Pittsburgh Downtown/South Side Streetcar Runs July 6, 1985
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ต.ค. 2024
- I shot this video from a Pennsylvania Trolley Museum fantrip on Saturday, July 6, 1985, beginning at about 6:10 PM. The video begins at Fourth Avenue and Smithfield Street and then on Liberty Avenue and Wood Street, turning left onto Fort Pitt Boulevard, and turning right and crossing the Smithfield Street Bridge. From the bridge, turning left onto West Carson Street and then climbing Arlington Avenue on the tracks of the former 46-Brownsville, 49-Beltzhoover and 49-Arlington/Warrington. From Arlington Avenue to Warrington Avenue to South Hills Junction, looping and then a return via the same route to downtown Pittsburgh. Much of this video was shot looking out the windshield of PCC 1721. I was kneeling in the front, next to the operator.
I was in Downtown Pittsburgh, watching the streetcars that day. I was just a kid. Not realizing that was going to be the last time I was to see trolleys on Pittsburgh Streets.
Wish they would bring them back!
This was filmed 2 days before my 10th birthday. Pittsburgh looked different back then. Our parents told us to play outside until the street lights came on. By the time I graduated from high school trolleys only had 4 lines
Allentown
South hills village
Castle Shannon (beechview)
Library
I miss the old days.
Streetcars in pittsburgh have been gone long before I was even born and my parents were little kids when this was filmed, but the whole streetcar thing fascinates me and I wish they came back
You can visit the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, PA, www.pa-trolley.org. It was built along the former Washington interurban line operated by Pittsburgh Railways Co. that was discontinued in August 1953. It was cut back and operated as 36 - Shannon-Drake. The former 36 went via Overbrook, but the new service operates via Mt. Lebanon to South Hills Village.
Very relaxing look back in time. The older cars; the traffic sounds; people talking; the rain. It was just like being there & feeling the reality of it all. THX.
Thanks for your kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Your video was one of the older & best I've seen of Pittsburgh. I'm hoping to find some videos that may go back as far as the 40's when it was called the smokey city. That would be interesting.
For more about Pittsburgh streetcars, check the website of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum at www.pa-trolley.org.
I lived there in 1988, I didn't realize I'd just missed trolleys!
Wow, I miss those days. I was born in 1963 and lived in Pittsburgh all my life. When we were kids the trollies were the only thing we rode on. Until they built the south hills busway. Then they retired the old trollies and started using the new subway cars.
A really interesting video, thanks for filming it in the first place and also for uploading it for us all to share. In 1985, I was 14 years old, living in Melbourne, Australia where I grew up, and our tram system felt very much like what we see in this video, although we never ran PCCs. Thankfully, the Melbourne tram network survived the wholesale closures of tram and streetcar systems, and has been expanded and upgraded to become what is now the largest city and suburban tram system in the world.
This is probably just too early for most TH-cam viewers to appreciate, but a definite thank you to uploading this historical piece of lost transit history!
Thank you, I made this video when I was 30. I remember Pittsburgh Railways operations before the Port Authority took over on March 1, 1964.
TheHappyCooker68 I'm presently 33 myself. Within the last decade or so I started to really appreciate that which was lost to modernization. In any case, glad to see someone felt it was worthwhile to preserve this and make it generally available to all.
I grew up with streetcars, even riding them fro Bethel Park to downtown and around the Burgh!
I remember streetcars when I was a kid... The ding of the bell when they left the stop... The sparking of the overhead lines...wish I could go back
I remember these days running around having fun catching trolleys having fun.
Proof that the Fates can be cruel: I was born just two weeks after this video. I'm fortunate enough to remember the PCCs but not street running in the Golden Triangle. Nice video - thanks for posting!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video. I was lucky enough to be born in 1955 and rode the streetcars in my native Johnstown, which were abandoned three days after my fifth birthday. Happily, my family made many trips to Pittsburgh in the early sixties and I rode streetcars on the North Side, South Side and East End. A very memorable trip was on a 1700-series car on 64-East Pittsburgh.
Hey I just seen a the mythical American station wagon. lol. My goodness that area has changed so much since this video was shot! Thanks for posting.
It's amazing how little has changed over the last 30-some years.
The south-side has lots of historical charm and with all the places to eat ,bars & etc.,street cars would make sense.
This must have been right before the subway opened, as the Station Square Station looks to be complete. I remember it well. Great video.
