The Castle Shannon Incline was a

funicular railroad A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Pennsylvania. It was originally part of the

Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad The Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad was a narrow-gauge railroad in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Originally built in 1871, it may have been the first American common-carrier narrow-gauge railroad. It purchased a rail line called the Co ...

route to the suburb of Castle Shannon. It replaced an earlier incline dating to 1825 that brought coal down from a mine in Mount Washington.

History

Initially opened on August 26, 1890, the incline operated for only a few days before breaking down, the original machinery being unable to bear the strain of the large freight and passenger cars. After a second abortive run in October, it was decided that the machinery had to be replaced. The refitted incline opened on March 7, 1891. It ran from Bailey Avenue west of Haberman Avenue down to Carson Street just west of Arlington Avenue. The oldest part of the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad was a coal mine in Mount Washington. When the mine was played out in 1861, the company opened the back (south) side of the mine and continued it down a horseshoe curve into the

Saw Mill Run Saw Mill Run is a tributary of the Ohio River in Pennsylvania. It is an urban stream, and lies entirely within Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The stream enters the Ohio just downstream from the Forks of the Ohio in Pittsburgh, at a place that ...

valley to other coal mines. The company began passenger service in 1874 to develop towns at Fair Haven (Overbrook) and Castle Shannon. Trains ran up the old incline, through the enlarged coal mine tunnel, down the slope and horseshoe curve, and through the valley. Improvements starting in 1890 replaced the route over Mount Washington with the new incline, which became known as Castle Shannon Incline No. 1 when a second less steep incline was built on the south side as Castle Shannon Incline No. 2 in 1892. From that date, the old incline, the coal tunnel, and the railroad down through the horseshoe curve were used only for coal trains and not passengers. The incline's large cars were able to carry both passengers and wagons, and later automobiles. In 1909, steam railroad passenger service on the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad was replaced by electric cars of the

Pittsburgh Railways Pittsburgh Railways was one of the predecessors of Pittsburgh Regional Transit. It had 666 PCC cars, the third largest fleet in North America (after Toronto (745) and Chicago (683)). It had 68 streetcar routes, of which only three (until April ...

that ran through the

Mount Washington Transit Tunnel Mount Washington Transit Tunnel is an important public transportation link in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The Middleton, William D. (1967). ''The Time of the Trolley'', p. 195. Milwaukee, WI (US): Kalmbach Publishing Co. LCCN 67-201 ...

(still in use today). No longer part of a through route, Incline No. 2 soon became superfluous, but development of a residential area on top of Mount Washington kept Incline No. 1 in business. Originally

steam power A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

ed, it was converted to electrical operation in 1918 by the

Otis Elevator Company Otis Worldwide Corporation (trade name, branded as the Otis Elevator Company, its former legal name) is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and related equipment. Based in Farming ...

. Following much deliberation in the 1950s, the incline was closed June 21, 1964.

Visible remnants

The site of the bottom of the incline is still visible as a gravel slope next to Carson Street where the bus lane joins. Up from there, it passes under existing bridges carrying a railroad, East Sycamore Street, and the P. J. McArdle Roadway. Farther up, Cola Street ends at the incline site. The bottom is near the now-popular

Station Square Station Square is a indoor and outdoor shopping and entertainment complex located in the South Shore neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States across the Monongahela River from the Golden Triangle of downtown Pittsburgh. Station S ...

References

External links

Engineering drawings
{{Pittsburgh History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Defunct funicular railways in the United States Railway inclines in Pittsburgh 10 ft gauge railways in the United States Railway lines opened in 1890 Railway lines closed in 1964 1890 establishments in Pennsylvania 1964 disestablishments in Pennsylvania

History

Visible remnants

See also

References

External links