The Inclines in Pittsburgh were originally made to provide a way for all the workers in Pittsburgh, back when it was a large industrial city producing steel, to get from the suburbs on the other side of Mount Washington to the city and back home again. Back then, there were fewer roads to take them to the city and mills and the roads going around the mountain added lots of time to the trip because the tunnels had not yet been built. The inclines were a very popular mode of transportation, and at one time, there were 22 different inclines going up and down the mountain. Passengers would get off of streetcars on each end of the Incline to connect with other streetcars at the other end. While most were used for passengers, there were some that were also used to haul coal, which was a vital part of the steel industry.
@@nashscan The Chattanooga Incline, except for its last section, is less steep then the Mongohelia and Johnstown incline.. The Chattanooga Incline is nice, I have been on it in addition to the Mongohelia, Duquesne and Johnstown Incline. All four provide an excellent view of their city and the best way to get to the top of the hillside overlooking that city.
Love to see new visitors to my home town sharing their visits on RUclips. At one time, there were 17 inclines in Pittsburgh, some carried passengers and some were designed for freight. (You can see the foundations of a former freight incline next to the tracks of the Monongahela Incline. (And yes, it's "Mo-non-ga-HAY-la," from a Lenape word meaning "river with falling-in banks.") most of the flat land beside the river was used by factories, so workers had to live at the tops of the hills. The inclines were the best ways to move them from one place to another. I'm not sure what was at the bottom of the Duquesne Incline, but it might have been a railroad yard. Thanks for sharing!
Pittsburgh at one time had *17* funiculars. There used to be one from the Strip District to the top of the Hill District (Penn Incline) and another three on Mt. Washington (St. Clair, Knoxville, and Mt. Oliver). Also, Rialto Street (one of the steepest streets in Pittsburgh) in Troy Hill was built as a funicular.
At least one of those Pittsburgh Inclines was NOT a Funicular, but San Francisco type Cable Cars (with most of the cable used by the car above the ground but it still had an operator on the car to attach and detach the car from the constantly moving cable, the operator also controlled the brakes on the car). The Castle Shannon South incline (Sometimes called Castle Shannon #2 Incline), was such cable car and it closed in 1914 due to Streetcars reaching both ends by 1900 via Arlington Avenue. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Shannon_Incline_No._2 Given there is a cross street half way down the path of Castle Shannon South Incline and the cable could run under that street while the car ran on top of that cross street, the fact that an operator of a cable car could disconnect the car from the cable and stop the car at that intersection was the reason a cable car system was picked for that "Incline".
You're actually near 2 other inclined planes. One is in Johnstown, PA which is also a vehicular plane (so you can take your car), and the other is probably the newest inclined plane in the US at Horseshoe Curve near Altoona, PA. Both are reasonably close to PGH. Next time you're in PA, come see the East Broad Top Railroad and Rockhill Trolley Museum. I'll let you run some trolleys.
I was going to mention the Johnstown one as well. It has a really interesting history related to the Johnstown floods. I've been on this one several times (my father's birthplace is nearby, so I've been back there a couple times).
It’s sadly been in rehab for the last two seasons. You can ride it up with a mountain bike then ride some sweet singletrack trails down. ruclips.net/video/e4_sC6rJEKc/видео.html
Our Vehicular Inclined Plane here in Johnstown is under renovation, it's been closed down for a while and it's unknown when it will reopen , it was set to reopen this spring but they had some setbacks so it's going to be a lot longer before it's finished.
Took my first ride on Angel’s Flight in 1941…I was five. We aaaaalmot lost it there for a while.so glad it was saved so my kids can share it with there kids and grandkids. Thank you Mike for making traveling still possible for those of us pretty much confined to home. 😊👏🏼
Pittsburgher here... Just wanted to say thanks for pronouncing Monongahela correctly (ending in "hay-la" and not "hee-la" like most visitors say). I was surprised you got it right on your first attempt :) Also, the reason the inclines are there is itself not there anymore... They replaced long sets of wooden stairs up Mt. Washington for workers to get to industrial sites along the rivers that are long gone. The Mon incline still gets some commuter traffic, but the Duquesne incline is mostly for tourists. But both inclines allow bicycles, and I've used them many times to go up the hill and then ride the bike back down.
The Monongahela incline did not replace any steps, it bypassed Sycamore Street, which still has a "reverse dog leg" set of two curves (prior to 1982 it was true set of dog leg curves, but in 1982 is when they moved the bottom end of Scyamore from the old streetcar tunnel to Arlington Avenue reversing the "dog legs") AND a 180 degree curve further up a still very steep hillside. They were wooden steps in the area of the Duquesne Incline that some people want to reinstall but no one wants to spend the money. When I could walk, I walked up Sycamore many a time, through when I reach Vinecliff Avenue I would take those steps to the top rather then walk the 180 curve. The last time I walked Vinecliff it was still walkable but hopelessly overgrown, that was about five to ten years ago (I suspect closer to ten then five but I am going by memory).
@@paulmentzer7658 The HistoricPittsburgh website has a photo of the stairs with the following caption... "A general view of the Duquesne Heights steps leading to Shaler Street, looking west. These steps led travelers from the South Side, near the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad Station, to Mount Washington. The half-mile rise of steps climbing the treacherous side of the hill is presumed to trace an old Native American trail. These stairs ceased to exist in usable form by the late 1930s." They started across from the P&LE station which is near where the Mon Incline's lower station is and ended at Shaler Street which is actually past the Duquesne Incline. Both inclines are nearly equidistant from the start and end of the steps.
The Funicular at Six Flags Magic Mountain is an interesting one too with a single track at the bottom and top, that separate in the middle to allow the passing of the two cars. Then each merging onto a single rail at the stations. Super cool to ride!
We Pittsburghers are fiercely proud of our city and our heritage. Thank you for putting a spotlight on the historic incline, which usually only gets 3 seconds of b-roll during a nationally televised football game while ads roll overtop of it. Born and raised in Pittsburgh and it has always been an “incline” to me, never heard the term “funicular” until your video.
I have ridden both funiculars and Pittsburg and you get such an amazing view of the city and the three rivers. It's so cool how these are still in use today considering how vital they were to the city's history.
You missed 2 other funiculars in western PA! One in Johnstown and one in Altoona, both currently undergoing renovations. Also, next trip to Pittsburgh you should totally check out the light rail system which has a station right next to the Monongahela Incline! It’s one of the more unique ones out there.
Glad you enjoyed your brief visit to Pittsburgh. The inclines started out as coal hoists and freight transports, but then were converted to public transport, all for better access to the Mount Washington area. Also, it is "Ma-non-ga-hey-la"
Assuming it's still functional, there is an incline rail system in Chattanooga, TN. I visited friends there in the mid-1990;s. It takes riders from the river-level, up to a visitors' site of the Civil War's "Battle Above the Clouds." The view is astonishingly beautiful. Among the jaw-dropping facts that you learn on the tour is that Union soldiers RODE THEIR HORSES up what appears to be a "cliff!" The interiors of those cars that you rode, is stunning. Hooray for preserving history! As usual, your adventure ... and your enthusiasm ... made me smile. Thanks.
