Branta, awaiting south bound scuttlers
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is the second post describing a tranche of shots gathered on a short walk through Pittsburgh’s North Side.
This particular afternoon, at the end of May, happened to occur on the first day that summer level temperature and humidity levels had arrived, and truth be told, the heat was kind of affecting me.
Wasn’t feeling so great for this part of the walk, which passed by the demolition and construction action prestaging a massive real estate development called ‘The Esplanade.’
Urban heat island effect was ‘in full effect.’ Discretion being the better part of valor, I decided to cut things short on the North Shore and call it a day by heading back to HQ via the ‘T’ Light Rail.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Of course, I still had a fair bit of ground to cover in order to get back to transportation. Luckily, the riverfront trail was available for this leg of the walk. This was all fairly familiar territory for me, from this point on.
In urban spaces, there are ‘corridors,’ as I term them.
You walk into a funnel, then there are no intersections to your route which don’t involve climbing a fence or something, and you just have to stick it out until you walk out on the other side, at a street junction or something, from the ‘corridor.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This particular ‘corridor’ is styled as being the Ohio Riverfront Greenway or something, and it’s yet another ‘rail trail’ which either city, or county, or state maintains for the populace to exploit for exercise or recreational activities. I often see fishers, joggers, and bicycle enthusiasts on this path.
Unfortunately, for a riverfront trail, the view of the river is often blocked.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sentries await you.
This icehole was tending its chicks, so a wide berth was given. Doesn’t matter with the Canada Goose, how much respect you might show them. The tongue was bared and the hissing began. If Dinosaurs were anything like the Canada Goose, I’m glad they went extinct.
I named this one ‘Jerkwater.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The trail led me to one of the ‘three sisters’ bridges, and that’s where the Allegheny River was crossed. The goal at this point was to get to a T station, and board a lovely air conditioned Light Rail train back to HQ.
There are two ‘T’ stations on the north side, but a baseball game at the Pirate’s stadium was gathering vast clouds of fans unto itself, and gathering the masses in the direction of those stations, and your humble narrator famously hates crowds…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Unfortunately, this led to me encountering the second icehole of the day. Again with the tongue and the hissing. Pfft.
Freaking Canadian Vegans! I dubbed this one ‘Lance, the Icehole.’
Back tomorrow with something different.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Scuttling southwards from northwards
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Yet another ‘exercise day’ greeted your humble narrator, and this time around his scuttling took place on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
A large development project has kicked up in this area, an industrial zone, which has also taken over part of the Ohio River’s waterfront trail in this section and interrupted its course with a detour.
It very well might develop into a hullabaloo, this project, only time will tell.
This project, and the vagaries it has visited upon the grid of streets and riverfront trails it caresses against, forced me into following my nose – as it were – to get ‘out.’ Had to make it up as I went along.
Seems that I’ve found the place where people like to store their boats in Pittsburgh, at least.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As a reminder, the Newtown Pentacle time warp is still in full effect.
These shots were captured during the last week of May, and the words you’re reading are being scratched into existence during the last week of June. Maintaining this ‘lead time’ has been a real boon for me, although it causes one to become chronologically detached from when it will publish.
Housekeeping done, back to the wandering.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While scuttling along, one encountered a building that looked like it was ‘AI.’ Apparently, it’s the ‘Bidwell Training Center Drew Mathieson Greenhouse’ wherein students train in the botanical arts.
It seriously didn’t look real, this building.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looks like an AI model’s insertion, doesn’t it?
Nothing is real anymore, I guess. Am I real? I must be, since I fart. Farting is real, and no computer would have thought farting up.
On another personal note, I can report that I’ve finally finished my latest relisten of Mike Duncan’s ‘History of Rome’ podcast. All 75 hours of it, with the sum up ultimate episode consumed at the end of this walk.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Crossroads… a right turn takes me north westerly towards the Ohio River waterfront, whereas going straight heads towards an area which I hadn’t walked through yet…
Yup, the unknown won.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After a couple of disastrous ‘in the field’ decisions led me into actual physical danger over the last couple of months, I’ve been forcing myself to consult that little compass I have dangling off my camera bag – a lot.
