Pittsburgh 1973

The Pittsburgh streetcar system after it was reduced to just a few south Pittsburgh routes.

VIDEOS


Above: YouTube^CA video - Pittsburgh PCC Streetcars 1976 & 1982 Silent Movie - Length: 10:08 mins.	Above: YouTube^CA video - Pittsburgh Streetcars in the 1960s - East Side (East End) Scenes - Length: 20:36 mins.	Above: YouTube^CA video - Pittsburgh: You Wanted To Know About Pittsburgh's Inclines - Length: 3:18 mins.

PHOTOS

MAPS

Pittsburgh Streetcar map 1973

INSET: DOWNTOWN PITTSBURGH

Downtown Pittsburgh streetcar map – 1973

I created the above maps by overlaying OpenStreetMap (OSM) maps with my own data. Copyright on the OSM maps is © OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed under a CC-BY-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 licence).

Please note that the OSM maps used as templates for these maps correspond to the situation at the time the maps were downloaded and may show features that did not exist at the time the GS Tram Site is supposed to show. In particular, they may show bridges and highways that were built later.

ABBREVIATIONS ON THE MAPS

Duquesne Incline

Monongahela Incline

DISCONTINUATION DATES OF STREETCAR/LRT TRACKS BETWEEN AUG. 1973 AND 25 MARCH 2012 (affected route numbers in parentheses).

1985 July 3: All downtown surface streetcar trackage (35-37, 42/38, 52 [earlier 49])
1999 Sept. 4: Dorchester - Drake (47D, earlier 36)
2011 March 27: E. Carson St. - Arlington Av. - Warrington Av. - South Hills Jnctn. (Brown Line, earlier 52, even earlier 49)

ROUTES

STREETCAR ROUTES

Operator: Port Authority of Allegheny County

35	Library	Liberty Av. - Wood St. [back: Grant St.] - Smithfield St. Bridge - Mt. Washington Tunnel - South Hills Jnctn. - Overbrook - Castle Shannon - Bethel Park - Library
35E	Library Express	Liberty Av. - Wood St. [back: Smithfield St.] - Smithfield St. Bridge - Mt. Washington Tunnel - South Hills Jnctn. - Overbrook - Castle Shannon - Bethel Park - Library
36	Drake	Liberty Av. - Wood St. [back: Grant St.] - Smithfield St. Bridge - Mt. Washington Tunnel - South Hills Jnctn. - Overbrook - Castle Shannon - Drake
37	Shannon	Liberty Av. - Wood St. [back: Grant St.] - Smithfield St. Bridge - Mt. Washington Tunnel - South Hills Jnctn. - Overbrook - Castle Shannon
42/38	Mt. Lebanon-Beechview	7th Av. - Grant St. [back: Smithfield St.] - Smithfield St. Bridge - Mt. Washington Tunnel - South Hills Jnctn. - Beechview - Dormont - Mt. Lebanon - Castle Shannon
42/38S	Mt. Lebanon-Beechview short-turn	4th Av. - Grant St. [back: Smithfield St.] - Smithfield St. Bridge - Mt. Washington Tunnel - South Hills Jnctn. - Beechview - Dormont - Mt. Lebanon - Castle Shannon
49	Arlington-Warrington	Liberty Av. - Wood St. [back: Grant St.] - Smithfield St. Bridge - E. Carson St. - Arlington Av. - Warrington Av. - South Hills Jnctn.

INCLINES (FUNICULARS)

Operator: By private non-profit organization (Duquesne Incline) and by the Port Authority of Allegheny County (Monongahela Incline)

	Duquesne Incline	W Carson St. - Grandview Av. (and Oneida St.)
	Monongahela Incline	W Carson St. - Grandview Av. (and Wyoming St.)

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYSTEM

NETWORK LENGTH

Streetcar network: ca. 40 km.
Duquesne Incline: 244 m.
Monongahela Incline: 194 m.

HISTORY

Streetcars: (horse-powered) 6 Aug. 1859 - 27 Aug. 1923; (electric) 21 Feb. 1888 - today.
Passenger incline: 28 May 1870 - 21 Nov. 1962 (reopened as a tourist attraction: 1 July 1963 - today).
Cable cars: 9 Oct. 1888 - 14 June 1897.
Interurbans: 1891 - 29 Aug. 1953
Light rail (integrated with the streetcar lines): 15 Apr. 1984 - today.
Funiculars (Inclines): 28 May 1870 - today.

GAUGE

Streetcars & Light rail: 1588 mm.
Funiculars (Inclines): 1524 mm. (Knoxville Incline: 2743 mm.)

SOURCES

PRINT

Berman, J. Pittsburgh Railways - Trolley service updated for 1954. Map, June 2019.
DuPuis, R. "Farewell to the Pittsburgh PCCs - Part 2" Tramways & Urban Transit, Feb. 2000 (63: 746), p.49-51.
Lyon, M.A. "Pittsburgh trams today: Phoenix or swan song?" Modern Tramway & Rapid Transit Review, Nov. 1974 (37: 443), p.366-373.
Miller, O.W. History of Pittsburgh area transit since 1840 and PATRansit 1964-1974: Historical data (Draft). Pittsburgh: Port Authority of Allegheny County, 1974.
Sellin, M.V. & Morgan, S.J. "Pittsburgh light rail progress" Modern Tramway & Light Rail Transit, May 1986 (49: 581), p.155-165.
Simons, V. "Systems Factfile No.57: Pittsburgh, USA" Tramways & Urban Transit, June 2012 (75: 894), p.223-226.
Simons, V. "Systems Factfile No.184: Pittsburgh, USA" Tramways & Urban Transit, Feb.2023 (86: 1022), p.63-67.
Taplin, M.R. Tramways of North America, including rapid transit [Tramway Handbooks No.4] Hassocks (West Sussex, England): Light Rail Transit Association, 1981.

WIKIS

WEB SITES

Special thanks to Russell Powers from Denver CO for information on the history of the Pittsburgh system.

Disclaimer: Everything on this site was written and/or prepared at the author's discretion. The author has tried to be accurate where facts are presented, but this does not mean that these facts are necessarily accurate. People needing more reliable information should refer to appropriate sources presented, on the Internet or elsewhere, by authoritative professional or academic bodies.

To get in touch with the webmaster, send an e-mail to g_sandi at hotmail.com.

Flags on this site are from the FOTW Flags Of The World website.

PITTSBURGH

PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES

Aug. 1973