[PRCo] South Hills Jct Question

[Herb Brannon]

Dwight,
OK, here is how it works these days...............

I can drive to work (108 Isabella Street) which is at the north end of the
Seventh (Andy Warhol) Bridge. However, it takes 35 to 40 minutes to drive
into the city during peak hours then you have to drive around hunting for a
parking place. There is a parking garage on General Robinson Street which
is the closest to the Burns White Building. So if I go directly there it
takes about 45 minutes to get there and get parked. then it's a 10-minute
walk to the building. The all-day parking fee is  $9.00. Getting out of the
garage, through city traffic and back home takes 50 to 60 minutes plus the
10 minutes to walk to the garage. I have also burned a lot of gasoline
doing this.

I can drive to the Castle Shannon Park & Ride lot which takes 15 minutes
(20 minutes if a lot of "Dilberts" are using the roads). The parking is
free as is the trolley ride downtown. I can get off the trolley at either
Wood Street or North Side stations and get picked up by a Burns White
vehicle and taken to the building. I also burn about one-third of the
gasoline using the trolley as opposed to driving to the city. The trolley
ride from the Castle Shannon lot to downtown takes 35 minutes each
direction plus I always get a "single seat" which I prefer (this eliminates
the "Dilbert Factor") over the double seats.

Timewise, it's about the same if I take the trolley or drive. Moneywise, if
I take the trolley everything is free except the small amount of gasoline
used. If I drive to the city it's $9.00 for parking plus gallons of
gasoline. My truck has a 4.1 liter engine with a turbo charger and it
drinks gasoline like it was 1960 again. Also to be considered is the much,
much higher "accident exposure" timeframe.  Therefore the trolley is the
way to go.


On Fri, May 23, 2014 at 11:03 AM, Dwight Long <dwightlong at verizon.net>wrote:

>
> Herb
>
> Ha!
>
> But you did say you took the trolley home from work. I thought you lived
> in Carrick now.  So how do you take the trolley home from work if there is
> no 47 (nor 53, nor 77/54?)
>
> Dwight
>
> From: Herb Brannon
> Sent: Friday, 23 May, 2014 07:20
> To: Western PA Trolley discussion
> Subject: Re: [PRCo] South Hills Jct Question
> Good luck getting on a 47 trolley these days.
>
>
> On Fri, May 23, 2014 at 12:26 AM, Dwight Long <dwightlong at verizon.net
> >wrote:
>
> >
> > Fred
> >
> > I think he lives in Carrick.  If he takes the 47-Carrick via Tunnel car,
> > he would turn off at S. Hills Jct. before that building would come into
> > sight.
> >
> > Dwight
> >
> > From: Fred Schneider
> > Sent: Thursday, 22 May, 2014 20:54
> > To: Western PA Trolley discussion
> > Subject: Re: [PRCo] South Hills Jct Question
> > Are you possibly talking about the old trolley overhaul shop?   Brick
> > building on the west side of the right of way?
> >
> >
> > On May 21, 2014, at 9:10 PM, Herb Brannon wrote:
> >
> > > While riding the trolley home from work (yes, I'm working again)
> Monday I
> > > noticed a newer building in the South Hills Jct complex with streetcar
> > > rails coming out of one end but not going anywhere.
> > >
> > > I was able to check it out further yesterday (Tuesday) when going home
> > from
> > > work. The building number is "5" and it is located about halfway
> between
> > > the South Hills Jct station and the Palm Garden station. The building
> has
> > > five or six bays, with overhead doors, which extend from the north end
> to
> > > the south end. The furthest bay from the current trolley tracks has a
> set
> > > of rails coming out of the south end then running along the retaining
> > wall
> > > (Mt Washington is above this wall) then turning toward the existing
> > trolley
> > > tracks. Just before reaching the trolley right-of-way there is a
> > > "Y-switch". The track splits and starts curving both north and south
> then
> > > ends.
> > >
> > > There is no way the track could connect to the current right-of-way
> > because
> > > of a pronounced difference in elevation between the right-of-way and
> this
> > > track. Building 5 has, as I said, several bays. There are no other bays
> > > with tracks coming in and out, however.  Currently Building 5 has a lot
> > of
> > > PAT heavy duty service trucks parked at the north end. These are dump
> > > trucks, salt spreaders, snow plows, etc.
> > >
> > > The question is does anyone know what Building 5 was used for in the
> past
> > > and why is there a track coming out of one of the bays? Perhaps, before
> > the
> > > realignment of the trolley right-of-way in that area (for the
> rebuilding
> > > and relocation of the tracks above Saw Mill Run Blvd) was the building
> > used
> > > for storage of maybe the line car or other work cars and was it
> connected
> > > to the right-of-way prior to the new elevation of said right-of-way?
> > >
> > > --
> > > Herb Brannon
> > >
> > >
> > > *In Pittsburgh.............................A City And.........A State
> of
> > > Mind*
> > >
> > > Let's Go Bucs
> > >
> > >
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> --
> Herb Brannon
>
>
> *In Pittsburgh.............................A City And.........A State of
> Mind *
>
> Let's Go Bucs
>
>
>
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-- 
Herb Brannon


*In Pittsburgh.............................A City And.........A State of
Mind *

Let's Go Bucs



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