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{{Short description|Former funicular in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania}}
The '''St.. Clair Incline''' was built in 1886 and operated by St. Clair Incline Plane Company, and was also known as the ''South Twenty-second Street Incline''.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People |last=Boucher |first= John Newton|authorlink= |year=1908 |publisher= Lewis Publishing Company|location=Pittsburgh |isbn= |page=339 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=PfoMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA339&lpg=PA339&dq=%22Fort+Pitt+incline%22&source=web&ots=gh5TJY8VXC&sig=6cg2iKCg4Ti3-gGM_VFcg8h1sdQ&hl=en&ei=W3KYScurKJj8MrPlrIQM&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result }} </ref> It was a double track <ref>{{cite book |last1= Boucher |first1= John Newton |authorlink= |title= A century and a half of Pittsburg and her people |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=PfoMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA339&lpg=PA339&dq=%22South+Twenty+second+Street%22+incline&source=bl&ots=gh6REX5-WJ&sig=4B9ib8wY-1aqGrH2_8lS8jCW0mA&hl=en&ei=4q0KSoHvFoz4MfizjeAL&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5 |year= 1908 |publisher= Lewis Publishing Company |location= [[Pittsburgh]] |oclc= |doi= |id= |page= 339 |quote= |ref= |bibcode= }}</ref>
{{Infobox rail line
[[funicular|incline]] in [[Pittsburgh]], from Josephine St. to Salisbury St. The lower station was near Bane School, <ref>{{cite web |title=(7th) Annual Report, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh |url=http://www.archive.org/stream/annualreportcar01pittgoog/annualreportcar01pittgoog_djvu.txt |accessdate=2009-05-13}}</ref>at the intersection of S. 22nd Sreet and Josephine. The upper station was at [[Fort Laughlin]] in [[Arlington Heights (Pittsburgh)]], now the site of Arlington Playground on Salisbury Street.
| name = St. Clair Incline
The incline was 2,000 ft long, with a vertical rise of 250 foot.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Fleming|first1= George T|authorlink1= |title= History of Pittsburgh and environs, from prehistoric days to the beginning of the American Revolution ...
| gauge = <!--reports vary-->
|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=YaQUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA169&lpg=PA169&dq=%22Pittsburgh+and+Castle+Shannon%22&source=bl&ots=mN60AwKlsr&sig=KPpTNZ2T7iCXaIG4FX_u48P-WwY&hl=en&ei=iR8KSoCXHIK2NPvltdAL&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10
| linelength = 2060 ft (610 m)
|format= |accessdate= |edition= |series= |volume= |date= |year= 1922 |publisher= American Historical Society|location= New York, Chicago |language= |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |id= |page= |pages= |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote= |ref= |bibcode= |laysummary= |laydate= |separator= |postscript= |lastauthoramp=}}</ref> It closed in 1935.<ref>{{cite web |title= South Side Facts |url=http://www.southsidepgh.com/images/PDF/ss_inclines.pdf |accessdate=2009-05-13}}</ref>
| locale = [[South Side Slopes]], [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]]
It was designed by the engineer, John N. McRoberts. As it carried both freight and passengers over steep tracks laid on the ground, it could be considered to be a [[cable railway]].
| coordinates = {{Coord|40.4218|-79.9746}}
| open = March 5, 1888<ref>{{cite news|title=Two Railways|newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette]]|date=March 6, 1888|at=p. 2, col. 6|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=keIMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3GYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5360%2C5295885 }}</ref>
| close = c. 1932
| event1label = Dismantled
| event1 = 1934
| operator = St. Clair Incline Plane Company
}}
The '''St. Clair Incline''', also known as the ''South Twenty-second Street Incline'',<ref name=fleming>{{cite book |editor-last= Fleming|editor-first= George T.|title= Pittsburgh, How to See It |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_02NAAAAAYAAJ |year= 1916 |publisher=W.G. Johnston |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_02NAAAAAYAAJ/page/n77 70]–71 }}</ref> was built in 1886–1888 and operated by St. Clair Incline Plane Company.<ref>{{cite book|title=Annual Report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Railroad, Canal, Navigation and Telegraph Companies. Part 4|year=1889|page=1324|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FZVCAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA1324 }}</ref><ref name=boucher>{{cite book |title=A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People |last=Boucher |first= John Newton|year=1908 |publisher= Lewis Publishing Company|location=Pittsburgh |page=339 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PfoMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA339 }}</ref> It was a [[double track]]<ref name=boucher/>
[[funicular|incline]] on the [[South Side Slopes]] of [[Pittsburgh]] from Josephine St. to Salisbury St. The lower station was near the intersection of S. 22nd Street and Josephine. The upper station was on Salisbury Street across from the former [[Fort Laughlin]] site eventually occupied by Arlington Playground.
The incline was {{convert|2060|ft|0|abbr=on}} long, with a vertical rise of {{convert|361|ft|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name=srj>{{cite journal|title=The Inclined Planes|journal=The Street Railway Journal Souvenir|date=October 1891|page=40|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QoZNAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA40}}</ref> It was designed by engineer J. H. McRoberts.<ref name=srj/> As it carried both freight and passengers over steep tracks laid on the ground, it could be considered to be a [[cable railway]]. Its path was not of constant slope but became progressively steeper toward the top, tracing a [[parabola|parabolic]] arc.<ref name=srj/> It is uncertain exactly when the incline closed permanently, but it was reported as shut down in a 1932 Associated Press article about the "passing" of Pittsburgh's inclines.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Altoona Tribune|date=15 March 1932|page=1|agency=Associated Press|title=Autos Spell Passing of Pittsburgh Inclines|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5715101/autos_spell_passing_of_pittsburg/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref> The structure was dismantled in 1934.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|date=14 November 1934|page=19|title=Rickety Steps Keep Residents out of Church|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=b0wbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lEsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1443%2C2623072}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|date=19 August 1934|at=Classified sec., p. 4|title=Wrecking 22nd St. Incline|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qyQbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gEsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4179%2C4854330}}</ref>