I'm a local and it's still running to this day as a tourist attraction by CARTA, the Chattanooga Transit Authority. And since 1990 they've also been running free electric shuttle buses downtown. All sorts of other neat transportation stuff going on around the Chattanooga area as well.
funnily enough, i got really excited at the little talk about nyc transit in the beginning. as an nyc native, hearing someone gush about our smelly subway and how useful it is makes me happy. (and as someone who has ridden the jfk air train and will be riding it again in a month or so, you're right. it's not the most interesting train, but the excitement of travel makes it way more fun!)
I've ridden both Funiculars in Pittsburgh and walked beside the Angel's Flight in LA. They are all cool although the noise the Angel's Flight made on some travels was quite piercing. On a side not, those vintage Progectors in the Metro station in LA are a pair of Carbon Arc projectors. Two carbons, a positive and a negative are mechanically worm geared together to cause an Arc of plasma to create the light to be reflected through the film. Just like a welder! Most were water cooled as the old film/celluose was highly flamable
It's fun causes Angels Flight is actually a regular part of a lot of people's commute. It's something like 2,000+ steps to the top of Bunker Hill, and for only a dollar, you can just skip the whole thing. Thanks for showing it as well as some of the art in the metro stations off!
LA used to have not only the largest transit system in the US but the whole world. It's extensive streetcar network was actually how its sprawling layout first got started!
Yes, the Pacific Electric Railroad, AKA the Red Cars. They're also featured it the movie 'Who Farmed Roger Rabbit'. However, they suffered the same fate as the elevated railroads and trolley systems in many U.S. cities: being torn down and replaced with busses. This was the result of an actual conspiracy by wealthy individuals to get people to buy cars.
The red line ran out through the Eastern ‘burbs (Maywood, Bell, Compton, etc,) clear to Wilmington and Long Beach. Sure cheaper, easier, faster than driving is today….okay, not as flexible, but………..
While it is true that General Motors bought up street railways and tore them out...their demise was inevitable. They weren't profitable so the private carriers couldn't update their equipment. So the public thought of them as outdated. Streetcars got delayed in street traffic just like buses trucks and autos. The amount of private right of way for the PE was very limited. What LA really needed was a subway, and we got it eventually.
I live in the Pittsburgh area and Love riding the inclines....They are fun and Mt Washington is beautiful....you need to see it at night in the summer....with fireworks...Pittsburgh always has fireworks!
I noticed you were a bit confused about where the Pittsburgh incline was meant to go. There's currently a lot of new developments being built at the top and bottom of the hill but it was originally created for blue collar steel workers to quickly get down to their factory jobs back in the 1800s. You have to keep in mind there were no cars and downtown Pittsburgh was mostly steel mills back then. So it was a way of connecting residential neighborhoods up the hill to the industrial center down the hill. In fact my grandmother grew up there and she always talks about when she was a little girl, seeing all the flames and smoke stacks from the downtown factories and how everything was always covered in soot. It is a very different city today haha.
Also, in the old days, there was a streetcar line at the top and bottom of both inclines. The streetcar would have gone straight to downtown Pittsburgh if that was your destination.
Actually where you lived on the South Side Slope indicated your income. Most workers lived on the flats where the smoke was the worse. On top of Mt Washington with much cleaner air, lived the professionals of Pittsburgh, i.e. the lawyers, doctors, bankers and mid management of the steel mills. You can see this in the housing stock to this day, except in areas of Urban Renewal since the 1940s, the housing on the flats are very small and no front yard. On Mt Washington you see larger homes often with small front yards (On the actual hillside, you had very small housing but most has been torn down the last 40 years or so, I remember the housing on the lower end of old Sycamore Street and on Vinecliff, all of which is now gone).
The Duquesne Incline was intended to carry cargo up and down Mt. Washington in the late 19th century. It later carried passengers, particularly Mt. Washington residents who were tired of walking up the steep footpaths to the top of the bluff. Inclines were being built all over Mt. Washington to serve working-class people who were forced out of the lowlying riverfront by industrial development.
Very cool! I grew up in Chattanooga, Tenn. with the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway. Built for similar reasons - getting people on and off the mountain. Thanks so much for sharing your adventures!
Oh wow! My youngest Daughter was chosen to do a report on Inclines. We rode up on the incline, walked along Mt. Washington to the other incline, rode on it. So rich with history. In the lobby it even told about other inclines known in the world, how the inclines were started & used in Pittsburgh, which was interesting. Not far from where you were standing facing the city, behind you was where my Sisters best friend lives. A beautiful home. She is here visitig us this weekend. I loved seeing the sunset reflect off the PPG building the eveniing my Daughter I were there. I worked in a credit office for a major department store where Mt. Washington & inclines could be seen out of my window. I love our Steelers! Thank you for coming to Pittsburghs Inclines, & thank you for the memories I had to resurface. I haven't been back since 2017. Now there's nobody left for me to go back to. Great video!
The only funicular in the U.S. that I was previously aware of is the one you missed -- the Fenelon Place Elevator in Dubuque, Iowa. But the only funiculars that I have had the pleasure of riding are in Québec (near the Château Frontenac) and Paris (near Sacré-Cœur, in Montmartre).
Unfortunately that makes it ADA incompatible so I have friend who could not go with us. Same thing when I lived in San Francisco, ADA incompatibility on the cablecars, but this is to be expected in architecture over 100 years old!
There was a video of a funicular that had sets of seating compartments on pivots so no matter whether it was on a slope or on the flat, the seats were always level. I don't remember where it was, though.
@@IntriguedLioness But the Monongahela incline is ADA compliant. They installed a small elevator at the bottom station so people in wheelchairs can reach the highest of the three levels of that incline. At the top station that level is the same level as the rest of that station thus no need for a second elevator at the top floor. On the other hand you can go down the Duquesne Incline in Pittsburgh, but you can not get off at the bottom station. The Monongahela Incline is owed and operated by the local transit anthority and thus when rebuilt had to at least go through the effort of being ADA compliant. The Duquesne Incline is run by a non profit who have limited funds so no such upgrade has been attempted. When I take the Monongahela incline I try to back into the car, for the steps from the other comparments ends at the door to that top compartment at the top station and I am always afraid when I exit the car going backward that I run onto those stairs and have a bad fall. As to the Johnstown Incline, ine it was designed for horse drawn wagons it is easy to get a wheelchair up and down it.
I just discovered your RUclips channel. I loved the episodes you did on Norway and on the canal boats in England. I would love to see more videos like that. I know you are a train guy but you are also a great travel spokesperson. You could be the next great Rick Steves!
You should have done more time on Angels Flight. It has barely survived urban renewal in LA. It is currently at a different location on Bunker Hill than it’s original site. A fatal accident almost doomed it several years ago. It’s an amazing artifact that’s being well taken care of today.
