Monongahela Freight Incline
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Overview | |
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Headquarters | Pittsburgh, PA |
Locale | Pittsburgh, PA |
Dates of operation | 1884–1935 |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 10 ft (3,048 mm) |
The Monongahela Freight Incline was a funicular railway that scaled Mount Washington in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.
Designed by Samuel Diescher and John Endres, both immigrants from Europe, the incline was built beside the smaller, original Monongahela Incline. It opened in 1884.[1] The incline cost $125,000 to build.
It had a unique 10 ft (3,048 mm) broad gauge that would allow vehicles, as well as walk-on passengers, to ascend and descend the hill. The cars were hoisted by a pair of engines.[2] The incline ran until 1935.[3]
The older passenger incline, built in 1870, is one of two inclines still serving South Side Pittsburgh today, out of a total of 17 built in the nineteenth century. Passengers can see concrete pylons remaining from the freight incline during the descent.
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Diescher, Samuel (June 1897). "American Inclined Plane Railways". Cassier's Magazine. 12 (2): 86.
- ^ A Century of Inclines, pp. 7-8.
- ^ "Twentieth Century Progress Dooms Vehicle Incline Built Before Autos Replaced Hansoms and Victorias". The Pittsburgh Press. 11 October 1935. p. 37.
Sources[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monongahela Freight Incline. |
- A Century of Inclines, The Society for the Preservation of the Duquesne Incline.
Coordinates: 40°25′55″N 80°00′20″W / 40.431944°N 80.005556°W
- Defunct funicular railways in the United States
- Railway inclines in Pittsburgh
- 10 ft gauge railways in the United States
- Railway lines opened in 1884
- Railway lines closed in 1935
- 1884 establishments in Pennsylvania
- 1935 disestablishments in Pennsylvania
- Pittsburgh stubs
- Pennsylvania transportation stubs