The Newtown Pentacle

Tuesday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

A humble narrator had regained ground level again, after having descended about a thousand feet along the cantilevered roadways of Mount Washington, here in Pittsburgh. One suddenly felt the need for some liquid refreshment, and headed over to the usual watering hole in this area for a pint of icy cold beer.

As is the case with this locale, found alongside the Pittsburgh Subdivision tracks of the CSX Railroad, it didn’t take long before the ‘show’ arrived. Choo-Choo.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

One ended up drinking two pints, in the end, after a lovely and quite warm afternoon which saw me walking a pretty decent distance. As mentioned last week, I’ve resumed an old habit of consuming audiobooks and podcasts while scuttling about. This time around, I was relistening to an old favorite – 1906’s ‘The Jungle’ by Upton Sinclair. That story is set in Chicago, of course.

There’s a great version of The Jungle – which is free – available at Lit2Go – and this was the actual iteration of the novel which I was listening to. Highly recommended, but remember that Sinclair was a ‘muckraker’ and that the litany of horrors experienced by the characters in the book are a compilation of dozens of people’s troubles. Sinclair was also an activist, and his book is a part of the political story which led to the creation of the Federal Food and Drug Administration which regulates the meat industry in modernity.

It should be mentioned that the unregulated capitalism and political corruption of this era was not unique to Chicago, and that any ‘company town’ which exploited the naïveté of new immigrants thusly produced similar horror stories. Sugar in New York, Steel in Pittsburgh, Meat in Chicago – it’s all really the same tale. Stick that one in your ‘captains of industry’ bootlicker phrase book.

Incidentally, that’s the T Light Rail navigating itself onto the Panhandle Bridge, above.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Luckily, a couple of trains passed through while I was enjoying my pints, and one made it a point of recording their passage. A few people here in Pittsburgh have questioned why I’m so interested in this sort of pedantry, to which I answer that back in NYC a native ‘lifer’ would hardly notice the Empire State Building or an elevated subway line in their daily round. I experience a need to notice the fantastic, the extraordinary, the incredible – and so would you if you were carrying a camera about with you everywhere you go.

Pittsburgh is full of wonders, but to the folks who have spent their lives amongst them, it’s all just part of the day to day landscape.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

One paid his bill, after getting one last shot of the west bound CSX freight train pictured above, and set off on his way back home. I’ve been trying to time things out lately so that I can hit the interesting times of day – light wise – while moving around.

My heavy back pack was once again resting on my shoulders, and then a scuttling off did I go. My plan for the day was to use the light rail to get home, but there were still a few more shots to gather along the way.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

One headed up onto the so called ‘Highline,’ an elevated truss which overlooks the area where I had just been dwelling. I didn’t bother with tripod or fancy gimmick on this one, rather I was just waving the camera about and leaning in on a fence.

Sometimes, it’s just elbows that you need.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

A few people have inquired as to what this watering hole I’ve been shooting from looks like, so there it is – the Sly Fox Brewery, and the outdoor seating it hosts. This joint connects to the ‘Color Park’ and is set in along the ‘Great Allegheny Passage’ trail on the south side of the Monongahela River.

The T Light Rail’s Station Square stop is about a half mile’s walk from this spot, so on the days when I leave the Mobile Oppression Platform at home, this is a great spot for me to take a bathroom break and refuel with beer and or food.

Back tomorrow with more, at this – your Newtown Pentacle.

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