Pittsburgh Railways

The Pittsburgh Railways Company was a predecessor to Pittsburgh Regional Transit. At its peak, the system operated 666 PCC streetcars, the third-largest fleet in North America, after Toronto (745) and Chicago (683). The network comprised 68 streetcar routes, of which three remain in operation in partially modernized form as part of the Pittsburgh Light Rail system.

With the Port Authority's Transit Development Plan, many route names will be changed to its original, such as the 41D Brookline becoming the 39 Brookline. Many of the streetcar routes have been remembered in the route names of many Port Authority buses (e.g. 71 series).

History

1895 to 1905 was a time of consolidation for the numerous street railways serving Pittsburgh. On July 24, 1895, the Consolidated Traction Company (CTC) was chartered and the following year acquired the Central Traction Company, Citizens Traction Company, Duquesne Traction Company and Pittsburgh Traction Company and converted them to electric operation. On July 27, 1896, the United Traction Company (UTC) was chartered and absorbed the Second Avenue Traction Company, which had been running electric cars since 1890.

The Southern Traction Company (STC) acquired the lease of the West End Traction Company on October 1, 1900. Pittsburgh Railway Company (PRC) was formed on January 1, 1902, when STC acquired operating rights over CTC and UTC. The new company operated 1,100 trolleys on of track, with 178.7 million passengers and revenues of $6.7 million on the year. PRC had over 20 car barns in the city as well as power stations.See Rohrbeck, Benson. "Pittsburg's Car Barns 1900-1909" (1971), which contains maps and photos of these structures. 1918 was the company's peak year, operating 99 trolley routes over of track.

The lease and operate business model proved hard to support and the company declared bankruptcy twice, first in 1918 lasting for 6 years and then again in 1938, this time lasting until January 1, 1951. Company costs rose in the early twentieth century. PRC faced constant pressure from the city to improve equipment and services. Workers walked out when a pay raise was rejected.

On July 26, 1936, PRC took delivery of PCC streetcar No. 100 from the St. Louis Car Company. It was placed in revenue service in August 1936, the first revenue earning PCC in the world.

Large scale abandonments of lines began in the late 1950s, usually associated with highway or bridge work.

Duquesne-McKeesport

Highway improvements in the Duquesne-McKeesport area resulted in the replacement of trolley services with buses on September 21, 1958.

West End lines

The replacement of the Point Bridge with the Fort Pitt Bridge precipitated the abandonment of many routes to the West End, all on June 21, 1959. PRC was engaged in ongoing litigation over the failure of the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission to provide streetcar tracks on the new bridge. In the end the company was allowed to abandon of street track in situ and was awarded $300,000 as compensation. The litigation marked the beginning of significant abandonments: 90 percent of the network was dismantled over the next decade.

Interurban

PRC Interurban Division ran an interurban trolley system linking Pittsburgh with towns in Washington County, such as Washington, Charleroi and Roscoe.

Charleroi The origins of the Charleroi interurban line began in 1895 in Monongahela City, with the construction of a small street railway by the Monongahela City Street Railway Company. In 1900 the line was extended north to Riverview and in 1901 extended south to Black Diamond Mine. Here it turned inland, south along Black Dam Hollow (the former roadbed is now known as Trolley Lane). It met the northern end of the newly constructed (1899) Charleroi & West Side Street Railway at the now-disused Lock number 4 in North Charleroi.

The Charleroi interurban line was cut back to the Allegheny County border at Library (Simmons loop) in June 1953 It continued to operate until the 1980s as 35 Shannon-Library and became the southern portion of 47L Library via Overbrook when Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) replaced trolleys. The trolley loop was removed in 2004. In 2010 this line became the Blue Line – Library, and in 2020 was renamed the Silver Line - Library.

Washington The Washington line was cut back to the county boundary at Drake in August 1953 and eventually became the 36 Shannon-Drake. This in turn became the southern portion of 42 South Hills Village (excluding the new link from Dorchester to South Hills Village, which was built in 1984). The final portion of the interurban from Dorchester to Drake was renamed 47 Drake, finally closing in 1999 and bringing to an end PCC Streetcar operation in Pittsburgh.

Diversification The company acquired G. Barr & Co., a manufacturer of aerosol cans, in 1962, and bought Alarm Device Manufacturing Company (Ademco) in 1963. It received $16.558 million for the sale of the streetcar system to the Port Authority in 1964. In 1967, it was renamed to Pittway Corporation. Later, Pittway became best known as a manufacturer and distributor of professional fire and burglar alarms and other security systems. On February 3, 2000, Pittway was acquired by Honeywell.

Rolling stock

Early types

Double deck cars were used by PRC between 1913 and 1924, a rarity for such cars in the U.S."Transit In The Triangle, Vol I - 1900-1964", Toman & Hays, c.2012. From page 214 Conventional single-deck stock formed the majority of the fleet.

PCC types PRC operated 666 PCCs on 68 routes; the second-largest fleet of new cars (after Chicago), starting with number 100, the first PCC to enter revenue service. The company took delivery of car 1600 in 1945, which was the prototype for the over 1,800 post-War “all-electric” PCCs built in North America. Cars 1700–1724, which were delivered in 1948, were equipped with special features for use on the interurban lines to Washington and Charleroi. These included B-3 trucks and a roof-mounted sealed-beam headlight. (Cars 1615–19 and 1644–48 were similarly modified in 1948.)

