Archive for June 2024
Walking in a nowhere land
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The kids called it the ‘Union Railroad Rankin Hot Metal Bridge #35,’ back in 1900 when this railroad bridge opened alongside Carrie Furnace and the Homestead Works. Whew! A glorious bit of scuttling this was.
I snapped that 16mm wide angle lens onto the camera for this walk over the Monongahela River.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Graffiti art adorned every flat surface within sight, and there seemed to have been a few acrobats counted amongst the corps of artists, as evinced by tagging that was observed high up in the rafters.
I’ve never been a good climber, personally. I lumber about like some sad and masterless pack animal stuck to the ground. Slow, dull witted, foul smelling – that’s me. Just ask anyone.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I wasn’t doing anything systematic, incidentally, as far as where I took a photo or not – in other words – it wasn’t ‘every ten feet’ or anything. Just whatsoever might have caught my eye while scuttling along.
Sometimes I like to hold the camera low, just above hip level and against the belly, swinging the screen out so I can wield the thing like it’s an old viewmaster.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back at the entrance section to this storied marvel, on the southeastern shore of the Monongahela River. This waterbody is shaped like a coiling snake, I’d mention, and I’m never sure which cardinal direction is which.
I never bought a compass, which is something I said I would do a while ago. Just another hatched mark on my list of failures, I guess.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One last shot looking back at the bridge, in the direction of the campus of Carrie Furnace. Wish I could tell you which direction, but no compass, as mentioned above.
It’s been a rough month of June for me, what with all the doctor’s appointments and diagnostic tests. I hate being the subject of scientific inquiry, as has been mentioned in the past, but ‘you gotta do what you gotta do.’
I pointed my toes in the direction of the hole in the fence which allowed me egress here, and the final mile or so of this walk on the Great Appalachian Passage trail, here in Pittsburgh (although this was technically Homestead and or Munhall, and the other side of the bridge is in Rankin, but that’s just splitting hairs).
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These shots were gathered before the week long heat wave that affected most of the nation set in, a weather event which largely shut me down. I always refer to such times as a ‘reverse blizzard,’ but I’m an idiot – just ask anyone.
Back next week with something different at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
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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.
A real nowhere man
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A very productive constitutional walk, during which I had scuttled out somewhere in the neighborhood of about five to six miles (or – as I call it – a short walk) and then loitered around the Great Allegheny Passage’s ‘Whitaker Flyover’ pedestrian bridge – where the trains just kept on coming – was accomplished and one had reversed course for the walk back to the car.
Saying all that, it was that time of the day which I describe as ‘solar maximum’ and the weather was getting ‘shvitzy.’ I began heading back to the lot where I had parked the Mobile Oppression Platform, adjoining the Homestead Pumphouse site. From there, I’d start the roughly thirty minute drive back to HQ. One last thing, though…
I had planned on making a quick stop to wave the camera around, at this 1900 vintage ‘Union Railroad Rankin Hot Metal Bridge #35 (aka the Carrie Furnace Hot Metal Bridge)’ and to commit some photography upon it while on my way. I’ve mentioned this structure before.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Quoting from the post linked to above:
“This span was used as a rail bridge, is some 483 feet long, and is supported by three stout masonry piers. It was built to connect the Carrie Furnace and Edgar Thomson works on the northern shore to the rail network found on the south side of the (Monongahela) river, and it also served as a connection to nearby U.S. Steel plants in Homestead and Clairton, as well as offering ingress for incoming rail shipments of coal and coke, which fueled the various operations.”
Y’know, I hope to never have to rewrite that paragraph.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Saying that, the methodology I’ve been talking about since moving to Pittsburgh is now entering a different phase. There’s still an infinity of experiences that are novel and still unknown, but I’m also starting to choose certain subjects which I’ve found intriguing and will be returning to explore them a bit more deeply.
To analogize all this in an very, very NYC sort of manner, where I’m at is – ‘I figured out where some a dem subway stations is’s, now’s I’s gotta go ridin on da friggin train to see’n where’s dose mothaflowas go… feel me?’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The photos in this section are roughly from the middle of the bridge. I was walking approximately south to north here, and the approaches of the thing have been cut and demolished on the Carrie Furnace side of the Monongahela River.
This really must have been something to see, ‘back in the day.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Pretty epic views from up here, but this bridge is in an advanced state of decay. I recently had a Tetanus Booster, so I was feeling pretty good about myself right about here, but there’s all sorts of trip hazards and rusted out decking that you can easily get hurt by. Me? I’ve inhabited places like this all my life and know how not to get hurt around this sort of thing.
It’s nothing crazy, but be careful if visiting because medical bills suck.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a decayed wooden walkway on the outside superstructure of the bridge, which looked just like a Darwin Award waiting to happen. No Bueno.
The section I was walking on was concrete and steel, and still pretty solid. Heavily rusted steel that you could probably punch a hole in with a screwdriver (or just your finger) was everywhere, but it’s still steel.
Back 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.
Whitaker Flyover
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recent endeavor was the causal agent of my oft repeated phrase of ‘every other day’ again, so a quick drive across Pittsburgh’s South Hills was perpetrated and soon I was scuttling along the Great Appalachian Passage trail nearby Homestead for one of my constitutional walks.
There’s a terrific amount of rail trackage in this area, and one’s expectations were not disappointed during direct observation.
That’s the Union RR pictured above, which is sort of the ‘house brand’ for U.S. Steel’s operations in the Monongahela Valley. By ‘house brand,’ I’m referring to the sort of private label products which supermarkets and other retailers offer – Kirkland at Costco, for instance.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Speaking of the Monongahela River, the Towboat Alquippa was passing by while I was at the Whitaker Flyover. It seemed to be towing mineral barges of – what looked like – gravel or concrete.
