Archive for October 2023
What squirrels see
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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What crows see
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described last week, a humble narrator was scuttling downhill along the face of Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington and recording a series of views from on high. After capturing a series of train photos, one continued along his way. There was a sports ball tournament playing out on an athletic field down below, and I couldn’t help but pop out a few more shots of all that.
I don’t know if the fire brigade had been dispatched or were on duty in case of an injury, but there they were.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The sports ball teams were busily pushing each other about. My understanding is that this particular field hosts high school teams from the greater Pittsburgh Metro region, but that’s second hand knowledge which has somehow infiltrated my mind.
Another bit of software – like religiosity – which never got installed in my mind is the ability to care about, or have any interest whatsoever, in sports. I’ve never been the ‘athletic’ type, and most of the people I know, or whom I’m related to that are… well, they’re generally not my favorite companions.
Want to talk about Star Trek? Superman, maybe? That’s me, as I’m a total and complete nerd. I can also talk, quite intelligently, about sewage.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Along my path, a nice shot of that Ukrainian church I’m fascinated by appeared. My next destination was a bit of a scuttle away from this spot, and along the way there were a triad of fellows watching the game. One of them was caught on the horns of a dilemma, while trying to figure out if he wanted to mug me and take the camera for himself.
He was younger than I, quite well muscled, and he also had the two friends, so I definitely would have lost this battle. Saying that, my Brooklyn honed street senses had already worked out a plan of attack (the English move) and defense which would have resulted in him having a fantastically expensive and painful experience at the Dentist’s office, afterwards. A well used camera ain’t worth all that much, so there’s that too.
Of course, being a New Yorker I spotted him and gauged his intentions from a good fifty feet away, and thereby did my usual evasion thing to sidestep trouble. Thing about Pittsburgh is that people walk around like they’re safe or something… but like sports and religion, that’s also something I ain’t got.
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Boss… ze train, ze train
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s Norfolk Southern’s Locomotive #1825 pictured above, and below, hurtling through Pittsburgh on the south side of the city. The unit came online in 1993 as NS #2507, an EMD SD70 model. #2507 was rebuilt in 2019 and the upgraded engine is now an SD70ACC model. The tracks it’s riding on are the ‘Mon Line,’ which was formerly owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. As far as I can discern, other than an upgrade of certain mechanical drive and braking systems, the difference between the two models revolves around the operator’s cabin and the electronics found therein.
I know people who keep this sort of information in their head, all the time. This post was actuated as a response to one of these fellows, a friend of mine and whom I consider to be my ‘go-to’ or ‘rabbi’ for understanding how the insanely complicated world of Choo-Choo trains works. Like all my friends, he likes telling me what I haven’t done.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had sent this particular fellow a link to a few prior Newtown Pentacle posts which featured another train line here in Pittsburgh, that the CSX outfit operates on. An offered critique was that ‘I had mastered the flying wedge photo alright, but I needed to start getting to “rail photos level 2”…’ Grrrr, thought I.
So… after scuttling down Arlington Avenue – as described in the two posts directly preceding this one (here and here) – one proceeded to the PJ McArdle Roadway where I knew a ‘POV’ for the Mon Line tracks awaited a humble narrator. Grrrr. Level 2, my ass.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One had to hang around for a bit, and I used the time to call my old pal Armstrong back in Brooklyn and check in with her. While chatting about the news of the day and hearing about the old neighborhood, #1825 rounded a corner and appeared in the distance. Gotta go, said I.
I had already figured out the camera’s exposure triangle, but it needed a bit of fine tuning. The shot above is zoomed out at 300mm, so atmospheric heat distortion manifested itself.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The train got closer, and I kept on shooting.
My big news for this day’s walk was that for the first time in literally years, I was using my headphones and listening to one of my beloved Lovecraft audio books. This particular entertainment was a ‘radio drama’ performed by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society’s “Dark Adventure Radio Theater” company, a dramatic adaptation of ‘At the Mountains of Madness.’
As mentioned several times, ever since Covid appeared and the streets got weird, I’ve been avoiding the use of headphones while out walking. This habit started in NYC, and whereas I’ve continued it in Pittsburgh, I needed to let a different set of voices talk in my head for a change, and listen to something other than my horrific inner voice, which is impossible to tune out.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve actually been listening to some music, as well, other than the tried and true playlist which I refer to as my theme music. That inner voice of mine, with its paranoid imaginings and cruel replays of past failures and or embarrassments, has really been getting old and tiresome lately. Best to drown the intrusive thoughts, and fill my head with music, podcasts, or fiction instead – at least while I’m awake.
I know that I’m more than 20 years out of date on a lot of music, but I’m particularly enamored with this 2001 song at the moment – which quite fits my current mood. That’s a real cracker of a rock video too, if you ask me.
One was standing on a bridge while shooting these, a cantilevered span which carries a fairly high speed road, and one whose designers didn’t anticipate camera toting pedestrians running across the travel lanes in pursuit of a photograph. That would have been a very bad idea.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Thereby, the lens was extended out into its zoom range again for this final shot of NS #1825 heading eastwards. As a note, remember when I mentioned rock slides further up the Monongahela Valley? Turns out that a landslide in 2018 just a half mile west of here and which damaged the Mon Line tracks caused a Norfolk Southern derailment, which created no small amount of chaos and damage. Wow.
Level 2… grrr…
Back next week with something different, at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“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.
Arlington Avenue is boss
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described yesterday, my curiosity carried me over to the Allentown section of Pittsburgh, and a long scuttle down the face of Mount Washington’s Arlington Avenue. Truly spectacular set of views greeted a humble narrator on this walk. Whenever I hit a break in the tree line, along the steep slope overlooking the Monongahela River about a 1,000 feet below, the center of Pittsburgh just popped up and said ‘take my picture.’
Having lived my entire life in NYC, it’s fairly inconceivable to me that the local real estate people haven’t filled in every single inch of this location with gentrifier condominiums, privatizing these views.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
What you see, as far as residential housing stock goes in this area, are mainly one and two family dwellings whose entrances and parking spots are on the Avenue, but the actual buildings are found twenty feet down on terraced plots of land as seen above. There were a decent number of unoccupied or abandoned homes as well. Fascinating.
My desire is to live in a low density area during my dotage, and in the case of the current domicile (which is less than 5 miles from the spot pictured above), that’s what I’ve got. A friend who visited me over the summer said “Pittsburgh is crazy, it’s like you’re in Manhattan and then after you drive through one of those tunnels, it drops you immediately into White Plains style suburbia without any in between.”
Me? I’ve got Deer, Chipmunks, Ground Hogs and possibly a Raccoon more or less living in my yard – 4.6 miles from this spot on the other side of Mount Washington in the ‘South Hills’ section. I’ve also got a dedicated parking spot in a driveway.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It would be amazing to have an aerie style view of the Monongahela Valley from up here, I’ll admit. Saying that, it’s not what I want, which is an abundance of ‘easy.’
The big issue hereabouts, other than what the newspapers and TV news people would suggest as being an endemic crime wave driven by teenaged madmen, would be the existential reality of toting bags of groceries up sets of stairs like the one pictured above. Taking out the trash would likely be a monumental task. Saying all that, the building above was obviously designed with Zombies in mind. The Pittsburgh Incident of 1968 has had lasting effect on the local mindset.
Back tomorrow, lords and ladies, with some ‘Choo Choo’ action.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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“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.
Not the place in the Billy Joel song
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…
“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 