Dan Zunko - Thanks, Dan. You're right, the changeover happened that weekend.
I remember catching the trolley (I think) once or twice to visit a friend in Beltzhoover, but not remember the trolleys actually driving through downtown. I was downtown a lot with friends especially on 5th Ave, the Pointe and Jenkins Arcade.
Hard to believe this is 1985, but that's over 40 years ,before internet , i was a first year out of highschool.its great to look back at this. Now we may have self drive transport soon , that's a bit much for me to take in, awesome travel into the past .,thanks again. One thing that hasn't changed is repairs of our infrastructure,there's a mess then and 2022 it's always being done.
Not over 40, just under. 39.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I learned to love the chatter on the streetcars and buses (yuk) in Pittsburgh!! It's just so burgh like!
Wow! I lived in Allentown in the early 70's when I was a kid. Thanks for posting this!
I rode that line when it was the 52 and loved it! I'm so sad Port Authroirty abandoned the line in 2012. They still divert trains down that line.once in blue but never like that.
Thanks, Nicholette, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. In 1974-1975 when the Port Authority was reconstructing the South Hills Tunnel to accommodate buses, all service was diverted via Route 49 on Arlington Avenue and it was quite busy. I still think of it as the 49-Beltzhoover. Also, check out the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, PA. I think you might like it--many old Pittsburgh streetcars.
This brings back many memories. As a kid and as an adult I always wanted to make the bell ring...lol. Thank you for posting :)
Some really old history, around 12:16 is the residue of how people commuted before the Mount Washington tunnel was open. People went up and then back down an inclined plane, then caught a steam train at the bottom of the hill to take them out to Castle Shannon. There was a loop of track which was later used to take people to the allegany County Fair. Eventually the bridge over that loop was filled in. I remember in the 1960s wondering why we were going over a bridge when it wasn't going over anything.
Wow, they still made change in 1985!
Good video of the last remaining street trackage in downtown Pittsburgh as well as the Arlington Ave. tracks before they were rebuilt to better accommodate the heavier LRV's. I'd hate to imagine for them using that rinky-dink trackage on a regular basis. Looks like the rain stopped enough for you to get some good pix. Thanks for sharing this fantrip with us.
713davidh42 When the tunnel was rebuilt in 1975, all streetcar traffic was diverted over this rinkydink trackage.
Apparently there were PCC's detouring via Arlington Ave. in your video. When returning to downtown you had to wait with another PCC where the trackage became single track north of Warrington and there were other PCC's waiting at Station Square for your charter to pass. The Arlington Ave. trackage in your video does seem to have been repaved, but still don't think it would have lasted very long with regular LRV use as it was completely rebuilt before LRV's de- toured around the tunnel in 1993. I visited Pittsburgh for the first time in 1970 remembering fondly riding a PCC from downtown to the Drake Loop and recalling the Arlington Ave. hill with only those "Belgian" bricks.
I'm a tram 🚋 and I approve this video! Ding ding!
Nice seeing my neighborhood back in 1985. I think i was that kid at corner of the old bank on warrington/arlington avenues. Looked liked my older sister i would have been 5 at the time holding her hand. .....
Right around 10:16 mark
....can never get enough of old pittsburgh streetcar line videos; this one is the best w it's urban vibe and graphic depiction of the decreptitude of the system in the '80's
... very appealing in a strange, indescribable way
Back when Arlington was more vibrant.
Great video as a kid I remember getting a weekend ticket and you could ride the trolley and the commuter train I forget where that went but a great thrill doing that trip with my folks.....
SurferJoe71 Thanks, Joe!
I really like this video! I've been wanting to see how the Allentown line looked before it was rebuilt! Particularly where the overhead transitions from trolley wire to full catenary wire, before the former was upgraded to direct suspension wire...
Awesome video! Great seeing Allentown in better times, and my dad's store on Warrington. Thanks!
Thank you! I'm happy my video brought back some good memories for you.
At Smithfield and 4th, there was a rush hour short turn up to Grant. The driver had to manually throw the switch with a crowbar. It did not automatically return to the straight position, requiring the following car to be alert and return the switch to the normal position. The shortcut was also used at least once during a fire on Smithfield Street
This so awesome. Thanks, many thanks, to all.
Thank you for sharing this! It sure brought back some good memories!!