Number Order Date Builder & Order Nº Price (ea.) Notes   100 Apr 6, 1936 St. Louis Car 1603 first PCC to enter revenue service 1000–1099 Jul 18, 1936 St. Louis Car 1604 $15,715 1100–1199 Apr 1, 1937 St. Louis Car 1610 $16,000 1200–1299 Oct 16, 1937 St. Louis Car 1620 $15,900 1230 & 1278 equipped with B-3 trucks 1400–1499 May 27, 1941 St. Louis Car 1633 $17,034 1500–1564 Jun 16, 1942 St. Louis Car 1639 $19,000 1547 St. Louis Car order no. 1646 1600–1699 Jan 14, 1944 St. Louis Car 1646 $20,000 1600 was All-Electric prototype; destroyed May 18, 1955 1601-1699 Air-Electrics Some given B-3 trucks in the late 40's for interurban service 1630 equipped with ceiling fans & monitor roof; some rebuilt and renumbered into the 1700-series 1700–1799 Sep 22, 1947 St. Louis Car 1669 $28,350 1700–1724 B-3 trucks; 1725-1799 B-2B trucks 4000–4013 Port Authority Transit c. $100,000

In 1950 the 100 was converted to instruction car M-11. Because replacement parts were no longer available, cars 1784 (originally 1603, and subsequently renumbered 1976) and 1779 were rebuilt in 1976 and 1977 respectively, with LRV-style flat fronts. In 1981 PATransit constructed cars 4000–4013 on new frames that utilized a mix of new parts and components salvaged from retired 1700-series cars. The last four PCCs were finally retired on September 4, 1999, having been replaced by Siemens SD-400 Light Rail Vehicles.

New Nº Original   New Nº Original   New Nº Original 4000 1702 4005 1719 4010 1757 4001 1720 4006 1767 4011 1733 4002 1740 4007 1729 4012 4000 4003 1731 4008 1709 4013 1762 4004 1739 4009 1700

Preservation A number of Pittsburgh streetcars have been preserved. Nº Type Built by Year Preserved at Notes 1138 PCC St. Louis Car Company 1936 Pennsylvania Trolley Museum 1440 PCC St. Louis Car Company 1942 Seashore Trolley Museum 1467 PCC St. Louis Car Company 1941 Pennsylvania Trolley Museum 1644 PCC St. Louis Car Company 1945 Northern Ohio Railway Museum 1705 PCC St. Louis Car Company 1948 Midwest Electric Railway sold Feb 2018 to Donald Kirk (for restoration and operation at a new McCloud (CA) Transportation Park project) 1711 PCC St. Louis Car Company 1948 Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Operable 1724 PCC St. Louis Car Company 1948 Heinz History Center 1799 PCC St. Louis Car Company 1945 Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Built as 1613. Renumbered 1799 when overhauled in 1979. 3487 Conventional St. Louis Car Company 1905 Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Converted to wreck car M132 in 1934. Converted back to passenger configuration in 1956. 3756 Conventional Osgood Bradley Car Company 1925 Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Operable 4001 PCC PATransit 1981 South Hills Village Rail Center Static display. 4002 PCC PATransit 1981 Colorado Springs Undergoing restoration at the Pikes Peak Trolley Museum. 4004 PCC PATransit 1981 Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Operable 4006 PCC PATransit 1981 Cleveland, Ohio Last seen in 2016 at the west end of the Detroit–Superior Bridge labeled "Buckeye Trolley". 4007 PCC PATransit 1981 Bethel Park, Pennsylvania Static exhibit with numbers removed. 4008 PCC PATransit 1981 San Francisco Municipal Railway Acquired for the F Market & Wharves line. 4009 PCC PATransit 1981 San Francisco Municipal Railway Acquired for the F Market & Wharves line. 4011 PCC PATransit 1981 Buckeye Lake, Ohio Privately owned (derelict). 4012 PCC PATransit 1981 Buckeye Lake, Ohio Privately owned (derelict); originally numbered 4000. 4140 Conventional Pressed Steel Car Company 1911 Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Built in McKees Rocks. Converted to snow plow M200 in 1940, then tow car in 1955. 4145 Conventional Pressed Steel Car Company 1911 Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Built in McKees Rocks. 4398 Conventional St. Louis Car Company 1914 Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Restored 1970's to 2012; operable M1 Pay car Pullman Car Company 1890 Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Originally built as an 8-wheel car for the Pittsburgh, Allegheny & Manchester Street railway, it was underpowered for Pittsburgh's hills and was converted to a 4-wheel pay car in the 1890s. Pittsburgh Railways assigned it the number M1. M37 Snow sweeper McGuire-Cummings Manufacturing Company 1896 Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Built as Consolidated Traction Company number 9. Renumbered M37 by Pittsburgh Railways. M56 Snow sweeper 1918 Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Built for the Philadelphia Company and assigned to Beaver Valley traction line as number 1. Transferred to Pittsburgh Railways in 1935 and renumbered M56. M210 Line car Pittsburgh Railways Company 1940 Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Built in Homewood shops using components salvaged from two other cars. M283 Crane car Differential Car Company 1929 Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Operable M551 Side-Dump car Differential Car Company 1922 Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Operable

Routes

Pittsburgh Railways operated 68 streetcar routes.

A notable, unnumbered, tripper (unscheduled extra) service was signed Stadium-Forbes Field, for Pitt Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers football games and Pirates baseball games. Pitt Stadium and Forbes Field were convenient to the lines on Fifth Avenue and Forbes Avenue, both two-way streets during the trolley era. This service, which probably last ran in fall 1966, was no longer possible after the East End lines closed in January 1967.

The Interurban lines did not use route numbers. Outbound interurban cars were signed for their outbound destination, namely Charleroi, Roscoe or Washington; some PCC rollsigns instead prefixed Shannon- to the destination, e.g. Shannon-Washington. Inbound cars were signed simply Pittsburgh.

Car barns