Pittsburgh, PA USA

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:

Tour the finished module from the railfan's camera.