The Knoxville Incline was an inclined railway

Funicular

A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.-Operation:The basic principle of funicular...

 that ran between Pittsburgh's

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

 South Side

South Side (Pittsburgh)

South Side is an area in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, located along the Monongahela River across from Downtown Pittsburgh. The South Side is officially divided into two neighborhoods, South Side Flats and South Side Slopes. Both the Flats and the Slopes are represented on Pittsburgh City...

 and Knoxville

Knoxville (Pittsburgh)

Knoxville is a south neighborhood on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It has a zip code of 15210, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 3 .-History:...

 neighborhoods. The incline was constructed in 1890, and was demolished in 1960. It was designed by John H. McRoberts, with a length of 2644 feet. The Knoxville Incline was operated by the Pittsburgh, Knoxville & St. Clair Electric Railroad, and later by Pittsburgh Railways

Pittsburgh Railways

Pittsburgh Railways was one of the predecessors of the Port Authority of Allegheny County. It had 666 PCC cars, the third largest fleet in North America. It had 68 street car routes, of which only three are used by the Port Authority as light rail routes...

. During its operation, the incline ferried people and freight between the South Side and Knoxville. The Knoxville Incline and the nearby Mount Oliver Incline

Mount Oliver Incline

The Mount Oliver Incline was a funicular in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It was designed in 1871 by the Prussian engineer John Endres and his daughter Caroline Endres. Its track was 1600 feet long, and rose to an elevation of 377 feet. It ran from South Twelfth Street at Bardford at its lower...

 enabled the development of land in Knoxville and surrounding communities on the hilltop. Like the Nunnery Hill Incline

Nunnery Hill Incline

The Nunnery Hill Incline was a funicular designed by Samuel Diescher in 1877. It was operational until 1899, and connected Federal Street to the Fineview neighborhood in Pittsburgh. It was one of a few inclines with a curve in the track....

, the Knoxville Incline featured a curve, an unusual engineering feat for an incline.

Fatal Accident

On October 7, 1953 a boy hanging from a car was killed. While it is commonly reported that Pittsburgh inclines recorded no fatalities, this, along with an incident on the St. Clair Incline

St. Clair Incline

The St.. Clair Incline was built in 1886 and operated by St. Clair Incline Plane Company, and was also known as the South Twenty-second Street Incline. It was a double track...

, provide the only blemishes on the safety record of inclines in Pittsburgh. None of the fatalities occurred with paying passengers who had not jumped from cars.

See also

• Mount Oliver Incline
  Mount Oliver Incline
  The Mount Oliver Incline was a funicular in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It was designed in 1871 by the Prussian engineer John Endres and his daughter Caroline Endres. Its track was 1600 feet long, and rose to an elevation of 377 feet. It ran from South Twelfth Street at Bardford at its lower...
  
  
• Pittsburgh, Knoxville & St. Clair Electric Railroad
  Pittsburgh, Knoxville & St. Clair Electric Railroad
  Pittsburgh, Knoxville & St. Clair Electric Railroad was one of the earliest electric street railways. A licensee of the Daft System, the line struggled with difficult terrain, required expensive bridges, and failed financially within just 3 years of opening....