Inside a wet giga-machine
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I was visiting Carrie Furnace, here in the Pittsburgh exurb of Swissvale, when the vault of the sky burst open and it began pissing down with heavy rain. I made my way over to an enormous mechanical structure which offered some cover and did my thing there.
They have one of the old locomotives which brought coal and coke to the mill on display.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This mega machine was how the steel people unloaded the fuel carried in by the locomotive. It was dropped into hoppers which then transported it to where it was needed, and this giga mechanism was how they did that. The whole thing is rusted out, decaying, and was soaking wet. I picked my way along it carefully, avoiding the areas demarcated by yellow chains which the Carrie Furnace people had forbidden.
You are required to wear a hard hat on-site. Couple that with my two bags that were loaded up with about 25 pounds of various tools, the umbrella, and managing the camera and tripod – I was constantly adjusting straps and leashes and belts.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I spent the interval of the heaviest downpour amongst the giga-machine’s innards. Shelter from the storm allowed me to fold up the umbrella for a spell and leave it sitting on the ground. There’s an earthen berm on the south side of the Carrie Furnace site, which is heavily wooded. On the other side of that is another set of rail tracks and the Monongahela River. On the opposite side of the river is the Homestead Pump House.
Of interest to some, my backpack these days is a very waterproof Patagonia brand bag. Everything within was dry as toast. As is my habit, a sling bag was hanging off one shoulder onto my hip, used for the stuff I need at arms reach when shooting. The sling bag is fabric, and it got quite moist.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This one looks out of the mechanism towards the actual ruins of the #6 & #7 furnaces. The rain was attenuating, and somewhere above the clouds the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself was descending behind Ohio somewhere. The sunset was meant to happen sometime around 8:30-8:45 this particular evening (July 30).
I reclaimed the umbrella and zipped up my sling bag.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One last shot from within the mechanism, and a plan was hatched to scuttle across the muddy site in a manner which would offer the most ‘rain shadow’ protection form the inclement circumstance.
After all these years, I have all sorts of tricks I use to stay somewhat dry. Rain shadows are amongst them.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I headed over to a concrete structure which had still had a roof on it.
A quick check of the lens revealed that it had suffered only a few droplets of rain, which were quickly wiped away. I was just getting started, after all. I had three hours on site and I planned to use every second of them.
More 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 
Leave a comment