Pittsburgh & Steubenville Extension Railroad Tunnel

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Panhandle Tunnel
SOUTH KEYSTONE PORTAL AND PLANKING RETAINING WALLS, VIEW NORTH - Pittsburgh and Steubenville Extension Railroad Tunnel, Between Fifth and Sixth Streets, East of Grant Street, HAER PA,2-PITBU,60-1.tif
Southern portal of the Panhandle Tunnel, April 1982
Overview
Location Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 40°26′28″N79°59′48″W / 40.44111°N 79.99657°W / 40.44111; -79.99657
Statusin use
System Pittsburgh Light Rail
Operation
Work begun1863
Opened1865
Owner
Technical
Length1,440 feet (440 m)
No. of tracks 2, 1 under U.S. Steel Tower
Track gauge
  • 1865–1980: 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
  • Since 1985: 5 ft 2+1⁄2 in (1,588 mm) Pennsylvania trolley gauge
Electrified 1985
Tunnel clearance 18.5 ft (5.6 m)
Width24 ft (7.3 m), 17.4 ft (5.3 m) under U.S. Steel Tower
Route map
Legend
BSicon uCONTg.svg
BSicon uBHF.svg
 Penn Station
BSicon uhtSTRa.svg
Seventh Avenue portal
BSicon utCONTr.svg
BSicon utABZg+r.svg
to Wood Street
(opened 1985)
BSicon utBHF.svg
 Steel Plaza
(opened 1985)
BSicon uhtSTRe.svg
Fourth Avenue portal
BSicon uehBHF.svg
Fourth Avenue
(demolished)
BSicon uhBHF.svg
 First Avenue
(opened 2001)
BSicon uhCONTf.svg
Panhandle Bridge
This diagram:

The Pittsburgh & Steubenville Extension Railroad Tunnel, also known as the Panhandle Tunnel, is a railroad tunnel under downtown Pittsburgh. Opened for rail traffic in 1865, it primarily carried passenger and mail trains under the city center to reach Penn Station. It was built for the Pittsburgh and Steubenville Railroad (commonly known as the Panhandle Route), which was part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system.

Contents

By 1979, the tunnel was no longer in regular use due to declining passenger rail ridership. It was purchased by the Port Authority of Allegheny County in 1980 for incorporation into the downtown subway portion of the Pittsburgh Light Rail system.

History

The tunnel has been modified several times since its construction. Shortly after completion, the southern end was lengthened by 79.4 feet (24.2 m) to accommodate an overpass for Forbes Avenue. This lowered the tunnel's vertical clearance to 19.5 feet (5.9 m), 2 feet (0.61 m) lower than the main tunnel. Around 1900, the southern end was extended again to widen Forbes Avenue and add a sidewalk. This extension added 19 feet (5.8 m) to the tunnel and further reduced vertical clearance to 18.5 feet (5.6 m). [1]

During construction of the U.S. Steel Tower in 1965–1967, the northern portal was removed and the tunnel was extended by 409 feet (125 m). This section was 17.4 feet (5.3 m) wide, 6.6 feet (2.0 m) narrower than the main tunnel, and accommodated only a single track. The structural systems for the tunnel and the building were designed to be independent, so that train vibrations would not affect the building and the building load would not be transferred to the tunnel. [1]

The tunnel was primarily used for Panhandle Route passenger and mail trains. Traffic declined as passenger trains were discontinued, and Amtrak became the only regular user from 1971 to 1979, when the New York–St. Louis–Kansas City National Limited was discontinued on October 1 of that year. [2]

Light Rail

Conrail had taken ownership of the line in 1976 after bankruptcy of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Conrail only had limited use for the tunnel.

The tunnel and the adjacent Panhandle Bridge were purchased by the Port Authority from Conrail for $8.15 million in 1980. [2] [3] The tunnel is now utilized by the Pittsburgh Light Rail System for some of its right-of-way and the Steel Plaza Station.[ citation needed ] The new line opened on July 7, 1985.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Yearby, Jean P. (1985). "Pittsburgh and Steubenville Extension Railroad Tunnel" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record . Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. pp. 3–4. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  2. 1 2 Ken Fisher (September 24, 1980). "Conrail turning tunnel, Panhandle Bridge over to PAT". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  3. ↑ Blackley, Katie (May 27, 2019). "Where Do The Abandoned Third Set Of Tracks At Steel Plaza Lead?". 90.5 WESA.
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