You said New York is the longest subway system in the world. That is not true. Shanghai is longer and Beijing has more stations than New York. I love funiculars though technically they're ropeways, not railways. I've been on Angels Flight and the LA Subway. Loved it. Thanks for the video.
_I remember subscribing to this channel when I discovered you, and discovered that you love rails! Having spent most of my life in Europe where rails were common place coming to the states I had to seek them out._ When I lived in LA, I beckoned a few friends to come explore the metro with me as they had never AND they’d never been on the Angels Flight!! The Roosevelt Island tram is a wonderful way to view Manhattan, and once again many New Yorkers have never!? One historical and one new and beautiful note… In Oregon… If you are ever there… Portland has an outside community called Oregon city, which is historic and very charming. It has the oldest/tallest continuously operating municipal elevator in the US! And in the city of Portland itself, there is a new aerial tram built on the OHSU campus taking one from the base to the top. You can actually ride free going down. I make note of it because I was there in the fall and is the area is basically not developed except for the two endpoints the tram covers this beautiful hillside ridge of fall foliage. Definitely go if you’re ever in Oregon… I see that you’re going to see the Seattle monorail. I’ll have to tune in because I’ve lived in Seattle two years and have yet to take it. It’s gotta be the shortest monorail I’ve ever seen in my life. Only tourists take it.
Great video Mike! I was born in Pittsburgh and have ridden both inclines many a time. There’s also a incline like the angels flight one at the Horseshoe Curve in Altoona PA.
Great video! I got very excited when I saw you were going to ride the LIRR and the NYC Subway in this video! I live on Long Island, and I used to live in Queens, so I ride them all the time! Hopefully I get to see you do Metro-North soon!
You were in LA and missed another vehicular at Magic Mountain in Valencia. Even shorter than the one owned by the city of LA. It is privately owned in an amusement park, but still a unique fun way to get around the park.
The Angels Flight is so quirky and fun, a little quaint interlude in the busiest, most modern part of LA. When I rode it as a tourist, I ended up riding with a bunch of local suits who had never actually bothered to ride it. They couldn't help but giggle a little.
🚞 These are cool and absolutely worth preserving! Thanks for another cool piece of railway history! 🎶 A cartoon version of *jambe, jambe! "Funiculì, funiculà!"* was playing inside my head the whole time 🎶
Sorry the Mo-non-GA-hay-la Incline was closed but glad you got to ride the Duquesne Incline! Can't tell you how many visitors I took on those when I lived in Pittsburgh! As always, another great adventure! Thanks Mike!
I actually used to commute on the Duquesne incline! I lived just a block away from the upper station. There were two different jobs I commuted to on it. I know it seems like it doesn't connect to anything, but it actually does: One of my jobs was downtown, so I would ride the incline down and then I could walk across the Fort Pitt bridge into town, which takes about 15-20 minutes. There's a sidewalk across that bridge but it is an interstate highway so I always wore noise cancelling headphones for the noise. If I was running late or the weather was bad, there's a bunch of buses that stop at the lower station and roll into town in under 5 minutes. If you go down to the bottom floor of the lower station, there's a mirror to make it easier to see the buses approaching, and a button activated flashing light to hail the buses, too. The other job I commuted to was on the Southside on Carson street. You can take your bike on the incline, so I'd ride the incline down, then jump on my bike and follow the river trail to my job. Admittedly, the Mon is much more useful, and the Duquesne is more of a tourist spot, but there were always other commuters whenever I was riding the Duquesne so it is still of some practical use. Also the people who run that incline are a bunch of characters
Very interesting pieces of historic transit methods & so glad that they have kept them running for people to see how things were done in the past, besides I hate climbing hills!!
In the early 1980's I live in Pittsburgh. I road those inclines basically every day as I lived on Mount Washington. Great stuff, thanks for highlighting this Mike.
You were so close to Altoona PA. There’s a funicular there at Horseshoe curve. There’s a nice picnic area to watch the trains go by every few minutes. Also a train museum in Altoona.
It's crazy, I found your videos from the 10 weeks of travelling across America by train, and it was insane to see all the cool sights. I never thought once while you were putting out those videos that anything in Pittsburgh would be of interest. I've been on those inclines multiple times throughout my life, and they're always so cool to ride on. I do think the Duquesne Incline has the better view, so it's cool you got to go on that one. Glad you enjoyed your trip to Pittsburgh!
In park city there is a neat funicular that you take at the St. Regis hotel from the parking lot up to the hotel. It’s beautiful when the leaves are changing color in the fall.
Another nice entry, and for once, I can afford to ride ALL of these vehicles in this series, which is a PLUS! $4000 train trips across Canada are a wee bit out there…. Sadly though, Angles Flight is not actually a funicular any more. Oliver and Sinai (the recently built replacements for the originals) do not pull each other up or down the hill, a new complicated arrangement has been put in place which caused all sorts of troubles, and even killed a man. Kind of like our cantilever counterweight bridges on 3rd and 4th, near the Giants; which are no longer counter weighted, and as a result can break down with no more than a high wind. But there was also another funicular in San Francisco: The cable cars were designed for steep hills, but the grade on Fillmore was too much (literally, the cc’s couldn’t “make the grade”) so they had a funicular attachment they applied when at the top of the hills, and at the bottom. When there was a car at either end (N/S) the descending car pulled the ascending car. It’s been replaced by a trolley bus on the 22 line, which simply skips the Fillmore grade and goes down the hill a few blocks to the west, past Mrs Doubtfire’s house.
Angels Flight in LA has saved my old butt many times...Central Market is across the street and I worked on Bunker Hill...Beautiful at night and used a lot during the day.
Glad you had a chance to come back to L.A. to ride Angel's Flight! Btw, there are even more nods to space in that area of Hollywood... down the block from the Metro station on Hollywood Blvd, at the corner of Hollywood and Vine, all four corners have special commemorative dedicated plaques for the Apollo 11 astronauts, but circular like the Moon. Most people think of L.A. as all about movies and TV, but L.A. is also one of the key places in the history of the space program. The space shuttles were made here, and all of the rovers NASA has sent to Mars and the Moon were designed and built here, not to mention the Voyager spacecrafts, and so many others. We have 2 of the most famous astronomical observatories in the world -- Griffith Observatory, and Mount Wilson, where the expansion of the universe was discovered and we found out that we were one amongst billions of other galaxies. L.A. is a city of stars... of many different varieties. 😁
Very true. My sister worked for both Rockwell and then later Boeing. Rockwell was instrumental in the creation of the Space Shuttle. BTW, they are currently constructing a permanent museum for the Space Shuttle at LA's Exposition Park. It will be setup as if it's ready for launch with all the original booster rickets and main center tank. They just delivered the boosters a few days ago via the freeways and streets of LA. Reminiscent of when they delivered the Endeavor Space Shuttle years ago. Very cool.
We have a son going to college near Pittsburgh. This would be a fun thing to do when we visit! That's one heck of a view from the top. Thanks for sharing!
