It’s a fine view, yo.
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There are scuttles, and then there are scuttles.
Most of my walks over the winter months have been constrained by ice and snow, and the still recovering busted ankle situation. Now that the streets are clear again, one feels unbound. Accordingly, a walk which I’ve been desirous of experiencing was finally at hand, and I had all the time in the world to wander about on the 12th of March, a Thursday.
Fineview is this neighborhood’s name. It’s found on Pittsburgh’s extremely hilly north side, and there’s an ‘overlook’ platform there from which to take in and admire the sights. I wasn’t there to look at Pittsburgh from on high, though, I was on a mission.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I did pop out a shot of the ‘Heathside Cottage,’ which was built between 1864 and 1868, and somehow still stands. It’s not remarkable when an important office or governmental structure from the middle 19th century is encountered, it is so when it’s a private home. Wow.
The path at the outset of this one involved a street called ‘Lanark.’
There used to be a trolley/street car which operated on the 12.5% graded Lanark Street, the Route 21–Fineview line, which was extant until 1966. There’s a video on YouTube, with still photos, from the last day of its service – click here for that.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So… the first thing I learned on this particular day involved transit, which was the beginning of a series of lessons on this day spent in the university of the street.
This scuttle ended up blowing my mind, as it uncovered a series of historic revelations which I had no suspicion about previously. Serendipity!
I am – of course – putting absolutely zero effort into historic research about Pittsburgh – at all… none, zilch.
One prefers to live in total ignorance, and not attempt to understand the terrain that is found all around me. I’d rather that strangers on the TV tell me things to believe and to be afraid of, instead of seeing them for myself and then reading scholarly texts to intuit their actual history…
Saying that, I’ve got two things which I’m currently reading about… crap… I’m not doing any research! Nothing, nein, nada. My ignorance is palpable.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Walking up the hill on the former trolley route of Lanark Street, you encounter a set of raised sidewalks attached to residences. Empty lots begin to manifest soon after this, and signage becomes scant.
My path had been ‘figured out’ before leaving HQ, and I knew – more or less – where I was heading. A few cars passed me by, but there were never more than four or five vehicles. There were zero pedestrians, bike riders, or even people walking dogs – none of that sort of urban stuff – nor were there indications of morbid habitations, or even homeless encampments.
It felt like visiting Salem’s Lot, during the daytime.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One followed the prescribed path, across these raised pavements, and started for a truly unoccupied section up further. There’s some kind of commercial broadcasting operation up here, supposedly there’s a drinking water reservoir up here, and also a whole lot of abandoned houses are found in the direction which I was heading towards.
This section of Pittsburgh, on the North Side of the City, has a ferocious reputation, but I had zero interaction with anybody up here – good or bad. The people on the TV tell me I’m going to get shot while walking around here.
Barbarians abound.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had no real idea what I was about to see, or what the research I’m definitely not doing afterwards might reveal.
Suffice to say: cheap Pork knuckles, a huge and populous neighborhood, urban renewal horror stories, and a section of the city which Pittsburgh and the PA state highway people pretty much nuked in the name of ‘progress’… that’s what’s found lurking on the other side of that hill.
Come with? Sounds salubrious, don’t it?
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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More car business, and Hey Now!
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned yesterday, one recently had to endure a trip to a mechanic for a recall part replacement, and just a day later there I was waiting for more routine automotive maintenance to occur. My car is an ‘all wheel drive’ model, which necessitates a tire rotation after approximately every 5-6 thousand miles of travel. I had bought a new set of tires at Costco last autumn, and one of the things which sealed the deal as far as the purchase went was their offer of free rotations and flat fixes for the lifetime of the tires. That’s how I ended up in Pittsburgh’s ‘Homestead’ section at nine in the morning at a Costco.
I figured on spending the waiting time buying massive amounts of toilet paper and kitchen towel paper, but was told that my membership level wasn’t allowed within the building until ten. They then tried selling me an upgrade to an ‘executive class’ membership which would allow me in at nine, which I found hilarious.
