Pittsburgh Port Authority Transit July 10, 1966 Part 2

A Gerhard Salomon Film Clip featuring a 2-car fan trip with visits to Craft Car House, Jane St Loop, Wilmerding, Downtown, Mt Washington, Shannon Loop, and Drake.

[@georgesenda1952]

I used to ride the streetcars all over Pittsburgh. To Kennywood, Dahntawn and what always amazed me, the steep hill to Mt. Oliver.

[@Patrickduffy143]

Fun times...

[@josephzirngibl633]

18th st. goes from the South Side up to Brownsville Rd. in Mt. Oliver.

[@anthonymarcello3768]

Driving a car & trying to park in downtown Pittsburgh was never an easy task. The street car was the easiest way to get around. Maybe a 10 to15 min. wait & your streetcar would appear. It's a shame they had to go.

[@georgesenda1952]

I remember winters when the streetcars couldn’t run & we had to walk to school along the streetcar tracks because the sidewalks were covered in ice. San Francisco still runs restored streetcars. Once when I was walking along 3rd Street, I found an open field with 50-100 PCC cars. No tracks, no barn. Just sitting there. The SF Muni used to use PCC cars & Mack buses. The Macks had trouble getting up hills. People had to get out, walk to the next stop at the top of the hill and get back on on the 1 Sacramento and Coit Tower lines.

[@robertkennedy5178]

i like street cars & the jazz too!,thanks.

[@sjenesky]

Beginning at 9:15- 2 blocks from my house- I sure remember this switch like it was yesterday. Right in front of the hardware store by Joes drugstore..

[@illxtra]

I didn't know trolleys could drive backwards. Thank you for sharing!

[@georgesenda1952]

The PCC cars had controls for the front and back.

[@CrazyBear65]

...And the Duquesne Incline...

[@8v71buses]

Wow nice video and I love the music very relaxing

[@frankieturner7887]

I love it

[@beerybill]

That looks like Frick Park, not Schenley. I don't believe trolleys went through Schenley.

[@1711and14]

Wow! You are correct!. I have been misstating that location for 48 years. Thanks for the correction. Really! Thanks.

[@MaBooTA37]

I always wondered what other city had that color scheme for its PCCs. This video could have very well been filmed in Boston at the same time. Even the old wood cars though i think Bostons were slightly larger. Also the first time i have seen a single-ended PCC in reverse. Nice Video!!! Check PKingman videos for comparison.

[@paulj1962]

When did the orange cars disappear? I rode the Drake from 68 to 75 and don't remember them

[@jamesslick4790]

I think they were pretty rare by the 60s and gone completely by the 70s. Some were converted into Maintenence vehicles. It's pretty rare to see them at all in post WW2 photos, let alone on movie film. They were supposed to be entirely replaced by the PCC cars as far back as the late 30s, but The Pgh Rwys Co. obviously hung on to a couple and at least 1 survived the PAT takeover at least for two years by this film evidence!

[@ArtStoneUS]

Much of all of this film is a fan trip. They used to bring out that Orange Streetcar for those.

[@jamesslick4790]

One minor nit to pick. Where it says "Turning on to Bell Ave". It should have been "Turning on to Linden Ave. ".

[@NicholasKuqali]

Also, do you have any access to photos or videos from the old drake loop which I believe was behind the now present day Sunoco in Upper St Clair?

[@nunyabidnis5407]

It shows the Drake loop at about minute 8.

[@johnfortunato1192]

were those like the only 2 streetcars in PGH? I SEEN THE SAME ONES THRUOUT THE WHOLE VID?

[@jamesslick4790]

They were chartered cars, a sorta farewell tour, if you will, this was the era when most of the Pittsburgh streetcar lines were being converted to bus routes .

[@NicholasKuqali]

at 5:20 is that Bell Ave in Carnegie? The one by the west busway?

[@antonio1681]

Back then you didn't have to worry about things bad that could happen now you have to watch when you clean out your car to make sure that no one's gonna steel it

[@8291Mike]

CORRECTION At the end that is NOT the Mon Incline. It is the Duquesne Incline.

[@1711and14]

Oooops!

[@misha2197]

:)♡♡♡

[@zachz96]

I wasn't expecting to see a bike at 6:03

[@NicholasKuqali]

at 8:15, where exactly is that? It doesn't look like where it splits now just south of Dorcester on the blue line.

