The principal railroad stations are downtown and almost in a straight line. Certain street car lines have their terminus at the Pennsylvania Station and pass the Baltimore and Ohio and Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Stations. Other lines from here pass near the Wabash Station. These stations are located as follows:

Railroads. -- Twenty-two railroads, that is, main lines and branches, enter Pittsburgh, comprising the lines of the Pennsylvania System, the New York Central Lines, the Baltimore and Ohio, the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh, Bessemer and Lake Erie (the Carnegie Road), and the Wabash.

The Pennsylvania Lines are the main line from the East: the Buffalo and Allegheny Valley Division; the Conemaugh, formerly the West Penn Division, including the Butler branch; the Monongahela Division; and the Pennsylvania Lines, West, North-West and South-West. The West and North-West lines are the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago (the Fort Wayne Route), Cleveland and Pittsburgh, Erie and Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh, Youngstown and Ashtabula Railroads. The lines South-West are the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad and branches, generally known as the Pan Handle Lines or the Pan Handle Route, the name arising from the route crossing the Pan Handle of West Virginia.

The Baltimore and Ohio System unites four divisions at Pittsburgh, viz.: the Pittsburgh, Wheeling, Youngstown and Akron (formerly the Pittsburgh and Western Railroad), and the Butler, Foxburg and Kane Divisions.

The New York Central Lines at Pittsburgh comprise the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, the Pittsburgh, McKeesport and Youghiogheny, and the Pittsburgh, Chartiers and Youghiogheny (a feeder line). In 1913 a connection was made at Connellsville by the Pittsburgh, McKeesport and Youghiogheny with the extension of the Western Maryland Railroad, thus giving Pittsburgh another line to the seaboard. The Pittsburgh, McKeesport and Youghiogheny is really the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Divisions of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad.

The Wabash, formerly part of the Gould System, comes in from the West by the Wabash-Pittsburgh Terminal Railroad with the West Side Belt line to Clairton as a feeder. The Wabash enters the City via a tunnel under Mt. Washington coming out on to a beautiful cantilever bridge over the Monongahela river at Ferry street.

The Bessemer Line has local terminus at East Pittsburgh, uniting with the local freight road of the United States Steel Corporation and connecting with its various plants along the Monongahela River. However, passenger trains on the Bessemer enter the City via the Baltimore and Ohio; as will be noted below.

The Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad enters via the Baltimore & Ohio tracks from Butler, Pa.

The Pennsylvania Main Lines East and West, and the Pan Handle Lines of that system and the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroads, maintain and operate four tracks. Railroad service in Pittsburgh is admirable.

Railroad Stations. -- There is no Union railway station in Pittsburgh, each road having it own station , except the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh, whose trains arrive and depart from the Baltimore and Ohio station. One may hear of the "Union Station" and "Union Depot," but in either mention the Pennsylvania Station at Liberty avenue and Eleventh street is meant. This station was formerly called the "Union Depot," the name applied to the first station on the site burned during the riot fires in 1877 and also to the building which was erected in its stead and razed to make way for the present structure. When the station was first called the Union Depot, the lines centering there were independent and the Batimore and Ohio R. R. had not yet entered Pittsburgh. In the course of years all the lines centering at "Union Depot" passed under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad and are now part of the Pennsylvania System. Previous to the entrance of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1870, there was a railroad to Connellsville, Pa., known as the Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad, whose depot was at Grant and Water streets, where the freight sheds of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad now are. This road acquired the Pittsburgh and Connellsville, and it is now part of the Baltimore and Ohio's Pittsburgh Division, so that the name "Connellsville Depot" once heard is obsolete -- though some few old timers may yet refer to it. If so, the Baltimore and Ohio Station at Smithfield and Water streets, is meant.

From downtown to the Baltimore and Ohio Station, on River avenue between Seventh and Anderson streets is but a short walk. From the Pennsylvania Station at Liberty avenue and Eleventh street, street cars on Routes numbered 6 and 7 are available turning from Liberty avenue into Seventh street. The station is just across the bridge. At this writing (1916) a new station and freight house is in course of erection but temporary quarters are in use for depot purposes.

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Last modified: 14-Oct-2001

Source document: Fleming, George Thornton, 1855-1928. "Pittsburgh, how to see it : a complete, reliable guide book with illustrations, the latest map and complete index" arranged and edited by George T. Fleming. p. 19-20. [Pittsburgh] : W.G. Johnston, c1916.