Old fashioned
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That Porta Potty in the shot above might actually be a Tardis, used by a Time Lord like Doctor Who to travel through time and space. At least that’s what it looks like to me. The rubble used to be a cold storage warehouse which is in the process of demolishment, but there’s a stoppage at the site currently since the process has destabilized buildings on neighboring lots. Guess what they’re going to build here? Yup, ‘affordable housing.’
After the Doors Open tour we attended, which allowed us access to a few amazing spots including two very interesting Roman Catholic Churches, it was time to head home. Our Lady of the Pentacle and myself had left the Mobile Oppression Platform (the Toyota) back at HQ and were traveling ‘to and from’ using the T Light Rail system.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After negotiating our way on foot to one of the T stations in Downtown Pittsburgh, we had about a 15 minute interval to wait before we boarded. The T runs off a catenary wire when it’s outside, but I think it uses a third rail shoe underground. The service is fairly frequent, even on the weekends, and there are multiple lines. It costs $2.75 to get back and forth from HQ.
Seriously, I’m absolutely loving having a car, especially one with a hybrid engine that regularly clocks in at 39 mpg while I’m living in a City where ‘all day parking’ costs something between $6 and $9, but there are days when I’d rather cut my head off than drive. The availability of transit is one of the factors that drove our choice of location regarding HQ here in Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Red Line T arriving at the station. Notice the absence of garbage on the tracks, the lack of graffiti, and that nothing is dripping mystery sludge onto the platforms, and also the complete absence of pizza rats. Old ladies sat on a bench chatting while waiting for their train, without a care in the world. Nobody’s head was ‘on a swivel,’ except mine.
I used to always refer to NYC as ‘Home Sweet Hell’ in a joking matter. I don’t smile anymore when saying that.
Back tomorrow.
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The Newtown Pentacle 
It’s nice to see a city that manages not to be a trash dump. I wonder why it isn’t.
Jaye Haviland
May 31, 2023 at 12:40 pm
The T runs on catenary everywhere. Underground, it is mounted close to the roof, so it doesn’t appear quite so “catenary”. Visiting the novel “subway” when I was a kid, there were still some rebuilt PCC “trolley” cars running on the system, including one painted like a Clark candy bar.
Jon H
June 1, 2023 at 9:56 am
BTW, The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum near Washington PA is a nice trip if you get a chance.
Jon H
June 1, 2023 at 9:59 am
Ooh. My first ‘out of town’ is likely going to be Oil City and the greater Venango County area, but still planning that one
Mitch Waxman
June 1, 2023 at 10:00 am
I wonder what is going on with the stone horses on top of those two sooty stone towers in the first pic.
dbarms8878
June 5, 2023 at 8:22 pm