[PRCo] Re: Pittsburgh's stadium that was never built
Dwight Long
dwightlong at verizon.net
Thu Mar 31 13:20:10 EDT 2011
Bob
And still later Conrail axed a major part of the Panhandle between Carnegie and Steubenville, and sold the line west of Steubenville to Newark to Ohio Central.
However, there was always a viable alternative to the use of either the Panhandle or OC bridge to get to Steubenville, and that was to use the Ft. Wayne to Rochester and the C&P to Steubenville. The so-called "River Line" is signaled, double track (with some minor single track sections) and is a viable alternative, should pax service ever be considered for reinstitution in that corridor. However, OC downgraded the PRR line west of Steubenville; it is now dark territory and mostly single track. That would need to be rebuilt and resignaled if any sort of speedy pax service were to be contemplated over it. This would permit service not only to St. Louis but also to the important intermediate cities of Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati, as well as Indianapolis and Terre Haute, Ind., albeit by a more circuitous route across western Ohio and eastern Indiana, because Conrail ripped up much of the former PRR west of Columbus to Terre Haute. This has been bandied about many times when expansion of AMTK routes has been under consideration. With the current curtain of doom and gloom descending upon passenger rail expansion, don't look for it any time soon!
Gasoline at European prices might spur renewed interest in this route, but nothing much else that I can think of will!
Dwight
----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Rathke
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Sent: Thursday, 31 March, 2011 12:00
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Pittsburgh's stadium that was never built
Is it possible that the 1958 stadium plan included conversion of the PRR Panhandle Bridge to automobile traffic? At that time the bridge was used mainly by PRR Pittsburgh-St. Louis passenger and mail trains, but there was an  alternate route to/from Penn Station . In the Amtrak era (1971), the Pittsburgh-St. Louis passenger trains accessed Penn Station via  the Ft. Wayne line through the Northside and across the Allegheny River at 11th Street; trains connected from the Ft. Wayne line  to the old PRR line through Crafton and Carnegie via the bridge over the Ohio River at Brunots Island. Then around 1975 Amtrak discontinued the Pittsburgh-St. Louis trains .
Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dwight Long" <dwightlong at verizon.net>
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2011 1:34:32 AM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Pittsburgh's stadium that was never built
Fred
It is for cars. Â Streetcars.
BTW, if you Google "streetcar" you will get a lot of junk about hopped up motor cars, not what you want! Â Corollary to your point.
Dwight
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Fred Schneider
  To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
  Sent: Wednesday, 30 March, 2011 14:27
  Subject: [PRCo] Re: Pittsburgh's stadium that was never built
  I love the automobiles coming on and off the Panhandle Bridge in the artist's rendering.   Those Americans love cars so all bridges must be for cars. Â
  On Mar 30, 2011, at 12:50 PM, Bob Rathke wrote:
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  > In cleaning out some old files, I found a 1958 architect's rendering of the stadium that was proposed to be built over the Monongahela River at Smithfield St. Â
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  > See attached scan of the rendering, and also the summary description that accompanied it. The area to the right of the stadium plaza is the site of today's Station Square.  Also note the PAT (former PRR), Liberty and 12th St. bridges beyond the stadium.
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  > The City chose the Northside site instead, and construction of Three Rivers Stadium began in 1967. Â
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  > Bob
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  > -- Attached file removed by Ecartis and put at URL below --
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  > -- URL : http://lists.dementia.org/files/pittsburgh-railways/PittsburghStadiumRendering1958.JPG
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  > -- Attached file removed by Ecartis and put at URL below --
  > -- Type: image/jpeg
  > -- Size: 72k (73885 bytes)
  > -- URL : http://lists.dementia.org/files/pittsburgh-railways/PittsburghStadiumProposal1958.JPG
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