The Society for the
Preservation of
The
A
Non-Profit Corporation
Telephone:
412-381-1665
Electronic Mail: <
cablecar@incline.cc >
Internet Web Site: <
http://www.incline.cc >
NEWS RELEASE
For immediate
release:
For more
information -- Glenn A. Walsh:
Daytime:
E-Mail < incline@planetarium.cc
>
Evening:
Telephone 412-561-7876
NEW VIEWING PLATFORM OPENS MAY 20, TO
ALLOW
PUBLIC TO SEE INCLINE HOISTING
EQUIPMENT IN OPERATION
From this equipment viewing platform, the public will be able to see the motor, driving gear, and giant cast-iron drum that pulls two thick steel-wire cables which move the incline cable cars. This cast-iron drum, which was originally steam-driven but is now powered by electricity, is original equipment.
An unusual feature of The Duquesne Incline is the location of the hoisting machinery at right angles with the inclined plane. The method was adopted initially to save the expense of buying an additional piece of land. One of the results has been that both working cables are wound on the single, grooved drum.
This equipment viewing platform cost approximately $650,000 to construct, over the last year. This cost included relocation of the Incline office into a new extension of the Upper (Grandview Avenue) Incline Station building, necessary to make room for the equipment viewing platform. Funding for this project included a Keystone Grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, coordinated through the office of State Rep. Thomas C. Petrone, and an “ISTEA” Federal transportation grant, administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
The general public will be able to use a comfortable staircase to access the equipment viewing platform, from the main waiting room of the Incline’s Upper Station. An elevator is also available for handicapped accessibility to this viewing deck.
As with The Duquesne Incline’s Gift Shop, the equipment viewing platform will be open to the public during most hours the Incline operates. This platform will be closed during the early morning and late evening hours. The admission charge to this equipment viewing platform will be only 50 cents per person.
For 127 years, The Duquesne Incline has transported commuters and visitors between West Carson Street, near the Fort Pitt Bridge, and the Mt. Washington neighborhood of Duquesne Heights every day of the year, including weekends and all holidays. The Duquesne Incline operates Monday through Saturday 5:30 a.m. to 12:45 a.m. and Sunday and all holidays 7:00 a.m. to 12:45 a.m.; the last car departs both Upper and Lower Stations promptly at 12:45 a.m.
In addition to this new equipment viewing deck, the Incline’s Upper Station includes a small Museum (no admission charge), Gift Shop, and an Observation Deck (no admission charge) for viewing Pittsburgh’s beautiful Golden Triangle, ranked the second most scenic view in America by USA Weekend magazine. The Upper Station of The Duquesne Incline is located in the center of the city’s “restaurant row,” which includes such well-known restaurants as Le’Mont, Pasquarelli’s, The Tin Angel, Georgetown Inn, and the Monterey Bay Fish Groto Restaurant.
Free-of-charge parking is available for Duquesne Incline patrons at the parking lot between West Carson Street and the Ohio River. All visitors should use the pedestrian bridge, which crosses West Carson Street, when walking between the parking lot and the Lower (West Carson Street) Incline Station.
More information about The Duquesne Incline, including the Incline’s history, can be found on the Incline’s Internet web site at URL: < http://www.incline.cc >.
PHOTOS AND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HISTORIC DUQUESNE INCLINE:
