| Duquesne Incline | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 View of the incline from below, with the upper station in the background | |||
| Overview | |||
| Owner | Pittsburgh Regional Transit | ||
| Locale | Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania | ||
| Website | www | ||
| Service | |||
| Type | Funicular | ||
| Operator(s) | Society for the Preservation of The Duquesne Heights Incline | ||
| History | |||
| Opened | May 17, 1877 (1877-05-17)[1] | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 800 feet (244 m) | ||
| Track gauge | 5 ft (1,524 mm) | ||
| Maximum incline | 30 degrees | ||
Duquesne Incline | |||
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| Coordinates | 40°26′21″N80°1′5″W / 40.43917°N 80.01806°W /40.43917; -80.01806 | ||
| Built | 1877 | ||
| Architect | Samuel Diescher | ||
| Architectural style | Second Empire, T pattern | ||
| NRHP reference No. | 75001609[2] | ||
| Added to NRHP | March 4, 1975 | ||
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TheDuquesne Incline (/djuːˈkeɪn/dew-KAYN) is afunicular scalingMount Washington near theSouth Side neighborhood ofPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.
The lower station is in the Second Empire style. Together with the incline, which rises 400 feet (122 m) in height, at a 30-degree angle, it was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1975. The incline is unusual for using a5 ft (1,524 mm) track gauge, mainly used in Finland, Russia, and Mongolia.
Together with theMonongahela Incline, it is one of two passenger inclines still in operation on Pittsburgh's South Side. By 1977, the two had become tourist attractions and together served more than one million commuters and tourists annually.[3] That year both inclines were designated asHistoric Mechanical Engineering Landmarks by theAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
The incline is owned byPittsburgh Regional Transit, and operated by the nonprofit Society for the Preservation of The Duquesne Heights Incline.[4] Fares for the incline are standard Pittsburgh Regional Transit fares.[5]
Originallysteam powered, the Duquesne Incline was designed bySamuel Diescher, a Hungarian-American civil engineer based in Pittsburgh, and completed in 1877. The incline is 800 feet (244 m) long, 400 feet (122 m) in height, and isinclined at a 30-degree angle. Its track gauge is5 ft (1,524 mm), which is unusual in the United States (but standard in Finland, Russia, and Mongolia[6]).
Diescher is known for having designed the majority of inclines in the United States, including several in Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania, in addition to numerous other industrial and highway projects.
The 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.
But as more roads were built in the twentieth century on "Coal Hill", as it was known, and automobile use increased, most of the other inclines were closed. By the end of the 1960s, only theMonongahela Incline and the Duquesne Incline remained in operation.
In 1962, the Duquesne Incline was closed, apparently for good. Major repairs were needed, and with so few patrons, the incline's private owners did little. But localDuquesne Heights residents launched a fund-raiser to help restore the incline. It was a huge success, and on July 1, 1963, the incline reopened under the auspices of a non-profit organization dedicated to its preservation.
The incline has since been totally refurbished. The cars, built by theJ. G. Brill and Company of Philadelphia, have been stripped of paint to reveal the original wood. An observation deck was added at the top affording a view of Pittsburgh's "Golden Triangle". The Duquesne Incline is now one of the city's most popular tourist attractions. In 1975 it was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places. By 1977 the two remaining passenger inclines served more than one million commuters and tourists annually. That year both inclines were designated asHistoric Mechanical Engineering Landmarks[3] by theAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).[7]
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