Trip Report: April 23 to May 8, 2003
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
TO PITTSBURGH AND GREENVILLE, SC
Days 4, 5, 6, 7, 8: Pittsburgh
After assisting in the settlement of Ted's Mother's estate in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, we proceeded to tour various points of interest. As railfans, we toured, on foot, the former Pennsylvania Railroad's Ambridge branch serving the various industries that at one time were active in this current rust belt area of Pennsylvania: the A. M. Byers steelmaking plant, the Spang Chalfant tube plant, Wykoff Steel Products, H. H. Robertsons steel building products, (where Ted's Dad worked for 40 years), the National Electric Products plant, and the Pittsburgh Coal Washer plant.
Ambridge is named after the American Bridge Company division of US Steel, but this plant was served by a completely separate branch of the PRR. The "Bridgeworks", as it was called locally, was heavily involved in the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The parts were then moved across the continent by rail. During World War II it turned out hundreds of LSTs, or Landing Ship Tanks. These unique ships, which could transport and land battle tanks under their own power onto enemy beaches, cruised down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the sea, then played an instrumental role in the landings on Japanese held Pacific islands and on the Normandy coast. Ted's Mom worked in the engineering office of the Bridgeworks during the Depression years of the 1930's, when many of the great bridges of America were erected. Ted, himself, worked here during his University of Pittsburgh days, helping to pay his way through engineering school.
All of these great steel production plants are closed now, and the former PRR branches, now the Norfolk Southern, are mostly torn up and abandoned. The roadbeds make for some interesting industrial archaeological walking tours. Ted's brother is doing field work in Ambridge in order to recreate the Ambridge branch for the TrainZ computer program, a new way of doing model railroading, with virtual railroads and trains.
Preceding Ambridge at this location on the Ohio River, 18 miles downstream from downtown Pittsburgh, is the former village of Economy, now a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Historical Site. Economy was settled in the area where Major George Washington and General Anthony Wayne negotiated settlements with the local Native Americans in the later part of the 1700's, Washington by treaty, Wayne by war to enforce the treaty. Here the members of the Harmony Society settled during the early 1800's, developing an agrarian socialistic community which lasted until their lands were sold off, no doubt at great profit, to steel mill developers in the early 1900's. The Society members moved on to other locations in Ohio and Indiana, but did not survive the 20th Century, as they did not subscribe to the institutions of marriage and child rearing, depending instead on converting new recruits to keep the community viable. Ted remembers as a twelve year old, personally meeting the last survivor of the Society in the Ambridge area, Mr. John Duss, at Mr. Duss' home in Old Economy.
Another day of our visit involved driving to Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania, the location of a state park on a whitewater segment of the Youghiogheny River, to walk along a Rails to Trails route of the former Western Maryland Railroad. In the late 1800's and early 1900's, Ohiopyle was a favorite excursion destination for the residents of Pittsburgh, 75 miles downstream. Western Maryland passenger trains brought in loads of tourist for day trips and weekend stays in the summer. Nearby, in the 1930's, Mr. Kaufmann, owner of the Pittsburgh department store of that name, hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design his weekend home, which he named Falling Waters, for its location, jutting out over the waterfalls of a small tributary of the Youghiogheny River. Falling Waters has been deeded to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which maintains it as a historical and architectural site.
An essential activity for tourists visiting Pittsburgh is a dinner atop Mt. Washington, overlooking downtown Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, which join here to form the Ohio River. We enjoyed the view of the unique city skyline, the many bridges over the rivers, the sports complexes, and an excellent seafood dinner at the Monterey Bay Fish House on aptly named Grandview Avenue.
This street of well-situated view homes was originally the location of the homes of workers in the steel mills. Several incline railways transported workers from the hilltop to the riverside mills. One of these, the Duquesne Incline, still runs on a regular schedule, connecting Grandview Avenue with Station Square, formerly the Pittsburgh & Lake Eire Railroad terminal, and now a restaurant, hotel, and shopping complex.
After dinner we checked into the elegant and historic Omni William Penn Hotel in the heart of the Golden Triangle. Staying overnight in the city made it easier to board Amtrak's 7:20am departure of the Pennsylvanian, by avoiding the early morning rush-hour drive into Pittsburgh from Ambridge.
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