Pittsburgh Fire and EMS crews rescued passengers stranded on the Mon Incline for hours Saturday afternoon.
The east and west cars of the 155-year-old funicular unexpectedly stopped moving in mid-trip, with each car about 40 feet short of its station, Pittsburgh Regional Transit Spokesperson Adam Brandolph told WESA.
"The rescuers guided us the entire way because it's a very narrow, walkway they put. It's a temporary that they put up. It's not there all the time. It's got little areas where you go round and round and you're looking down. Kind of an obstacle course," Gary and Valerie Leikam said.
Crews developed a pulley system to rescue some passengers while a ladder truck reached others. There were 22 in the east track car and five stranded in the car on the west side.
Authorities are working to determine the cause of the stoppage.
Susan Nicol is the news editor for Firehouse.com. She is a life member and active with the Brunswick Volunteer Ambulance & Rescue Company, Oxford Fire Company and Brunswick Vol. Fire Co. Susie has been an EMT in Maryland since 1976. Susie is vice-president of the Frederick County Fire/Rescue Museum. She is on the executive committee of Frederick County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association. She also is part of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) Region II EMS Council. Susie is a board member of the American Trauma Society, Maryland Division. Prior to joining the Firehouse team, she was a staff writer for The Frederick News-Post, covering fire, law enforcement, court and legislative issues.
