User talk:Dbrashear

Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railroad

Thanks for the hint, I started the article Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railway. Pustelnik (talk) 03:46, 25 November 2008 (UTC)

Keeling Coal

Thanks for the reference. It looks like a complicated situation. One of the Hays brothers was a trustee of the PV&C RR listed above, and his family owned mines that also had their coal delivered throught the Ormsby mine, presumably down the Keeling Coal railroad. I vaguely remember the tracks, near a butcher shop on E. Carson Street. Pustelnik (talk) 21:49, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

I once sideswiped the curb and damaged my stepfather's car driving down S. 18th Street. I'd hate to be driving a coal wagon down there. The steep section of S. 18th was built under a state charter as a plank toll road. I think some of the references are under Brownsville Road. Please do let me know if you find the reference. Pustelnik (talk) 12:38, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

The upper, hilly end of S. 18th Street was paved shortly after 1851 by the Browsville Plank Road Company, a state licensed turnpike company. The Keeling Coal road is complicated. There appears to be a steam locmotive running though the mines in Mt. Oliver and Carrick, exiting at St. Patrick Street. The exit appears to be near or on the old Ormsby estate, later the site of Fort Laughlin, later a park. The incline connected this with the railroad on South 21st Street (formerly Railroad Street, or maybe Railway Street). I can't find good dates documenting when any of these ran, except for the "longest haulage" article. Other than 19th century, maybe early 20th, I'm at a loss. The incline was in what is now South Side Park, which can probably give you a "not later than" date of its closing. My family had a business on S 18th, and I grew up in Carrick, so I made the trip more times than I can count. Except for the railroad tracks on S. 21st in the 1950's, I don't remember anything that could have been a trace of the rest of the railroad. I don't have maps, but as I interpret the written word, the part of S. 18th street south of the Mission Bridge was blasted from the ravine side in 1851. That's where I did in the car's paint job. Pustelnik (talk) 03:16, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the map link. I think that establishes the Keeling coal incline as separate from the St. Clair Incline. Both start on Ormsby land, but I guess that in that area, there was a lot of Ormsby land. If you look a bit south on the map, you can see where the coal road comes out of the hill to cross a trestle as "Jones & Laughlins Coal Road. I also noticed some Phillips property. Do you know if these are ancestors of John Phillips, for whom Phillips Park (Pittsburgh) was named? Pustelnik (talk) 13:31, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

22nd Street Incline

I changed this, and added it as the St. Clair Incline. This incline could have delivered coal from the Keeling mine. I don't know if this is a different incline from the Keeling coal incline or not. The St. Clair carried passengers and freight, and apparently issued tokens for rides as well. It looks like Oliver Ormby's estate occupied the entire upper end of the ravine, including the mine. His article could use some work too, if you can find any references. I'm thinking of starting a template for Pittsburgh Inclines. Pustelnik (talk) 22:52, 15 May 2009 (UTC) Thanks. You did establish that it is NOT the same incline. I updated the article. Thanks for you additions about the fatality. I never knew about the one on the Knoxville Incline. Pustelnik (talk) 14:21, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

D.O.Cunningham

I'll wait for the artcle. There seems to have been a glass factory somewhere near the present location of Concord Presbyterian Church and St. Basil High School. Roughly at Brownsville Road and East Agnew. Pustelnik (talk) 01:41, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

The mine is the present location of the Hays Mine Station waterworks, just as Becks Run Road begins to climb the hill. Pustelnik (talk) 01:49, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Here is the link: [1] The glass firm was "Chambers and Agnew", run by John Agnew. (East) Agnew St. is named for him. I just found out that the "Hays Mine Station" is on Agnew! Pustelnik (talk)

What might be more fun is to track down the "Roebling" who lived just south of Josephine in that general area. John A. Roebling, who developed the suspension bridge, had his steel cables made in Pittsburgh or Butler, and built bridges in Pittsburgh in the 1840's. I suspect that the South Side Roeblings are him or a relative!Pustelnik (talk) 00:06, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Coal Inclines

I started Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Plane. As I suspected, there were several relatively poorly documented coal inclines prior to the Monongahela Incline. This one is rather unique in that it also carried passengers and freight at one time, but after the Mon did so. It is inportant in the history of transportation to the South Hills, where I once lived. I wonder if there is any remnant of the coal mine on the Mon river side of the tunnel. I vaguely remember some bicked up old tunnel in the general area, but I might be mistaking the [[Wabash Tunnel" for this one. Pustelnik (talk) 01:31, 8 January 2010 (UTC)]]

interesting secondary source: http://pghbridges.com/articles/railroads/wabash_westsidebelt.htm which give's Kirk Lewis's full name, Abraham Kirkpatrick Lewis. The story seems to be that of the Castle Shannon Tunnel, which was a coal mine EAST of the Duquesne Incline, not west. The coal incline for this mine is also poorly documented. Could this be the legendary Kirk Lewis incline?Pustelnik (talk) 02:24, 27 December 2010 (UTC)

