Duquesne Lower Incline Station - Cable Car Arriving
by Susan Rissi Tregoning
Title
Duquesne Lower Incline Station - Cable Car Arriving
Artist
Susan Rissi Tregoning
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
The red Duquesne Incline cable car arrives at the Duquesne Lower Incline Station.
The Duquesne Incline was one of four incline planes serving Pittsburgh when it opened in 1877 on Coal Hill, today as Mt. Washington. Initially steam-powered, it was originally designed to carry cargo up and down the mountainside near Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood. However, later on, the cars began transporting the Washington Heights working class, who were forced out of the riverfront by industrial development and tired of walking the steep footpaths to the top of the bluff.
It was the first funicular designed by engineer Samuel Diescher for Kirk, Bigham, and Associates. After the Duquesne Incline, he would become the country's foremost builder of funiculars, designing and constructing almost every incline plane in the United States. The incline is 800 feet long, rises 400 feet in height at a 30-degree angle, and is unusual for having a track gauge standard only used in Finland, Russia, and Mongolia.
While it is still used to commute by some, it is now the most popular tourist attraction in the city, serving more than one million commuters and tourists annually! It's one of only a few inclines left in the country, with two still operating in Pittsburgh. Cute as a button, the original red wooden cable cars provide some of the best views of downtown Pittsburgh from the side of the mountain.
As roads were built and cars became more common, the Pittsburgh inclines, all except for Duquesne and Monongahela, closed by the end of 1960. Duquesne Incline, needing significant repairs and with little traffic, finally closed in 1962. Duquesne Heights residents launched a fundraiser to save and restore the incline. As a result, the cars, equipment, and stations have been fully restored and rehabilitated, and the funicular reopened in 1964.
It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and became a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark in 1977.
Copyright 2023 Susa
Uploaded
May 11th, 2023
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