Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Plane was a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

incline railway Incline, inclined, inclining, or inclination may refer to: *Grade (slope), the tilt, steepness, or angle from horizontal of a topographic feature (hillside, meadow, etc.) or constructed element (road, railway, field, etc.) *Slope, the tilt, steepn ...

that ran from the northern end of the

Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Tunnel The Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Tunnel, also known as the Mount Washington Coal Tunnel, was a narrow-gauge railway tunnel under Mt. Washington. History It was originally begun as a coal mine in 1825 by Jacob Beltzhoover. The mine was exten ...

to Carson Street in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

. Originally built to carry coal from the

Jacob Beltzhoover Jacob Beltzhoover was a pioneer of St. Clair Township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He and his family received a land grant from the Penn family. He was one of six sons of Melchior Beltzhoover, a tavern keeper from Hagerstown, Maryland wh ...

mine, it was sold by the

Pittsburgh Coal Company The Pittsburgh Terminal Coal Company was a bituminous coal mining company based in Pittsburgh and controlled by the Mellon family. It operated mines in the Pittsburgh Coalfield, including mines in Becks Run and Horning, Pennsylvania. Unusuall ...

to 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 ...

in 1871. It was used only for coal as early as 1864, passenger traffic was added in 1874 for the

. For safety reasons, the tunnel was closed to passenger traffic, and passengers were diverted to the

Castle Shannon Incline The Castle Shannon Incline was a funicular railroad in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally part of the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad route to the suburb of Castle Shannon. It replaced an earlier incline dating to 1825 that br ...

, constructed in 1890. Emergency use of the plane for passengers and freight continued as late as 1900. Its use for the transport of passengers and freight other than coal was made obsolete by 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 ...

. Operation as a coal incline continued until May 1, 1912. It was operated as a gravity plane, with returning empty cars being pulled to the mine mouth by the weight of the descending full coal cars.

References

Railway inclines in Pittsburgh Defunct funicular railways in the United States History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Defunct Pennsylvania railroads Narrow gauge railroads in Pennsylvania 3 ft 4 in gauge railways in the United States 1912 disestablishments in Pennsylvania {{Pittsburgh