You're very welcome. I'm always happy to share my enthusiasm for Pittsburgh streetcars.
Not to forget the trolley service in Allentown was replaced in 1986 with the 52 Allentown Bus service which did not use Arlington ave. it was rerouted over warrington and mt oliver to connect to s 18th street and east carson and used the 10th street bridge to downtown Pittsburgh and outbound service operated the same was as the inbound service would the bus was a replacement to to the reconstruction of Arlington ave the service was restored of November of 1993 to carry the LRV (Light Rail Vehicle)
William, you might remember that the old route 53-Carrick used the South 10th Street Bridge before it was re-routed to the Smithfield Street Bridge. Later, when the tracks on South 18th Street were taken out of service, the route 47-Carrick via Tunnel was re-signed 53-Carrick.
Memories. July 6th, 1985. Where was I at? I can't seem to remember now. My buddy's dad lived on Craighead St around that time frame, I think. I might've been living in Dravosburg then. I cant't remember anymore. Can't even tell you what I was driving then. 72 Chevy pickup, probably. I suffer from CRS, Can't Remember Shit. Anat. lol
a very valuable video 😀
The 52 Allentown Trolley was discontinued due to the lack of ridership in june of 1997 PAT added Saturday service on it because the Allentown community wanted trolley service on Saturdays they complained but no one ever rode it but my grandmother and me and later on Saturdays service was discontinued along with weekday mid-day and evening service which was cut to run rush hour only Monday thru Friday
What an awesome video.....
Thanks, Joshua, I'm very glad you enjoyed it.
I was in Pittsburgh that day wasn't this the last day for the streetcars?
Yes, this was the last day.
I do like this video and I enjoy watching it. Was this a fantrip due to the suspension of the 52 Allentown trolley for reconstruction of Arlington Ave
Wasn't this video made right after the Downtown Subway opened?
I was on that trip. That was the trip where the route foreman almost got crushed between car 1721 and a pole when it split the switch at the loop at South Hills Junction. I was also born in 1955 and have been a member of PTM since 1978.
I remember when that happened and I think Bill Fronczek went to help the injured foreman before the ambulance arrived.
What good year 1980s
Do you think that PAT should of kept the pcc cars strictly for the 52 Allentown?
Absolutely
Yes a lot of would want to go threw there
when was the 77/54 trolley discontinued and replaced with the 54C bus service?
77/54 was discontinued in two pieces. First was July 4, 1964 when the Brady St. Bridge was closed to streetcars due to weight restrictions and Second Avenue streetcars were discontinued, 57-Glenwood and 58-Greenfield and 53-Carrick was re-routed from S. 10th St. Bridge to Smithfield St. Bridge. 77/54 was short-turn looped on Seneca and Gist Sts. between Forbes Avenue and Fifth Avenue with the Carrick portion eliminated. The rest of 77/54 was discontinued in July 1965 when Keating Car House on the North Side was closed.
Mr Patton, I am a video producer with TribLIVE in Pittsburgh. We are making a history documentary on trolleys in West PA and I would love to be able to include some of this footage with your permissions. Is this something we can discuss? I can show you samples of my work.
Hi Sean, thanks for your interest in my video. How do I get in touch with you at TribLIVE? I'd like to see some of your work.
@@TheHappyCooker68 can you please email me at seanstipp@gmail.com or sstipp@triblive.com. The gmail address works best as our SPAM filter is a bit aggressive. Take a look at these videos we made: "The Return of the Clark Bar:" jwp.io/s/KWQTq0Jx AND "KDKA Turns 100:" jwp.io/s/dfuvnaLo
I was 14 wow
I was 14 in 1985, too, very busy as a tram/streetcar fan in Melbourne, Australia. It’s a shame so many Pittsburgh lines no loger exist.
Did the track go on Fourth from Grant to Wood or all the way to Stanwix?
servedinrvn The track on Fourth went from Wood to Grant, Stanwix to Wood was long discontinued.
That's my house on the right at 17:20 :-)
PAT should of kept the pcc cars only for the Allentown line
Is this in the Oakland area, down by Univ. of Pittsburgh and Presbyterian Hospital?
This is on the South Side on West Carson Street, Arlington Avenue, and Warrington Avenue.
