Taking The Duquesne Incline

Achievement: #60. Ride the incline

On the same gorgeous day that we decided to be on a boat, we rode the incline.

Were you aware that at one point in history, Pittsburgh had seventeen inclines running up and down the length of the mountain? This was one of the interesting facts we learned on our Gateway Clipper trip on the three rivers. Today, there are only two remaining inclines, the Monongahela Incline and the Duquesne Incline.

The Monongahela goes to the prettier part of Mt. Washington at night, where you have the fantastic view of the city lights from the Monongahela River, as well as all the crazy neat houses that line Grandview Avenue up there. The Duquesne Incline has the prettier cars of the two, but really only opens up to one great view (which is the shot of Pittsburgh from above the Point that everyone loves so much).

If you want to wander Grandview Avenue and go to the overlooks, the Mon Incline is the one for you, but for our purposes of taking pictures during the day, the Duquesne was the best.

Duquesne Incline
This is one of the Duquesne Incline cars.

Duquesne Incline
And to give you an idea of how steep the incline is, here is the view up from sitting in the car at the bottom station. The cars feel a bit rickety going up and down, but they’ve been doing it for so many years without issue that you know they’re sturdy. It’s almost like the scary, shaky feeling has been put in deliberately to enhance your incline experience.

Duquesne Incline
Here is that famous, often-photographed view from the top of Mt. Washington. We had such perfect weather that day, which helped.

Duquesne Incline
This picture serves as proof that we were there together 🙂

Duquesne Incline
This is the view as the car began its descent to the lower station. Down is probably scarier than up.

Duquesne Incline
Here we are mid-ride, not scared at all!

Duquesne Incline
The station at the bottom, which was under attack by stink bugs when we arrived. Despite the fact that they can fly, they apparently need assistance getting to the top of Mt. Washington as well.

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