Pittsburgh's light rail system is descended from PCC-based streetcar lines running south of the city that had the good fortune to have both their own rights of way and the use of a dedicated tunnel through Mount Washington. These advantages earned the system a light rail style conversion in the 1980's complete with a downtown subway and dedicated bridge across the Monongahela River. While the rebranded Mount Washington Transit Tunnel continued to underpin the network, the Allegheny Port Authority and its predecessors had recognized the Mount Washington Tunnel as a single point of failure and therefore maintained an alternate surface route up and over the hill. Christened the 52 Allentown in 1984, this alternate route, terminating at South Hill Jct, would see declining levels of service until it was discontinued entirely in 2010. However tunnel diversions kept the old 52 Allentown in service as a ghost line, light rail trains running doors closed through the eponymous neighborhood on an as-needed basis. For out of town railfans catching a ride over the 52 was particularly difficult as the diversions were not often scheduled in advance, however in 2025 the tunnel was to undergo a long term renovation with Route 47 and 42 trains diverted over the 52 for the better part of a year. This allowed me to schedule a trip to Pittsburgh to get photos and videos of this rare occurrence.
My arrival in Pittsburgh was too late in the day to properly ride the 52 Allentown, but I was able to catch the arrival of westbound Amtrak Pennsylvanian Train 43 with P42DC leading the usual consist.
It was at this point I had my first ever encounter with a Rule 280a "Clear to Next Interlocking" signal indication displayed eastbound on Track #1 at the former CP-EAST PITT. Displayed as a flashing white marker light next to a standard Medium Clear, the signal us used in cab signal territory without wayside intermediate signals for train movements that are not cab signal equipped. In this case said movement would be Train 43 shoving back to CP-HOME where the turning wye is located.
By displaying Rule 280a instead of a Restricting, the shove move would be able to operate at speeds up to 45mph, saving considerable time across the 8 mile round trip.
The following morning I caught a light rail train at Steel Plaza and was in place to get photos as it crossed over at Panhandle Interlocking and onto the short single track that would lead to the street running up and over Mt. Washington via Allentown.
The whole trip takes about 8-10 minutes, about 5 minutes longer than the trip through the tunnel. The ride was downright exciting as my LRV's operator was really flooring it up the twisty grade. A temporary infill station was also added along the route in the Allentown neighborhood.
My outbound SD400 LRV, running on a 47S service, at South Hills Jct
South Hills Jct is built around a large double track scissors crossover. Although from the point of view of the platforms the crossing routes over the diamonds are in a geometrically straight path, from a railroad interlocking point of view those would be the diverging routes. Normally the light rail trains get a solid yellow lamp for a Restricting indication into street running track. However for the "diverging" route, they get a flashing yellow.
In its original configuration trains from the Overbrook and Beechview lines would merge into the transit tunnel with the option to use the 52 Allentown Route.. With Overbrook Line trains making use of a new flying junction since 2004 and the 52 being discontinued in 2010, the scissors crossover sees rather limited use in its role as a crossover. Here SD400 LRV #4221 crosses northbound over from the Beechview Line to the 52 Allentown line.
Pride month pay have been over, but SD400 pride unit #4239 was still roaming across the light rail system in early July, along with 4202.
Here we see SD400s #4227 and #4201 along with CAF LRV #4317 running out of the junction and up the incline towards Allentown.
CAF LRV #4315 descending southward from the Allentown route. The CAF LRVs were a supplemental order of vehicles to support the re-opening of the Overbrook line, which was closed between 1993 and 2004.
Like the northbound trains, southbounds would roll towards the junction and get a Restricted Diverge flashing yellow signal on the dwarf.
View along the axis of the scissors crossover route from the Beechview/Overbrook lines to the Allentown Line with CAF LRV #4317 and SD400 #4253.. While this routing is physically straight, as far as the interlocking is concerned this a diverging route.
In this video we see an inbound 42S South Hills Village (via Beechview) train with SD400 LRV's #4231 and #4235 passing an outbound 42S with CAF LRV's #4310 and #4313 with #4310 sporting the new "Pittsburgh Regional Transit" paint scheme.
In my previous visit to South Hills Junction in 2023, both PCC loops were still present for short turns both from the north and south. Since that time the southward loop for PCC's coming off the 52 Allentown has been removed along with its boarding platform. PCC's were used through 1993 as the old Overbrook line had wooden trestles that could not support the weight of LRVs.
On the other hand, the old Route 47/52 platform had been re-paved. Before the Overbrook Line rebuild this platform had served the PCC's using the 47 route as well as all 52 Allentown cars which terminated at South Hills Jct.
Another view of LRV's crossing over to the Route 52 with SD400 #4250 and CAF LRV #4308.
The tunnel closing also affected local bus traffic which also had to detour up and over Mt Washington. Here bus #6236 passes inbound SD400 #4227.
All of the construction miscellany made getting a view into the tunnel a bit difficult, but I was able to manage a photo.
Back to the South Hills Jct platforms where I caught SD400 #4224 passing #4201 and #4206 arriving southbound.
The return trip was not quite as exciting, I'm guessing the operators know they have a bit more leeway for speed on the steep ascent since the grade will quickly bring the car to a stop without use of brakes.
Heading north across the Panhandle Bridge I encountered CAF LRV #4314 painted in the new "Pittsburgh Rapid Transit" branding.
Final photo of this set if SD400 #4224 after dropping me off at the Honorable United States Steel Plaza.