There is a spot in Missouri that I think would be good for a funicular. It's actually in K.C. There is an area adjacent to downtown called the West Bottoms (which as the name implies is at the bottom of a steep hill) there is a lot of cool historic buildings down there but they are in danger of being lost unless revitalization comes to the area. I feel this is one of the few cases were this kind of rail transit would be very useful and popular. :]
What a great video I love funiculars have been on the one in Québec city connecting the old and the new city as well as the one in Fajardo, Puerto Rico both amazing you have made me want to go to Pittsburgh so happy you brought this to us thank you
I was grossed out about the blood in the car 🥴. The incline in Chattanooga is a great ride with amazing views! Just don’t sit by someone that says you’re a goner if the cable breaks. Thanks Mike!
Really good video as always! I love your videos and I loved this one especially! If you were thinking of a new video, you could go to Montreal and do a day there and take the metro! Again, great video as always!
If it makes you feel any better. The spray on the roof of your rental is most likely soda pop. My wife's car had the same over spray from opening a pop can. Same with a buddy's car too.
You made the comment about the Duquesne Incline not going anywhere at the bottom. True, it doesn't today. When it was built the layout of the city was entirely different. There were a number of industrial buildings lining that side of the river. Some still there but vacant. In addition there used to be a bridge from the confluence of the rivers crossing over to close to the bottom of the incline.
I ride Angel's Flight when I visit LA often. I stay at a hotel near the Grand Central Market, eat breakfast there, then ride up Angel's Flight to the office buildings at the top. I'm usually there for events at the Convention Center and the free shuttle picks up just above Angel's Flight. I am partially disabled and not having to walk up that steep hill is so worth $1!! Plus, like you, I just love riding in cars that are so old and full of history.
Thanks for another interesting video. I live in Pennsylvania and have been on the two in Pittsburgh several times. They both give spectacular views of the rivers and downtown from the top of the runs. I have also rode our other two: the one in Johnstown that also permits cars to ride and the one at Horseshoe Curve. The one at Horseshoe Curve is like some others and features a passing track along the track. They all feature nice views and provide convient transportation to the top of their hills. It is nice the older ones were preserved and still operate. It’s like San Francisco that preserved several cable car lines that serve as transportation as well as tourist attractions.
Cool video. Funiculars are fun. They have one at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, that takes you from one level of the park to another. Years ago, Universal Studios Hollywood had one, as well, that was used to take guests from the parking area up a hill to the long-gone Victoria Station Restaurant. Not only was the ride to the restaurant fun, but dining there turned out to be entertaining, as well. I took a date there back in the 1980s and, while we were dining, we noticed one server trying to balance five or six meals on her arms. It didn't end well. She lost her balance, the plates went flying and it was snowing rice pilaf in the dining room. Then we enjoyed our ride back down the hill. Travel safely, and keep the awesome videos coming!
Another great video Michael and Team. 🌺🌺🌺💞💞💞Love the history!!! Thank you for taking us with you. Be safe and well. Your San Francisco and Sacramento friends.🌺🌺🌺💞💞💞
So cool that these are still in service, when they're not really needed. Some things deserve preservation because they're as much a piece of art as they are a mode of transport. When you have a chance, check out the Incline Railway at Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga TN. It also uses a single track with a siding in the middle, but it's longer (ten-minute ride one-way) and has a 72% grade.
Angel's Flight also used to be run by a non profit...they were having problems, including years where the thing wasn't running after an accident in which the cable snapped and a passenger died. It's now a part of the Metro system.
Where I live, your videos come out just before I sleep. It's a weekly tradition to watch your videos before bed Thanks for helping me fall asleep I guess? 😂😂 PS. not that you're boring
I never knew Angels Flight reopened in the 80s! I've only seen pictures of it from 1900. Googling, I see it has been up and down a couple of times since then, including a derailment, and a fatal accident! Thanks for showing it.
I've lived in Pittsburgh my whole life. I was 19 the first time I rode on one of the inclines and I can't even think of the last time I was on one. It's typically something I would do with an out-of-town visitor, although I did know someone who lived in Duquesne Heights that used it to commute.
The Inclines in Pittsburgh were originally made to provide a way for all the workers in Pittsburgh, back when it was a large industrial city producing steel, to get from the suburbs on the other side of Mount Washington to the city and back home again. Back then, there were fewer roads to take them to the city and mills and the roads going around the mountain added lots of time to the trip because the tunnels had not yet been built. The inclines were a very popular mode of transportation, and at one time, there were 22 different inclines going up and down the mountain. Passengers would get off of streetcars on each end of the Incline to connect with other streetcars at the other end. While most were used for passengers, there were some that were also used to haul coal, which was a vital part of the steel industry.
There was even a curved incline. and some that would carry goods and vehicles.
Thank you for that information.❤
Lookout Mountain Incline Railway in Chattanooga absolutely should be on this list! It has one of the most fantastic histories of any incline railroad
Yep, should've stopped in Chattanooga; better scenery and easier to pronounce than Monongahela. 😉
Scratching my head as to why it was omitted. So much taller, steeper, etc than all the others.
@@nashscan The Chattanooga Incline, except for its last section, is less steep then the Mongohelia and Johnstown incline.. The Chattanooga Incline is nice, I have been on it in addition to the Mongohelia, Duquesne and Johnstown Incline. All four provide an excellent view of their city and the best way to get to the top of the hillside overlooking that city.
Love to see new visitors to my home town sharing their visits on RUclips. At one time, there were 17 inclines in Pittsburgh, some carried passengers and some were designed for freight. (You can see the foundations of a former freight incline next to the tracks of the Monongahela Incline. (And yes, it's "Mo-non-ga-HAY-la," from a Lenape word meaning "river with falling-in banks.") most of the flat land beside the river was used by factories, so workers had to live at the tops of the hills. The inclines were the best ways to move them from one place to another. I'm not sure what was at the bottom of the Duquesne Incline, but it might have been a railroad yard. Thanks for sharing!
Pittsburgh at one time had *17* funiculars. There used to be one from the Strip District to the top of the Hill District (Penn Incline) and another three on Mt. Washington (St. Clair, Knoxville, and Mt. Oliver). Also, Rialto Street (one of the steepest streets in Pittsburgh) in Troy Hill was built as a funicular.
At least one of those Pittsburgh Inclines was NOT a Funicular, but San Francisco type Cable Cars (with most of the cable used by the car above the ground but it still had an operator on the car to attach and detach the car from the constantly moving cable, the operator also controlled the brakes on the car). The Castle Shannon South incline (Sometimes called Castle Shannon #2 Incline), was such cable car and it closed in 1914 due to Streetcars reaching both ends by 1900 via Arlington Avenue.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Shannon_Incline_No._2
Given there is a cross street half way down the path of Castle Shannon South Incline and the cable could run under that street while the car ran on top of that cross street, the fact that an operator of a cable car could disconnect the car from the cable and stop the car at that intersection was the reason a cable car system was picked for that "Incline".