One walked out of the store, crossed the parking lot towards a set of RR tracks, and that’s when CSX #7226 appeared.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
From the look of things, the people who buy ‘executive’ level membership, which includes an exclusive hour of shopping between nine and ten a.m. to this elite group of Costco customers, looked old enough to remember the Presidency of Roosevelt.
I mean Teddy, not Franklin.
The CSX train, on the other hand, which was hauling a variegated cargo train (cargo boxes, tankers, all that) behind it, is a Millennial in age. Built in 1996 as a ‘CSXT 204 (AC44CW)’ model locomotive, its since been rebuilt as a ‘GE CM44AC.’
Frankly, I have no idea if any of that information is good or bad. I just like taking pictures of trains.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A fairly rare three image post is on offer today.
Tomorrow begins another one of the multi-day ‘adventures’ series of posts, and explores a part of Pittsburgh which I haven’t seen much of.
Come with?
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.
Precipitant parading
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Owning a car can be a real pain in the neck, sometimes.
Mentioned about a month ago, there’s a ‘recall part’ which Toyota is obligated to replace under the hood of my car, and the last time I made an appointment for the work to be done the local ‘stealership’ it turned out that they had neglected to order the replacement part.
That’s how and why I found myself up early in the morning and dropping the Mobile Oppression Platform off at the mechanic a month later, and then walking down Pittsburgh’s (Route 19 Truck) West Liberty Avenue during a thunderstorm, again.
This storm was accompanied by a sudden and noticeable change in climate, and it had actually become quite warm and humid at ground level. I was shvitzing, but I was still all wrapped up in insulating garments and ready for winter.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Some jackass in a pickup truck was driving through here at 80 mph recently, whereupon they lost control of the vehicle and smashed into several utility poles. Knocked out power for hundreds of homes and dozens of businesses for an entire day, that Yinzer did.
If you ever find yourself driving around these parts, give the pickups a wide berth. Something happens to drivers behind the wheels of those things, wherein they want to teach strangers ‘lessons.’ Not allowing other drivers to merge towards highway exits, or signaling a right turn when they’re going to make a left, if they happen to use the directional indicators at all. Driving about like self entitled jerks, in general.
It’s one thing when somebody has to drive a truck for work, and there’s plenty of those folks on the roads, but what you really need to watch out for are those ‘somebodies’ who pull up next to you in a giant vehicle covered in ‘don’t tread on me’ or ‘let’s go brandon’ stickers which they paid north of 50-70k for, and which only gets 26 mpg. The truck is used exclusively for driving to and from an office job, on a high speed road, despite wearing ‘mud tires.’ This sort of vehicle is referred to as a ‘pavement princess’ and conspicuous consumption is why it was purchased. This is the sort of truck which wiped out at 80 mph on a local street and knocked out electricity to an entire neighborhood.
All of this represents high levels of cognitive static, to me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sweet signage, I’d mention.
My plan for the morning was… well… it was to wait for the mechanic to tell me that their repair process had finished. Wasn’t expecting ‘the call’ until the afternoon, at any rate.
It seems there’s a sort of master cable which electrically connects all the disparate computer controlled mechanisms under the hood of the car. It also seems that the initial ‘manufactured and shipped’ version of this cable is quite vulnerable to salt corrosion, and Toyota is on the hook for replacing them all due to a lawsuit. I haven’t had any problems with the thing, so the repair was proactive.
No matter what happens, I always end up walking in the rain.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My rainy walk carried me over to a spot called ‘Dawn Avenue,’ where a series of overlaying infrastructural bits can be observed. It was an extremely unpleasant spot to be on this particular morning, due to the rain and concurrent muddy conditions. I had decided to ‘give it a half hour’ and see if I’d be lucky enough to spot a Wheeling & Lake Erie locomotive moving through here, but came up empty again.
At least I got to peel off my coat and hat, and cool off while sheltering from the rain under that elevated causeway, which carries one of Pittsburgh’s Busways as well as a right of way for the T light Rail. It made for a sound umbrella.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking up Dawn Avenue, towards a residential pocket in the Beechview section. I really have to get up there and explore that section, one of these days.
