[PRCo] Re: Streetcars in the Strip District?

[Fred Schneider]

Route 106 Superior and Shady Avenue Transfer was established June 29, 1906 (according to the route cards) from Superior and California to Shady and Brighton and always followed that route until abandonment.   However, the Superior and Shady Avenue Street Railway was incorporated July 12, 1901, before Pittsburgh Railways began keeping those bloody route cards.   Last full day of service was March 30, 1942.

Route 17 was created when the rails on the Manchester Bridge were finally connected to the rest of the system.  Oh, you didn't know?   The original Pittsburgh, Allegheny and Manchester of 1859 ran across the covered bridge.   I don't have a firm date for when the covered bridge was torn down and replaced by the steel (or cast iron perhaps) Manchester Bridge, but the new bridge was built with rails which were unused until June 1, 1925 when route 20 was moved from the 6th Street Bridge to the Manchester Bridge and route 17 was created as the Reedsdale Shuttle to connect the two bridges on the North Side using the track that route 20 had used until May 31st, 1925.    For what's its worth, when route 20 was abandoned, the replacement bus went back to the pre 1925 routing.     

The problem?   I do not know where they got a Number 17 that late that would fit in.   

On Aug 30, 2011, at 12:16 PM, John Swindler wrote:

> 
> As for 78, wasn't that originally either North Highland or South Highland??  One of them came out Ellsworth and then north on Highland.  And I had forgotten that there was a Penn Ave. trunk route that continued east on Penn from East Liberty to Wilkinsburg.  During "our" era, it was always just the 88 that turned on to Frankstown in East Liberty.  All the other weird stuff was gone.
> 
> As for 16 and 17, perhaps they both operated downtown, or at least to northside business district.  Just a guess without looking at one of the Pittsburgh directories, circa 19-teens.
> 
> One of the surprises in recent years has been to discover, thanks to digital Pittsburgh site, how some of the route numbers floated around the system.
> 
> Cheers
> John
> 
> 
> 
>> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Streetcars in the Strip District?
>> From: fwschneider at comcast.net
>> Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:06:17 -0400
>> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org
>> 
>> As Fonzi would have said, Correctimundo. Some shuttles such as 78 Laketon Road carried the number of the longer route 78 Oakmont simply because, when it was shortened, that was practical. And the 9 Charles shuttle took the number of the shortened version of the Perrysville car ---- 9 Perrysville to Charles Street and Perrysville Avenue once double end cars were removed from Perrysville Avenue in the 1920s. 
>> 
>> In some cases the shuttles were remnants of longer lines that once ran downtown such as 29 Thornburg. 
>> 
>> But you are absolutely correct John. The shuttles often took the numbers of previously abandoned lines in the 'hood.
>> 
>> Now explain to be how 16 Superior - Shadeland and 17 Rebecca Street got their numbers. There had to be exceptions to the belief that all shuttles got numbers from abandoned routes.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Aug 30, 2011, at 11:45 AM, John Swindler wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> It appears that route numbers were assigned in 1914 to routes operating downtown, E Liberty and Oakland - places were there were multiple routes. There was no need to assign a route number to the various shuttle routes. That came later as route numbers were "freed" thru what we would now call "rationalization" of the PRC system. One of my retirement hobbies will be to see what the Pittsburgh newspapers have to say about these early routes. 
>>> 
>>> Cheers
>>> John
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> From: dwightlong at verizon.net
>>>> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org
>>>> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Streetcars in the Strip District?
>>>> Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:25:02 -0400
>>>> 
>>>> John
>>>> 
>>>> Yes, in anything resembling our time they certainly were. 51 was the Bon Air Shuttle, 52 was the Carson Street shuttle (from the end of line loop upriver), and 53 was, of course, Carrick.
>>>> 
>>>> I knew Derrick could not have meant 51--at least in the parlance that any PRC enthusiast living today would remember!
>>>> 
>>>> Dwight
>>>> 
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>>> From: John Swindler 
>>>> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org 
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, 30 August, 2011 08:19
>>>> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Streetcars in the Strip District?
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 53 used the Tenth St. bridge and Second Ave. to downtown. 50 used Carson St. and Smithfield St. bridge. Both were on Carson 10th to 18th St. Then 53 went up 18th to Brownsville Rd., while 50 continued on Carson to 30th St.
>>>> 
>>>> In early years there were two routes that used Tenth St. bridge and two routes on Carson that used Smithfield St. I think Tenth St. bridge had a short turn at 22nd and Carson. Routes numbers 50, 51. 52 and 53 were originally used on these Carson St. routes. But some of the numbers were shifted around over the years. 
>>>> 
>>>> The shuttle to 36th St. was the remnant of the line from Carson to Hays on south side of Mon River. There was a Pittsburgh & Birmingham/PRC carbarn at Carson and 30th St., which might have had something to do with 30th being terminal of route 50 Carson.
>>>> 
>>>> just trying to keep current (lol)
>>>> 
>>>> Cheers
>>>> John
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:04:43 -0400
>>>>> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Streetcars in the Strip District?
>>>>> From: shadow at gmail.com
>>>>> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 6:55 PM, Dwight Long <dwightlong at verizon.net> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Derrick
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Please explain how Rt. 50 diverged from Rt 51, or even vice versa!
>>>>> 
>>>>> sorry, should have said 53, not 51!
>>>>> i have bus on the brain.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> -- 
>>>>> Derrick
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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