In 1904 Pittsburgh Railways Co.
blasted a tunnel through mostly solid rock under Mt. Washington. From the end
of the Smithfield St. Bridge, the connection into downtown Pittsburgh, two
tracks ran up a 6% grade exiting to what some rail fans call trolley heaven:
South Hills Junction
Most South Hills routes used
the double track tunnel, where they diverge into four directions at the
Junction. Adjacent to the junction were the tunnel car shops where routine
maintenance was performed on all cars assigned to the South
Hills.
I will forever
be putting the finishing touches on a model of the junction area. It is an
HO module built to the standards of the East Penn Traction Club. While the
research and construction will never be complete, I built this web site to
share my findings and progress of the module. I will update the site as often
as possible, so check back.
The first requirement to build
a module was to get an accurate track plan and Ed Lybarger of the Pennsylvania
Trolley Museum was kind enough to provide a blueprint. I worked on it some to make it presentable on the Web, take a look.
I'm still looking for
historical information, mostly of the engineering
variety, as well as pictures, plans, etc. of the area surrounding the
Administration building. If you have anything you would like to share please send me a note at bob@dietrichsfam.com .
So browse around awhile and see:
NEW 2025 Series of photos & map from David Klepper
Tour the finished module
from the railfan's camera.
Why build a model of
South Hills Junction A Picture tour
The cars that passed by
Historical facts and fancy
The prototype track plan
Module Progress
I would like
to thank all those whose contributions are allowing me to build this site,
including but not limited to, Ed Lybarger, Fred Schneider III, Bob Schmidt,
Phillip Sauerlender, Jim Holland, Bill Vigrass and
others.
Thanks.
Bob Dietrich