Railyard: (
Satellite, a lot of it is now grass. There is an intermodal yard in part of it.)
R Tower: (
Satellite, judging from the photos, it was west of the
George Westinghouse Bridge and east of the
Edgar Thomson Works.)
Depot: (Satellite?, if you know where it was, please leave a comment.)
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John Ireland commented on Bob's post below
HistoricPittsburgh, Public Domain
In addition to the classification and receiving yards, the vast complex contained four outdoor repair yards and two roundhouses. One roundhouse was for passenger and freight car repair and the other, Panhandle Engine Roundhouse, was for locomotive repair. They were built on the Wall Avenue side of the yards by the federal government when it took over the railroads in World War I.
Pinterest |
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Bob Ciminel posted
Power plant at Pitcairn, PA, east of Pittsburgh, 1940.
John Ireland: They also had 2.5 roundhouses.
Chris Austin: Bruce-Macbeth gas engine made in Cleveland Ohio. |
"The Borough of Pitcairn is named for Robert Pitcairn, a former superintendent of the Pittsburgh division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1880, Pitcairn ordered construction of a rail yard along Turtle Creek near Pittsburgh that would become the largest railyard in the world. He was instrumental in locating switching yards, an engine roundhouse and car repair shops in the yard. With the expansion of the railyards, several plans of lots were laid out to accommodate railroad workers. As the village grew and with the residents desire to form their own community, in 1894 the Borough of Pitcairn was born. During World War II, more then 200 trains steamed through the huge Pitcairn railyards each day, carrying troops, supplies and material critical to the war effort. In 1996 the 250 acre sight formerly occupied by the Pitcairn railyards was formally dedicated as the Conrail Pittsburgh Intermodal Facility. The Pitcairn site now handles more than 100 trains daily." [
pitcairn-historical]
North is at the bottom of this photo.
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Phil Jadlowiec posted
Sharing from another group.
HistoricPittsburgh
In addition to the classification and receiving yards, the vast complex contained four outdoor repair yards and two roundhouses. One roundhouse was for passenger and freight car repair and the other, Panhandle Engine Roundhouse, was for locomotive repair. They were built on the Wall Avenue side of the yards by the federal government when it took over the railroads in World War I. |
Note the "Brick Kiln" label across the river from the northern roundhouse.
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| 1953/55 Braddock Quad @ 24,000 |
In Illinois, the
tattoos or land scars made by strip mining are long, narrow lakes. In Pennsylvania, it is flat mountain tops. That creates additional residential realestate.
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| 1904 Pittsburgh Quad @ 62,500 |
It was started in 1892. The hump was opened in 1905.
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University of Pittsburgh via ogrforum
Finished in 1892, the Pitcairn Railroad yard included classification and receiving yards, transfer and assembly tracks, two roundhouses, repair shops, machine shops, and its own lumber yard and power plant. Cabinet shops, upholstery shops and paint shops were also set up to repair and refurbish passenger cars. |
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Tim Starr posted
Pennsylvania Railroad yard, car shops, 2 roundhouses, and 2 standalone turntables at Pitcairn, PA. 1956
Robert M. Milko: Conway helped put an end to Pitcairn. There wasn't enough space here to expand. John Sobaszko: Pitcairn was still relatively busy in the mid 1970s. I remember visiting it with my uncle. The hostler let me run a three unit SD40/35/40 set down the fueling tracks. I was only 16. Can't do that anymore... |
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ogrforum this page has several more old photos
Circa 1945 |
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HistoricPittsburgh
Over the years the railroad yard at Pitcairn steadily grew. The first receiving and classification yard was completed by 1892. By late 1905, the Westbound Hump yard was opened where rail cars were pushed up a hill (hump), uncoupled, and then rolled downhill into sorting tracks. Two years later, the Eastbound Hump near the site of the old Wall family farm was finished. A series of four tracks ran up to each of the humps and fanned into 35 others in the receiving yard. |
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| ogrforum, cropped, this webpage has several more photos |
"R" Tower
Darren Reynolds
posted six photos with the comment:
Pennsylvania Railroads
"R" tower
East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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1
"R" tower Controlled crossovers switches on the mainline and "U Jct " on the Port Perry branch (behind the tower) Photo by: Cy Hosmer collection (No Date) |
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2
The interlocking machine at "R" tower. This machine Was very modern for the time. Photo by: Cy Hosmer Collection (No Date) |
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3
A PRR track and interlocking diagram for "R" tower and "U jct" |
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4
The back of "R" tower and the tracks on the street are the Port Perry branch and "U Jct". Photo by: Dick Hoover (No Date) |
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5
"R" tower and the PRR right of way...Note: the yards in the background... Photo by: Cy Hosmer Collection (No Date) |
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6
"R" tower East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Div.. Photo by: Cy Hosmer Collection (No Date) |
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James Falcsik commented on Darren's post
The purpose of “R Tower” was to move passenger trains to tracks 3&4 while passing Pitcairn Yard, and allow freight easier access to the yard from Tracks 1&2. East of Pitcairn “CP Tower” performed the same function as illustrated on the CP interlocking diagram. |
Depot
According to
Historic Bridges, the depot was on the railroad side of the river so it built a, now abandoned, highway bridge over Turtle Creek to provide access to the depot.
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26:00 video @ 1:37
"The largest railroad marshalling yards east of the Mississippi."
The hump yard was not opened until 1905. |
The building on the left looks like the depot.
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