TheHappyCooker68 You might find this video interesting. It’s where I grew up, St. Joseph Missouri. th-cam.com/video/gDO0hzibbEs/w-d-xo.html
It was filmed in 1954. What’s sad is only 2-3 of the businesses featured in the film are still open. St. Joseph is about 40 miles north of Kansas City.
St. Joseph is where NOMA Christmas lights were manufactured. I collect them and have many strings.
TheHappyCooker68 Yes! My grandfather worked there until their closing in 1963 or 1965...
That's great! I probably have some strings that he made.
thank the gods that is over.....20 years of that was enough!
I Barely remember the 53 Carrick trolley route using the 10th street bridge I always thought that the 53 Carrick used the Smithfield street bridge not the 10th street bridge. As it comes to the 47 Carrick I believe that route was a express route but instead of using South 18th street it operated along Arlington ave to warrington ave to the south hills junction and used the which is now known as the transit tunnel to the smithfiled street bridge if iam correct on that
You're correct. 47-Carrick via Tunnel was the rush-hour express run of the 53-Carrick. In the original Pittsburgh Railways configuration, 53-Carrick used the South 10th Street Bridge to Second Avenue, and then Ross Street to Forbes Avenue, left on Stanwix Street and left again on Fourth Avenue to return to Ross Street, completing the loop. The 47-Carrick via Tunnel looped via Grant Street, Liberty Avenue and Wood Street, the same as the old Shannon-Charleroi and Shannon-Washington interurbans, which later became 35-Shannon-Library and 36-Shannon-Drake.
i was reading on certain web sites i forgot which ones though the 47 carrick via tunnel was discontinued long after i was born around that era pat was renumbering all the routes and replacing all the streetcars with buses for an example the 48 Arlington streetcar became the 51A Arlington heights that route began operations in 1977 before that it was the 54A and 54B. Go to amcap.org there is a bunch ofintresting stuff on there
When did they stop operating on the Streets of Downtown PGH?
That weekend.
@@TheHappyCooker68 Thanks
Sadly I never witnessed the street cars on downtown streets I was 3 when the last street cars ran.
Wow I never I never knew I was but I was 4 years old living in Uniontown
Thank you have brought mammary
2131 their bless you
Are you familiar with the 54C bus?
I've never ridden the 54C. I rode the 77/54 from the Carnegie Museum in Oakland to Buhl Planetarium on the North Side in June 1965 and I rode 53-Carrick from the stop at Sixth Avenue and Wood Street to Brentwood Loop and return in June 1968. Fond birthday memories.
Is there still an Italian community in So Pittsburgh?
DeliverTheWord1 Yes! It's called Bloomfield, "Pittsburgh's Little Italy." Unfortunately it is slowly losing it's ethnic flavor as more of the older generation move into the suburbs or die off. (At least, that's what I thought when I lived in Pittsburgh.)
DeliverTheWord1 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomfield_%28Pittsburgh%29
We would put pennies on the track and watch them get flattened 3 times the size.
1:38. where that Radio Shack is here is in 2024 still vacant.
why do so many of them say "chartered" where are the actual routes?
The streetcars in this video were chartered by the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum.
@@TheHappyCooker68 but isnt this video actually from 1985? if so they should be your basic trolley routes from 1985 not a museum trolley it dont make sense at that time they were the property of Port Authority not a museum and they are being rode by your basic people traveling right? this reply make it seem like if they were planted there just for the video lol i dont understand plus i wished the scenes wer'nt edited or cut off so quickly so we could see more of the old stores & such after the trolleys passed.
@@johnfortunato1192 I'm sorry you don't understand, Mr. Fortunato. I shot this video myself on July 6, 1985, beginning at about 6:10 PM and ending at about 6:40 PM. The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, Pennsylvania, of which I am a member, chartered two streetcars, that is, the museum rented them from the Port Authority, for a private fan trip. All the passengers on both streetcars are museum members who purchased tickets specifically for this event. Because these streetcars are NOT in revenue passenger service on Port Authority routes, and are rented for a private function, the destination signs show "Chartered" instead of a regular Port Authority route.
I shot most of the video from a kneeling position next to the operator, looking out the windshield, in order to get a similar perspective to what the operator of the streetcar would see.
@@TheHappyCooker68 oh lol it looked like you was just out on the streets shooting video of random streetcars picking up random passengers and i didnt get why none showed thier reg routes haha thanks for the explanation, got any vids of buses from '85 id like see them like the fishbowl ones!
87ARDMORE