White whale
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Note: I screwed the pooch yesterday when talking about the Mexican War Streets here in Pittsburgh, as longtime reader ‘Liman’ pointed out. Please see comments section on yesterday’s post for suggested corrections. Appreciate the scrutiny, me. Now, on with the folderol:
While hanging around and waiting behind the driver’s wheel for something on Pittsburgh’s North Side, a humble narrator couldn’t help but record the scene. That overhang is part of a corporate campus for an aluminum company, the tall buildings are across the river in Pittsburgh’s Downtown section, and the yellow steel thing at bottom right is part of the Andy Warhol Bridge over the Allegheny River.
As a note, if you encounter somebody driving a pickup truck here in Western Pennsylvania, prepare yourself for a lot of random provocation. These people don’t know what the horizontal peddle in front of the drivers seat does, as they only recognize the accelerator and not the brake. I was sitting there with my hazard blinkers on and a pickup moved in behind me in tailgating position, which then started honking his horn for me to move, rather than just go around. They also don’t like turning the wheel. Menaces.
Just last night, for instance, I was heading home from a historic lecture at a nearby library when a pickup driver decided to play with his phone mid intersection, and was just drifting/rolling towards me. ‘My bad,’ he said.
My next stop wasn’t too far away, across the river and about a mile east in the direction of Pittsburgh’s Strip District.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After parking the Mobile Oppression Platform, a Toyota, in a paid parking lot’s spot, Our Lady and I began moving towards our destination on foot. Luckily, for me at least, the Allegheny Valley Railroad appeared as it executed a crossing of the Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge.
I refer to AVRR as the ‘white whale’ as I so seldom see them, as opposed to the more frequent Norfolk Southern and CSX rail traffic which has become familiar photo fodder here. The latter two are giants, it should be mentioned, and AVRR is a short line sort of local operation.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I have got to figure out how to connive a way to convince the convention center people into allowing me access to that roof of theirs. Dag.
I’m told there’s a green roof build out up there, which I’d like to see for its own sake, but man – the views of trains coming off that bridge must be absolutely wicked from up there. Me want.
Back tomorrow.
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