[PRCo] Re: Washington Interurban Forensics

[Phillip Clark Campbell]

Mr.Iannucci;
There is street operation in the background on single track.  The
first street operation south of Drake trestle was in Canonsburg, double
track.

 
Phil




________________________________
 From: Bob Iannucci <bob at rail.com>
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org 
Sent: Wednesday, December 7, 2011 1:09 PM
Subject: [PRCo] Washington Interurban Forensics
 
Phillip Clark Campbell wrote:
> In the archives is a picture of an old car that no one on this list can
> identify isn't there.  It is reportedly on the Interurban lines.  A PCC was
> also photographed at the same location.  It is tedious trying to find the
> photo in the archives.  This looks like the photo in the archives,
> again, location unidentified by anyone:
> http://www.davesrailpix.com/pitts/htm/wvp009.htm
>

This is a really intriguing picture - I had never seen it before.  The lay
of the roadbed behind the car, the direction of the track, and the location
of the poles match a location in Upper St. Clair, just southwest of the
former Drake Trestle.   The area is now called Wiltshire Park.  Analysis of
old maps shows that a walking path in that park was once part of the
roadbed of the former Washington Interurban line.  On my trip to Pittsburgh
this summer, I shot photos of that area.  The poles are long gone, but
there is still pretty clear evidence of them on the right hand side
(relative to the direction in which the car in the picture is traveling) of
the former roadbed.  The widening of the walking path in that area now
corresponds to the passing siding we see in the picture from the 1940's.
Can anyone say if there was a passing siding just southwest of the
Trestle?  The area is overgrown now, but when I was growing up in Upper St.
Clair in the 1960's, this area was just brush as in the 1940's photo.

I've made up the attached for your review - to give you some context and to
invite analysis of these two pictures.  Were they shot at the same
location?  At present, the evidence is somewhat thin.  Any information to
prove or disprove this will be appreciated.

If anyone can find the picture of the PCC taken at the same location (as
mentioned above), I'd really appreciate it.  Also, I am looking for *any*
photos of the former Washington interurban line in the area from Drake to
the southwest edge of Upper St. Clair.

Thanks.

Bob

http://lists.dementix.org/files/pittsburgh-railways/Interurban%20Forensics.pdf