The Newtown Pentacle

Wednesday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Pittsburgh’s Allentown section is embedded into the steep slopes of Mount Washington. Recent endeavor found a humble narrator leaving the car back at HQ in Dormont and using a Lyft ride share to get over to this section, a short ride that cost me about $12. I had the driver drop me off at the former location of an incline/funicular called the Knoxville station (which is a modern day convenience store) found at the apex of a street called Arlington Avenue. There used to be T light rail line regular service here (Brown Line), but for a variety of pedantic reasons this line isn’t serviced anymore. The tracks and catenary wires are still present, and the T people will use the Arlington Avenue tracks if there’s a problem with, or maintenance is underway, at the transit only tunnel nearby the Station Square stop about a mile and half across and 1,000 feet down from where the above photo was captured.

Behind me, on top of the prominence, is a Pittsburgh neighborhood with a ferocious reputation that’s called Beltzhoover. I’m a newbie, still, but as a former New Yorker I’m continually amazed at what’s considered “The Hood” here. I’m picturing 1980’s and the blasted out brick lots of Bushwick, South Bronx, or East New York when that term is used, but what you see in Pittsburgh’s ‘hoods’ are detached one and two family houses, with an occasional multi unit building that you might describe as being an ‘apartment building,’ but would be more accurately described to a New Yorker as being a ‘garden apartments complex.’ Not saying they haven’t got the toxic mix of poverty and crime, but it doesn’t ‘look’ all that awful.

Sensationalist news reports gleefully propagate stories about criminal and gang activity in these sorts of neighborhoods, tarnishing their reputations to the surrounding metro area and promulgating a sense of imminent peril that if were you to get out of your car…

If it bleeds, it leads, as the news people say.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

As described above, the T infrastructure is still quite present, but the regional transit people have decided to run buses here instead of the light rail. A humble narrator became intrigued by this locale on one of those days when maintenance work on the South Hills Transit Tunnel was underway, and the T train set I was riding on was diverted through here. This is definitely a pathway you want to descend, rather than walk upwards on. I seemed to be the only pedestrian, but there were a few bike riders as well.

Arlington Avenue is a very, very interesting corridor. There were three basic types of residential buildings I passed by. Small houses with entrances on the street level leading downhill to the actual dwelling, large houses of obviously modern design that were built with modern security concerns in mind, and fairly old mansion sized homes which seem to have been subdivided for the rental market.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

I’m told that at least a part of the section I was walking through is called the South Side Slopes, but I’m not sure if that’s an actual municipal designation or it’s a colloquial cognomen for a certain region of the metro area. The path down Arlington Avenue is fairly well wooded, but every now and then, there’s a break in the tree line and commanding views of the City center are on offer.

One was heading, ultimately, down to the South Side Flats section where I would pick up a ride on the T light rail back to HQ.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Fascinating place Pittsburgh is, ain’t it? Look at that hill those houses are set into. Jeez. Crazy pants, that.

Imagine being a kid and chasing after a ball as it rolled and bounced down that road. Yikes. Even worse, imagine walking up that hill during inclement weather.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

That’s the South Side Flats area, from up high, pictured above. Very interesting spot, as far as building stock goes, but not the sort of place I’d want to live at my age. If I was still in my 20’s, partying regularly and staying out late with a crew of boozehounds – it’s absolutely where I’d want to be.

There’s a population of rather tragic junkies who have installed themselves down there, and it’s also a bit of a nightlife center which draws in a lot of thirsty kids who like the liquor. There’s all kinds of wicked stories about what goes on there on weekend nights. Shootings over perceived slights, arguing and fighting over women, that sort of kid stuff regularly makes the news in Pittsburgh.

Again – if it bleeds, it leads.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

One was tempted to experience this set of municipal steps to get to my next destination. Pittsburgh has hundreds of examples of this sort of pedestrian infrastructure all around the City. Not this time, though.

The spot I was heading for, however, was in response to a comment one of my railfan friends offered me about some recent locomotive shots I’ve displayed here. The comment was phrased in the manner of a challenge, or at least that’s how I received it. It brought out a part of me that’s normally suppressed, and is best described as reminiscent of Terrance Stamp’s swaggering performance as General Zod in the Superman 2 movie back in 1980.

More on that tomorrow…

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