Archive for September 2024
Alta Via
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was a ‘short walk day’ which greeted your humble narrator, on a recent morning, and desire to get out of the City center of Pittsburgh dominated my waking thoughts. A half hour or so’s drive to the nearby community of McDonald, and the confluence of the Montour and Panhandle rail trails, was thereby executed. Along the way I found a farm stand, which had phenomenal apples and some pretty decent sweet corn on sale. Yum.
Pictured above is the McDonald Trestle. I’ve brought you here before, and offered a couple of posts about the location.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Down below, the water is still running orange due to drainage from a historical slag heap that shadows it. One was in need of a quiet and somewhat contemplative scuttle on this particular day, as weighty personal matters would be playing out in the next few days.
A medical procedure was scheduled for the end of this particular week, one which would involve anesthesia, and I was required to do a preparatory ‘water fast’ (amongst other things) for 24 hours in advance of the test. The docs insisted on this one, and I complied, but couldn’t pretend to be happy about it.
This procedure is normal stuff given my age, history, and various other medical conditions. I’m not supplying specifics, but if I describe the procedure as a ‘real pain in the butt,’ you can probably guess what it was that I was going to have to endure just a couple of days after these shots were captured.
Truth be told, the entire thing was just exhausting and no fun at all, but I got see a side of myself otherwise hidden so the ebullient joys of novelty were experienced. It was like that old movie Fantastic Voyage.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A humble narrator’s lizard brain was busily trying to cook up some excuse or logical reason that would allow me to back out of the procedure, as that inner voice was screaming in terror the whole time. More mature thinking superceded my howling terrors, and I thereby marched gleefully forward into the clutches of the medical enthusiasts. Saying that, knowing that I’d be down and out for a few days afterwards, an attempt to get as much exercise in as I could prior to the oncoming ordeal.
I don’t feel well if I don’t follow my normal exercise patterns.
The normal day on/day off pattern would be broken by the medical situation, however, and the walk pictured today and tomorrow occurred directly following the one you saw last week in the city’s center. This spot is probably no more than 20 miles from the center of things here in Pittsburgh. Urbanity scales away pretty quickly to small towns here.
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.
Vroom vroom
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My ‘long walk’ day had played out fairly uneventfully, which was awesome and exactly what I was hoping for on a beautiful summery day. No close calls with traffic, random interactions with scary people, or anything like that. Great Pittsburgh day, this.
I made it to the trail along the Monongahela River that leads to that brewery I keep mentioning which sits alongside the CSX subdivision tracks, and was heading towards a bubbly glass of reward for my efforts.
Along the way, I couldn’t help but crack out a few shots of the T Light Rail crossing the river on the Panhandle Bridge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve been kept busy by the world of late. Lots of stuff to do, obligations to both worldly and ongoing medical drama, and trying to keep my head above water. Busy, busy, busy. It was really nice to not have a time constraint for this walk and I was enjoying every minute of it.
One continued his scuttle, and made it to the brewery where I took up residence at one of the outdoor tables they maintain. Ordered a Pale Ale, which was ice cold, and started waiting for the railroad show to start.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Didn’t take long.
I’m particularly fond of the shot above, which faithful readers of the Newtown Pentacle will tell you I’ve been working on variations of for a while now. There’s a few past iterations of it that I’ve liked, with similar composition and lighting, which I’ve displayed here in the past – but having the T randomly appear behind the CSX #958 as it was negotiating that curve was pure serendipity.
Back next week with something different.
“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.
Mon Mon Mon
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s always another bridge to cross.
The one pictured in today’s post is the ‘big kahuna’ of Pittsburgh’s bridges, and dubbed the ‘Fort Pitt.’ Given the centrality of its role in how traffic moves through this region, it’s surprising how terrible the design of the traffic interchange on this span is. The bridge leads into the Fort Pitt tunnel, which feeds directly onto an interstate that leads to the South Hills region, and the Pittsburgh International AirPort. There’s also a set of local exit ramps which provide vehicle connections to local streets on the coast of the Monongahela River. The way traffic enters this interchange necessitates an ‘X’ shaped merging pattern, where multiple lines of traffic need to intersect and cross with each other in a relatively short distance. It’s practically a ‘fender bender’ machine, with an inelegant plan and truly lousy signage. Like most of Pittsburgh, you need to know where to position the vehicle before you get there for a successful merge.
‘Vernacular,’ as I refer to it. Pittsburgh is all about vernacular.
Wasn’t my problem, this time around, since your humble narrator was walking rather than driving for a change, but I did take a moment to observe the milieu. If this was back in Queens, I’d be doing something about it, but it’s not and I’m not.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Having crossed the Fort Pitt bridge, I was soon high over the shoreline of the Monongahela, which is defined by Mount Washington’s towering precipices. I hung around for a few minutes hoping for a train to hurtle past, but timing wasn’t on my side this particular afternoon.
As often stated – it wasn’t a ‘sit around on a set of stairs and wait day’ instead it was a long walk, so one leaned into it and got moving again.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another absolutely awful thing about the Fort Pitt Bridge is the setup greeting pedestrians when they exit the thing.
The bike/pedestrian ramp comes back to ground and merges into a sidewalk about a half mile away near one of the inclines, but there’s a rather concerning set of rusty steel steps to navigate which negate having to go all that way, and said steps deliver you to a sidewalk along a secondary arterial roadway which leads to several bridges and a highway. There’s no barrier between you and the forty mph road, except for the standard three inch curb. Traffic hurtles past.
There’s about a quarter mile worth of this lovely experience, until you encounter a steel rail fence line, that’s easy to step over, which allows entrance to a parking lot adjoining the waterfront trail. From there, you’re safe as houses.
Scary.
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.
All Allegheny
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As is my habit, a long walk was recently underway. This time around I had ridden the T light rail to its terminal stop on Pittsburgh’s North Side and eventually found myself in front of a statue of Roberto Clemente. The bridge in the background is named for the athlete, and it spans the Allegheny River as part of a trio of mostly identical bridges.
This statuary is installed on the grounds of PNC Park, where the Pirates Baseball outfit resides.
As you might discern from the images, it was a lovely afternoon and the air temperature never rose above 70 degrees. Low humidity as well, a perfect late summer/early fall day.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In the distance, there was a historic boat visiting Pittsburgh, one which was supposed to have been used to launch tanks during WW2, but I missed out on checking it out. Probably should have, but a humble narrator can’t always make it when something cool is happening. Hey, I attended that historic plane dealie back in July, remember?
Ultimately, this was a ‘long walk’ day, and that’s what was on my dance card. Scuttle, scuttle, scuttle – that’s me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My toes were pointed squarely in the direction of downtown Pittsburgh, and the Allegheny was crossed. Ultimately, my goal for the day was to ride back to HQ on the T Light Rail, with a penultimate stop which would reward me with a pint of beer, at that brewery I’ve been haunting that sits alongside the CSX subdivision tracks but that was still another river crossing and a few more miles of walking away from where I was in the shot above.
As a note – Pittsburgh is becoming more and more familiar to me at this stage of the game. I’m able to just wander around these days, rather than needing to map out a route prior to leaving HQ.
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.
Catenaries and atavists
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve mentioned that the local transit agency – dubbed ‘PRT’ for ‘Pittsburgh Regional Transit’ – which operates the T light rail service, has been conducting a profound series of repairs and upgrades to the Red Line light rail service which runs through the area that HQ is located in all summer long.
The availability of rail based mass transit is one of the factors which decided where Our Lady of the Pentacle and I would settle, I’d mention.
These repairs have been going on since June, and in lieu of running the T service, rail shuttle buses have been carrying the load instead. Theoretically, the week after Labor Day was meant to see a return of regular T service, but a fallen tree had interrupted things again by pulling down a series of the catenary wires that power the thing. Outbound from Pittsburgh’s center was running fine, but inbound towards the City was blocked by repairs and rewiring.
Sigh. I finally rode on a bus in Pittsburgh, thereby.
The rail shuttle carried my fellow commuters and I via surface streets to the Station Square facility along the Monongahela River, whereupon we were directed onto one of the T platforms to finish our journeys. The other two lines were, and have been, up and running and while waiting for a Blue or Silver line light rail unit to show up at Station Square to carry us the rest of the way, an outbound Red Line caught my eye as it entered the facility.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This was a ‘long walk’ day. The Blue Line T arrived, and deposited me at its terminal stop on Pittsburgh’s North Side, nearby the sportsball stadiums. I was eschewing the headphones on this scuttle for some reason, wanting to pay attention to my surroundings with the whole compliment of built in sensory equipment. My goal was to wander back to more or less the start of this walk at the Station Square T facility.
The North Side is absolutely lovely, despite it having a somewhat ferocious reputation. There were a few spots along a loosely decided upon route that I had in mind, but I had planned in ‘serendipity.’
Serendipity is when you happen across something which you didn’t anticipate on a photowalk, and is a joyous sort of experience.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As it turns out, there’s a Historic District tucked into the North Side, full of late 19th and very early 20th century structures, a fact which was otherwise unknown to me. It’s called ‘Allegheny West,’ and it’s one of twelve such historic districts in Pittsburgh which receive special attention from the City and the residents who live there. Neat!
I’ll definitely be wandering back through here again, and checking out what’s on display. How the other half lives, indeed.
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.
The Newtown Pentacle 