Panhandle in Pittsburgh

How did psgr trains get from the west side (Tracks Esplen #1 & #2) to the east side (Tracks Mon #1 & #2) between Corliss and Monon. An interlocking diagram of Monon indicates it was only in service for Mon tracks #1 & #2 and I know it was at a lower elevation than Esplen Tracks #1 & #2.

How did psgr trains get from the "hill side" to the "river side" so they could diverge at Monon to cross the Panhandle Bridge to Fourth St. & Penn Station?

>How did psgr trains get from the "hill side" to the "river side" so they could diverge at Monon to cross the Panhandle Bridge to Fourth St. & Penn Station?

There was an interlocking called "Elliott located about half way between Esplen and Monon that connected the Panhandle main with the Mon Line.

Ron Mele

Probably no getting was needed?

Somewhere around 40.4524N 80.0397W the two Panhandle tracks crossed above the two tracks along the river, so a passenger train from Columbus would already be on the river side when it got to Monon. The 1949 timetable shows no interlockings on the Panhandle between Monon and Corliss-- Elliot only existed on the other two mains (the Scully branch, I guess they were called).

The question was a bit mis-leading "How did psgr trains get from the west side (Tracks Esplen #1 & #2) to the east side (Tracks Mon #1 & #2)" If a passenger train were on the Scully Branch-something that may have happened on occasion-then the train would have to go through Elliott to get to the Panhandle Bridge. The Panhandle Main and Scully Branch were interlocked together at Elliott according to a 1967 interlocking diagram. I don't know about before then.

Ron mele

You're looking at the Spodobalski diagram from RNE of the Esplen "CTC"?

My origional post may have been misleading: how did psgr trains to & from the west operating thru Corliss get from the west side of the right-of-way to the east side so they could diverge at Monon? It being my understanding the four track thru the west end of PGH was operated as two double tracks: the two tracks against the hillside being Esplen #1 & #2 and the two tracks on the river side being Monon #1 & #2. Monon Interlocking only served the Monon Tracks with the Esplen Tracks passing it at a higher elevation making connection at this location impossible.

timz wrote:You're looking at the Spodobalski diagram from RNE of the Esplen "CTC"?

Here's something we can all look at: http://tinyurl.com/PghDivDistB
There's lots of other good stuff on that Multimodalways web site.

The Ohio Connecting map in that 1959 chart shows the flyover that got the Panhandle main to the river side of the Scully.

A picture is worth a thosand words. Thanks 'westernfalls' for the link to the PGH Div Track Charts. They provided many hours of study and education. It's been 30+ years since I was a Regional RFE on the Central Region and this old brain just doesn't retain information. Thanks for providing the Track Charts they are really appreciated.

timz wrote:You're looking at the Spodobalski diagram from RNE of the Esplen "CTC"?

Exactly. That diagram did a great job showing how the track configuration changed owing to diminished passenger traffic and changing freight traffic patterns.

Ron Mele