Operation Рогачка
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As has been mentioned several times, your humble narrator has somehow managed to recreate his ‘lead time,’ that interval between the capture of these photos and the subsequent writing of the malarkey, as relates to the day that the post publishes and reaches your inbox or social media whatever.
As of this moment, while I’m actually typing out this missive, it’s early morning on the 19th of February, and the photos embedded herein were gathered on the tenth of that same month.
Just in case you were wondering why it’s still the height of winter here, and you’re likely seeing the birds returning in mid March. You’ve got a bit more winter coming your way, by the way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This sort of frigid season just frustrates me. Gets in the way.
Looking back into the archives here at Newtown Pentacle, you’d be hard pressed to not find a January or February posting that doesn’t complain about winter weather, its depravations, and its boredom.
Write a book, they tell me. Yeah sure… that’s simple.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Admittedly, Pittsburgh got whaled in 2026 by what local meteorologists describe as an extraordinary and historic winter season, as judged by their local standards.
Personally, it’s been a pain in the butt.
Week long stretches where even driving was fairly impossible. Forget walking, except in narrow corridors where you could reasonably expect – and be disappointed – to find that the snow and ice have been cleared from the pavement. Given the lingering psychological hangover of the ‘orthopedic incident,’ wherein I shattered my left ankle and then had it surgically reconstructed leading to a long and excruciatingly painful recovery period, ice and snow conditions are just ‘No Bueno.’
Messes with my head while scuttling along, this.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One was heading back to HQ in Dormont at this stage of my day, and the ‘T light rail’ station at nearby Station Square was the destination.
All told, this walk was maybe four to six miles long.
It’s become a fairly standard exercise and photowalk corridor for me, this ‘Dormont to North Side, then to South Side’ thing.
I’ll take the T to one of the stations on Pittsburgh’s North Side and then whirl and twirl over to the South Side to catch the light rail back. In warmer weather when the pavement is more reliably passable, the north/south path usually includes the West End Bridge.
Given the number of abandoned properties on the south side of the bridge, at Pittsburgh’s Carson Street, that path had been avoided as it was likely a skating rink down there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was a short wait, maybe ten minutes, before a Red Line T appeared (pictured is either a Blue or Silver Line). Soon, I was happily sitting down onboard one of the light rail units, and the trip back to Dormont only takes about 20-25 minutes from Station Square.
It was my turn to cook dinner, so I headed home and got busy.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Boneless chicken breast cutlets, with a little glug of olive oil on top and then a bit of salt and pepper. I put a cleaver flat on top of them and give the knife a couple of hard whacks to flatten out the meat and ‘stick’ the seasoning into the meat. Into the air fryer for 16 minutes at 400 degrees. On the stove, a pot of bow tie style pasta was boiled, and combined with a sauce that was formed up from a bit of feta cheese, a bag of frozen chopped spinach and also a bag of peas, and there was also a few tablespoons of Greek yogurt in there. Another glug of olive oil went into the veggies and dairy sauce concoction to loosen it up a bit, before adding in the pasta bow ties. Squeezed a lemon over the whole pasta affair and mixed it up thoroughly. Yum.
One of the lifestyle differences between ‘back home’ and ‘here’ is that you pretty much cook all your meals at home here, as opposed to eating the unhealthy and expensive junk offered at take outs. This ain’t NYC where your kitchen is tiny and it’s actually cheaper to order in. I’ve got a full size kitchen in Dormont with lots of counter space, and a nearby Aldi.
The dinner effort resulted in a big meal for two, a few scraps of chicken which somehow fell into Moe the Dog’s mouth, and then four lunch sized containers of left overs. Worth doing, and it was fairly healthy as well.
Back tomorrow 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.
Operation De temps à autre
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While walking across the Monongahela River, onboard the Smithfield Street Bridge here in Pittsburgh, one became enamored by the reflectivity of the ‘rotting’ ice flows along its southern bank. Add in some light rail crossing over the river on the Panhandle Bridge? Nepenthe.
One was awaiting the arrival of ‘proper rail,’ but I’ll take what I can get.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That large brick building in the background, behind the Panhandle and Liberty Bridges, is the location of that brewery which I’m always shooting CSX trains from. I’d be heading that way, but this wasn’t a ‘have a beer’ day, it was a ‘short walk’ day.
All told, probably about 4-6 miles by the time I got back to HQ.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My dreams came true, and ‘Hey Now’ was exhaled from that noisy hole on my sensory and gustation stalk, which the humans might call a ‘head,’ an entry point to the within that I normally pour coffee, or stuff hamburgers or candy into.
CSX was on the scene, navigating along their ‘Pittsburgh Subdivision’ tracks. Well, it’s not really ‘navigation’… it’s more ‘operation.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The cool thing about this ‘zone’ is that you can hear the train coming, long before it comes into view. There’s a few ‘grade crossings’ along these tracks which necessitates the crew blowing their train horn, and that begins the better part of a mile away in either direction. When the locomotive gets close, alarmed signal arms at the grade crossings are triggered, so flashing lights and ringing bells join the party.
