The Little Saw Mill Run Railroad October 12, 2017

Copyright © 2017                                                        John F. Oyler

October 12, 2017

The Little Saw Mill Run Railroad

The first program in the Bridgeville Area Historical Society 2017/2018 series was a treat for railfans, a discussion of the Little Saw Mill Run Railroad (LSMRR). This three mile long line ran from a coal mine located where Wentzel Avenue intersects Banksville Road today to a barge loading facility on the Ohio River in what is now Pittsburgh’s West End neighborhood.

The speaker was a retired railroader named David Aitken who possesses a remarkable knowledge of railroading and coal mining in the nineteenth century, especially in the South Hills area. He has researched these topics extensively and was able to illustrate his presentation with many interesting photographs and maps.

The predecessor to the LSMRR was the “Horse Railway”, a two mile long tramway that used horses to haul coal from a coal mine in the Little Saw Mill Run valley to the Ohio River at Temperanceville (now Pittsburgh’s West End). The Horse Railway was the brainchild of Abraham Kirk Lewis, who is also credited with building the first tunnel (one mile long) through Mt. Washington and the region’s first inclined plane on the north face of the mountain.

In 1853, funded by the Harmony Society, the LSMRR was constructed to replace the Horse Railway. Colonel William Espy, a veteran of the Mexican War, was the driving force behind its organization. His farm encompassed much of what today is the Borough of Dormont. He knew it was underlain by a rich seam of coal that could be exploited along the Ohio River.

The standard gauge line ran three miles from a coaling dock in Temperanceville to the mine on Espy’s property in Banksville. The line included five bridges and a 1400 feet long trestle, and operated three 0-6-0 locomotives built at the Pittsburgh Locomotive Works.

An engine-house was located at the Banksville end of the railroad. In the early 1870s the line moved about 150,000 tons of coal each year, some of which was converted to coke in twelve beehive ovens in Temperanceville.  Passenger service was provided by a single un-propelled car which coasted downhill from Banksville to Temperanceville, with a brakeman assigned to stop it with hand brakes to take on and discharge passengers. It was returned to Banksville coupled to a coal train. The railroad survived until 1897 when it was merged into the West Side Belt Railroad.

Mr. Aitken was a close friend of Mike Carrozza and consequently was quite familiar with the local Historical Society. He highlighted several LSMRR topics that were of special interest to folks in the Bridgeville area.

Early in the existence of the LSMRR Colonel Espy became aware of the extensive coal deposits in the Painter’s Run valley and initiated plans to extend the railroad far enough south to serve that area. By 1873 permission was granted by the State for that extension. A combination of concern about the intervening terrain and the financial difficulties associated with the Panic of 1873 brought an end to that scheme.

Five years later the Pittsburgh Southern Railroad leased the LSMRR right-of-way and built a line through Mt. Lebanon to Castle Shannon. A branch off it following the current route of Cedar Boulevard would have provided easy access to Painter’s Run. In 1881 the Pittsburgh Chartiers and Youghiogheny Railroad (P C & Y RR) reached that area via the Chartiers Creek valley.

Jacob Henrici was the senior Harmony Society official involved in the LSMRR. One of his ambitions for it was an extension to the coal fields along George’s Run in Scott Township, an ambition was frustrated by the topography. A possible alignment along today’s Beverly Road to Hope Hollow via Cochran and Greentree Roads might have worked. The George’s Run area also was eventually served via the Chartiers Creek valley.

The P C & Y RR acquired the McLaughlin's and Saw Mill Run Rail Way Company in 1881 and apparently seriously considered developing a branch up McLaughlin Run and on to Drake. It would have been interesting to see locomotives running down the middle of Baldwin Street.

It was an interesting evening for railfans and we suspect that the rest of the audience also benefited from this tiny peek into the fascinating world of railroading history.

The October program meeting for the Historical Society will feature Glenn Flickinger, discussing “The Origins of World War II”. The meeting will be held at 7:30 pm, Tuesday, October 24, 2017, in the Chartiers Room of the Bridgeville Volunteer Fire Department, on Commercial Street. As always, the public is cordially invited.