View source for Duquesne Incline

{{Short description|Funicular in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox rail line
| linelength                      = {{convert|800|ft|m|0}}
| gauge                           = {{Track gauge|5ft|lk=on}}
| old_gauge                       =
| electrification                 =
| type                            = [[Funicular]]
| locale                          = [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]]
| website                         = {{official url}}
| open                            = {{Start date|1877|5|17}}<ref>{{cite news|title=The Duquesne Incline Plane|newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Daily Post|The Daily Post]]|publication-place=Pittsburgh|date=May 18, 1877|page=4|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5645564/}}</ref>
| maxincline                      = 30 degrees
| embedded                        = {{Infobox NRHP
  | name = Duquesne Incline
  | embed = yes
  | nrhp_type =
  | coordinates = {{coord|40|26|21|N|80|1|5|W|display=inline,title}}
  | locmapin = Pittsburgh#Pennsylvania#USA
  | designated_other1 = PHLF
  | designated_other1_date =
  | built = 1877
  | architect = Samuel Diescher
  | architecture = Second Empire, T pattern
  | added = March 4, 1975
  | refnum = 75001609<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
  }}
| image                           = Ascending the Duquesne Incline.jpg
| caption                         = View of the incline from below, with the upper station in the background
| owner                           = [[Pittsburgh Regional Transit]]
| operator                        = Society for the Preservation of The Duquesne Heights Incline
}}

The '''Duquesne Incline''' ({{IPAc-en|dj|uː|ˈ|k|eɪ|n}} {{respell|dew|KAYN}}) is a [[funicular]] scaling [[Mount Washington, Pittsburgh (mountain)|Mount Washington]] near the [[South Side (Pittsburgh)|South Side]] neighborhood of [[Pittsburgh]], Pennsylvania, United States.

The lower station is in the Second Empire style. Together with the incline, which rises {{convert|400|ft|m|0}} in height, at a 30-degree angle, it was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1975. The incline is unusual for using a {{Track gauge|5ft|lk=on}} track gauge, mainly used in Finland, Russia, and Mongolia.

Together with the [[Monongahela 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.<ref name="leherr">{{cite news |title=Inclines Rise to National Landmarks |first=Dave |last=Leherr |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19770507&id=Ck4NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Om0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6087,858396 |newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |date=May 7, 1977 |page=9}}</ref> That year both inclines were designated as [[Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks]] by the [[American Society of Mechanical Engineers]] (ASME).

The incline is owned by [[Pittsburgh Regional Transit]], and operated by the nonprofit Society for the Preservation of The Duquesne Heights Incline.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About The Incline |url=http://www.duquesneincline.org/index8656.html?page=about-the-incline |access-date=December 4, 2024 |website=Society for the Preservation of The Duquesne Heights Incline}}</ref> Fares for the incline are standard Pittsburgh Regional Transit fares.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mobile Ticketing |url=https://www.rideprt.org/fares-and-passes/mobileticket/ |access-date=December 4, 2024 |website=Pittsburgh Regional Transit}}</ref>

== History ==
Originally [[steam powered]], the Duquesne Incline was designed by [[Samuel Diescher]], a Hungarian-American civil engineer based in Pittsburgh, and completed in 1877. The incline is {{convert|800|ft|m|0}} long, {{convert|400|ft|m|0}} in height, and is [[Grade (slope)|inclined]] at a 30-degree angle. Its track gauge is {{Track gauge|5ft|lk=on}}, which is unusual in the United States (but standard in Finland, Russia, and Mongolia<ref name="landmark">{{cite web |title=Monongahela and Duquesne Inclines |url=http://files.asme.org/ASMEORG/Communities/History/Landmarks/5533.pdf |access-date=May 21, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090816062002/http://files.asme.org/ASMEORG/Communities/History/Landmarks/5533.pdf |archive-date=August 16, 2009 }}</ref>).

