~ Andy
Charlie and I both gave presentations at the Railroad Prototype Modelers Meet in Greensburg, Pa last weekend. I spoke about the design of our model railroad - how it started, how it evolved, and how it has been built. One of the obvious questions was why Conrail? I explained that I returned to Pittsburgh in 1979 after graduating from college and was struck by the gleaming blue Conrail locomotives pulling piggyback and coal trains up the Turtle Creek Valley. After giving my presentation (of course), I found this photo which captures the view looking up the valley from Greensburg Pike at Aliquippa Street - a view of the valley you could not get from any other location. I have annotated the photo with a red line to show the path of Union Railroad and a blue line to show the path of the Conrail (now NS) main line on the opposite side of the valley. The Greensburg Pike Bridge (the "blue bridge"), which has now been replaced, is in the center of the photo. Truly the photo that launched a layout... ~ Andy Here is a current (2/11/17) shot taken from the same location. Being a digital photo, rather than a scan of an old print, this one has much better resolution and with the leaves off the trees allows a better view of the Union Railroad trestle immediately below. The replacement Greensburg Pike Bridge and Turtle Creek are visible at the center of the picture. The prominent yellow brick brick building is an old school I believe, now the Human Services Center. The taller building to the left is the Senior Citizen high rise apartments. It seems like every river town around Pittsburgh built one of these buildings in the late 1960s/early 1970s. This valley will always have a draw on me.
1 Comment
3/31/2017 07:00:52 am
I so much would like to see this area, more importantly, I would love to establish a correspondence with someone in this area! Please reply to the above e-mail or via text: (270)-875-7238. I am hungry for information and involvement of and with this area.
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