Pittsburgh station

[train2]

I have an upcoming trip to Pittsburgh, a location I have never been to before. Does the station have a paticular style or name for the build AND the shed? I see a type of train shed, but it looks low and flat, not large and open like Harrisburg. The shed appears to span the main lines. Is this this the NS main line thru town? And looking at ariel photos it does not look like there was an open track. Are the sheds high enough for double stacks or is it a clearance restriction? I seem to remember NS has a intermodal train that is single stacked that runs via P-burgh? Is this the reason? What freight traffic runs here?

In the ariel photos I see 2 tracks on the opposite side of the building from the curved main train shed. These appear to stub end just past the station near the busway? My fist thought was light rail, but the map of the T doesn't show a line to Penn Station. It shows the station but no line to it. What am I seeing?

http://www.portauthority.org/paac/apps/maps/TLines.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tx.

[Bob Roberts]

The shed appears to span the main lines. Is this this the NS main line thru town?

In the ariel photos I see 2 tracks on the opposite side of the building from the curved main train shed. These appear to stub end just past the station near the busway? My fist thought was light rail, but the map of the T doesn't show a line to Penn Station. It shows the station but no line to it. What am I seeing?

http://www.portauthority.org/paac/apps/maps/TLines.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yup, its the NS main.

You are in fact seeing light rail tracks that have not been used since 1993 (not much traffic from a station that only gets two trains per day (while the T is operating) and it was tough to connect to the remainder of the system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Station_(Pittsburgh" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)#Light_rail_station

[STrRedWolf]

I have an upcoming trip to Pittsburgh, a location I have never been to before. Does the station have a paticular style or name for the build AND the shed? I see a type of train shed, but it looks low and flat, not large and open like Harrisburg. The shed appears to span the main lines. Is this this the NS main line thru town? And looking at ariel photos it does not look like there was an open track. Are the sheds high enough for double stacks or is it a clearance restriction? I seem to remember NS has a intermodal train that is single stacked that runs via P-burgh? Is this the reason? What freight traffic runs here?

It's not really a train shed. The NS main line goes through it, and there's a couple of tracks that fork off where the Pennsylvanian would sit overnight. I *think* double stacks can go through it, because you can see the occasional freight train run through from the Westin Hotel and the Convention Center.

That said, it's a low-platform station that could really be brought high. You'll have two entrances/exits to go through once you enter the station. The upper one isn't open all the time, so expect to walk down to where the station's main entrance is. If you're taking the Pennsylvanian, and your hotel is nearby (Westin/Drury/Courtyard/DoubleTree/Omni), the top is open, and it's worth less hassle to take it and walk down to the hotel.

[Dick H]

Here's some photos inside and out of the Pittsburgh Station. Scroll Down.
http://trainweb.org/usarail/pittsburgh.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ExCon90]

Under the heading "Visited in May 2002" the bottom left photo captioned "Light Rail Station (Next to Amtrak Station)" shows the location of the tracks of the former Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis (the Panhandle) which handled the trains for Columbus, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. They crossed the Monongahela on the bridge now used by the Light Rail. The route split at the west end of the bridge to go south along the west bank of the Monongahela and north parallel to and above Carson St. until it turned west. In the V of the junction was MONON tower. The Light Rail takes the northward route as far as Smithfield St. where it turns left to enter the former Pittsburgh Railways streetcar tunnel to South Hills Junction (an interesting spot to trolley-watch if you have the time and inclination).

[STrRedWolf]

Under the heading "Visited in May 2002" the bottom left photo captioned "Light Rail Station (Next to Amtrak Station)" shows the location of the tracks of the former Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis (the Panhandle) which handled the trains for Columbus, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. They crossed the Monongahela on the bridge now used by the Light Rail. The route split at the west end of the bridge to go south along the west bank of the Monongahela and north parallel to and above Carson St. until it turned west. In the V of the junction was MONON tower. The Light Rail takes the northward route as far as Smithfield St. where it turns left to enter the former Pittsburgh Railways streetcar tunnel to South Hills Junction (an interesting spot to trolley-watch if you have the time and inclination).

Unfortunately since then, they've cut down the "Brown line" service going left and south. Most everything goes north along Carson until hitting the tunnel.

The light rail itself you can pick up at Wood street and go to the north-side ballparks for free. Once you get past the First Street stop, though, you gotta have a tap-ticket.

[ExCon90]

I'm from Philadelphia--what's a "tap-ticket"?

[andrewjw]

I'm from Philadelphia--what's a "tap-ticket"?

ConnectCard or ConnecTix

[STrRedWolf]

I'm from Philadelphia--what's a "tap-ticket"?

ConnectCard or ConnecTix

Aka a NFC pass (plastic or paper). More info on the Pittsburgh Light Rail thread. I took it last year just to get a sense of it, and wrote up my observations to post in it.

[electricron]

I’ve ridden the Capital Limited several times, but once we arrived crossing the river at daybreak, and it was the only time I felt like I was riding a magic carpet instead of a train into downtown Pittsburgh. Arriving in St.Louis crossing the Mississippi River using the MacArthur Bridge at sunset almost has the same experience. At St.Louis the downtown skyscrapers are off to one side, but in Pittsburgh the skyscrapers are straight ahead. The riding a magic carpet feeling experience was much stronger arriving in Pittsburgh.
But I wouldn’t suggest the train stations in both St.Louis and Pittsburgh are very awesome.
But descending on a train from a tall bridge always amazes me.

[dumpster.penguin]

Check out the historic photos on display in the station itself. The current station does not over-awe with grandeur, and it seems to be located in some kind of underpass. If memory serves, the photo exhibit explains that a historic station is still right there, but it's been reassigned to a higher purpose (not trains) and the current station is fastened to one side of it.

[chuchubob]

Pittsburgh station file photo

[ExCon90]

What you see in chuchubob's first 2 photos is now apartments--whether condos or rentals I'm not sure. At least they kept the building, and you get to see it while you're looking for the station entrance.

[motor1]

The shed appears to span the main lines. Is this this the NS main line thru town?

In the ariel photos I see 2 tracks on the opposite side of the building from the curved main train shed. These appear to stub end just past the station near the busway? My fist thought was light rail, but the map of the T doesn't show a line to Penn Station. It shows the station but no line to it. What am I seeing?

http://www.portauthority.org/paac/apps/maps/TLines.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yup, its the NS main.

You are in fact seeing light rail tracks that have not been used since 1993 (not much traffic from a station that only gets two trains per day (while the T is operating) and it was tough to connect to the remainder of the system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Station_(Pittsburgh" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)#Light_rail_station

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Station_(Pittsburgh" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

motor1

[R36 Combine Coach]

I’ve ridden the Capital Limited several times, but once we arrived crossing the river at daybreak, and it was the only time I felt like I was riding a magic carpet instead of a train into downtown Pittsburgh. Arriving in St.Louis crossing the Mississippi River using the MacArthur Bridge at sunset almost has the same experience. At St.Louis the downtown skyscrapers are off to one side, but in Pittsburgh the skyscrapers are straight ahead. The riding a magic carpet feeling experience was much stronger arriving in Pittsburgh. But descending on a train from a tall bridge always amazes me.

Hell Gate provides the same experience and possibly riding into Washington across the Potomac.