Archive for September 19th, 2025
Kicking dirt while waiting for a T
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It had been a fairly seamless afternoon, with a long walk down a steep slope, and then burning out a few miles of flat land grinding. Got my heart rate up and even, stretched and strengthened the rubber bands in my gamey ankle, and shot a bunch of photos. A good day.
‘Yay’ for your humble narrator.
My last stop of the day would involve mass transit, specifically the ‘T Light Rail’ station at First Avenue, here in Downtown Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is where the Panhandle Bridge, originally built for heavy rail, connects the T to the South Side Flats section across the Monongahela River and the Golden Triangle section of Pittsburgh.
Ongoing construction on a transit tunnel found on the other side has resulted in decaying headways, and quite a few capacity issues on the single trackway of the Panhandle. (Yes, I know, pictured are two tracks. They converge on the other side after spurring off.) Under normal circumstance, that transit tunnel feeds into the Station Square stop and the T’s approach the Panhandle from a higher capacity spur.
I had just missed the Red Line train, unfortunately, guaranteeing the longest possible wait time for my chariot to arrive.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve always passed time while commuting by taking photos, and this occasion was no exception to that rule. This station is where the catenary powered light rail units convert from running as a trolley and over to being a subway.
It’s also the start of the ‘free zone’ where transit runs ‘sans coulottes’ as far as fares go. My trip was to outside of the free zone, so I had to pay when I debarked. That’s how it works.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The station was playing an announcement proclaiming delays and apologizing to the riding public, but I didn’t care much. I was having a good time waving the camera around.
Besides, I got to sit down in the shade for a spell, a welcome break after the walk down Mount Washington and across the Monongahela River.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One had a good half hour’s wait time to spend, and from what I was observing, it looked like the ‘logjam’ that the PRT people (Pennsylvania’s Port Authority is the top banana for this area, with Pittsburgh Regional Transit as the local outfit that operates services for them) were dealing with involved a surfeit of Pittsburgh bound trains that were all trying to cross the Panhandle Bridge.
It was all terribly exciting, really.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally, my chariot arrived, and it was time to head back to Dormont to reunite with Our Lady of the Pentacle and Moe the Dog.
The ankle was sore but fine after the walk, although I was a bit shvitzy and needed a quick bath upon returning to HQ.
Back next week with something different – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
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