Eastern Railroad Discussion > Raising the roof for CSX in Pittsburgh

CSX's Pittsburgh Subdivision (ex-Pittsburgh & Lake Erie RR) passes through the South Side Works development which was built on the site of the Jones & Laughlin/LTV South Side Works. As part of the National Gateway Project, the roof of the tunnel is being raised to permit operation of double stack trains.

Click on the video, too.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/s-side-rail-tunnel-gains-height-in-freight-project-658875/

Here's an historic view of the mill showing P & LE's western approach to the tunnel in the bottom right section of the image.

http://cmtk3.webring.org/l/rd?ring=newyorkcentralra;id=46;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ekahndog%2Ecom%2Fgallery%2DJan2008%2Ehtm

Here's a link to historic information about the tunnel.

http://pghbridges.com/pittsburghE/0587-4475/southsideworksrr_tun.htm

The South Side Works is at the eastern end of one of my favorite Pittsburgh neighborhoods. There's a wonderful riverfront park along the South Side trail. Plaques and ingots and other artifacts commemorate the mill.

That trail parallels much of the CSX line (views of the NS Mon Line are also visible from the trail). The South Side Works is linked to the other side of the river by a pair of bridges known collectively as the Hot Metal Bridge. One bridge has been converted for general traffic and the other is a bicycle and pedestrian bridge. There is a bicycle rental facility at the South Side works.

One can also enjoy a beer at the Hoffbrahaus adjacent to tunnel, enjoy food and drinks at other establishments, catch a movie, or shop for outdoor goods at REI.

Interesting, thanks for the info.
John

I couldn't tell but is the tunnel single track or double track? As part of this if its single track will they be adding an additional track?

Thanks

Davis

strench707 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I couldn't tell but is the tunnel single track or
> double track? As part of this if its single track
> will they be adding an additional track?
>
> Thanks
>
> Davis

The whole route with the exception of the Mon River bridge at Homestead at one time was double tracked (and in some cases triple and quadruple tracked). The section through J&L was always double tracked. During the late 80's when P&LE's traffic base collapsed and they were looking to save money on maintenance, they single tracked the line between "J&L" (the west end of the tunnel) and Rankin (just east of the Mon River Bridge), as well as two other sections of the P&LE main line between New Castle and Mckeesport. In the late 90's, CSX re-installed a long siding between Homestead and Becks Run (just east of the tunnel) but never bothered to interlock the siding into the signal system, so all these years its been used solely for car storage.

Over the last 10 years, CSX has poured a lot of money into the existing track configuration and train speeds are up noticeably which definitely helps fluidity of traffic. I haven't seen anything specific on the plans for the P&LE, but putting back in some of the double tracked sections that have previously been removed would certainly reduce transit times, especially since there will be a new intermodal terminal somewhere in the mix between Pgh and New Castle to consider.