South, I needed to continue more or less south…
Back tomorrow – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Bridgeville’s Bridge No. 1
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recent endeavor found your humble narrator casting shadows in Pennsylvania’s Bridgeville, part of the larger Pittsburgh metro area and found just a few miles from HQ.
Pictured is a section of Chartiers Creek, which has been mentioned before in connection to massive environmental remediation efforts that various governmental entities have been working on in order to ameliorate an acid mine runoff condition. Bridgeville used to be a center for coal mining, and processing, at the end of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. They also mined Vanadium, and a few other elements and minerals hereabouts.
Basically, and as I understand it, when you’re operating a mining operation the two biggest problems you’ve got involve the pumping out of ground water, and then piping in air for ventilation.
When the business shutters, nobody is performing those functions anymore. The mine fills with water, the volume of which in turn gets incorporated into the subterrene patterns which ground waters flow through, down below, which then migrate back up to the surface.
Hydrology, yo.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Again – as I understand it – the thing that makes Coal a great fuel choice is that it’s a rapid oxidizer. That’s why it alights fast, and burns hot.
The post facto of the mining process exposes left behind or non harvestible coal to the atmosphere, and to ground water, which causes it to oxidize in place. Iron pyrites, amongst other compounds, are found in the Appalachian layer cake that forms the coal’s firmament. The pyrites rust, and leech out of the flooded mines, entering the ground water/aquifer.
The pH of this leachate water is altered by the carrying of these dissolved metals, and thereby it leans towards acidic. No bueno for the bugs, turtles, or fish.
Less than a mile away from the first shot in today’s post, and that’s the Chartier’s Creek tributary McLaughlin Run pictured. As you can see, the running water here is a bright orange. That’s rust from those iron pyrites.
It’s the 1941 vintage ‘Bridge No. 1 McLaughlin’s Run,’ that’s pictured above.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As is my habit, I photographed the bridge’s signage – click here for that.
I’ve read that Bridgeville has experienced severe storm flooding in the not so distant past, and lots of built accommodations for high water events were observed around this structure. Notice the chain on the manhole cover above, securing it to the raised pipe.
One had a bit of time to kill, on this particular morning, and a few new toys I wanted to play with.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator was in ‘full kit’ mode, as I had the car with me for this effort. Both a tripod and that ‘super clamp’ mentioned a few posts ago were deployed. I was also experimenting with a set of magnetic lens filters which I had just received.
These things are magic – btw – you can just snap a polarizer or Neutral Density filter onto your lens, in seconds.
As you’ve likely noticed, there is a rail trestle/bridge here, which belongs to the Wheeling and Lake Erie outfit.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
McLaughlin Run is containerized behind masonry retaining walls, and forms the back yard border for several commercial properties and homes.
My time grew short, and there were other things that didn’t concern me which I wanted to stick my nose into, so the gear began to go back into the bag as I prepared for departure. One more shot, though…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This one (and several others in today’s post) used a 10 stop ND filter, and the superclamp tripod setup. Bucolic, no?
Back next week, with something different.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Lots and Lotsa Hey Now!
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This most recent of scuttles finished as many do, with your humble narrator rehydrating at what’s now called the ‘Burghers Brewery’ on Pittsburgh’s South Side. Hey… it’s really close to the T Station!
This time around, I was trying out a new brew of theirs – an Irish style Red Ale called ‘The Red Funicular.’ It was good. That’s my review.
Hey Now! CSX #503 appeared, heading northwesterly.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had finished my earlier peregrinations by crossing the Monongahela River, via the Smithfield Street bridge, pictured above.
The masonry of that bridge was designed by John Roebling, and the steel structure above is by Gustav Lindenthal. That’s the designer of the Brooklyn Bridge, and the designer of the Queensboro Bridge – back in a superior City, for the curious.
It should be mentioned that the Newtown Pentacle time warp has actually increased in severity recently.
The photos in this series of posts were captured on the 21st of May, and the very words you’re reading were encoded a month later at the end of June. At this writing, I’ve got close to a thousand shots which haven’t been processed yet – just sitting there on my computer’s hard drive – so hopefully I’m going to be able to continue with my longish ‘lead time.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
CSX #3165 elicited a ‘Hey Now!’ when it turned up in the very same spot that #503 formerly occupied, less than twenty minutes earlier. I headed inside for a ‘reload,’ and paid my tab. Two is plenty for me, these days.