From Google books: Abraham Kirkpatrick Lewis was born August 24, 1815; graduated from Kenyon College, Ohio, in 1835; studied medicine but finding that not to his taste turned to the law, registered as a student with Judge Shaler August 7, 1840, and was admitted to the bar December 23, 1843. About this time, partly on account of his health demanding a more active life, his studious habits having seriously affected his eyes, and partly by reason of having become interested in the mining of coal then in its infancy, he abandoned a professional career and, devoting his whole energy to the coal business, in a short time was recognized as the leading coal operator here and, in conjunction with William Philpot and John M. Snowden, Jr., was the first to establish a market and furnish a regular supply of Pittsburgh coal to New Orleans and the intervening cities, sending out a fleet on each rise in the river. In those days the coal was floated down with the current in boats of rude con- struction, steered by long oar blades at each end like a raft which, when unloaded, were sold for lumber, not being considered worth towing back up stream, and, so great were the risks of navigation, that if one-half of the boats arrived at their destination it was considered a good average.

Kirk Lewis, as he was always called, was a man of scientific attainments and a lifelong student. He was original, ingenious and bold in his conceptions and, in addition to his medical, chemical and legal knowledge, was possessed of considerable native ability as an engi- neer, strong common sence and great executive force. Thoroughness and efficiency were his leading character- istics. Whatever he did he always did well. He was the first operator here to handle coal by inclined planes, box shutes being then in use for getting the coal down the hill. He built a cheek house, inclined plane to the river, and tipple a little west of where the Duquesne Inclined Plane now is, of substantially the same design as is still in use today. He drove an entry from the head of this plane through to the Saw Mill Run Valley, a distance of nearly a mile, so straight that daylight could be seen from one end to the other, laid a tramway and hauled the coal out in cars with ponies to the check house, where the cars were run down the plane to the river and dumped into the boats.

Inclines and Street Railways Revisited

Thanks for your work on the Pittsburgh, Knoxville & St. Clair Electric Railroad. This probably explains the streetcar tracks that ran east of Brownsville Road on Arlington Ave. Have you found anyting on the J&L incline a bit further east? It may have been coal only, I can't find much of anything on it. Pustelnik (talk) 00:56, 1 August 2010 (UTC) Thanks for your J7L note. I'm not sure what "OO Years ago" is. Is it a Pittsburgh newspaper column? I live in Michigan.Pustelnik (talk) 01:48, 27 December 2010 (UTC)

Pittsburgh event for Wikipedia's tenth anniversary

Hi! Since you have a connection to Pittsburgh, I wanted to invite you to the Wikipedia Tenth Anniversary celebrations we're having in Pittsburgh on Saturday, January 15. During the daytime, we're going to be having a photo contribution drive where anyone can bring in their digital photos or prints and Wikipedians will teach people how to upload them and add them to articles, and maybe introduction to Wikipedia workshops as well. Then in the evening, we'll have fun at the Carson City Saloon. There will be free Wikipedia t-shirts and other goodies, as well. See the Pittsburgh meetup page for more details. I hope to see you there!--ragesoss (talk) 15:49, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

Teaching with Wikipedia Workshop at CMU (Aug 15)

Since you are one of the editors in the Category:Wikipedians by alma mater: Carnegie Mellon University, I'd like to invite you to the Teaching with Wikipedia Workshop that will take place at CMU on Aug 15 (this workshop is open to general public, and is a joint imitative of CMU and Pitt). There will be another workshop held at Pitt in the Fall as well. It will cover how to include Wikipedia in one's course (WP:SUP) and also how to become a Wikipedia:Campus Ambassadors. Pennsylvania has currently only one ambassador (myself) and it would be great if we could recruit at least several more. Ambassadors help course instructors, showing them how Wikipedia works, and interact with students. Many current ambassadors come from the body of students, faculty and university staff; it is a fun adventure, and adds to one resume/CV, to boot :) If it sounds interesting, feel free to ask me any questions, or to come to the workshop.--_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk} 20:12, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

Original research

Please don't add uncited original research to articles, as you did here. I put in a decent amount of time trying to get this whole article cited to reliable sources, and this just adds an unverifiable statement which degrades the quality of the article. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 02:33, 5 July 2023 (UTC)