Opened 1890 Track length 1,350 feet (411 m) | Closed June 21, 1964 Owner Pittsburgh Railways | |
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Locale Mount Washington (Pittsburgh) | ||
The Castle Shannon Incline was a funicular railroad in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally part of the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad route to the suburb of Castle Shannon. It replaced an earlier incline dating to 1825 that brought coal down from a mine in Mount Washington. It opened in 1890, but the original machinery was not of sufficient strength to bear the strain of the large freight and passenger cars. When the incline initially opened on 26 August 1890, it operated for only a few days before breaking down. After a second abortive run in October, it was decided that the machinery had to be replaced. The refitted incline opened on 7 March 1891. It ran from Bailey Avenue west of Haberman Avenue down to Carson Street just west of Arlington Avenue.
The oldest part of the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad was a coal mine in Mount Washington. When the mine was played out in 1861, the company opened the back (south) side of the mine and continued it down a horseshoe curve into the Saw Mill Run valley to other coal mines. The company began passenger service in 1874 to develop towns at Fair Haven (Overbrook) and Castle Shannon. Trains ran up the old incline, through the enlarged coal mine tunnel, down the slope and horseshoe curve, and through the valley. Improvements starting in 1890 replaced the route over Mount Washington with the new incline, which became known as Castle Shannon Incline No. 1 when a second less steep incline was built on the south side as Castle Shannon Incline No. 2 in 1892. From that date the old incline, the coal tunnel, and the railroad down through the horseshoe curve were used only for coal trains and not passengers.
The incline's large cars were able to carry both passengers and wagons, and later automobiles. In 1909 steam railroad passenger service on the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad was replaced by electric cars of the Pittsburgh Railways that ran through the Mount Washington tunnel (still in use today). No longer part of a through route, Incline No. 2 soon became superfluous, but development of a residential area on top of Mount Washington kept Incline No. 1 in business. Originally steam powered, it was converted to electrical operation in 1918 by the Otis Elevator Company. The incline was closed 21 June 1964.
The site of the bottom of the incline is still visible as a gravel slope next to Carson Street where the bus lane joins. Up from there, it passes under existing bridges carrying a railroad, East Sycamore Street, and the P. G. McArdle Roadway. Farther up, Cola Street ends at the incline site. The bottom is near the now-popular Station Square.