CRJ200 FLT CREW REPORTS RWY INCURSION AT PIT.

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UPON COMPLETING THE BEFORE TKOF CHKLIST; I NOTICED THE HOLD SHORT LINE FOR RWY 28C GO UNDER THE NOSE. I IMMEDIATELY TOLD THE CAPT TO STOP BECAUSE WE WERE XING THE LINE. HE SAID IT WAS THE APCH AREA SIGN. I LOOKED AGAIN AND I SAW THE HOLD SHORT LINE ON THE PAVEMENT. I AGAIN TOLD HIM TO STOP AND CALL GND FOR CLARIFICATION. HE AGAIN SAID IT WAS THE APCH SIGN (NO PRONOUN) TAPPED THE BRAKES AND BROUGHT THE ACFT ALMOST TO A STOP BUT DID NOT QUITE STOP IT. IN THE TIME DURING WHICH THIS CONVERSATION WAS HAPPENING WE ENDED UP COMPLETELY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LINE. I QUICKLY CALLED GND WHICH TOLD US TO CALL TWR. TWR TOLD US THAT WE HAVE INDEED CROSSED THE HOLD SHORT LINE AND THAT WE SHOULD HAVE ASKED FOR CLARIFICATION BEFORE CONTINUING TO TAXI. WE APOLOGIZED AND THEY CLRED US INTO POS AND HOLD AND SUBSEQUENTLY TO TKOF. TO MY KNOWLEDGE THERE WAS NO OTHER TFC IN THE FINAL APCH TO THE RWY OR TAKING OFF. ONCE AIRBORNE; THE CAPT AGAIN CALLED THE TWR FOR CLARIFICATION BECAUSE HE WAS STILL UNSURE OF WHERE THE HOLD SHORT LINE REALLY WAS. CAUSES: 1) I; AS THE FO; SHOULD HAVE BEEN LOOKING OUTSIDE. I WAS FOOLED BY THE ARPT CHART. LOOKING AT THE LAYOUT OF THE ARPT; I WAS EXPECTING THE HOLD SHORT LINE TO BE FURTHER DOWN TXWY E AND I WAS; THEREFORE; SURPRISED TO SEE THE HOLD SHORT LINE APPEAR UNDER THE NOSE SUDDENLY. HOWEVER; CONSIDERING THAT IT WAS AN UNUSUAL DEP RWY WITH AN UNUSUAL TAXI RTE; I SHOULD HAVE BEEN LOOKING OUTSIDE MORE. 2) I WAS LOOKING AT THE PAVEMENT MARKINGS BUT THE CAPT WAS LOOKING AT THE SIGNS ON THE SIDE OF THE TXWY. HE SAID HE WAS CONFUSED BY THE RED 'APCH' VERT SIGN AND THAT HE WAS EXPECTING THE HOLD SHORT LINE FURTHER DOWN THE TXWY. 3) ONCE SEEING THE HOLD SHORT LINE GO UNDER THE NOSE OF THE ACFT I SHOULD HAVE JUST STEPPED ON THE BRAKES AND THEN EXPLAINED; RATHER THAN TRYING TO VERBALLY EXPLAIN THE SITUATION WITH THE ACFT IN MOTION. IN THE FUTURE I WILL. 4) THE LOCATION OF THE HOLD SHORT LINE SEEMS UNUSUAL AND MOST IMPORTANTLY THE MARKING CAN GENERATE CONFUSION WITH THE SIMULTANEOUS PRESENCE OF 'APCH AREA' AND 'HOLD SHORT LINE' SIGNS. A 'HOT SPOT' HIGHLIGHT WOULD CERTAINLY HELP RAISE AWARENESS AMONG PLTS AND PERHAPS AVOID SUCH EVENTS IN THE FUTURE. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 802970: WE WERE INSTRUCTED TO TAXI TO RWY 28C BEHIND TFC. WE ARRIVED AT THE SIGN MOUNTED 28C APCH (IN RED); AND I THOUGHT THAT WE HAD ARRIVED AT THE RWY APCH HOLDING AREA. I THOUGHT THAT THERE WOULD BE AN ADDITIONAL RWY HOLD POS SIGN AFTER THE APCH SIGN. WE WERE COMPLETING THE BEFORE TKOF CHKLIST AND PREPARING TO BE CLRED TO LINE UP AND/OR TKOF. THE FO TOLD ME THAT THE APCH SIGN WAS THE ONLY SIGN AND IT WAS ALSO THE HOLD SHORT AREA THAT THE ATC WANTED US TO HOLD AT. WE WERE TAXIING SLOW; AND I IMMEDIATELY STOPPED TO QUERY ATC IF THAT WAS THE HOLD SHORT LINE FOR RWY 28C. THE GND CTLR SAID THAT IT WAS THE APCH AND RWY HOLDING AREA COMBINED. GND INSTRUCTED US TO CONTACT THE TWR. THE TWR CLRED US FOR TKOF. WE THEN EXECUTED A NORMAL TKOF. AFTER CLBING THROUGH 10000 FT; I CALLED TWR BACK ON COM #2 TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY DIDN'T WANT ANY MORE INFO FOR US. HE SAID IT IS A CONFUSING INTXN AND WE SHOULD JUST ASK QUESTIONS IF WE ARE CONFUSED. 'CONSIDER THE CASE CLOSED' HE SAID. THE INTXN IS CONFUSING BECAUSE THE ACTIVE RWY IS ACTUALLY BEHIND THE ACFT WHEN YOU ARE AT THE APCH SIGN. YOU MUST DO A R 180 DEG TURN TO SEE THE RWY. I THOUGHT THAT ATC WOULD ISSUE INSTRUCTIONS TO SPECIFICALLY HOLD SHORT OF THE APCH SIGN; BUT NOW WE KNOW THAT IT IS THE ONLY HOLD SHORT AREA FOR THAT RWY. THE FO DID AN EXCELLENT JOB OF GETTING MY ATTN WHEN HE SAW THE SITUATION (HE ALSO HAD A MUCH BETTER VIEW OF THE RWY ON HIS SIDE). WE HAD A VERY BAD SCHEDULE FOR THE PREVIOUS 3 DAYS ALSO. I WAS CONSIDERING POSSIBLY CALLING IN FATIGUED. I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN CONFUSED IF ATC HAD SAID 'TAXI TO AND HOLD SHORT OF THE RWY 28C APCH AREA.' NOW OF COURSE; I WON'T MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN AT PIT OR ANY OTHER ARPT; BUT THE FIRST TIME WAS CONFUSING FOR ME. PERHAPS THE INTXN COULD BE DESIGNATED AS A RWY INCURSION HOT SPOT AND PLTS WOULD BE MORE VIGILANT OF THE INTXN.