You're actually near 2 other inclined planes. One is in Johnstown, PA which is also a vehicular plane (so you can take your car), and the other is probably the newest inclined plane in the US at Horseshoe Curve near Altoona, PA. Both are reasonably close to PGH. Next time you're in PA, come see the East Broad Top Railroad and Rockhill Trolley Museum. I'll let you run some trolleys.
I was going to mention the Johnstown one as well. It has a really interesting history related to the Johnstown floods. I've been on this one several times (my father's birthplace is nearby, so I've been back there a couple times).
No way? I lived in Johnstown for a couple years and had no idea.
It’s sadly been in rehab for the last two seasons. You can ride it up with a mountain bike then ride some sweet singletrack trails down. ruclips.net/video/e4_sC6rJEKc/видео.html
Our Vehicular Inclined Plane here in Johnstown is under renovation, it's been closed down for a while and it's unknown when it will reopen , it was set to reopen this spring but they had some setbacks so it's going to be a lot longer before it's finished.
You could say Downie was putting the Fun back into Funiculars..... If you you were so...inclined...... 😂
OMG….excellent puns are the best!,
😂❤
Took my first ride on Angel’s Flight in 1941…I was five. We aaaaalmot lost it there for a while.so glad it was saved so my kids can share it with there kids and grandkids. Thank you Mike for making traveling still possible for those of us pretty much confined to home. 😊👏🏼
You'll have to go to the Grand Central Market across the street for beer, food, and or coffee.
@@williamneal9076 …and great cheeses.
Pittsburgher here... Just wanted to say thanks for pronouncing Monongahela correctly (ending in "hay-la" and not "hee-la" like most visitors say). I was surprised you got it right on your first attempt :) Also, the reason the inclines are there is itself not there anymore... They replaced long sets of wooden stairs up Mt. Washington for workers to get to industrial sites along the rivers that are long gone. The Mon incline still gets some commuter traffic, but the Duquesne incline is mostly for tourists. But both inclines allow bicycles, and I've used them many times to go up the hill and then ride the bike back down.
Oh that's very interesting and helpful information, Glenn. Thank you!
The Monongahela incline did not replace any steps, it bypassed Sycamore Street, which still has a "reverse dog leg" set of two curves (prior to 1982 it was true set of dog leg curves, but in 1982 is when they moved the bottom end of Scyamore from the old streetcar tunnel to Arlington Avenue reversing the "dog legs") AND a 180 degree curve further up a still very steep hillside. They were wooden steps in the area of the Duquesne Incline that some people want to reinstall but no one wants to spend the money. When I could walk, I walked up Sycamore many a time, through when I reach Vinecliff Avenue I would take those steps to the top rather then walk the 180 curve. The last time I walked Vinecliff it was still walkable but hopelessly overgrown, that was about five to ten years ago (I suspect closer to ten then five but I am going by memory).
@@paulmentzer7658 The HistoricPittsburgh website has a photo of the stairs with the following caption... "A general view of the Duquesne Heights steps leading to Shaler Street, looking west. These steps led travelers from the South Side, near the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad Station, to Mount Washington. The half-mile rise of steps climbing the treacherous side of the hill is presumed to trace an old Native American trail. These stairs ceased to exist in usable form by the late 1930s."
They started across from the P&LE station which is near where the Mon Incline's lower station is and ended at Shaler Street which is actually past the Duquesne Incline. Both inclines are nearly equidistant from the start and end of the steps.
I’m just in a hotel in Hawaii
The Funicular at Six Flags Magic Mountain is an interesting one too with a single track at the bottom and top, that separate in the middle to allow the passing of the two cars. Then each merging onto a single rail at the stations. Super cool to ride!
I remember that one.
I don’t. Is it still there? Haven’t been since the 90’s.
@@nadogrl yeah it's still there it's the fastest way to Ninja and Superman.
@@fire2box - Thank you.
We Pittsburghers are fiercely proud of our city and our heritage. Thank you for putting a spotlight on the historic incline, which usually only gets 3 seconds of b-roll during a nationally televised football game while ads roll overtop of it. Born and raised in Pittsburgh and it has always been an “incline” to me, never heard the term “funicular” until your video.
I have ridden both funiculars and Pittsburg and you get such an amazing view of the city and the three rivers. It's so cool how these are still in use today considering how vital they were to the city's history.
Proud to say I've ridden every system of transit featured in this video 😊 they're all worth a visit!
Mon-go-he-la
You missed 2 other funiculars in western PA! One in Johnstown and one in Altoona, both currently undergoing renovations. Also, next trip to Pittsburgh you should totally check out the light rail system which has a station right next to the Monongahela Incline! It’s one of the more unique ones out there.
As Mike talks about the history of each site, I’m squealing because I love a historically preserved place.
5:42 The interiors are so beautiful ❤
Glad you enjoyed your brief visit to Pittsburgh. The inclines started out as coal hoists and freight transports, but then were converted to public transport, all for better access to the Mount Washington area. Also, it is "Ma-non-ga-hey-la"
There is an incline railway in Chattanooga, Tn! It seems like it's a bit longer than those in Pittsburgh. Check it out!
Assuming it's still functional, there is an incline rail system in Chattanooga, TN. I visited friends there in the mid-1990;s. It takes riders from the river-level, up to a visitors' site of the Civil War's "Battle Above the Clouds." The view is astonishingly beautiful. Among the jaw-dropping facts that you learn on the tour is that Union soldiers RODE THEIR HORSES up what appears to be a "cliff!"
The interiors of those cars that you rode, is stunning. Hooray for preserving history!
As usual, your adventure ... and your enthusiasm ... made me smile. Thanks.
I'm a local and it's still running to this day as a tourist attraction by CARTA, the Chattanooga Transit Authority. And since 1990 they've also been running free electric shuttle buses downtown. All sorts of other neat transportation stuff going on around the Chattanooga area as well.
funnily enough, i got really excited at the little talk about nyc transit in the beginning. as an nyc native, hearing someone gush about our smelly subway and how useful it is makes me happy.
(and as someone who has ridden the jfk air train and will be riding it again in a month or so, you're right. it's not the most interesting train, but the excitement of travel makes it way more fun!)
I've ridden both Funiculars in Pittsburgh and walked beside the Angel's Flight in LA. They are all cool although the noise the Angel's Flight made on some travels was quite piercing.
On a side not, those vintage Progectors in the Metro station in LA are a pair of Carbon Arc projectors. Two carbons, a positive and a negative are mechanically worm geared together to cause an Arc of plasma to create the light to be reflected through the film. Just like a welder!
Most were water cooled as the old film/celluose was highly flamable
It's fun causes Angels Flight is actually a regular part of a lot of people's commute. It's something like 2,000+ steps to the top of Bunker Hill, and for only a dollar, you can just skip the whole thing. Thanks for showing it as well as some of the art in the metro stations off!