There’s some very fresh content coming down the pipeline, I’d mention. I’ve visited a few really interesting spots, since this rainy day morning.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After a fruitless half hour, one slopped his way up a set of stairs, shambled horribly across the busway, and then cast my putrid shadow upon the innocent pavement while waiting for a T light rail unit to arrive, and carry the pre-corpse back to HQ in nearby Dormont. The car was ready later in the afternoon.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t my only car maintenance chore for the week.
Back tomorrow with something different.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Remains, my day
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily for my aching feet, a construction project was underway and performing maintenance on the T light rail’s track beds, so I had to tack on a bit more distance in order to get to one of the stations which wouldn’t be affected by this project. First Avenue Station was the new goal. Lean into it, I did. Yes, I could have taken a bus, but that would be cheating.
Luckily it’s all downhill from here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is one of the ‘main drags’ in Downtown Pittsburgh, dubbed ‘Liberty Avenue.’ There’s a T station under that building with the ‘KL Gates’ branding, but it was one of the stations receiving the maintenance attentions from the T’s parent agency – dubbed PRT.
I headed through the thick of things, towards First Avenue.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The dark shape on the left is the US Steel building, currently occupied by the healthcare giant UPMC, and beneath it is found the ‘Steel Plaza Station’ of the T, which was also under construction.
Center of the shot is the newish BNY Mellon building. To the right is the entrance to the Koppers tower, which I’ve been on the roof of, during a tour.
Behind it is the sun, which is a self perpetuating thermonuclear reaction happening in space that pumps heat, light, and other forms of radiation away from its celestial body.
Captain Obvious has thereby spoken, to which General Vocabulary replies ‘indubitably.’ Sergeant Pedantry has some notes they’d like to discuss, however.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking down Pittsburgh’s shadowy downtown, and you can really see the price paid for not insisting on building setbacks in towers for Pittsburgh’s building codes. ‘Perma-shadows.’
They had a Rachel Carson out here, not a Jane Jacobs.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally, one had First Avenue Station in sight. Ffft.
I will fully admit to the practice of ‘drag assing’ at this stage of my scuttle. Luckily, there’s a working escalator at this station.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally, I got to sit down again, on the T.
As the crow flies, this scuttle was something like seven miles, but with all of my peregrinations added in, this ending up being about a ten mile long scuttle – at least according to the phone app which I use to measure such things.
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.
Get your adverbs here
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My ‘dogs were barking’ by this part of the walk, and my back was getting a bit sore. The ankle was also a bit pissed by this point as well. I hadn’t had anything to drink for better than three hours, and overall I had achieved a state of fatigue – or as the French might say – ‘Fatigway.’
Mocking the French language is a hold over from grade school for me. Would you like a ‘whores du vores’ (hors d’oeuvres) along with your ‘Champagnee’ or ‘Cognack’? What d’ya say, Madamoysel?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The new construction in this ‘zone’ is very popular with the masses and the apartments within are prized by those who live there. You see this style of corporate barrack housing getting built all over Pittsburgh.
Personally, not for me. Too generic, reminds me of Levittown.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A sharp edge indicates you’ve left the strip, and that’s confirmed as you pass by the 16th street David McCullough Bridge.
I deviated towards the Allegheny River right about here, and wandered along it for a few steps. Decisions, decisions. Should I continue on, along the waterfront, or should I just keep my toes pointed at an eventual ride back to HQ on the T light rail?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I decided to do both, but continued with a generally ‘T-focused’ pathway.
As mentioned above, the physical effects of this effort were beginning to control my path. Remember, I’m the guy who used to walk from the Gowanus to Astoria ten years ago, but injuries and age have taken their toll upon the rotting pre-corpse that my brain is stuck within.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Walking under the gargantuan Veteran’s Bridge in this shot, I am.
I was also really thirsty. I’ve got to be careful when slurping liquids on these long walks, otherwise I might need to piss unexpectedly due to those blood pressure pills I mentioned a few days ago. This wasn’t a problem when I was all lonesome like back in Skunk Hollow, but there’s actual people here, ones who might object to me exposing my hoo-ha.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At any rate, I had a good half hour of walking ahead of me before I’d be able to board a T light rail unit back towards HQ.
Back next week with a bit more, and then… wowza.
Wait till you see the next crazy place I went.
“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 