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 "[[Mount Washington, Pittsburgh (mountain)|Coal Hill]]", as it was known, and automobile use increased, most of the other inclines were closed. By the end of the 1960s, only the [[Monongahela 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 local [[Duquesne Heights (Pittsburgh)|Duquesne 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 the [[J. 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 "[[Downtown Pittsburgh|Golden Triangle]]". The Duquesne Incline is now one of the city's most popular tourist attractions. In 1975 it was listed on the [[National 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 as [[Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks]]<ref name="leherr"/> by the [[American Society of Mechanical Engineers]] (ASME).<ref name="landmarks"/>

==Specifications==
* Length:  {{convert|793|ft|m|0}}
* Elevation: {{convert|400|ft|m|0}}
* Grade:  30 degrees
* Gauge:  {{Track gauge|5ft|lk=on}} [[broad gauge]]
* Speed:  {{convert|4.03|mph|abbr=on}}
* Passenger Capacity: 18 to 25 (one compartment)
* Opened:  May 20, 1877
* Renovated:  1888 (with steel structure)
* Rebuilt:  Original [[steam power]] replaced with electricity: 1935
* Renovated: Historic cars restored in 1970s<ref name="landmarks">{{cite web |title=Monongahela and Duquesne Inclines |url=https://www.asme.org/wwwasmeorg/media/ResourceFiles/AboutASME/Who%20We%20Are/Engineering%20History/Landmarks/26-Monongahela-Incline-1870.pdf|work=[[ASME]] |date=May 11, 1977}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
* The incline is featured in the opening scene of ''[[The Next Three Days]]'' (2010) trailer.  The same scene is featured about halfway through the film.
* It is also featured in the 1983 film ''[[Flashdance]]'', set in Pittsburgh.
* In the 1987 movie ''[[Lady Beware]]'', the characters played by [[Diane Lane]] and [[Cotter Smith]] ride the incline.
* The Duquesne Incline is a featured [[Pittsburgh]] landmark on [[Yinztagram]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Yinztagram By Pegula |work=[[iTunes Store]] |publisher=[[Apple Inc.]] |year=2012 |url=https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yinztagram/id551110367?mt=8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120828164832/http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yinztagram/id551110367?mt=8 |archive-date=August 28, 2012 |access-date=December 13, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="100px">
Duquesne Incline lower station.jpg|Lower building
Downtown Pittsburgh from Duquesne Incline in the morning.jpg|The incline preceding the Pittsburgh skyline
Duquesne Incline, Pittsburgh PA (8899995839).jpg|The incline from above
Duquesne Incline interior.jpg|Interior view looking toward the Pittsburgh skyline
Ticket counter and lobby of Duquesne Incline lower station.jpg|Lobby of the lower station
Duquesne Incline lower station with incline car.jpg|Platform of the lower station
Drive Gear and Cable Drum at the Duquesne Incline.jpg|Drive gear and cable drum of the funicular
</gallery>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Angels Flight]]
* [[Funicular|Funicular railway]]
* [[Johnstown Inclined Plane]]
* [[List of funicular railways]]
* [[List of inclines in Pittsburgh]]
* [[Monongahela Incline]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://www.rideprt.org/inside-Pittsburgh-Regional-Transit/rider-info/how-to-ride/how-to-ride-the-inclines/ Pittsburgh Regional Transit: How to Ride the Inclines]
* [http://www.travelchannel.com/video/building-pittsburghs-bridge Travel Channel video of Incline]
* [http://hawkinsrails.net/preservation/duq/duq.html HawkinsRails' Duquesne Incline scrapbook]
* [https://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&ll=40.4391,-80.018202&z=18 View on Google Maps]
{{Port Authority of Allegheny County}}
{{PittsburghTransit}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania}}

[[Category:1877 establishments in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:5 ft gauge railways in the United States]]
[[Category:Cableways on the National Register of Historic Places]]
[[Category:Funicular railways in the United States]]
[[Category:Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks]]
[[Category:Industrial buildings and structures in Pittsburgh]]
[[Category:Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Pittsburgh]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks]]
[[Category:Port Authority of Allegheny County]]
[[Category:Rail infrastructure on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Railway inclines in Pittsburgh]]
[[Category:Railway lines opened in 1877]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Pittsburgh]]