[PRCo] Re: Fw: Harlansburg, PA Then and Now Amazing Discovery

Tue Oct 11 08:15:45 EDT 2011

I believe this is the only reason.  Bridge construction is expensive; you
build what you need. 

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementix.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementix.org] On Behalf Of Derrick
Brashear
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2011 11:53 PM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Fw: Harlansburg, PA Then and Now Amazing Discovery

well, presumably the rail side was constructed to the width it required, and
no more?

On Mon, Oct 10, 2011 at 11:50 PM, Herb Brannon <hrbran at cavtel.net> wrote:
> Operating PCC cars over the bridge it was always very noticeable, to 
> me, that the streetcar side was not as wide as the vehicle side. By 
> looking at the two arches side by side, not the decorations on them, 
> the difference can be seen immediately. This difference was also 
> brought up on at least two different occasions by PATransit Training 
> Instructor Angelo Nazzo while I was learning the rail system. Angelo 
> was always sharing little tidbits of PRCo and PATransit operations trivia
and the bridge width was one of them.
> When constructed with two different widths on each span I will 
> conjecture that one of two things occurred. Either the City of 
> Pittsburgh saved a lot of money, or, the contractor pocketed a lot of
money.
> On Mon, Oct 10, 2011 at 19:17, Fred Schneider
<fwschneider at comcast.net>wrote:
>
>>
>> This link shows a wide variety of pictures.    Apparently, and 
>> contrary to what I previously believed and wrote, the upriver span 
>> always was narrower than the downstream span and still is.  It is 
>> only wide enough for a single lane inbound.   The outbound bridge has 
>> two lanes.  The confusion lies in the treatment of the panels in the 
>> circa 1915 portals ... there are ten panels on each side creating an 
>> optical illusion that both sides are identical.   If you measure the
width, you find they never did correct it.
>> The trolley span was and still is narrower.
>>
>> http://www.brooklineconnection.com/history/Facts/Smithfield.html
>>
>>
>>
>> On Oct 10, 2011, at 6:27 PM, Edward H. Lybarger wrote:
>>
>> > Don't know just yet, Ed.  I'm not near the material and will be 
>> > traveling this week.  I doubt if there was ever four-track 
>> > operation...just a photo
>> of
>> > a new bridge before they took out the other two.
>> >
>> > I'll find out what I can, but it's heavy travel season for me and 
>> > that
>> may
>> > mean November.
>> >
>> > Ed
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementix.org
>> > [mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementix.org] On Behalf Of
>> eskuchas
>> > Sent: Monday, October 10, 2011 5:56 PM
>> > To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org
>> > Subject: [PRCo] Re: Fw: Harlansburg, PA Then and Now Amazing 
>> > Discovery
>> >
>> > Ed,
>> >
>> > What was the sequence on the Smithfield St bridge?
>> > Single width with tracks.
>> > Double width with tracks both sides.
>> > Double width segregated.
>> > What were the transition dates?  I am working out of town and Pgh
>> histories
>> > are home.   Did the changes eventually come about due to consolidation?
>> > Thanks
>> >
>> > Ed
>> >
>> > Sent from my iPhone
>> >
>> > On Oct 10, 2011, at 5:47 PM, "Edward H. Lybarger" 
>> > <trams2 at comcast.net>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> >> This is Don Barnes's private transportation memorabilia 
>> >> collection.  I believe Don is a retired pilot for U S Air.  I was 
>> >> in the place in probably 1994...lots of stuff.  I go past it 
>> >> occasionally but haven't stopped in since.
>> >>
>> >> -----Original Message-----
>> >> From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementix.org
>> >> [mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementix.org] On Behalf 
>> >> Of Dwight Long
>> >> Sent: Monday, October 10, 2011 4:42 PM
>> >> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org
>> >> Subject: [PRCo] Fw: Harlansburg, PA Then and Now Amazing Discovery
>> >>
>> >> Content-Type: text/plain;
>> >>   charset="iso-8859-1"
>> >> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>> >>
>> >> List
>> >>
>> >> Can anyone answer Bill's question?  This was something new for me.
>> >>
>> >> Dwight
>> >>
>> >> ----- Original Message -----=20
>> >> From: bvolkmer=20
>> >> To: David Goehring ; Dick Hasselman ; Dwight Long ; Edward H. 
>> >> Lybarger ; = Wayne Koch=20
>> >> Cc: C.K. Leverett ; Dennis Lamont ; Frank Tatnall ; Frank 
>> >> DiBugnara ; = Fred Schneider ; Henry Raudenbush ; Jack May ; Lew 
>> >> Schneider ; Peter = Weiglin ; Phil Lind ; Robert B Watson=20
>> >> Sent: Friday, October 07, 2011 6:39 PM
>> >> Subject: Harlansburg, PA Then and Now Amazing Discovery
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>     All:
>> >>
>> >>     I stumbled upon this picture of a roadside stand at 
>> >> Harlansburg, = PA on Shorpy.com.  I thought "That's interesting.  
>> >> I wonder where = Harlansburg is."
>> >>
>> >>     So I drew in a Bing birdseye and noted that there was an "old" 
>> >> US =
>> >> 19 so I zoomed in on it to see if I could see remnants of the = 
>> >> Pittsburgher Inn.''
>> >>
>> >>     When I did that I said, "Whoa. Them's Railroad Cars, bro!"
>> >>
>> >>     So then I Google Street viewed it and there they were, two = 
>> >> stainless steel Budds ex PRR and two heavyweight sleepers.
>> >>
>> >>     How about THAT?
>> >>
>> >>     Now, somebody fill us in on the particulars, Please.
>> >>
>> >>     Oh and while we are at it with things Pittsburgh, for the 
>> >> bonus = round check out the last picture of Smithfield St. Bridge 
>> >> with FOUR = trolley tracks on it. Anybody know when the two in 
>> >> pavement were ripped = out?
>> >>
>> >>     WDV=20
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
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>> >> mith
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>> >>
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>> >>
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>>
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>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Herb Brannon
> In Cuyahoga Valley National Park
>
>
>
>

--
Derrick