The Newtown Pentacle

Wednesday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

After having ridden Pittsburgh’s light rail service, dubbed ‘The T,’ into the City from Dormont, I hung around one of the stations and got another shot of their rolling stock. I haven’t had to have this conversation here yet, but it’s a certainty that I’m going to end up having to explain myself to a cop at some point in the future.

I can just feel that one coming. Wonder what I’ll end up saying in response when asked ‘why are you taking pictures of…’ by Pittsburgh law enforcement. As a note, Cops usually have zero sense of humor when on duty, don’t find the citizenry or our quirky behavior cute, and as far as my interest in photographically documenting the rolling stock of interurban transportation services for posterity’s sake goes…

I did have an odd conversation with a small town Cop when I first got to Pittsburgh. It was in Clairton, and the officer was more or less the sort of guy you’d expect to be wearing a badge in a steel town – defensive lineman body type and sporting a spectacular mustache. I asked for a moment of his time, and indicated that since I was new to Pittsburgh and was wondering what the local rules might be, regarding me taking shots of a steel mill. Sometimes, if you hand a Cop your business card and introduce yourself, it heads off future trouble as you’ve just landed your self into a cop category called ‘harmless.’ Never hurts to be friendly and proactive, I always say.

The Cop whom I asked about what’s kosher or not in his jurisdiction filled me in on rules regarding trespassing at the plant, and then went off on a tangent about my First Amendment Rights to creative expression and that as long as I didn’t violate any of the aforementioned rules regarding trespass – what I was doing with the camera would not be and could not be any of his business. This was a pretty evolved point of view, constitutional law wise, for a small town Cop. Kudos.

Did you know that it used to be illegal to take a photo of or on, and that there are Port Authority Police snipers permanently stationed upon, the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River? Homeland security, Bro.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

After leaving the T system at the First Avenue Station, I walked past the City of Pittsburgh’s jail, and then onto the Eliza Furnace Trail. This one moves along a corridor which carries multiple high speed roads, although the path itself is entirely separated from traffic. That separate quality is sometimes quite illusory. There’s one long section where you’re moving along, and on the other side of nothing but a chain link hurricane type fence and less than 20-30 feet away are semi tractor trailers moving at 80 or 90 mph on the highway. At that speed a loaded truck and trailer would punch through a foot of brick wall like it was cardboard. Do the math, mass x speed = a squished narrator, amirite?

Personally, I’m continually amazed at the ‘need for speed’ displayed by the automotive proletariat here in Pittsburgh. Comfort zone for when I’m driving involves maintaining a highway following distance (1 car length per every ten miles of forward velocity, under ideal circumstance), obeisance towards speed limits (70 mph is plenty fast by me), and a general generosity displayed towards other drivers who need to enter or exit lanes. These habits of mine seem to enrage the average Pittsburgh driver, who has seemingly never learned how to safely merge lanes or drive in close traffic at speed.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

My plan for the rest of the walk involved getting about another mile away from where this spot was taken, to a pedestrian bridge pathway over the river. Along the way, there were several interesting tableaux on offer, and one could not stop himself from recording them.

Back tomorrow with more.

“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.