The Newtown Pentacle

Tuesday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

As described yesterday, a humble narrator was enjoying an inaugural walk on the Duck Hollow Trail, here on the northern bank of the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh. During this ‘short walk,’ industrial leave behinds like the intricacy pictured above were encountered. The Homestead Steel Mill used to be located on the southern shoreline of the river, so it’s pretty easy to speculate on the purpose of the relict machinery here.

I had to do a bit of climbing for this shot, as the thing was obscured by feral vegetation. To me, this looks like the sort of conveyor belt system you’d use to transport bulk materials like coal or coke from a train to a river going barge (there were two sets of tracks in this area, one was the right of way that the trail occupies, and there’s parallel system which is still active is about a hundred feet away).

– photo by Mitch Waxman

This is what it looked like from the trail, hence the climbing. I had maneuvered myself onto one of the steel beams at the lower right hand side of the shot above for the first view. It wasn’t exactly a graceful climbing exhibition. I’m no Squirrel, but I do aspire to Monkey.

As stated hundreds of times over the last 13 months, I’ve been scouting while out shooting and scuttling about. Still looking for the ‘POV’s.’

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Back in April of last year, I attended a boat tour up the Monongahela River, and happened to get a photo of this contraption from the water side – which is the shot embedded above. Like I said – scouting.

Based on the graffiti, this seems like a ‘thing’ for the local youths to visit, but don’t know much more about it than the speculation offered above.

Residential Pittsburgh in this section occupies a much higher in altitude position than this waterfront does, and a steep landform rises up about a hundred to a hundred fifty feet away from the water. The neighborhood of Squirrel Hill is found up there, on the landform.

I analogize Squirrel Hill as being culturally a lot like the part of NYC’s Brooklyn which starts in Midwood along Kings Highway in the 30’s streets, and then continues over to Ocean Parkway, in the alphabet avenues. Largely populated by Middle Class Jewish folk in terms of population, Squirrel Hill is, which completes and colors my analogy to ‘the old neighborhood.’

– photo by Mitch Waxman

The Duck Hollow Trail’s offerings officially terminate at a smallish rail yard, which encountered signage described as being called Glenwood Junction. A worn footpath in the brush indicates that people don’t automatically stop at the train yard and continue on along its periphery. Maybe that’s how you connect to the rest of the Three Rivers Heritage Trail.

Me? This was my predesignated ‘turn around’ point for the day, exactly 2.5 miles from where I had parked the Mobile Oppression Platform.

I will never, ever, stop being grateful for the maniacs who run the Queens branch of NYC’s Transportation Alternatives lobbying outfit for describing ‘SUV’s’ as Mobile Oppression Platforms. Such enrichment is inspirational, so when Toyota insisted I give the car a name, this became my only choice. I also enjoyed their ‘two ton death machine’ terminology, and their assertion that every driver exists in a state of ‘pre murder’ once they put the key in the ignition. Good stuff.

As a note, when somebody insists that I offer my preferred pronouns, my answer is “It” and “That.”

– photo by Mitch Waxman

I found myself under the Glenwood Bridge in this spot. It’s a ‘Warren Through Truss’ type bridge, made of steel, and it has carried four lanes of PA 885’s vehicular traffic over the Monongahela River since it was opened in 1966. It connects the two ‘north side of the river communities’ of Hazelwood and Glenwood with a south side section called Hays.

I found myself wandering a bit too close to the rail yard here, which seems to be something that Pittsburgh’s Yinzers do often, but I come from a place which offers the citizenry tickets for spitting gum on the sidewalk and hosts a police force that’s larger than some country’s armies, so I obeyed my original plan and reversed course.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

One noticed this swing set up under the bridge, a companion to the tire swing in the last shot. Couldn’t help but pop out a shot and start heading back to the MOP. Things to do back at home, and projects which needed attention, all that.

I regret not climbing onto the swing for some ad hoc fun, I’d mention. Need to play more, me.

Back tomorrow.

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