Route 19A came into PAT's route
structure from the former Pittsburgh
Railways Company (PRCo) bus route number 9 with the same name (Route 217 with the same
name prior to that). Its original purpose when PRCo started the route was as a feeder to
serve the trolley lines in Bellevue but it was used more as a local community route that
served to take people to the prosperous Bellevue business district.
Garages assigned to the 19A:
- Manchester Garage - 03/01/64 - 03/30/68
- Ross Division - 03/31/68 - 09/02/69
Destination Signs:
Route ran with window cards. Very early PAT service in 1964 would
utilize the old PRCo 9 Bellevue - Avalon reading if the bus assigned to the route had the
reading in it. There was an order of roll signs in 1977 that did include this long
abandoned route but it was not used by that point.
Routing:
Original routing from Bellevue was Roosevelt and Riverview to Division,
Spring, Laural, Grant, Lincoln, North Sprauge, Shade, North Jackson, Means, Union,
Sedalia, Chatsworth.
Original routing to Bellevue was Sedalia and Chatsworth to Erdner,
Union, Means, North Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, Laural, Spring, Division, Riverview,
Roosevelt.
Routing was altered while the Bellevue High Bridge was under
reconstruction starting June 27, 1966 to provide service to the lower section of Lincoln
Avenue. The modified routing was from Roosevelt and Riverview via regular routing to Grant
and Washington Avenues, then via Washington, Burnside to Lincoln and back to regular route
to Sadalia and Chatsworth in Avalon. Return trips reversed this temporary routing. This
revised routing lasted until the end of the 19A service.
There was 1 extention to the 19A which went to the ball park located at
Bellevue Memorial Park. The time was adjusted on each schedule issued and there were
anywhere from 2 to 4 trips based on the schedule issued at the time. The routing for the
ball park trips varied as well with some originating from the Avalon terminus and some
originating from the Bellevue end with return trips going to either the Avalon or Bellevue
end. The routing once on the extention was via Forest to Bellevue Terrace, Quail, Bellevue
Road to ball park. Return was the opposite. Trips to and from the ball park were buses
going on and off route from the 19A when run from Ross Division.
A one way trip on the regular adjusted routing took approximately 15
minutes.
Connections:
- 6/13 - Brighton Road - Emsworth trolley route
- 6/14 - Brighton Road - Avalon trolley route
- 10/15 - Bellevue - West View trolley route
- 16A/18A - Aliquippa (one block walk off Riverview Ave)
- 16B - Brighton to Avalon
- 16C - Bellevue - West View
- 17B - Avalon via Shadeland Avenue
Route Highlights:
Started 03/01/64 (PAT acquisition date of PRCo - Actual route
redesignation from PRCo 9 to PAT 19A is not currently known).
Ended 09/02/69 due to low ridership
The 19A ran only Monday through Friday with no weekend or holiday
service
The only routing changes made to the base route since the PRCo days
was the 1966 adjustment and the ball park extention.
Into the 1980's there were still a few old PRCo bus stop signs
located along Laural Avenue and North Jackson in Bellevue from the old 9 route. These were
used by the 19A. In most locations on the side streets of Bellevue and Avalon there were
no posted stops along the 19A route except the few PRCo signs and the signs used along the
main routes. To catch the 19A, a person would have to flag the bus down.
The 19A was run mostly with 30 foot coaches and occaisionally a 35
foot coach due to the narrow streets and tight turns along the route.
The Avalon section of the line became the more heavily patronized
portion of the route by the early 1960's with the Bellevue end of the line dropping
ridership on a steady basis. This was somewhat of an anomaly as the other routes that
served Bellevue enjoyed very high ridership levels from the residents during the 1960's.
The route was originally the 217 Bellevue - Avalon under PRCo and
later the 9 Bellevue - Avalon after PRCo renumbered many bus routes in the late 1950's.
The route originated after 1944 and we are trying to locate the start date of the original
feeder route.
Schedules (Known PAT issued schedules issued are listed):
The 19A had 2 distinct styles of schedules.
The schedules from the Manchester Garage were folder PM-21 and were
combined with the 19B schedule on the reverse of the card type schedule.
- PM-21A - 01/10/65
- PM-21B - 06/26/66
- PM-21C - 10/24/66
- PM-21D - 07/02/67
- PM-21E - 09/03/67
The schedules from Ross Division were folder R-12 and were combined
with the 19B, 24A and 24B schedules in a 2 panel paper fold out schedule.
- R-12A - 04/01/68 - May have been K-12A dtd 03/31/68 - Currently researching
- R-12B - 06/30/68
- R-12C - 09/01/68
- R-12D - 01/01/69 - Same folder revised 06/13/69
There may have been a few PAT schedules issued prior to PM-21A as the
very early schedules tended not to have folder numbers and/or were reissued former
operator schedules.
Route Disposition:
The 19A was discontinued on September 2, 1969 due to lack of patronage.
Limited service was placed in the area through 2 limited service extentions of the 16C.
One extention served Upper Avalon and one extention served the lower section of Bellevue.
The Bellevue extention was not often referred to as the 16C but as the
Bellevue Local and usually ran with no destination or window signage or a garage sign
while the Avalon extention ran as the 16C Bellevue to Means & Union. 16C schedules
through 1971 still referred to the extra trips as 19A trips.
The 16C did have a Means and Union extention since 1965 however the
Erdner & Union loop of the 19A was eventually adopted for the 16C.
More information will be available on the 16C extentions when we post
the 16C history.
Click on images for larger view
Route map from 1968 and one of the schedules for the 19A. |