It’s great… for me, at least.
Hey now!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After this capture, one found his way down and over to that brewery, but as mentioned, didn’t partake. I was being greedy, and wanted to catch another rail shot while I was in the area.
Hey Now!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After #3155 passed by, my toes were pointed in the direction of transit and back home. I couldn’t really feel the toes, but there you are.
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.
Operation Pòbīng
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Continuing with a short walk across an icy Pittsburgh, in today’s post.
One was galavanting across the Smithfield Street Bridge, and was struck by the scene. The iced over Monongahela River was just a treat.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A Towboat and barges had cracked open a pathway in the ice flows. I had missed seeing the passage, but it was pretty clear which pathway they had undertook.
Neat.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One was digging on all these compositional geometries.
It has been quite frustrating for me, this interval of hard winter, as it always is. Entire walking paths were obliterated by snow pack, and my exploration schedule was just crushed flat by the snow. If you click into the archives, specifically posts from January and February, you’ll soon discover that every single one of the 16 years that Newtown Pentacle has been in operation I’ve specially complained about the winter months and getting penned in or restrained by the weather. Kind of a theme, really.
For a few walks in a row, I found myself forced into these corridors of ‘passability.’ The ‘orthopedic incident’ looms large, still.
Pittsburgh, at large, really ‘shit the bed’ on snow removal.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking southwards, at the northern face of Mount Washington in the South Side Slopes area. The vehicle causeway is the PJ McArdle roadway (whose sidewalks were – at the time – covered in about 18 inches of hard clear ice).
Just a day before the writing of this post, on the 18th of February, a landslide shut down the roadway for several hours. As you’d imagine, these elevated ‘zones’ were not considered for a scuttle due to weather conditions. So were the City Steps.
Bah!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Zoomed in for this one on the Colors House, which is found on Cola Street up in the ‘slopes,’ since the light was shining pretty nicely on it at the time.
One scuttled on, and on.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The buckling and heaving of the ice down on the river was intriguing to me. The closer to the southern shore of the river that I got, the more that the plates of ice below were wet and degrading (or ‘rotting’) as the warmer waters flowing beneath ate away at them. Add in the mechanical energy of that Towboat path… neat!
Back tomorrow with Choo-choo.
“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.
Operation Ajuq Parngusuut
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Allow me to start this one by stating that before shooting this photo, I had no idea that an outfit called ‘The Pittsburgh Foundation’ existed.
Apparently, the organization is a fairly well heeled non profit. What drew me in was contemplation of exactly what the heck is going on with that building of theirs, architecturally speaking…
I stood there on the corner, running my eyes up and down the thing while trying to work it out. Some dude walked by, who then asked what I was staring at. I pointed, and He started staring at the weird building too.
Soon, there was a third, and then we were all confused… why does that… and where does this… and what purpose would… our trio soon dispersed into individual confusion.
According to Google’s AI:
MossArchitects is the architectural firm behind The Pittsburgh Foundation’s new headquarters located at 912 Fort Duquesne Blvd. The project, which was completed in early 2025, involved a 31,308-square-foot build-out across the top two floors of the building, featuring collaborative spaces, a rooftop patio, and modern office design.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One shouldn’t look upwards. It’s not where I belong.
Streets, alleys, sewer plants, junk yards… that’s where a creature like myself properly dwells.
Loathsome, antilaconic, truly annoying, and pedantic… that’s me in a nutshell. Filthy too, I need’s filth. Gotta have some soil, soot, or black grease on the ground. Everybody hates me, on sight, so it’s best to hide in the places where people aren’t. Getting stoned doesn’t necessarily involve inebriants for me, rather it’s people throwing rocks at me when I’m observed passing by. Dogs bark. Children cry. Crows circle.
The plan for my day was ‘a photowalk,’ not a ‘stand around with two random strangers and critique odd office architecture,’ so the scuttle was leaned back into. I’d need to navigate a path through Downtown Pittsburgh to get from one river to the next, so the process of kicking my feet around while leaning forward started, and soon – a pretty convincing simulacra of human locomotion was underway, just all herky jerky.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Cutting through Pittsburgh’s convention center, where a cool looking semi truck caught my eye. The driver was setting up vehicle ramps to lead into the trailer, so this was likely a ‘car carrier’ setup.
11th street, as it were, is encapsulated and overshadowed by the convention center, from its intersection with Fort Duquesne Blvd. On the other side, the street bursts out into those few shafts of sunlight which might be found downtown.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This area is what I’d refer to as ‘the ritual center’ of Pittsburgh. NYC has multiples of these ‘centers,’ spread across the boroughs.
Want to have a parade, you’d do it somewhere nearby. Picklesburgh? Yup.