LA used to have not only the largest transit system in the US but the whole world. It's extensive streetcar network was actually how its sprawling layout first got started!
Yes, the Pacific Electric Railroad, AKA the Red Cars. They're also featured it the movie 'Who Farmed Roger Rabbit'. However, they suffered the same fate as the elevated railroads and trolley systems in many U.S. cities: being torn down and replaced with busses. This was the result of an actual conspiracy by wealthy individuals to get people to buy cars.
The red line ran out through the Eastern ‘burbs (Maywood, Bell, Compton, etc,) clear to Wilmington and Long Beach. Sure cheaper, easier, faster than driving is today….okay, not as flexible, but………..
While it is true that General Motors bought up street railways and tore them out...their demise was inevitable. They weren't profitable so the private carriers couldn't update their equipment. So the public thought of them as outdated. Streetcars got delayed in street traffic just like buses trucks and autos. The amount of private right of way for the PE was very limited. What LA really needed was a subway, and we got it eventually.
I live in the Pittsburgh area and Love riding the inclines....They are fun and Mt Washington is beautiful....you need to see it at night in the summer....with fireworks...Pittsburgh always has fireworks!
I noticed you were a bit confused about where the Pittsburgh incline was meant to go. There's currently a lot of new developments being built at the top and bottom of the hill but it was originally created for blue collar steel workers to quickly get down to their factory jobs back in the 1800s. You have to keep in mind there were no cars and downtown Pittsburgh was mostly steel mills back then. So it was a way of connecting residential neighborhoods up the hill to the industrial center down the hill. In fact my grandmother grew up there and she always talks about when she was a little girl, seeing all the flames and smoke stacks from the downtown factories and how everything was always covered in soot. It is a very different city today haha.
Also, in the old days, there was a streetcar line at the top and bottom of both inclines. The streetcar would have gone straight to downtown Pittsburgh if that was your destination.
Actually where you lived on the South Side Slope indicated your income. Most workers lived on the flats where the smoke was the worse. On top of Mt Washington with much cleaner air, lived the professionals of Pittsburgh, i.e. the lawyers, doctors, bankers and mid management of the steel mills. You can see this in the housing stock to this day, except in areas of Urban Renewal since the 1940s, the housing on the flats are very small and no front yard. On Mt Washington you see larger homes often with small front yards (On the actual hillside, you had very small housing but most has been torn down the last 40 years or so, I remember the housing on the lower end of old Sycamore Street and on Vinecliff, all of which is now gone).
There is one in Edmonton too
The Duquesne Incline was intended to carry cargo up and down Mt. Washington in the late 19th century. It later carried passengers, particularly Mt. Washington residents who were tired of walking up the steep footpaths to the top of the bluff. Inclines were being built all over Mt. Washington to serve working-class people who were forced out of the lowlying riverfront by industrial development.
You have to try the one that starts in a cave at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO!
Very cool! I grew up in Chattanooga, Tenn. with the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway. Built for similar reasons - getting people on and off the mountain. Thanks so much for sharing your adventures!
Loving the travel blogs! Please do one about the Calgary Stampede!
Oh wow! My youngest Daughter was chosen to do a report on Inclines. We rode up on the incline, walked along Mt. Washington to the other incline, rode on it. So rich with history. In the lobby it even told about other inclines known in the world, how the inclines were started & used in Pittsburgh, which was interesting. Not far from where you were standing facing the city, behind you was where my Sisters best friend lives. A beautiful home. She is here visitig us this weekend. I loved seeing the sunset reflect off the PPG building the eveniing my Daughter I were there. I worked in a credit office for a major department store where Mt. Washington & inclines could be seen out of my window. I love our Steelers! Thank you for coming to Pittsburghs Inclines, & thank you for the memories I had to resurface. I haven't been back since 2017. Now there's nobody left for me to go back to. Great video!
My fave was the funicular in Pittsburgh. So quaint, so sweet and at the same time historical. A fun series 😊
im def loving this series cant wait for more!
The only funicular in the U.S. that I was previously aware of is the one you missed -- the Fenelon Place Elevator in Dubuque, Iowa. But the only funiculars that I have had the pleasure of riding are in Québec (near the Château Frontenac) and Paris (near Sacré-Cœur, in Montmartre).
The one in Dubuque is the one I’m familiar with and have ridden! Surprised Mike missed it.
Pittsburgh have railway connections which is interesting. Check out Jim Thorpe Pa the Switzerland of America and S
Check out Jim Thorpe Pa the Switzerland of America and Steamtown in Scranton Pa. They have
They lots of history in pa with railwayd
Reply is much better on the computer than cell
I live in Southern California and never knew that existed. Added to my list of trip must do’s. Thanks Mike!
Growing up in Pittsburgh it was nice seeing you visit. 🙂
The Angel Flight in LA is really neat! I like how the car itself is stepped inside, rather than have it lifted on one end to level it. Very cool!
Unfortunately that makes it ADA incompatible so I have friend who could not go with us. Same thing when I lived in San Francisco, ADA incompatibility on the cablecars, but this is to be expected in architecture over 100 years old!
@@IntriguedLioness unfortunately yes.
There was a video of a funicular that had sets of seating compartments on pivots so no matter whether it was on a slope or on the flat, the seats were always level. I don't remember where it was, though.
@@brianfraser2495 Stoosbahn in Switzerland
@@IntriguedLioness But the Monongahela incline is ADA compliant. They installed a small elevator at the bottom station so people in wheelchairs can reach the highest of the three levels of that incline. At the top station that level is the same level as the rest of that station thus no need for a second elevator at the top floor.
On the other hand you can go down the Duquesne Incline in Pittsburgh, but you can not get off at the bottom station. The Monongahela Incline is owed and operated by the local transit anthority and thus when rebuilt had to at least go through the effort of being ADA compliant. The Duquesne Incline is run by a non profit who have limited funds so no such upgrade has been attempted.
When I take the Monongahela incline I try to back into the car, for the steps from the other comparments ends at the door to that top compartment at the top station and I am always afraid when I exit the car going backward that I run onto those stairs and have a bad fall.
As to the Johnstown Incline, ine it was designed for horse drawn wagons it is easy to get a wheelchair up and down it.
I just discovered your RUclips channel. I loved the episodes you did on Norway and on the canal boats in England. I would love to see more videos like that. I know you are a train guy but you are also a great travel spokesperson. You could be the next great Rick Steves!
You should have done more time on Angels Flight. It has barely survived urban renewal in LA. It is currently at a different location on Bunker Hill than it’s original site. A fatal accident almost doomed it several years ago. It’s an amazing artifact that’s being well taken care of today.
Always not enough, never enough of nothing. Be grateful once in life
Such a fun-fun excursion!!
AG1 realizing we just skip their ads so they split it up😂
Me still skipping them 😂😂
AGI is a total health scam too, I hate that every one of my favorite content creators promotes them.