[@ArtStoneUS]

There was a special rush-hour shuttle that ran to/from the 38 Clearview Loop in Mount Lebanon , and then single track to loop around the Castle Shannon Municipal building. This footage is an extraordinary move. It's not the way that the shuttle operated. They had to manually use a prybar to set the switches. You are correct that the route is basically where the light rail runs today. The area has an interesting history. The Overbrook line was originally the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad, and their shops were where the Lebanon shops are today. For a really interesting part of history, ask your favorite AI to tell you about the Castle Shannon streetcar war in 1909. Jay Gould, and the Carnegie money with Frick and Mellon are all in the story. There used to be a steam Railroad that ran on Banksville Road hauling coal.

[@NicholasKuqali]

@@ArtStoneUS So I did in fact use ChatGPT to have that explained to me the day I saw your comment. I am, however, embarrassed at how much of rookie I was then viewing video. What I was asking then, was if it was S of Dorchester as in was this where it split from the SH Vil station to run to the Drake Loop. That is horribly wrong. I see this clear as day as Willow Ave. In fact, if you pause it at 8:13, the house with 3 windows, a brown roof, and a white facade is 3911 Willow Ave. It now doesn't have that first floor window awning and the front door has since been painted yellow. Anyway, I know that Clearview Loop well from photos but would love watching more video. I would actually really like to see the loop around the CS Municipal Bldg. I work at the Ice Castle but don't have great memories of the area it occupies prior to it being built. I did of course hear the Drake turn around a lot in the loop by Mr Magic Car Wash.

[@ArtStoneUS]

@@NicholasKuqali I saw a video the other day the showed that very clearly. It had an interesting little detail that for the streetcars that looped around the building, the driver had to get out of the streetcar and manually push a button that was on a pole to throw the switch. The video had very low views. I'll see if I can find it. I'm pretty sure I rode the shuttle from the Clearview Loop to Castle Shannon two times, but I have the sense that they changed the routing. After crossing Castle Shannon boulevard by the Lebanon shops (another interesting detail was that while it was single tracked, there was another track buried under the pavement...) The shuttle then arrived at a switch. The streetcar turned to the left roughly following the boundary of the parking lot that's now the sports building. The tracks went over to north side of the municipal building. My memory is a bit vague as to what the trackage was right around the building. I think it might have just circled the parking lot without a connection to the other trackage. In any case, it somehow arrived back at the switch. Since there was no passing area between there and the Clearview Loop, the entire distance would have been a single block. I might have created some confusion for those people who never saw this. The shuttle was an extension to the 42/38 - it ran from downtown with a cardboard placard on it. I really don't know why anybody would have ridden that. The only advantage was you could get to Castle Shannon without going up the Overbrook line. Also, the 42 / 38 ran on Smithfield Street - Castle Shannon cars went along Grant Avenue. So maybe it was more convenient depending on where you worked. I was a young kid selling newspapers in front of Mead's drugstore at Dormont Junction. Since the shuttle only ran on weekdays, that meant to ride it, I had to abandon my newspapers and hope they were there when I got back and my boss did not find out! 😆

[@NicholasKuqali]

What bridge is that at 3:45?

[@SWISS-it4tw]

That is the Tassey Hollow Bridge. It connects Swissvale to North Braddock. The trolley is coming off of Woodstock Avenue and heading east to Hawkins Avenue. I used to work at the miniature golf course at the beginning of the bridge.

[@georgesenda1952]

Go Stillers ! Beat the Ravens, then the Pats !

[@vw4x4]

GReat video.. You can see things were screwed up back then with the Port (non) Authority. They are 10 times worst now. Abolish the Port Authority!

[@Patrickduffy143]

Where do we sign

[@spaceflight1019]

Socialist transportation...a giant money pit since 1964!

[@ArtStoneUS]

One of the first things that the Port Authority did was to outlaw private bus companies - so that the transit unions had a death grip on the city. The only private buses that were allowed were those that originated in a different county, like Beaver falls or Washington, but they were prohibited from picking up or discharging passengers inside Allegheny County. Not surprisingly, bitter transit strikes followed, resulting in more people buying cars and parking downtown or taking jobs outside of the city.. Retail moved out to South Hills village and other malls. Going downtown to Gimbels or Hornes died next.