Pittsburgh’s City Hall, and all the corporate bigwigs, can be found in this Downtown ‘zone.’ The streets are narrow and messy, and often populated by groups of unwanted people doing undesirable things. I’m told that as recently as ten years ago, things were quite different downtown, but that’s likely sophistry. I look over the shoulder hereabouts NYC style, and keep my headphones dangling down rather than playing in my ears. You want to listen for the slap of a sneaker against the pavement, as an early alert that something is about to go down.
Saying all that, it’s really not all that dangerous here if you keep your wits about you and ‘radar’ turned up. It’s just worrying here, as there are big clots of drug enthusiasts seemingly embedded into this area.
Desperate people do desperate things.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This was one of the first days, after a month long interval of snow and arctic cold, that air temperatures had risen sufficiently for ice and snowpack melting to occur.
Everything was dripping and wet, and in certain spots it seemed to be raining, as the ice released from high flying masonry walls. The lack of building setbacks in Pittsburgh means that all that water dumps straight down onto the sidewalks. Given that single digit temperatures had ruled for a month, the second that the water hit the ground it froze again forming… you guessed it – Black ice, yo.
Pictured is a court building. I’m told that what appears to be a bell tower is actually a ventilation shaft, part of many accommodations which architects used to have to incorporate into large structures like this one in notoriously humid Pittsburgh prior to the era of air conditioning. Neat.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One found himself back in direct sunlight at the shoreline of the Monongahela River, and at the soul shaking threshold of the Smithfield Street Bridge. The plan for the rest of the day got pretty simple from this point. In short – horror, alienation, and an inconceivable sense of loneliness was what I was hoping for. Long story short: win.
I’d cross the river, look around and try to photograph some trains, and then hop back on the T to head back to HQ in Dormont.
More on all that 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.
Operation Liukastelu ja liukuminen
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The whole ‘snow and ice thing’ had really been ‘harshing my buzz’ during the month of February. Annoying. Why can’t it just be 65 degrees with no humidity and a stiff breeze for a spell?
Pittsburgh and its municipal neighbors did a piss poor job of handling the snow and ice, and it was EXTREMELY difficult to move about on foot during this interval due to plowed up ice walls encountered at cross walks.
My last few scuttles, since that long East Liberty one, have been quite truncated due to conditions. I personally observed people in wheelchairs having to negotiate through these slush lagoons and plowed ice walls.
Yeah, I helped out when I could, after asking if they needed assistance. You need to ask, don’t just lurch forward.
I was sticking to certain ‘urban core’ routes thereby, where – presumptively – at least some small effort might have gone into clearing the pedestrian space. Ambition wanted me to visit ‘here’ or ‘there,’ but as I worked out those paths in my mind, realization that certain areas were going to still be largely impassable guided my path to here and there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m dying to get back up on both the West End Bridge and the McKees Rocks Bridge to shoot some rail action, but that path leads to a long stretch of sidewalk which doesn’t seem to have received any attention from plows or shovels at all. It also leads past several abandoned or empty properties which still sit in knee deep snow. I’m also ‘hep’ to revisit Skunk Hollow, but again…
To answer the graffiti’d query pictured above: yes, I do.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the Allegheny River, and the Rachel Carson Bridge. One of the ‘Three Sisters,’ it carries Ninth Street twixt the golden triangle of ‘Downtown’ and the slightly less golden ‘North Shore.’
The river was still completely frozen over. Allegheny flows south from more or less the border of Canada and NYS, and the ice slithers down from the frozen north. The Monongahela River, alternately, flows sort of northwesterly out of West Virginia, and it’s far less common for those warmer waters to freeze or plate over.
They both did during this cold snap, but that’s a different post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I underexposed this shot by a stop or two to try and capture some of the texture of that ice, which was glowing white in the sun otherwise.
The amount of light bouncing around was actually sort of a problem for me at this interval. My sunglasses, which are prescription spectacles with corrective lenses, are outfitted with the sort of reactive coating that darkens in response to sunlight. They had gone full black, like welders goggles, due to all the UV light bouncing around.
The reflection of my eyes floating against that blackness began to annoy me, and get in the way. It became quite difficult to operate the camera’s controls during this interval, I’d mention. Had to overly rely on the exposure meter. No bueno. I considered plucking the offending organs out, as they offended me, but that’s short term thinking.
I need to be able to see what I’m doing, as photography is a visual medium.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Graffiti is something which I mostly ignore. Usually, it’s crap. Some kid tagging a graphic handle on something with nothing else to say.
Stating that, I often encounter poetic or philosophical meanderings which have been scrawled along the public way, here in Pittsburgh. Some of them are quite intriguing. Street literature?
The next problem I needed to solve for myself involved getting through the everdark streets of Downtown Pittsburgh as quickly as possible. I had little interest in architecture this time around, although there were a couple of things which ended up catching my eye along the way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Rachel Carson Ninth Street Bridge deposited me about a block away from the David L. Lawrence convention center on Fort Duquesne Blvd.
Scuttle, scuttle, scuttle.
Back next week with more from the Pittsburgh ‘frozezone’ 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.
The Newtown Pentacle 