Exactly right they are not a good business. I still skip the ads
You said New York is the longest subway system in the world. That is not true. Shanghai is longer and Beijing has more stations than New York. I love funiculars though technically they're ropeways, not railways. I've been on Angels Flight and the LA Subway. Loved it. Thanks for the video.
I pay for RUclips premium I’ll be damned if I watch any ad lmao
Chattanooga incline railway is awesome too, with exceptional views from the top of the Mountain.
_I remember subscribing to this channel when I discovered you, and discovered that you love rails! Having spent most of my life in Europe where rails were common place coming to the states I had to seek them out._
When I lived in LA, I beckoned a few friends to come explore the metro with me as they had never AND they’d never been on the Angels Flight!!
The Roosevelt Island tram is a wonderful way to view Manhattan, and once again many New Yorkers have never!?
One historical and one new and beautiful note… In Oregon… If you are ever there… Portland has an outside community called Oregon city, which is historic and very charming. It has the oldest/tallest continuously operating municipal elevator in the US! And in the city of Portland itself, there is a new aerial tram built on the OHSU campus taking one from the base to the top. You can actually ride free going down. I make note of it because I was there in the fall and is the area is basically not developed except for the two endpoints the tram covers this beautiful hillside ridge of fall foliage. Definitely go if you’re ever in Oregon…
I see that you’re going to see the Seattle monorail. I’ll have to tune in because I’ve lived in Seattle two years and have yet to take it. It’s gotta be the shortest monorail I’ve ever seen in my life. Only tourists take it.
Fascinating as always Mike.
My Sunday arvo highlight to watch in Australia
I started watching a lot of your travel videos recently, but this has to be one of my favorites due to the spotlight on my hometown: Pittsburgh!
Great video Mike!
I was born in Pittsburgh and have ridden both inclines many a time.
There’s also a incline like the angels flight one at the Horseshoe Curve in Altoona PA.
Great video! I got very excited when I saw you were going to ride the LIRR and the NYC Subway in this video! I live on Long Island, and I used to live in Queens, so I ride them all the time! Hopefully I get to see you do Metro-North soon!
You were in LA and missed another vehicular at Magic Mountain in Valencia. Even shorter than the one owned by the city of LA. It is privately owned in an amusement park, but still a unique fun way to get around the park.
I am enjoying this latest series. I live in LA and I've ridden Angles Flight. Before, there were tenements on either side of the track.
The Angels Flight is so quirky and fun, a little quaint interlude in the busiest, most modern part of LA. When I rode it as a tourist, I ended up riding with a bunch of local suits who had never actually bothered to ride it. They couldn't help but giggle a little.
Great Job !! Thank you for sharing Downiel!!
🚞 These are cool and absolutely worth preserving! Thanks for another cool piece of railway history! 🎶 A cartoon version of *jambe, jambe! "Funiculì, funiculà!"* was playing inside my head the whole time 🎶
The Mrwhosetheboss of travel vlogs
Oregon City has an elevator that connects the lower town by the river to the upper town on the bluff above.
Sorry the Mo-non-GA-hay-la Incline was closed but glad you got to ride the Duquesne Incline! Can't tell you how many visitors I took on those when I lived in Pittsburgh! As always, another great adventure! Thanks Mike!
Next time, Bill! It looks like a great ride!
I actually used to commute on the Duquesne incline! I lived just a block away from the upper station. There were two different jobs I commuted to on it. I know it seems like it doesn't connect to anything, but it actually does:
One of my jobs was downtown, so I would ride the incline down and then I could walk across the Fort Pitt bridge into town, which takes about 15-20 minutes. There's a sidewalk across that bridge but it is an interstate highway so I always wore noise cancelling headphones for the noise. If I was running late or the weather was bad, there's a bunch of buses that stop at the lower station and roll into town in under 5 minutes. If you go down to the bottom floor of the lower station, there's a mirror to make it easier to see the buses approaching, and a button activated flashing light to hail the buses, too.
The other job I commuted to was on the Southside on Carson street. You can take your bike on the incline, so I'd ride the incline down, then jump on my bike and follow the river trail to my job.
Admittedly, the Mon is much more useful, and the Duquesne is more of a tourist spot, but there were always other commuters whenever I was riding the Duquesne so it is still of some practical use.
Also the people who run that incline are a bunch of characters
Was hoping he’d hit up Chattanooga for their incline rail!
Very interesting pieces of historic transit methods & so glad that they have kept them running for people to see how things were done in the past, besides I hate climbing hills!!
This is so cool! Have you ever done a vid about the sky tram over niagra falls?
5:26 is amazing
In the early 1980's I live in Pittsburgh. I road those inclines basically every day as I lived on Mount Washington. Great stuff, thanks for highlighting this Mike.
Very cool!
You were so close to Altoona PA. There’s a funicular there at Horseshoe curve. There’s a nice picnic area to watch the trains go by every few minutes. Also a train museum in Altoona.
It's crazy, I found your videos from the 10 weeks of travelling across America by train, and it was insane to see all the cool sights. I never thought once while you were putting out those videos that anything in Pittsburgh would be of interest. I've been on those inclines multiple times throughout my life, and they're always so cool to ride on. I do think the Duquesne Incline has the better view, so it's cool you got to go on that one. Glad you enjoyed your trip to Pittsburgh!
The one in California has been used for television. I remember seeing it on Bosch.
HBOs Perry Mason series too
I found out about it from an old Film Noir from the 40s or 50s.
In park city there is a neat funicular that you take at the St. Regis hotel from the parking lot up to the hotel. It’s beautiful when the leaves are changing color in the fall.
Another nice entry, and for once, I can afford to ride ALL of these vehicles in this series, which is a PLUS! $4000 train trips across Canada are a wee bit out there…. Sadly though, Angles Flight is not actually a funicular any more. Oliver and Sinai (the recently built replacements for the originals) do not pull each other up or down the hill, a new complicated arrangement has been put in place which caused all sorts of troubles, and even killed a man. Kind of like our cantilever counterweight bridges on 3rd and 4th, near the Giants; which are no longer counter weighted, and as a result can break down with no more than a high wind. But there was also another funicular in San Francisco: The cable cars were designed for steep hills, but the grade on Fillmore was too much (literally, the cc’s couldn’t “make the grade”) so they had a funicular attachment they applied when at the top of the hills, and at the bottom. When there was a car at either end (N/S) the descending car pulled the ascending car. It’s been replaced by a trolley bus on the 22 line, which simply skips the Fillmore grade and goes down the hill a few blocks to the west, past Mrs Doubtfire’s house.
I’ve been planing on riding the Duquesne incline in Pitt the next month.
Angels Flight in LA has saved my old butt many times...Central Market is across the street and I worked on Bunker Hill...Beautiful at night and used a lot during the day.
I hope you visit Johnstown and Altoona PA. I thought for sure you would since it's not far from Pittsburgh.
The view from the incline in Pittsburgh as it travels up at night is stunning.