I used to be able to outdrink Russians when I was a kid. Was always the last one awake at a party, me. A lot of that was paranoia, I’d imagine.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just as I was exiting the establishment with my final boss of a beer in hand, CSX #3409 appeared and was headed in the opposite direction, southeasterly, towards the steel mills and ultimately – Maryland or West Virginia.
Hey Now!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Man, I got lucky on this particular day. Hey Now!
That’s CSX #5465 rolling along there, just as I downed the last of my second beer. I returned the glassware to the brewery, and began a final set of steps to get back to HQ, where Moe the Dog was likely wondering what the heck had happened to me.
Moe is a worrier.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A ten minute walk saw me at those ‘Station Square’ platforms offered for the T light rail service, which carried me back to HQ.
Moe was fairly indifferent five minutes after my return to HQ, but I did get a very emotional greeting from him – barks and squeals.
Back tomorrow with something different – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Clamps, clamps, clamps
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator had been involved in a fun scuttle for a couple of hours, when the photo above was captured.
Depicting the Fort Pitt Bridge over the Monongahela River, this and a couple of the other shots in today’s post were shot in the name of testing out a new piece of gear, recently added to the camera bag.
I should mention that I’m obsessed with unique camera support devices. One of the few spaces wherein I ‘tinker’ revolves around building novel support mechanisms for the camera. I’m forever attaching tripod heads and ARCA Swiss plates to all sort of things – bean bags, blocks of silicone, you name it.
The new addition is a ‘Super Clamp.’ Clamp, clamp, clamp.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It needed some modification, ‘out of the box,’ to fit my particular ‘use case scenario.’ Specifically, an extended bushing which introduced instability into the mount needed to go. I ordered a smaller bushing from Amazon which I swapped in – a tripod mount screw size (1/4 inch 20 turn) on one side and tripod head mount size (3/8ths 16 turn) on the other. That allowed me to securely attach a tripod head to the thing.
I screwed a ten stop ND filter onto my lens for these, to ‘slow’ down the flowing waters of the Monongahela and capture reflections.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The beauty of this device is that it allows me to clamp my camera onto fences, poles, even fire hydrants – offering a rock steady mount.
Given that I was quite taken with the thing’s performance, it’s become a regular carry ever since. My problems have now transferred over to the lens filters themselves. The ones I’ve been carrying – for years and years – are screw on filters, which are a pain in the neck to manipulate in ‘the field.’
My problem is encapsulated in the shift to the next shot.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had time to unscrew the filter, and ‘rekajigger’ the camera settings away from ‘long and loving’ exposure over to a ‘freeze the moment’ setting, for this shot. It isn’t always the case that I can do this quickly enough, so I often miss stuff when the camera is set up for filter usage.
Accordingly, I’ve spent a bit of cash on a new set of lens filters, which use a magnetic system in lieu of the screw in system. You do have to screw an adapter into the lens, which is ferrous in composition so when a magnet enabled filter gets close to it, the glass disc just snaps right into place.
Just got these delivered, at this writing, so the verdict is out on whether or not I pissed away my money, or if the things will work as I hope and help rather than hinder my efforts. I’ve been ‘feeling’ longer exposures again for some reason.
Comparing the two bridge shots above, you can really discern the amount of color cast which my older filters alter the scene with. All ND filters have a ‘cast,’ some more severe than others.
Also, clamps.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Can’t miss a Towboat shot though, can I?
Gotta say, I’m missing the smell of salt water these days, and it’s been a long time since I was on anything but a tourist boat.
This is about when I heard the hissing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This Canadian Doofus was angry at me.
A bit of recent research in this direction revealed that – in Pittsburgh at least – the Canada Gooses segregate into two groups. There’s a purely migratory population of them, and there’s a static one which occupies the waterfronts all year long – even in winter. The latter are larger in stature and weight, according to the Pennsylvania environmental peeps. These monstrous iceholes enjoy Federal and State protection, and their only natural predators are Coyotes, Eagles, and Owls.
These predators don’t mess with adults like the one pictured above – mind you – instead preferring to pick off either the newborn Goslings, or sick and or elderly adult Gooses who can’t fight back.
I stand by my conviction that Canada Geese, as a specie, are dicks.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
The Newtown Pentacle 