==Fatal Accident==
==Fatal accidents==
At 3:30 in the morning of April 6, 1909, an accident occurred when engineer Jesse Burton fainted against the controls, releasing the brake. As the upbound car reached the top, it slammed into the upper support, bounced away and rolled freely back down the grade. The impact had knocked both cables from their drums, so the car at the lower station did not provide a counterbalance on the move. The night turn had ended shortly before at [[D.O. Cunningham Glass]] on Jane St. near the lower station, and the upbound car was taking some passengers home. After the impact at the top, three young men jumped during their descent. One, Frank Bredl, 17, jumped early and survived. The others, Albert Klingenberger, 16, and Arthur Miller, 17, died from their injuries. A postcard of the era showed the aftermath of the accident.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Hadley|first1= S Trevor| title= Only in Pittsburgh |year=1994|publisher=educational publishing resources|chapter=Chapter 3: Inclined to Disaster (1909)|pages=19–22|isbn=0-9642251-0-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Potter |first= Chris|authorlink= |year= 2008|date= July 10 |title= Reign of Error |journal= Pittsburgh City Paper|volume= |issue= |pages= |id= |url= http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A49080|accessdate=2009-05-14 |quote= }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last= |first= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= 1988 |month= June |title= Inclined to Disaster |journal= Pittsburgh Magazine |volume= 36|series= |issue= |page= |pages= |publisher= |location= |issn= |pmid= |pmc= |doi= |bibcode= |oclc= |id= |url= |language= |format= |accessdate= |laysummary= |laysource= |laydate= |quote=}}</ref> In addition to these, a fatality was also recorded at the [[Knoxville Incline]] on October 7, 1953.
At 3:30 in the morning of April 6, 1909, an accident occurred when engineer Jesse Burton [[Syncope (medicine)|fainted]] against the controls, releasing the brake. As the upbound car reached the top, it slammed into the upper support, bounced away and rolled freely back down the grade. The impact had knocked both cables from their drums, so the car at the lower station did not provide a counterbalance on the move. The night turn had ended shortly before at [[D.O. Cunningham Glass]] on Jane St. near the lower station, and the upbound car was taking some passengers home. After the impact at the top, three young men jumped during their descent. One, Frank Bredl, 17, jumped early and survived. The others, Albert Klingenberger, 16, and Arthur Miller, 17, died from their injuries. A postcard of the era showed the aftermath of the accident.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Hadley|first1= S Trevor| title= Only in Pittsburgh |year=1994|publisher=educational publishing resources|chapter=Chapter 3: Inclined to Disaster (1909)|pages=19–22|isbn=0-9642251-0-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Potter |first= Chris|date= July 10, 2008 |title= Reign of Error |journal= Pittsburgh City Paper|url= http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A49080|access-date=2009-05-14 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |date= June 1988 |title= Inclined to Disaster |journal= Pittsburgh Magazine |volume= 36}}</ref>

On July 22, 1915, a car ran over a 19-month-old baby who attempted to follow his two older sisters across the tracks.<ref>{{cite news|title=South Side Baby Is Killed By St. Clair Incline Car|newspaper=[[The Gazette Times]]|date=July 23, 1915|page=14|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-YNRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GWgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2703%2C4548094 }}</ref>

Another fatality occurred on March 10, 1919, when a gate on one of the moving cars swung open. A 17-year-old girl who had been leaning on the gate fell to the tracks and was run over by the car wheels.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Gazette Times|location=Pittsburgh|date=March 11, 1919|page=1|title=Girl Killed on St. Clair Car|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=d1hRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BWgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4005%2C2341412 }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of funicular railways]]
⚫
* [[List of inclines in Pittsburgh]]


