[PRCo] Fwd: Re: Pittsburgh 1948 - Part 2

[Bill]

--- In LRPPro at yahoogroups.com, "Leroy W. Demery, Jr."
<chris_demery at ...> wrote:

--- In LRPPro at yahoogroups.com, "Dudley" <transitconsult@> wrote, in
part: "don't you 
count the Washington/Charleroi routes as streetcar?"

Dudley, Lyndon et al.,

I'm presenting the Pittsburgh data by "groups" of lines . . . which I
see I did not label very 
well for the benefit of those who do not have a map handy.

Part 1, Lines 1-5, I've decided to refer to as "North Side (east)" in
the "traffic density 
project" table.

Part 2, lines 6-22, is "North Side." I neglected to include Line
22-Crosstown (which, 
despite the name, was not a peripheral service). Thus I'll post a
"corrected" version.

Part 3 is "West End."

Part 4 is - tentatively - "South Side - South Hills" urban.

So I haven't gotten to the Pittsburgh Railways Company "interurban"
lines yet.  

PRCo did make a distinction between "city" and "interurban" services,
but I'm not certain 
about the details.

Unlike "other" parts of the PRCo system, the "interurban" division -
part of it, anyway - has 
a history dating back well before the electric traction era. A
narrow-gauge mining railway 
was built southward, approximately from today's South Hills Junction,
from the early 
1860s.

Then, in 1871, the (narrow-gauge) Pittsburgh & Castle Shannon Railroad
Company opened 
today's line from South Hills Junction via Overbrook to Castle Shannon
in 1871. The P&CS 
opened passenger service in 1874.

PRCo leased the P&CS in 1908. It then electrified the line and laid a
third running rail to 
permit broad-gauge interurban cars to reach central Pittsburgh. By
this time, the company 
had opened the Mount Washington tunnel (1904).

The branch from Castle Shannon via Washington Junction to Library
opened in 1903. (This 
"might" have been an extension of the line from Dormont via Mount
Lebanon to Castle 
Shannon, which also opened in 1903.) 

The branch from Washington Junction to Drake, and perhaps on to
Washington (PA), was 
opened in 1909.

I am no expert on Pittsburgh electric railway history, but I believe
that this sort of history 
was unique among PRCo's large network. In any case, the "interurban"
lines (Pgh - 
Washington and Pgh - Charleroi - Roscoe) had a distinct character,
with little street track 
away from central Pittsburgh (and Washington, PA). They were operated
by a separate fleet 
of high-speed cars before PCC cars came along (after WWII). A branch,
to Donora, was 
operated by a standard double-end city car.

As far as the distinction between "urban" (or "streetcar") and
"interurban," urban line 37 - 
Castle Shannon once operated "full time" between Pittsburgh and Castle
Shannon (with 
some trips continuing a bit farther south). During this time - if I
have the details correct - 
the "interurban" services (which as I recall operated every 30') did
not make "local" stops 
between South Hills Junction and Castle Shannon. Then, as traffic
declined, Line 37 was 
withdrawn except for peak-period trips and interurban cars began
making "local" stops. 
Then, in 1953 (?), the segments with substantial suburban traffic to
Pittsburgh were 
retained while the outer ends (Drake - Washington, and Library -
Roscoe) were closed, 
together with the small local streetcar system in Washington.

(I've regretted starting the "traffic density project" many times . .
. but this Pittsburgh 
portion is manageable, and interesting!)

Leroy W. Demery, Jr.

--- End forwarded message ---