Father Pitt

Category: Transit

  • Negley Station on the East Busway

    Negley Station

    The Negley Station is an easy walk from both the Ellsworth Avenue and Walnut Street business districts in Shadyside, as well as businesses on Centre Avenue and Baum Boulevard. Like most busway stations in Pittsburgh, it is a direct replacement for an old commuter-rail station: in this case, the Roup station that used to be at exactly the same place. (South Negley Avenue was part of Roup Street until the 1890s, and rail stations tend to keep their names even when the street for which they are named changes.)

    Negley Station

    Commuters gather on the inbound platform in late morning rush hour.

    Buses at Negley Station

    And here come the buses.

    Buses at Negley Station
    Outbound platform
    Canon PowerShot SX20 IS; Sony Alpha 3000 with 7Artisans f/1.4 35mm lens.

    The outbound platform in evening sunlight.

    Comments

  • Sunshine at Steel Plaza

    Sunlight at the Grant Street exit from Steel Plaza station
    Fujifilm FinePix HS10.

    Sunlight pours into the long passageway that connects the Steel Plaza subway station to Grant Street.

    Comments

  • South Hills Junction Station

    Platform roof

    Ordinary materials are given a touch of postmodern whimsy to make a station that is entertaining to look at if, for example, you happen to be stuck on the platform for an hour waiting for a construction shuttle on the Red Line.

    South Hills Junction sign
    South Hills Junction station
    Fujifilm FinePix HS20EXR.
    Comments

  • The New Odd Fellows Livery for Trolleys

    Car 4326 in old livery

    For two decades Pittsburgh streetcars have worn their checkerboard coats, a design old Pa Pitt must confess he never really liked very much. A whole generation has grown from infancy to adulthood since the last time that livery was changed. Here comes a two-car train into Potomac station in Dormont, and the first car is still wearing its old Port Authority suit. But the second—

    Car 4312 in new livery

    —is dressed in the new Pittsburgh Regional Transit livery, which Father Pitt thinks is an improvement.

    Trolley 4312
    Kodak EasyShare Max Z990.

    He cannot stop himself from thinking of it as the Odd Fellows livery, since the three links have been the Odd Fellows’ emblem since the sixth day of creation. But we could do worse than to have Odd Fellows rolling down our streetcar tracks.

    Odd Fellows emblem

    The three links on the Odd Fellows lodge in Hazelwood…

    Odd Fellows Hall date stone in the West End

    …and on the Odd Fellows Hall in the West End.

  • Gateway Station

    Gateway station in black and white

  • A Broad View of Steel Plaza

    Steel Plaza station

    An “ultra-wide” view of a Red Line car coming into Steel Plaza station, thanks to the five-megapixel “ultra-wide” auxiliary camera on Father Pitt’s phone.

    Comments

  • Entrance to the Steel Plaza Subway Station

    Entrance to Steel Plaza
    Kodak EasyShare Max Z990.

    The Grant Street entrance to Steel Plaza station: a study in angles.

    Comments

  • Streetcars in Allentown

    Two-car train on Warrington Avenue

    All summer long, all the rail routes have been detoured through Allentown. Stop and consider for a moment how thoroughly odd Pittsburgh transit is: do you know of any other subway system that keeps up an alternate route over the top for times when one of the tunnels has to be closed?

    Trolleys on Warrington at Beltzhoover

    The few riders who look up from their phone screens have a chance to notice that Allentown is changing. Over the past few years, the Warrington Avenue business district has been going through a rapid trendification. It’s full of weird little shops too low-budget for the high rents of Lawrenceville.

    Trolley and bus passing

    A bonus bus coming toward you, for the longtime fans.

    Trolley on Warrington at Allen

    While the trolleys are going over the top, they stop at Allen Street in the middle of the Allentown business district.

    “Nothing beats public transit” on a mural

    Many people in Allentown would like to have their Allentown Trolley back permanently. They have been enjoying their summer of streetcars.

    Two-car train
    Nikon COOLPIX P100; Kodak EasyShare Z981.
    Comments

  • Gateway Station

    Entrance to Gateway station
    Entrance to Gateway station
    Fujifilm FinePix HS10.
    Comments

  • East Busway at East Liberty Station

    East Busway at East Liberty station, with railroad

    The busways in Pittsburgh are built mostly along old railroad right-of-way, and most of the stations are placed very near where the old commuter-rail stations stood. The Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway is unique in that the railroad still runs next to it; space for the busway came from the abandonment of extra parallel tracks on the busy Pennsylvania Railroad main line. Above, an outbound bus stops at the East Liberty station.

    Pennsylvania Railroad emblem

    These views were taken from the Highland Avenue bridge across the railroad and busway. The bridge bears the Pennsylvania Railroad emblem in concrete.

    East Liberty station
    East Busway at Highland Avenue bridge
    Fujifilm FinePix HS10; Samsung Galaxy A15 5G.

    The use of the old railroad right-of-way, which runs in a series of hollows below the main street level of the neighborhoods it goes through, makes the East Busway a true rapid-transit line, as much grade-separated as a subway.

    Comments