Glad you had a chance to come back to L.A. to ride Angel's Flight! Btw, there are even more nods to space in that area of Hollywood... down the block from the Metro station on Hollywood Blvd, at the corner of Hollywood and Vine, all four corners have special commemorative dedicated plaques for the Apollo 11 astronauts, but circular like the Moon. Most people think of L.A. as all about movies and TV, but L.A. is also one of the key places in the history of the space program. The space shuttles were made here, and all of the rovers NASA has sent to Mars and the Moon were designed and built here, not to mention the Voyager spacecrafts, and so many others. We have 2 of the most famous astronomical observatories in the world -- Griffith Observatory, and Mount Wilson, where the expansion of the universe was discovered and we found out that we were one amongst billions of other galaxies. L.A. is a city of stars... of many different varieties. 😁
Oh interesting! I wish I had known before my visit! Thanks for the info.
Very true. My sister worked for both Rockwell and then later Boeing. Rockwell was instrumental in the creation of the Space Shuttle.
BTW, they are currently constructing a permanent museum for the Space Shuttle at LA's Exposition Park. It will be setup as if it's ready for launch with all the original booster rickets and main center tank. They just delivered the boosters a few days ago via the freeways and streets of LA. Reminiscent of when they delivered the Endeavor Space Shuttle years ago. Very cool.
Love this series so far. Good content.
More to come!
Imagine taking a plane, renting a car and getting to your destination to find it's closed. Thank heavens for the second one!!
No kidding!
We have a son going to college near Pittsburgh. This would be a fun thing to do when we visit! That's one heck of a view from the top. Thanks for sharing!
They a
So have MetroNorth, just as much a commuter Line as the LIRR but it serves the northern suburbs including in CT.
You should check out the one in Chattanooga TN on Lookout Mountain.
Loved this video; Funiculars are so cool! Thanks for sharing your rail adventures with us! :]
Also I peeped the Arch at the end, very much looking forward to the next episode! :D
There is a spot in Missouri that I think would be good for a funicular. It's actually in K.C. There is an area adjacent to downtown called the West Bottoms (which as the name implies is at the bottom of a steep hill) there is a lot of cool historic buildings down there but they are in danger of being lost unless revitalization comes to the area. I feel this is one of the few cases were this kind of rail transit would be very useful and popular. :]
What a great video
I love funiculars
have been on the one in Québec city connecting the old and the new city
as well as the one in Fajardo, Puerto Rico
both amazing
you have made me want to go to Pittsburgh
so happy you brought this to us
thank you
I was grossed out about the blood in the car 🥴. The incline in Chattanooga is a great ride with amazing views! Just don’t sit by someone that says you’re a goner if the cable breaks. Thanks Mike!
Should have gone to Johnstown, PA. An hour east of Pittsburgh and they have a steep one too
Really good video as always! I love your videos and I loved this one especially! If you were thinking of a new video, you could go to Montreal and do a day there and take the metro! Again, great video as always!
1:15 The most interesting thing about the JFK Airtrain it's related to the Vancouver SkyTrain in rolling stock.
love your vids mike! Got any big plans for the summer? similar to the crossing Canada by rail series?
Not sure yet
If it makes you feel any better. The spray on the roof of your rental is most likely soda pop. My wife's car had the same over spray from opening a pop can. Same with a buddy's car too.
You made the comment about the Duquesne Incline not going anywhere at the bottom. True, it doesn't today. When it was built the layout of the city was entirely different. There were a number of industrial buildings lining that side of the river. Some still there but vacant. In addition there used to be a bridge from the confluence of the rivers crossing over to close to the bottom of the incline.
Should have ridden the Fenelon Place Elevator in Dubuque, Iowa!
I ride Angel's Flight when I visit LA often. I stay at a hotel near the Grand Central Market, eat breakfast there, then ride up Angel's Flight to the office buildings at the top. I'm usually there for events at the Convention Center and the free shuttle picks up just above Angel's Flight. I am partially disabled and not having to walk up that steep hill is so worth $1!! Plus, like you, I just love riding in cars that are so old and full of history.
Very cool. As a native Angeleno, I love hearing people from out of town using Angel's Flight for actual public transit.
Hey Mike, are you okay? Hoping so and looking forward to seeing the monorail video!
I literally went from Hollywood/Vine-Pershing Square just to take Angels Flight 2 days ago
Thanks for another interesting video. I live in Pennsylvania and have been on the two in Pittsburgh several times. They both give spectacular views of the rivers and downtown from the top of the runs. I have also rode our other two: the one in Johnstown that also permits cars to ride and the one at Horseshoe Curve. The one at Horseshoe Curve is like some others and features a passing track along the track. They all feature nice views and provide convient transportation to the top of their hills. It is nice the older ones were preserved and still operate. It’s like San Francisco that preserved several cable car lines that serve as transportation as well as tourist attractions.
Cool video. Funiculars are fun. They have one at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, that takes you from one level of the park to another. Years ago, Universal Studios Hollywood had one, as well, that was used to take guests from the parking area up a hill to the long-gone Victoria Station Restaurant. Not only was the ride to the restaurant fun, but dining there turned out to be entertaining, as well. I took a date there back in the 1980s and, while we were dining, we noticed one server trying to balance five or six meals on her arms. It didn't end well. She lost her balance, the plates went flying and it was snowing rice pilaf in the dining room. Then we enjoyed our ride back down the hill. Travel safely, and keep the awesome videos coming!
Another great video Michael and Team. 🌺🌺🌺💞💞💞Love the history!!! Thank you for taking us with you. Be safe and well. Your San Francisco and Sacramento friends.🌺🌺🌺💞💞💞
We have one of these funiculars in Wales. Great ride.
So cool that these are still in service, when they're not really needed. Some things deserve preservation because they're as much a piece of art as they are a mode of transport.
When you have a chance, check out the Incline Railway at Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga TN. It also uses a single track with a siding in the middle, but it's longer (ten-minute ride one-way) and has a 72% grade.
Thanks, been to Pitts and LA over 40 years ago!😁
Loved riding this as a kid, it’s an icon in Pittsburgh.
I loved seeing the footage of the LIFR (Long Island Fail Road). I pass through Jamaica 3 days a week! Would have loved to meet you there!
Angel's Flight also used to be run by a non profit...they were having problems, including years where the thing wasn't running after an accident in which the cable snapped and a passenger died. It's now a part of the Metro system.
There’s a hiddenish finickular in Branson Mo. that comes up through a cave.
Where I live, your videos come out just before I sleep. It's a weekly tradition to watch your videos before bed
Thanks for helping me fall asleep I guess? 😂😂 PS. not that you're boring
Glad you like them!
I never knew Angels Flight reopened in the 80s! I've only seen pictures of it from 1900. Googling, I see it has been up and down a couple of times since then, including a derailment, and a fatal accident! Thanks for showing it.
I've lived in Pittsburgh my whole life. I was 19 the first time I rode on one of the inclines and I can't even think of the last time I was on one. It's typically something I would do with an out-of-town visitor, although I did know someone who lived in Duquesne Heights that used it to commute.