[PRCo] Re: Beaver Valley Transit

[Stephen Titchenal]

The convolutions south of Baden are based on the 1908 Sewickley topo and
1916 Beaver County maps. I am not sure when State St/Duss Ave was straighten
south of Baden. Is the "company map" the one in the Rohrbeck book? That map
does not have a date or attribution. The map does not show the convolutions
- perhaps because of a later routing?

Do you have any details on the end of the line in Edgeworth?

Thanks.

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementix.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementix.org] On Behalf Of Edward
H. Lybarger
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 9:21 AM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Beaver Valley Transit

Hi, Steve,

I don't understand all the convolutions you're showing through Ambridge and
Harmony Township.  The company maps clearly show a routing along Merchant,
14th, and Duss Avenue all the way out.  Rohrbeck's book confuses a bit by
calling Duss Avenue "Beaver Road," but the car line was on Beaver Road only
at the east end of town.  Likewise I don't get the zigzag at the west
(north) end of your map...the line was on the main street -- Duss Avenue
through Ambridge and Harmony Twp., State Street in Baden.  Beaver Road
dead-ends in Harmony Twp.

Hope this helps,
Ed

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementix.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementix.org] On Behalf Of Stephen
Titchenal
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2011 12:48 PM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org
Subject: [PRCo] Beaver Valley Transit

I'm trying to locate the route of the Beaver Valley Transit System in the
Ambridge - Edgeworth area.
Attached is a kmz (Google Earth file) and a screen shot with my best guess
based on information from Beaver County Trolleys (Rohrbeck 1985) and various
historic topos, aerials and county maps.

What was the route through Ambridge? Rohrbeck's map shows it leaving Beaver
Rd/Duss Ave for Merchant St. My guess was using 14th St., because 11th was
not yet built based on the 1908 topo. It is also possible that BVT used its
own right-of-way. 

Where did it end in Leetsdale/Edgeworth?

I am not sure when State St/Duss Ave/Beaver Rd was straightened south of
Baden. The early maps show a jog east near current Ehman Ave. Was BVT's
route changed? Rohrbeck's map does not show the jog, but the topo and county
maps do.

In the Beaver Falls area the original bridge used by the BVT across the
Beaver River (Bridge St to 3rd Ave) must have been removed at the time of
the PRR relocation in 1926. How did the BVT cross the river after that?

Thanks for any help with sources.

If you wish to keep up with my right-of-way research in the Pittsburgh area,
I am sharing a Google Map file and updating it irregularly. If you have a
smart phone that supports Google Earth, you can add this shared file to your
"My Maps" and actually follow it in the field. There are many paths, so the
web-based Google Maps does not displays them in sections. It is better to
use the kml link to view in Google Earth.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=204661335735556483333.0004a5a0f22a
bfa17cc00

This is a continual work in progress, but new sources of information are
always welcome. Some routes are more fully researched than others. I am
still struggling with the easiest way to manage changes to routes over time.
When I convert this to a GIS database, changes will be easier to manage.


-- Attached file removed by Ecartis and put at URL below --
-- Type: application/vnd.google-earth.kmz
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-- URL :
http://lists.dementix.org/files/pittsburgh-railways/Beaver%20Valley%20Tracti
on.kmz


-- Attached file removed by Ecartis and put at URL below --
-- Type: image/jpeg
-- Size: 200k (205244 bytes)
-- URL :
http://lists.dementix.org/files/pittsburgh-railways/BeaverValleyTransit.jpg