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47D Drake

Former streetcar line in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

47D Drake
PCC 4001 47D Drake shuttle trolley close up
Overview
Status	Service discontinued, line exists in derelict condition
Owner	Port Authority of Allegheny County
Locale	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Termini	Gateway (to 1993) Castle Shannon (from 1999) Drake
Service
Type	Light rail
System	Pittsburgh Light Rail
Operator(s)	Port Authority of Allegheny County
Rolling stock	12Port Authority 4000-series PCC trolleys
History
Closed	September 4, 1999
Technical
Track gauge	5 ft 2+1⁄2 in (1,588 mm)
Electrification	Overhead line, 600 V DC
Route map Legend toSouth Hills Junction 47D Drake service to Downtown Pittsburgh (1984-1993) Gateway Wood Street ToPenn Station Steel Plaza Panhandle Tunnel I-376 / US 22 / US 30 (Penn Lincoln Parkway) Trinity River 52 Allentown PA 837 West Carson Street Station Square Mt. Washington Transit Tunnel 52 Allentown South Hills Junction Overbrook line Boggs Morse Steps McKinley Park Bon Air Edgebrook PA 51 Saw Mill Run Blvd. Ansonia South Bank Central Inglewood Glenbury Paris McNeilly Pittsburgh Castle Shannon Spinning Wheels Killarney Cooley Linden Grove Memorial Hall Poplar Avenue Municipal Building Castle Shannon loop 47D Castle Shannon 42C/42S/47D toSouth Hills Junction via Overbrook (served 1984-1993) Martin Villa 42S/47S/47D/47L St. Anne's 42S/47S/47L Smith Road 42S/47S/47D/47L Washington Junction loop 47D Washington Junction 42S/47S/47D/47L  47L toLibrary Mine 3 Interurban Casswell 42S/47S/47D Highland 42S/47S/47D Santa Barbara 42S/47S/47D Bethel Village loop 47D Bethel Village 42S/47S/47D Dorchester 42S/47S/47D South Hills Village 42S/47S Bethel Church 47D Fort Couch Road 47D End of surviving electrification Brookside 47D Brookside Farms 47D Walthers 47D Drake Loop 47D Interurban toWashington closed 1953 Key 47D Drake 47L Library via Overbrook 47S South Hills Village via Overbrook 47S (former service) 42S South Hills Village via Beechview 42S (former service) This diagram: view talk edit

The 47D Drake (often abbreviated as the 47D) was a PCC trolley line that was part of the Pittsburgh Light Rail system.

History[edit]

The 47D was the last line in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to use PCC streetcars. It originally was part of an interurban trolley line that ran from Pittsburgh to Washington, Pennsylvania^[1] until 1953, when the service was cut back to the Allegheny County border at Drake^[2] and all trolleys turned using the newly constructed loop, situated below the trestle.^[3][4] The line was designated as 36 Shannon-Drake by Pittsburgh Railways, and with the Stage I reconstruction in 1984 the route was re-designated as 47D Drake via Overbrook.^[5] After the 1993 closure of the Overbrook route the service became a shuttle between Castle Shannon and Drake and was renumbered 47D Drake shuttle, and continued to operate as such until closed on September 4, 1999. Port Authority's Stage II reconstruction plan had originally included rebuilding the Drake line as well as the Overbrook and Library lines, however, only the Overbrook and small portions of the Library line have currently been rebuilt, and it remains unknown if or when the Drake line will be rebuilt.

Much of the Drake line, as it was when shut down, still exists, albeit in derelict condition. The stretch of track from the Drake Loop to the "S" curve near the former Walthers stop was removed not long after the line was discontinued in 1999. When Port Authority of Allegheny County took delivery of new LRVs for use on the rebuilt Overbrook line in 2004, the new cars were tested on the Drake line prior to entering revenue service. Power wire beyond Fort Couch Road to the end of the line were removed at some point after,^[when?] however the segment between there and Dorchester where the South Hills Village spur joins the Drake Line is still maintained and powered, and the tunnel beneath Fort Couch Road is occasionally used for storing non-revenue rail vehicles.

Fleet[edit]

During the final years of operation, three PCCs were used with a fourth kept as reserve. Car #4004 was donated to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum where it has become part of a collection of historic streetcars and trolleys from all across the United States and other nations.^[6] The San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) acquired #4008 and #4009 in an internet auction in 2002^[7] for $5,000 each. However, they needed to be re-gauged and differ significantly from other PCCs in that agency's fleet,^[8] and were ultimately scrapped in 2019.^[9]

References[edit]

^ Fisher, Ken (April 12, 1984). "New Center Rolls Out First Trolley". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. PGS-6. Retrieved May 11, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.