The Whitaker Flyover is just one part of the GAP trail’s many charms, a pedestrian and bicycle focused truss bridge that spans these busy rail tracks and allows egress from one section of the ‘rail trail’ to the next.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Norfolk Southern’s #4294 appeared at the head of a long snake. It was hauling a thoroughly consistent series of cargo cars which exuded a very familiar smell to one such as myself. It was NYC’s garbage heading west!
Back when I was doing the Newtown Creek tours around the waste transfer stations in Queens and Brooklyn, I’d always relate the experience of having asked a DSNY Commisioner what the destination for the City’s trash was. I was told ‘can’t tell you, Homeland Security.’
Those blue boxes were hard to miss as they moved through Pittsburgh’s Homestead section, however, as I’d often see them in the wild back home.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Ultimate destination? I’m guessing here, but this train was heading towards Ohio… so… do the math. There’s lots of mined out holes in the ground that need filling found in this part of the country, a holdover from back when there was a coal mining industry.
Good news? Future archaeologists are going to absolutely love us.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Union RR returned, and was the headed in the direction of the steel and coke plants found down river. I’m told that those are fairly old locomotive units which the Union RR uses, but that’s not too big a problem for them as these things are never too far from their home base at the mills. Long distance transport is accomplished by third parties like Norfolk Southern or CSX.
One was just hanging around on the Whitaker Flyover at this point, pacing from one side of the bridge to the other. About a dozen people appeared during this interval, mostly riding bikes. One or two of them were the official ‘bike bros’ type of jagoff, wearing the silky racing shirts and lycra shorts, and riding very expensive bicycles. These were the ones who said ‘get out of my way,’ as opposed to the normal people who ride bikes that simply said ‘Hi.’
Hey, yinz noticed how I used ‘jagoff’ there? I’m finding myself leaning into Pittsburgh idiom and slang occasionally. Next, I’m going to want french fries on the inside of my sandwiches.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After a few more minutes of restive waiting and pacing, yet another Norfolk Southern train set appeared, led by #4737. It was hauling what seemed like an entirely random series of cargo cars – tankers, car carriers, cargo shipping boxes.
It was starting to get a bit warm out, and the hour was growing late, but I also wanted to commit a bit of time to something else found along this path so I started heading that way to get on with all that.
Back 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.
Denial of Service
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recently, a humble narrator’s pursuit of exercise and outdoor time found him once again at Pittsburgh’s Seldom Seen Greenway, located in the larger City’s Beechview section. As long time readers will tell you, I’ve been haunting a set of rail tracks here which are infrequently crossed by rail traffic, and then returning home empty handed for the effort.
There’s a parking lot, and the magnificently well appointed brick tunnel which leads you under the rail trestle, and which then leads back into a set of paths that are garlanded along the hills, is pictured above. One of those paths leads up a hill, and carries you to those rail tracks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Boy, that would be a nice shot this would be if there was a train in it, huh? If you like it, I’ve got several shots of these empty tracks I could show you.
A Wheeling & Lake Erie train is said to come through here about four times a day, on an irregular schedule. I’ve put in a lot of hours standing around here and waiting for that to happen at this point. Persistent effort is one of my ‘things’ so it’s just a matter of time until I get it. This spot is about a 15 minute drive from HQ, so no biggie, but it’s frustrating.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After about an hour, one threw in the towel and headed back down the path. I was out for a walk rather than a ‘stand around,’ after all, and the whole point of this exercise was ultimately exercise – so I got back to kicking my feet around in the dirt and mud.
Back tomorrow with the product of a far more successful outing.
“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.
W&LE, Montour Westland
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Created – as it was – from the remains of bankrupted railroad’s right of way, there are several branches of the Montour Trail found snaking around the hinterlands of Pittsburgh.
One of these branch lines, in particular – the Westland – is fascinating to me. The somewhat sudden emergence of an industry which harvests gas from the Marcellus Shale formation in Western Pennsylvania (and in other nearby states here in Appalachia) using the hydrological fracturing – aka ‘Fracking’ – methodology, has caused a new set of rail tracks to emerge that more or less mirrors the route of the old Montour Railroad.
Recent endeavor found a humble narrator in PA.’s Washington County, walking along the Montour Trail, and also encountering a rail yard used by the Wheeling & Lake Erie outfit along this route.
For a history of the Westland Branch of the Montour RR – I photographed a signboard which the rail to trail people have installed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This was a lucky catch for me, as I had literally just scuttled up the trail from a nearby parking lot, and my arrival is exactly when the gates of the rail yard signaled an alarm and then opened up to receive this train. In the distance, a young eagle was twisting in the sky, and you could just make out the rumble of a diesel engine coming my way before it arrived.
The land surrounding this area is semi rural. A dairy farmer has a small property nearby and you could both smell and hear his cows just beyond the tree line. The trail itself was barely being used, besides myself there was some other guy jogging about and a young woman riding around on some fancy pants bicycle was also spotted.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Wheeling & Lake Erie train was hauling mainly tanker cars. Each one bore a screed exclaiming that ‘Liqueified Natural Gas’ was contained within. The fracking thing… well, I’m new here and I’ve got opinions.
Just like butt holes, opinions are, everyone’s got ‘em.
Serious consequence to ground water and seismic stability accompany the practice of ‘Fracking.’ Future generations will rue the day that our current civilization decided that harvesting this gas was a good idea.
Saying that, this industrial pursuit has accomplished a fifty year long quest to decouple the American economy from energy dependence on the Middle East, and consequently the United States has now become the leading exporter of hydrocarbons to the rest of the world. This has allowed the Foreign Policy types to introduce the Arabians to the Chinese and let them work things out between themselves. In my opinion, never have two groups of people deserved each other more, but that brings me back to buttholes.
It’s… complicated.
“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 