Father Pitt

Tag: Monongahela Incline

  • Upper Station of the Monongahela Incline

    Upper station, Monongahela Incline

    The Monongahela Incline opened in 1870, and it has run since then with a few interruptions for maintenance. There has never been a serious injury on it, as far as old Pa Pitt knows, making it just about the safest form of public transit ever devised.

    The engineer who designed it was John Endres. He was assisted by his daughter Caroline and by Samuel Diescher, who would later go on to design the Duquesne Incline and most of the other inclines around here. Diescher would also go on to marry Caroline Endres, making them certainly one of the first husband-and-wife engineer pairs in the country. They had three sons and three daughters; the sons all became engineers.

    Front of the station

    This upper station has gone through various renovations over the years, but it seems to be the original. The lower station was replaced in 1904 with a much grander building designed by MacClure & Spahr.

    Perspective view
    Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.
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  • Monongahela Incline

    Nonongahela Incline

    The Monongahela Incline on a rainy day. The incline opened in 1870, but the ornate lower station was built in 1904; it was designed by MacClure & Spahr.

    Lower station
    Lower station with car approaching
    Incline cars passing
    Incline car
    Incline car arriving at upper station
    Lower station with two cars on incline
    Lower station
    Lower station
    Lower station
    Monongahela Incline
    Fujifilm FinePix HS10; Kodak EasyShare Z1285.

  • Upper Station of the Monongahela Incline

    Upper station of the Monongahela Incline
    Fujifilm FinePix HS10.

  • Working on the Incline

    Monongahela Incline, upper station

    The Monongahela Incline is getting a thorough going-over. They’re going to fabricate new drive sheaves and replace the gabions, and if you understand what those things mean you probably know a lot about inclines. Here’s something you might like: “Glass flooring will be installed in the Upper Station waiting area that will allow the public to view the inner workings of the Incline.”

    Here we see the upper station: note the incline car parked just below the station to empty out the building for the work.

  • Smithfield Street Bridge and Monongahela Incline

    Smithfield Street Bridge

    Looking southward on the Smithfield Street Bridge from Fort Pitt Boulevard, with the Monongahela Incline beginning its descent in the background.

  • Monongahela Incline, Upper Station

  • Station Square from Across the River

    A large panorama (click on it to see it at full size) of Station Square in the winter as seen from across the Monongahela. The bluff of Mount Washington lowers behind, with the Monongahela Incline at the left of the picture.

  • Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Station

    The old Pittsburgh and Lake Erie station, now the centerpiece of the Station Square entertainment district, with the Monongahela Incline in the background.

    Although the angle is distorted here by a telephoto lens, the building is not rectangular. A satellite view reveals the odd shape.

    A view of the interior, now a restaurant called the Grand Concourse, is here.