A forgotten and most unusual Street Car Bypass in Mt. Oliver section of Pittsburgh .

 Street Cars where fantastic to ride when I was a kid in 60's but by early 70s they where all gone except in Sawmill Run Valley and Mt Lebanon area 

However I remember many of the lines riding with my mom or grandmother as we went on trips  to Dr. or visit relatives. Riding to Oakland on the 77/54 Flying Fraction as it was known and over to North side and even  all the way out to to Kennywood with the family.

One of the strange little parts of the  Street Car line was the 47  Arlington Car which went along Mt. Oliver Street and then used a skinny little slipway which was at a steep grade that took the car up and down from Arlington Ave . 

Now the 51 Carrick came up 18th Street  and connected with Mt, Oliver  St.  and why the trolley line was not connected there instead of having to use the slip way is one of those enduring mysteries. 

was it the grade angle or property line  issues ? Who Knows  .One interesting note the slipway and track was owned by the Mt Oliver Incline which ran to the south side from Mt Oliver street and Warrington 

 

But I remember riding the Arlington car down to the South Hills Junction 

and always being fascinated by it as well as other trolley buffs and it was quite the thrill going down it  .

No signs of it even exist today if you visit the site  next to a Gas Station that sits on corner of Mt Oliver,Arlington and 18th streets you find a big dirt lot and houses are gone as well.

The Strange Thunder in the Allegheny Valley during Civil War

 During the Civil War if you lived in the Allegheny River  and Kiski River Valleys  from Pittsburgh to Kittaning you could often here the sound of thunder yet the sky was clear.

What people where hearing was the testing of Cannons which where hauled up on flat cars on the Old Allegheny Valley Railroad

 

Which at one time went from Pittsburgh to Kittaning along the Right side of the Allegheny River it now stops at Arnold and is a short line industrial railroad owned by Box Car Express.  at the time there where no railroads running on north side of river.

But just a mile or 2 further up the now abandoned railine where the Tarrentum Bridge is located is  where they would test Cannons including the enormous for its time Rodman Cannon  .

 

The Cannons were made at the time at Fort Pitt Foundry in Pittsburgh Strip district  which was across from present day Heinz History Center 

 

https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/remember-when-the-sounds-of-cannon-fire-once-rang-through-the-alle-kiski-valley/?fbclid=IwAR3_vwqIIM6YMSEreTxTziEc3C7xI-KAFOqQzk5tanT7HClW6_D30Okn2uo

 Which closed a decade after the Civil War.

Imagine sauteing along the Tarrentum side of the river on a sunny afternoon dressed in your best to watch across the river as the cannons where fired from the rail cars as they where too heavy to take on and off .

Had to be quite the experience. But testing of weapons has been going on in Pa.  for a long time as Pa is considered the Armorer of the USA.,because all the defense contractors in Pa. and those who supply them

During WW2  Torpedoes produced in Mercer County where tested in the Pymatuning Reservoir

and at one time II- VI Corporation in Saxonburg would test  the latest  in infrared  scope technology

at local gun ranges according to one of my gun collector friends

Since 9-11 happened most of the testing of  defense contractors is kept out of public view but at one time that was a local attraction. 

 

Did you know that as you go over the Mansfield Bridge your on part of an Old railroad Bridge? How about the old Neville Island Bridge was once Pittsburgh's 6th street Bridge

If you ever drove over the old Neville Island Bridge on the west side of the island which connected you to the community of Coraopolis  Pa. 
Then you actually drove over a relocated section of the 6th Street Bridge in Pittsburgh which a section of it was dismantled and floated down river and placed on piers to make the Neville Island Bridge.

The bridge had to be closed in 90s do to an emergency when it was discovered that it had the same structural flaw that the Silver City Bridge in WV had that collapsed  and was quickly replaced with current span.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Bridge

A second bridge where steel was reused and still in use is the Mansfield bridge in Mckeesport which connects to Dravosburg 
Steel from this bridge in part came from the Old Wabash  Railroad Bridge .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabash_Bridge_(Pittsburgh)

The Mansfield Bridge is a magnificent looking bridge I have been over many times and even carried trolley traffic at one time. its also been scene of horrific accidents due to speeding motorists

https://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=pennsylvania/mansfieldbridge/

 

So as you can see recycling is not a new thing it has been going on for a long time .

Some of Infamous Red Light Districts around the Tristate

Yes what mystery blog would not be complete with out a discussion of the Worlds Oldest profession

Agree or not there will always be a need for shady lady's of the night as long as there are young men willing to pay for sex so its not surprising around the tri-state area were several Red Light districts.
one such was in Steubenville Ohio which also had a large illegal gambling district to go with it My dad would sometimes get hired to take young Jewish men from Squirrel hill  to have an evenings fun in Steubenville . It has been mostly torn down and was located close to the steel mill.

 

https://www.theintelligencer.net/life/features/2015/02/author-sheds-light-on-steubenivlle-s-past-infamous-red-light-district/

My Dad who is not Jewish but he  would get hired by young Jewish Men in early 50s to take them from Squirrel   Hill  to Steubenville and Club 30 upriver for a nights entertainment of gambling and drinking   in his old 43 Plymouth and make sure they got home safely

My grandfather spoke of  young men walking the line a red light district along 2nd ave in Pittsburgh before the J&L Mill was expanded during world wars .

 Now my Grandfather said back in the day the houses along 2nd ave a Dr. was always on call and made sure the lady's where safe from Sexual disease. I don't know how true this is  as even back then it was illegal but it would make sense to keep everyone safe.

One of the more Infamous Places to meet a shady lady was Brick Alley in Mckeesport Now all gone.

https://brewingwithleber.blogspot.com/2011/05/birth-of-brick-alley-ipa.html

 

Brick Alley was a street, covered with bricks, down by the Youghiogheny River. On the river side were businesses: warehouses, a scrap yard, an auto wrecking yard. On the other side were wooden houses, brothels. On the upriver end, just beyond the wrecking yard, was the black housing project, Harrison Village.

You also had gambling which seems to go hand in hand with Prostitution. But eventually the Brick alley was torn down late 70s and  partly redeveloped . When i worked as a guard I would walk up Walnut Street to Reliance Steel also now gone and you could see where all the foundations and bricks where still laying. including the former Tube city Brewery