Pictures

Pittsburgh, PA: B&LE's and B&O's downtown and suburban trackage in and around Pittsburg, PA

In reality, Pittsburgh was host to a vast number of railroad lines, among them well-known names such as the PRR, N&W, and B&O. In order to keep to my concept of the two competing rail lines, some of these railroads had to vanish - which left me with only the Bessemer and the Baltimore & Ohio in place. The B&LE actually never built into downtown Pittsburgh in the real world. Please find below screenshots from both of my virtual Pittsburgh railroads and their suburban industrial and communter trackages.

In more Detail:

The "beginning" of the route, if you travel from the South, will be Pittsburgh Union Station. This part of the route is entirely fictional; losely located along the original Pennsylvania's right of way, I built a big passenger station shared by the B&O and B&LE. From there, on two parallel double track mains, both railroads run through a residential district of downtown Pittsburgh, before diverging a few miles further East. The Bessemer stays on the northern riverbank on its run up the Allegheny valley, while the Baltimore crosses over to the other side for a few miles.

First, let us follow the Baltimore through Pittsburgh and its suburbs: After crossing over to the Southern bank of the Allegheny River, the B&O cuts through Pittsburgh's high-rise commercial district, the Golden Triangle, before entering a major zone of industrial complexes further upstream. This part of the route is actually more realistic, with the one exception that the trackage I used in reality was the Pennsylvania mainline. Only roughly a mile after the station stop at Golden Triangle (the location of the real world Pittsburgh passenger station), the B&O passenger main bypasses the major industrial districts on the Southern riverbank. For commuter traffic there are four more stations in only a few miles: Strip District, Lawrenceville, Stanton Heights, and Morningside. Freight and passenger traffic run on separate lines through Pittsburgh, they merge into one (double track) line east of Stanton Heights.

OK, now let us leave the B&O for a while and turn to my other railroad, the B&LE. Let's jump on one of the many coal barges and let us swim downstream to the place downtown, where the two railroads diverged. Here, the Bessemer stays on the Northern riverbank, which is less industrial and more suburban than the B&O's side. While the Bessemer also followed the Baltimore's idea of diverting freight traffic around downtown, both lines merge already a few miles East of Union Sta, to be exact at Spring Hill. Commuter service also plays an important role in the B&LE's Pittsburgh traffic, and there is a passenger depots in each of the suburbs the line runs through: Spring Hill, Millvale, Etna, Sharpsburg, and Aspinwall. Of course, there are also numerous industries, light and heavy ones, along the Bessemer's riverbank. Two freight yards, at Troy Hill/Millvale and Sharpsburg, have been built to facilitate the heavy local freight traffic.

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Thumbnailed Gallery

Quick Links:
Union Station
Golden Triangle (B&O)
Industrial Districts, Southern Riverbank (B&O)
Northern Riverbank, Suburbs (B&LE)

Union Station
Pittsburgh Union Station, which is entirely fictional. Parallel mainline through downtown for a couple of miles. View onto the Northern riverbank part of downtown PB.	Cutting through residential area after leaving Union Sta. A few yards further down the line.
Back to Top Golden Triangle, Pittsburgh (B&O)
B&O crossing a street of Pittsburgh's commercial downtown, the Golden Triangle.	B&O's downtown Allegheny River bridge, between Union Sta and Golden Triangle.
Back to Top Industrial Districts, Southern Riverbank (B&O)
Strip District. Passenger bypass in foreground.	B&O's Lawrenceville commuter station.
Stanton Heights, Commuter Station.	Lineside industry at Stanton Heights.
Back to Top Northern Riverbank, Suburbs (B&LE)
Spring Hill. B&LE passenger main.	Millvale Town, B&LE Suburban Commuter Stop.
Big Industry Complex at Etna.	Sharpsburg.
Aspinwall, last of the chain of suburbs.

(Please note: All pictures shown on this site are resized screenshots from the route in Microsoft Train Simulator. All you can see here will be in the route you can eventually download!)

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