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.