All in all Pittsburgh Light Rail is a great little system that still presents a lot of heritage due to the early date of its light rail conversion. If the MWTT ever shuts down again I urge you all to schedule a visit.
As usual I caught DART in from Dallas Love Field with Super LRV #225 at the Love Field transfer station and a wrapped #192 at Pearl Arts District. Despite being in the South, Dallas has no fewer than 3 arts and entertainment districts.
Later arriving at Dallas Union Station I was in time to catch an eastbound BNSF manifest freight with C44-9W #4360 leading and ES44C4 #7125 behind.
This aligned with the arrival of an eastbound 3-car TRE train from Fort Worth with Bomber cab car #1004 leading and F59PH #124 on the rear. This train pulled in on track #3, next to F59PHI #569 which was already tied down on track #4.
Before I could leave for the streetcar, a westbound Union Pacific intermodal train featuring 5 road units up front including SD70ACe #8910, C44ACMs #6923 and #6542, ES44AC #2538 and AC4400 #6145.
SThe Dallas Streetcar is one of the several examples of "new urban streetcars" that popped up in the 2010's in cities as diverse as Seattle, Atlanta, Washington DC and Kansas City. The Dallas Streetcar makes use of the Brookville Liberty Modern Streetcar for rolling stock. Here we see Dallas Streercar #303 laying over at the Union Station terminal with the Reunion Center Whig Sphere in the background.
After spending something like $40 to get from Trenton to Long Branch and back earlier in the summer, when I heard that NJT was doing one of those free fare promotions around the Labour Day holiday I decided to pounce and take a trip up the NEC to get some photos at the Edison and Metutchen Stations. Both offer great NEC views along with position light signals and, in the case of Metutchen, the old LINCOLN interlocking tower. Also included in the photo set ( mirror ) are some pitches in and around the Trenton station.
To make NJT truly free I parked at the Bordentown RiverLINE station to avoid having to pay to park in the garage at Hamilton. Weekend scheduled have the LRV's passing just south of the station so I managed to catch #5313 heading south and #5306 heading north.
Because NJT hates creating reliable connections I had to book it from the RiverLINE to the Northeast Corridor platform to catch the NEC local. I typically relax and catch the express, but my plan was to move that layover to the Edison Station platform. As soon as I got off at Edison I spotted the Amtrak Acela Express trainset with power cars #2012 and #2013 approaching southbound and I got video of it passing my northbound NJT Northeast Corridor Line local with cab car #7048 and ALP-46 #4633. After departure, the local knocks down the 1N signal at EDISON interlocking to a Restricting indication.
EDISON interlocking provides access to the west end of the Edison Yard from NEC tracks #1 and #2. Back in the region's industrial heyday the yard was a hub for local shippers including a large Ford assembly plant. Most of these have since closed, but there is enough traffic to keep the infrastructure around. Unlike most interlockings, EDISON's limits extend nearly a mile between what would normally be automatic block signaling locations. Here we see a fox crossing over tracks 1 and 2 in EDISON interlocking.
Just before the NJT weekend express train arrived, I was able to witness a pretty epic race between southbound Keystone Train #663 on track #3 and Regional Train 153 on track #4. Train 663, hauled by ACS-86 #670, made up a 30 second deficit with Train 153, hauled by ACS-86 #663, eventually passing it just before the New Brunswick Station!
The weekend express was hauled by #4612 with cab car #7060 on the rear seen here at Edison and Metutchen respectively.
The Metutchen Station features PRR era station buildings with Penn Central era canopies.
A westbound NEC local was quick to arrive with cab car #7001 and ALP45 #4548, but I was going to take the hour long headway to explore the station area.
Crossing over to the westbound platform I caught an eastbound Keystone with Metroliner Cab Car #9638 and ACS-86 #632.
This was followed by eastbound Amtrak Acela Express with power car #2023 and #2025. I got a video passing through LINCOLN interlocking and the Metutchen NJ Transit station.
LINCOLN tower was built by the PRR around WW2 as part of a general trend to replace older wooden towers with mechanically worked switched. It was closed in the early 1990's, but still stands as an MoW office.
Here I caught a southbound Amtrak Regional with ACS-86 #621.
The Metutchen station platforms extend on bridges over Main St.
The arrival of another eastbound weekend express with ALP-46 #4652 and cab car #7002, indicates its almost time for my own train back to Trenton.
That train came in the form of a single level set with Comet V cab car #6039.
Fast forward to Trenton and my train, with ALP-46 #4659, pulled into Track #5 adjacent to a laid up SEPTA Push-Pull set with ACS-86 #912. For some reason I saw multiple ALP-46 number boards with stenciled digits.
I had a few minutes before the RiverLINE departure and while I was waiting an inbound SEPTA R7 pulled in from the storage tracks east of the station. The leading pair of Silverliners IV, #101 and #102, were the first of 44 pairs delivered to the Reading in early 1976.
While the SEPTA R7 pulled in, and eastbound Amtrak Keystone arrived across the platform with Metroliner Cab Car #9635.
While walking back to the concourse, southbound Amtrak Crescent Train 19 arrived behin ACS-86 #619.
Comet V #6039 again at Trenton track #5 and ALP-46 #4628 pulling in from Morrisville Yard.
My final travel leg of the day was RiverLINE the back to Bordentown using the same LRV that had taken me out to Trenton, #530.
That's all for my trip to Metutchen, if you'd like to learn about the super rare left handed PRR dwarf signal at LINCOLN you can read about it on my other blog.