==References==
==References==
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* 1916 Map of Pittsburgh, showing name and location [http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/maps/showmap.pl?client=maps&image=16v06p08&levels=5&originx=0&originy=3475&lastlevel=2&fullheight=6832&fullwidth=9582&level=3&size=0&tnail.x=11&tnail.y=54]
* 1916 Map of Pittsburgh, showing name and location [http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/maps/showmap.pl?client=maps&image=16v06p08&levels=5&originx=0&originy=3475&lastlevel=2&fullheight=6832&fullwidth=9582&level=3&size=0&tnail.x=11&tnail.y=54]


{{Pittsburgh}}
{{Attached KML}}


[[Category:Transportation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Railway inclines in Pittsburgh]]
⚫
[[Category:Railway inclines in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Defunct funicular railways in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct funicular railways in the United States]]
[[Category:1886 establishments]]
[[Category:1888 establishments in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:1935 disestablishments]]
[[Category:Railway lines opened in 1888]]
[[Category:1930s disestablishments in Pennsylvania]]



{{PGH-stub}}
{{Pittsburgh-stub}}
{{Pennsylvania-transport-stub}}

Latest revision as of 22:45, 20 June 2022

St. Clair Incline
Overview
LocaleSouth Side Slopes, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40°25′18″N 79°58′29″W / 40.4218°N 79.9746°W / 40.4218; -79.9746
Service
Operator(s)St. Clair Incline Plane Company
History
OpenedMarch 5, 1888[1]
Dismantled1934
Closedc. 1932
Technical
Line length2060 ft (610 m)

The St. Clair Incline, also known as the South Twenty-second Street Incline,[2] was built in 1886–1888 and operated by St. Clair Incline Plane Company.[3][4] It was a double track[4] incline on the South Side Slopes of Pittsburgh from Josephine St. to Salisbury St. The lower station was near the intersection of S. 22nd Street and Josephine. The upper station was on Salisbury Street across from the former Fort Laughlin site eventually occupied by Arlington Playground. The incline was 2,060 ft (628 m) long, with a vertical rise of 361 ft (110 m).[5] It was designed by engineer J. H. McRoberts.[5] As it carried both freight and passengers over steep tracks laid on the ground, it could be considered to be a cable railway. Its path was not of constant slope but became progressively steeper toward the top, tracing a parabolic arc.[5] It is uncertain exactly when the incline closed permanently, but it was reported as shut down in a 1932 Associated Press article about the "passing" of Pittsburgh's inclines.[6] The structure was dismantled in 1934.[7][8]

Fatal accidents[edit]

At 3:30 in the morning of April 6, 1909, an accident occurred when engineer Jesse Burton fainted against the controls, releasing the brake. As the upbound car reached the top, it slammed into the upper support, bounced away and rolled freely back down the grade. The impact had knocked both cables from their drums, so the car at the lower station did not provide a counterbalance on the move. The night turn had ended shortly before at D.O. Cunningham Glass on Jane St. near the lower station, and the upbound car was taking some passengers home. After the impact at the top, three young men jumped during their descent. One, Frank Bredl, 17, jumped early and survived. The others, Albert Klingenberger, 16, and Arthur Miller, 17, died from their injuries. A postcard of the era showed the aftermath of the accident.[9][10][11]

On July 22, 1915, a car ran over a 19-month-old baby who attempted to follow his two older sisters across the tracks.[12]

Another fatality occurred on March 10, 1919, when a gate on one of the moving cars swung open. A 17-year-old girl who had been leaning on the gate fell to the tracks and was run over by the car wheels.[13]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Two Railways". Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette. March 6, 1888. p. 2, col. 6.
  2. ^ Fleming, George T., ed. (1916). Pittsburgh, How to See It. W.G. Johnston. pp. 70–71.
  3. ^ Annual Report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Railroad, Canal, Navigation and Telegraph Companies. Part 4. 1889. p. 1324.
  4. ^ a b Boucher, John Newton (1908). A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People. Pittsburgh: Lewis Publishing Company. p. 339.
  5. ^ a b c "The Inclined Planes". The Street Railway Journal Souvenir: 40. October 1891.
  6. ^ "Autos Spell Passing of Pittsburgh Inclines". Altoona Tribune. Associated Press. 15 March 1932. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ^ "Rickety Steps Keep Residents out of Church". The Pittsburgh Press. 14 November 1934. p. 19.
  8. ^ "Wrecking 22nd St. Incline". The Pittsburgh Press. 19 August 1934. Classified sec., p. 4.
  9. ^ Hadley, S Trevor (1994). "Chapter 3: Inclined to Disaster (1909)". Only in Pittsburgh. educational publishing resources. pp. 19–22. ISBN 0-9642251-0-7.
  10. ^ Potter, Chris (July 10, 2008). "Reign of Error". Pittsburgh City Paper. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  11. ^ "Inclined to Disaster". Pittsburgh Magazine. 36. June 1988.
  12. ^ "South Side Baby Is Killed By St. Clair Incline Car". The Gazette Times. July 23, 1915. p. 14.
  13. ^ "Girl Killed on St. Clair Car". The Gazette Times. Pittsburgh. March 11, 1919. p. 1.

Maps[edit]

  • 1916 Map of Pittsburgh, showing name and location [1]
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