23-06-29 PHOTOS: South Hills Jct

During some recent trips through Pittsburgh I have had the opportunity to revisit the Port Authority Transit light rail that runs southward from the downtown triangle. In 2022 I made my first trip out to South Hills Village, with intermediate stops at Washington and Overbrook Junctions. For this year, while the 47L out to Library seemed tempting, the hour long trip time in each direction would exceed my time budget so I looked for something a bit closer to downtown. The obvious answer was to spend some time at South Hills Junction, located on the other side of the Mt Washington Transit Tunnel. So while I didn't go very far in distance I was able to explore one of the most interesting and iconic parts of the system. You can find the full gallery here ( mirror ).

As my visit involved an overnight stay I got this night photo of Pittsburgh Penn Station shrouded in the haze of wildfire spoke that had blown down from Canada. This haze would continue to impact my photos on the following morning's trip.

Heading out to South Hills Jct I pass Siemens SD-400 #4247 at the First Ave station. First Ave was built as an infill station to serve the south side of downtown which had seen increased development since the downtown light rail tunnel was opened in the mid 1980's. Part of this development was on the former site of the B&O Railroad station. First Ave also marks the boundary of the fare free downtown transit zone.

CAF LRV #4313 pulls out of South Hills Jct on a 42S Beechview Line run to South Hills Village. It is at this point where trains bound for the Overbrook line take the right hand diverging route onto the flyover.

PAT operates two batches of equipment, 55 SD-400 LRV's that entered service in 1985 and another 38 CAF SD-400 copies that came on board in 2003 for the restoration of the Overbrook Line. Apart from the numbers, the easiest way to tell the two classes apart is the design and placement of the center mounted headlamp. Below we see CAF LRV #4309 and SD-400 LRV's #4204 and #4230 departing South Hills Junction station towards Pittsburgh.

A week before my visit, Pittsburgh had hosted the American Public Transport Association (APTA) conference and had wrapped SD-400 #4202 for the occasion.

The Junction in "South Hills Junction" comes in the form of a double scissors crossover that connects on one side the Overbrook and Beechview Lines with the Allentown Line and Mt. Washington Tunnel on the other.

When built the service patterns made full use of the junction, but today it is essentially straight railed between the Mt Washington tunnel and the high level Beechview Line platforms as seen here with CAF LRV #4326.

Although a tower-like building is present, it is not clear if it is, or ever was, staffed for the purpose of routing trains through the junction. This is because the light rail system is equipped with automatic route setting transponders as seen under #4207. After LRV's berth at the platform, the route is lined and a Restricting signal displayed on the attendant dwarf signal.

The seemingly abandoned low level platforms at South Hills Jct are a remnant of the original Route 47 Overbrook line that bypassed the extensive street running on the 42 Beechview Line with a dedicated right of way that ran direct to Overbrook Junction. Modernization of the Overbrook line was deferred due to the cost of replacing large segments of single track and several rickety wooden trestles that could only support the weight of PCC cars. Routes 47 service was abruptly suspended in 1993 when the condition of the trestles became a safety hazard with rebuilt efforts beginning in 1999 and finishing in 2004. The "modern" LRV quality line would split/join with the Beechview via a brand new flying junction south of rebuilt high level platforms. The low level platforms would continue to see use as the terminal of the 52 Allentown, until that service was indefinitely suspended in 2011 due to recession era austerity cuts.

Walking up to the old 52 Allentown tail tracks, one can still see the original Overbrook Line alignment where it crossed Warrington Ave on a bridge that has since been removed.

PAT SD-400 #4250 climbing up the grade from the Mt. Washington tunnel. Originally built for streetcar operations, the 1985 rebuild upgraded the tunnel to support buses as well. Avoiding the clogged Liberty and Fort Pitt Tunnels is a major reason that the south side streetcar lines survived to the present day.

CAF LRV's #4320 and #4323 both on 47S routings side by side at the high level platforms.

South Hills Jct is also notable for containing the last two PCC loop tracks on the Pittsburgh light rail system. Between 1985 and 1999 PAT ran a mixed SD-400/PCC fleet which required low level platforms and loop tracks to support the PCC's. Other loops existed that at Drake, Bethel Village, Castle Shannon and Washington Jc have all been removed leaving just the two at South Hills Jct that supported southbound PCC's terminating from the 52 Allentown and northbound PCC's terminating from the 47 Overbrook. Both South Hills Jct loops have been dewired and have not seen use since the last of the 4000-series PCC's were retired in 1999.

Despite no longer seeing regular service, the 52 Allentown, which goes up and over Mt. Washington, is still used as a diversion route for light rail traffic when there is a problem with the tunnel. In fact the design of the junction seems to create a straight path from the Beechview Line to the 52 Allentown as seen with CAF LRV's #4320 and #4302 departing South Hills Jct then appearing to diverge towards the tunnel..

 


PAT SD-400 #4252 and #4344 on a 47S routing proceed through the junction and into the Mt. Washington Tunnel.

I had been at South Hills Jct long enough that the wrapped #4202 had returned from the downtown terminal with #4217 behind.

There were actually two APTA wrapped LRV's running around that morning, with #4251 operating as a single unit.



SD-400 #4236 operating as a single unit emerging from the Mt. Washington tunnel on a 47S routing.



SD-400's #4230 and #4207 on an outbound 42S routing.

 

View northward through the Mt. Washington tunnel with an additional video of CAF LRV's #4306 and #4310 emerging from it.

Having pretty much seen all there was to see, I returned to the high level platforms where route 47L SD-400 #4226 soon arrive to take me back downtown.

Passing #4243 on an outbound 47L run at Station Square.

Much of the 1985 light rail rebuild was made possible by repurposing the former PRR Panhandle Route tunnel and bridge between Penn Station and the south bank of the Monongahela River. This removed the streetcars from the deteriorating Smithfield St Bridge and a slow street running downtown loop.

SD-400 #4226 at Steel Plaza.

At Steel Plaza I noticed a direct connection to the US Steel Tower and decided to see where it led. To my surprise I discovered a goofishly optimistic industrial mural depicting how Industry (tm) went about converting base elements into space shuttles.

Well that's it for South Hills Junction. Next time I'll be returning to Philadelphia via Amtrak's Pennsylvanian.