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.[1] It was a double track [2] incline in Pittsburgh, from Josephine St. to Salisbury St. The lower station was near Bane School, [3]at the intersection of S. 22nd Sreet and Josephine. The upper station was at Fort Laughlin in Arlington Heights (Pittsburgh), now the site of Arlington Playground on Salisbury Street. The incline was 2,000 ft long, with a vertical rise of 250 foot.[4] It closed in 1935.[5] It was designed by the engineer, John N. McRoberts. As it carried both freight and passengers over steep tracks laid on the ground, it could be considered to be a cable railway.
At 3:30 in the morning of April 6, 1909, an accident occurred when engineer Jesse Burton fainted against the controls, releasing the brake. As the upbound car reached the top, it slammed into the upper support, bounced away and rolled freely back down the grade. The impact had knocked both cables from their drums, so the car at the lower station did not provide a counterbalance on the move. The night turn had ended shortly before at D.O. Cunningham Glass on Jane St. near the lower station, and the upbound car was taking some passengers home. After the impact at the top, three young men jumped during their descent. One, Frank Bredl, 17, jumped early and survived. The others, Albert Klingenberger, 16, and Arthur Miller, 17, died from their injuries. A postcard of the era showed the aftermath of the accident.[6][7][8]
In addition to these, a fatality was also recorded at the Knoxville Incline on October 7, 1953.