Brilliant Branch Rails To Trails: Envisioning Study

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILS TO TRAILS: ENVISIONING STUDY

FOREWORD THE INTENT OF THIS ENVISIONING STUDY IS NOT TO IMPOSE A FINALIZED DESIGN UPON A COMMUNITY OR A GROUP OF STAKEHOLDERS, BUT RATHER TO BEGIN A DIALOGUE WITH THE CITIZENS OF PITTSBURGH ABOUT HOW THE CITY BEGINS TO RECONSIDER ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE RIVERS AND THE INDUSTRIAL PAST. THE DESIGN PROPOSED HERE IS MERELY A FROZEN SNAPSHOT OF A PROCESS AND A SET OF IDEAS AND AS SUCH IT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED INCOMPLETE. THIS STUDY IS MEANT TO DEMONSTRATE POTENTIAL AND TO ACT AS A CATALYST FOR FURTHER DISCUSSIONS AND DESIGN PROPOSALS.

CONTENTS

1.0

HISTORY

06

2.0

EXISTING CONDITIONS

12

3.0

CONTEXT

18

4.0

IDENTITY

34

5.0

PROPOSAL 40

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY

6

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

7

STORY

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

The Allegheny Valley Railroad (AVRR) - not to be confused with the contemporary company of the same name established in 1992 - was originally incorporated on April 4th, 1837 as the Pittsburgh, Kittanning and Warren Railroad - the name was changed in 1852 to the Allegheny Valley Railroad. At the AVRR’s zenith, it stretched from Pittsburgh’s Strip District to Buffalo, New York and mainly carried oil and other freight traffic.

8

In 1904, the AVRR began construction of the Brilliant Branch Bridge and branch line so that freight traffic could bypass the inner city passenger trains from Union Station, thereby alleviating congestion downtown. The branch line itself is a north-south stretch of tracks that begins at Homewood (in the south), along the former Pittsburgh-Philadelphia mainline, and extends northward above Washington Boulevard and across the Allegheny River via the Brilliant Branch Bridge to connect with the Conemaugh Division terminating in a ‘T’ shaped layout in Aspinwall, Pa. In the 1910, the AVRR was incorporated into the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Brilliant Branch

Line would prove to be an essential part of the PRR’s rail service and was used to bring freight traffic from the PRR yards in the Strip District along the Allegheny River through Verona, Oakmont, and into New Kensington.

This line was known as the PRR Allegheny Division.

With the advent of the interstate highway system and the decreasing cost of travel/shipping by airplane the once great railroad network of the United States began to wither and decline. In 1968 the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with the New York Central Railroad to form the Penn Central Transportation Company (PC).

The American financial system was shocked when only two years later, in 1970, the Penn Central was put into bankruptcy. The Penn Central’s bankruptcy was the final blow to long haul passenger and freight train service in the U.S. causing a chain reaction among fellow railroad companies. In 1973 the Penn Central was dissolved and absorbed into Conrail. During this time period the Brilliant Branch saw very little use and was largely abandoned because the main switching yard for Conrail was not

located in Pittsburgh’s Strip district (as the former PRR had been).

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

In the fall of 1995, Russell Peterson and Dennis Larson of the Allegheny Valley Railroad (AVR est. 1992) purchased the Brilliant Branch Bridge along with 22 miles of track plus running rights on the seven miles of track from Homewood to the Island Avenue Yard. The Brilliant Branch Bridge was refurbished in 2003 so that the AVR could use it to access the Azcon Metals scrap yard on the outskirts of Aspinwall. On September 2nd, 2015 it was announced that Azcon Metals was closing shop thereby allowing a sizable tract of land (47 acres) to become available for development - Susan and Currie Crookston along with Mosites are in the process of the developing the site now called Riverfront 47. With the demise of Azcon Metals, the Brilliant Branch Bridge and branch line is largely unused by the AVR - at most one train per week crosses the bridge.

