Mark McGuire wrote:
>>>     
>>>       
>>>> This is near the Mesta stop, correct?  Another question:  What was the name of this road before it became South Park Rd., or was it the same?
>>>>
>>>> -- Jim Holland <PRCoPCC at P-R-Co.com> wrote:
>>>> ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^
>>>> .
>>>> .
>>>> Jim  Holland
>>>> .
>>>> Studying Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRCo)
>>>> .
>>>> ..............................From 1930 -- 1950
>>>> .
>>>> Pennsylvania  Trolley  Museum  (PTM)
>>>> .
>>>> http://www.pa-trolley.org/
>>>> .
>>>> N.M.R.A.
>>>> .
>>>> http://www.nmra.org/
>>>>         
http://lists.dementia.org/files/pittsburgh-railways/02-1719_35+OB_BethelChurchTrestle_19520703.jpg


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