[PRCo] Re: Rt 56 ROW

[Dwight Long]

George

No argument with your recitation of the underlying factors for the demise of 
our beloved PRC Rt. 56.

However, you did not mention one thing which is of tangental interest.  PRC 
in the late 50s DID have an interest in preserving rail service on Rt. 55, 
which did not have the same traffic vacuum as Rt. 56, nor its "McKeesport 
problem."  That is why when Rt 68 was bustituted in 1958, both the tracks on 
Browns Hill Road and the Homestead High Level Bridge were retained, so that 
when the Glenwood Bridge would finally close to trams, the Rt. 55 cars could 
be re-routed up Rt 58 to the connection with Rt 68 (the site of the Rt 58 
and 69 loops) and then down Browns Hill Road, across the High Level bridge, 
and onto the outer end of Rt 55 in Homestead. That route was PRC's "ace in 
the hole" in their willingness to give up rights to use the Glenwood Bridge 
for trams.

Of course by the time that the Glenwood Bridge actually closed, different 
circumstances prevailed and this plan was never put into effect.  But it is 
interesting to speculate on how well it would or would not have worked, in 
view of the circuitry (probably not a problem as local ridership was much 
more important than the few through riders to the Golden Triangle) and the 
single track portions of Rt. 58.

Dwight

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "George W. Gula" <scranton-pa at comcast.net>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 07, 2011 8:43 PM
Subject: [PRCo] Rt 56 ROW


> Hi everyone.
>
> I just got back from Scout camp and a vacation where computer access was 
> not
> avaiable and I'm just catching up on all the mail.
>
> Lets examine the entire route. Heavy traffic made for a very slow-going 
> ride
> in and outbound on Second Avenue along the J&L Mill and though the 
> Hazelwood
> and Glenwood areas. By the time Route 56 was abandoned in 1963, ridership
> was going down and these neighborhoods were changing. With the opening of
> the Parkway East, many local residents left for cleaner neighborhoods and
> roomier homes. Small business in the area also began to close up in 
> response
> to a fall in local sales and the crime brought in by some elements who
> replaced the locals who left. The mill itself was in decline, with fewer
> workers to patronize the Railways trolleys. And jobs and shopping were 
> also
> beginning to decentralize away from the transit lines
>
> Beyond the Glenwood neighborhood and the Glenwood Bridge, the PRW 
> stretched
> fairly straight through Hays and Lincoln Place to Dravosburg. Between Hays
> and Lincoln Place, the line ran alongside a very narrow Mifflin Road, 
> which
> everyone wanted to see widened. The classic ROW was actually between 
> Lincoln
> Place and Dravosburg, but served a moderate to lightly settled area and
> provided only light traffic outside the rush hour beyond Lincoln Place. In
> fact there were 56A cars that ran out only as far as Lincoln Place. There
> was some traffic in Hays and in Lincoln Place but very little along 
> Mifflin
> Road. The ROW entered the street in Dravosburg and crossed the Monongahela
> River to enter McKeesport. The constant parade of slow-moving auto and
> pedestrian traffic on Fifth Avenue in McKeesport and the daily delays at 
> the
> infamous B&O RR crossing slowed the ride considerably. Fifth Avenue 
> between
> the Yough River and the end of the line at Pirl Street loop was so narrow
> that any car not parking at the curb and on the sidewalk was going to 
> stall
> a streetcar. As cars became wider, this situation occurred constantly,
> voters complained to their representatives and McKeesport became even more
> hostile toward the trolleys then they already were.
>
> In addition, the construction of the new Mansfield Bridge in 1951 moved 
> the
> trolleys away from the central area of Dravosburg and out of the heavily
> populated Tenth Ward of McKeesport. The additional walk that patrons had 
> to
> endure to get to the cars resulted in more business for the independent 
> bus
> lines and the auto dealerships.
>
> The PRCo was interested in getting out of the streetcar business on these
> marginal lines. There is an letter I found in the PTM archives some years
> ago in which PRCo had told PennDot around 1957 not to plan for tracks in 
> the
> Glenwood Bridge when it was replaced. This occurred in 1963 and the line 
> was
> abandoned.
>
> PRCo was interested in maintaining rail service on the heavy lines in the
> East End and South Hills where it made economic sense but operating
> streetcars on the rest of the system would only occur if it made economic
> sense. Today, McKeesport, Glenwood, Hazelwood and Hays have lost 
> significant
> population. One can shoot a cannon and it wouldn't hit anything for 
> blocks.
> PRCo saw this coming and correctly got out of the rail business there.
>
>
> George Gula
>
>
>