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

9

10

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

11

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

EXISTING COND

12

DITIONS

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

13

14

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

400’-0”

HIGHLAND PARK 250’

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

250’-0” ’-0”

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

ASPINWALL

15

16

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

17

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

CONTEXT

18

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

19

20

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

CONTEXT DIAGRAM: FIGURE GROUND

21

22

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

CONTEXT DIAGRAM: PARKS

23

24

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

CONTEXT DIAGRAM: GREEN BOULEVARD

25

26

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

CONTEXT DIAGRAM: NEIGHBORHOODS

27

28

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

CONTEXT DIAGRAM: RIVERFRONT 47 SITE

29

30

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

CONTEXT DIAGRAM: DESTINATIONS

31

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

KEY EXISTING BIKE TRAIL

PROPOSED INFILL TRAIL

PROPOSED RAIL TO TRAIL

32

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

CONTEXT DIAGRAM: BIKE TRAILS

33

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

IDENTITY

34

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

35

36

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

37

38

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

39

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

PROPOSAL

40

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

41

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

5

42

4

3

2

1

5

3

1

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

2

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

4

43

Rudbeckia hirta Black-eyed Susan

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

2-3’ dry/sunny yellow blooms May-September

44

Echinacea purpurea Eastern purple coneflower 2-5’ dry/sunny purple pink blooms June-August

Monarda didyma Red beebalm

Solidago rugosa Goldenrod

Sorghastrum nutans Indian grass

Carex muskingumensis Palm sedge

3-5’ dry/sunny red blooms June-August

2-6’ dry/sunny yellow blooms July-November

2.5-8’ dry/sunny blooms August-September beatuiful seed head

2-3’ dry/sunny brown bronze May-June

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

45

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

46

Rudbeckia hirta Black-eyed Susan

Andropogon gerardii Big bluestem

Monarda didyma Red beebalm

Solidago rugosa Goldenrod

Sorghastrum nutans Indian grass

Amelanchier arborea Serviceberry

Carex muskingumensis Palm sedge

2-3’ dry/sunny yellow blooms May-September

2-6.5’ dry/sunny blooms June-September reddish bronze in fall

3-5’ dry/sunny red blooms June-August

2-6’ dry/sunny yellow blooms July-November

2.5-8’ dry/sunny blooms August-September beatuiful seed head

15-20’ dry/sunny/shady white blooms March-May edible berries

2-3’ dry/sunny brown bronze May-June

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

47

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

48

Rhus hirta (typhina) Staghorn sumac

Sorghastrum nutans Indian grass

Carex muskingumensis Palm sedge

8’ dry/sunny red, fuzzy cone-like fruit June-July

2.5-8’ dry/sunny blooms August-September beatuiful seed head

2-3’ dry/sunny brown bronze May-June

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

49

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

50

Rhus hirta (typhina) Staghorn sumac

Sorghastrum nutans Indian grass

Carex muskingumensis Palm sedge

8’ dry/sunny red, fuzzy cone-like fruit June-July

2.5-8’ dry/sunny blooms August-September beatuiful seed head

2-3’ dry/sunny brown bronze May-June

Sorghastrum nutans Indian grass

Carex muskingumensis Palm sedge

Parthenocissus quinquefolia Virginia creeper

2.5-8’ dry/sunny blooms August-September beatuiful seed head

2-3’ dry/sunny brown bronze May-June

3-40’ dry/sunny blooms June-July red, purple, orange foliage in fall

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

51

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

52

Sorghastrum nutans Indian grass

Carex muskingumensis Palm sedge

Parthenocissus quinquefolia Virginia creeper

2.5-8’ dry/sunny blooms August-September beatuiful seed head

2-3’ dry/sunny brown bronze May-June

3-40’ dry/sunny blooms June-July red, purple, orange foliage in fall

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

53

Rudbeckia hirta Black-eyed Susan

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

2-3’ dry/sunny yellow blooms May-September

54

Echinacea purpurea Eastern purple coneflower 2-5’ dry/sunny purple pink blooms June-August

Monarda didyma Red beebalm

Solidago rugosa Goldenrod

Sorghastrum nutans Indian grass

Carex muskingumensis Palm sedge

3-5’ dry/sunny red blooms June-August

2-6’ dry/sunny yellow blooms July-November

2.5-8’ dry/sunny blooms August-September beatuiful seed head

2-3’ dry/sunny brown bronze May-June

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

55

56

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

57

58

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

59

60

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

61

62

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

63

64

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

65

66

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

HISTORY | EXISTING CONDITIONS | CONTEXT | IDENTITY | PROPOSAL

BRILLIANT BRANCH RAILROAD BRIDGE // ENVISIONING STUDY

67

END.