The 65M Corey Avenue and the 65N
Library Street route could trace their roots back to Pittsburgh Railways Company
feeder bus routes. The Corey Avenue feeder was the replacement bus for the 63 Corey Avenue
trolley route and started on 08/30/53. This route was immediately combined with the
existing Library Street feeder which had started on 12/19/45 as route 215 and was
renumbered to 61 on 11/13/60. The Corey Avenue portion assumed the 215 number and later
the 61 designation and ran as a combined route under PRCo.
PAT appeared to partially unwind these 2 routes at takeover as they
were given 2 separate route designations, perhaps to indicate the direction of travel. The
routes were an early victim of route consolidations as they were merged into a new single
route designation. The initial route designations technically were the same route and is
why they are presented together.
Garages assigned to the 65M/65N:
- Homewood Garage - 03/01/64 - ??/??/64
It is possible the route ran out of Trafford with the other 65 series
routes from the the non-PRCo operators. Documentation does not mention the assigned garage
and it is assumed that it would have been Homewood since PRCo routes tended to stay at the
various PRCo garages after PAT's takeover.
Destination Signs:
The routes ran utilizing window cards or the old PRCo
destination sign if the bus was equipped with one.
Routing:
65M Routing - Congress Street at Bell Avenue via Bell Avenue, Verona
Street, Braddock Avenue, Corey Avenue, Overland Street, Hawkins Avenue, Fourth Street to
Maple Street.
65N Routing - Maple Street at Fourth Street via Maple Street, Hannah
Street, Copeland Avenue, Fourth Street, Hawkins Avenue, Overland Street, Corey Avenue,
Braddock Avenue, Verona Street, Bell Avenue, Jones Avenue, Kirkpatrick Avenue, Congress
Street to Bell Avenue.
A couple of possible street name change occurred as later PAT maps
showed buses travelling on Hannah Way and Stokes Avenue and that may have originally been
Hannah Street and Maple Street.
65M Mill Trips - Mill steps at the Dooker Hollow Bridge via Bell Avenue
to Congress Street and via regular route.
65N Mill Trips - Regular route to Congress Street, Bell Avenue to mill
steps at the Dooker Hollow Bridge.
A one way trip on the regular routing took approximately 10 minutes.
Route Highlights:
Started: 03/01/64 (date of PRCo acquisition)
Ended: ??/??/64 due to the early route consolidations done by PAT,
probably mid-1964.
The 65M/65N originally ran Monday through Saturday with no Sunday or
holiday service.
Some of the weekday trips were Edgar Thompson Works mill trip
deviations.
Indications appear the 65M headed towards Corey Avenue and then
became the 65N for the return trip towards Bell Avenue.
Interestingly the 65N Library Street never traveled on Library
Street. This designation was a hold over from PRCo which also didn't run buses on Library
Street but kept the name from the old trolley route.
The routes were combined back together in the first waves of service
adjustments in 1964 under a new route designation called the 65G Corey Avenue.
With the numerous issues surrounding the takeovers of the various
operators during this early period in PAT's history, it is likely that the 65M/65N were
added as temporary routes as the 65G Corey Avenue, which is a lower designation, didn't
exist until the 65M/65N were merged to create the route. The 65G most likely was planned
as the main route from the start with the 65M/65N being added after the initial route plan
was created but before the takeover.
Schedules (Known PAT issued schedules are listed):
No known schedules exist for the short lived 65M and 65N under PAT.
Reprinted PRCo schedules for the 61 Library - Corey were most likely used for the brief
existence of the two routes.
Route Disposition:
Routes 65M and 65N were discontinued during the first few months of
PAT's operation. It appears from the 1964 Unified Fare Structure information that the
routes were combined into the 65G Corey Avenue
as it was listed in the 8/31/64 fare list which was a new route for PAT. The 65G Corey
Avenue was renamed to the 65G Linhart - Braddock effective 09/01/64 and then effective
09/05/65 it also combined the former Dawson route 65K Braddock - Bessemer Terrace and the
former Austin route 65H Linhart - East Pittsburgh into yet another renamed route
designated as the 65G Linhart - Braddock - East Pittsburgh.
The histories of the 65H and 65K will be added soon.
Click on images for larger view
Route map for the 65M and 65N. |
