Archive for December 3rd, 2025
Bottoms to tops
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Continuing today, with an introductory walk over the gargantuan McKees Rocks Bridge. The steel arch pictured above carries vehicular traffic, over a set of local streets and a rail yard, with the main span and arches of the bridge being found nearly a mile away at the crossing over the Ohio River. This is a major, NYC sized, bridge.
As described yesterday, I hitched a ride with Our Lady of the Pentacle and her friend Julie, who were going to be attending a pierogi festival at church here in McKees Rocks. They attended the feast, whereas I had a different sort of feast in mind.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A long zoom shot of the rail yard, looking westerly, with out of focus fencing as a bonus. CSX has offices and other facilities thereabouts. There’s a rail industry company based here, one which manufactures the ‘trucks’ or wheels of rail cargo cars. There’s also all sorts of shipping businesses which are tangentially connected to the rail yard.
There’s supermarkets and strip clubs in McKees Rocks, it’s a regular community once you cross the bridge into ‘the town.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The pedestrian walkway of the bridge brings you back down to ground before ramping back up to the main section of the bridge. This was pretty good cardio, incidentally, a long and gentle slope that plays out over about forty vertical feet. Got my pump pumping.
High fencing only occludes the views from this bridge for short intervals, notably where it overflies rail tracks. There are multiple rights of way which the bridge passes over. The high fencing is of the ‘post 911’ type whose chain link squares are only about a half inch across and are ruinous for photographic pursuits.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Up on the proper bridge, and heading towards the main arches of the thing. My plan for the day was to walk fairly close to other side of the thing, and then double back. I had about two hours to myself, and used every minute of it before I had to return and meet up with Our Lady and her friend for a ride back to HQ
I got busy.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the ‘bottoms’ neighborhood of McKees Rocks. One of those churches was where the pierogi event was occurring. The dynamics of the sky were a constant challenge, as far as exposure and light.
As mentioned in the past, McKees Rocks has a terrible reputation, including ‘murder capital of Pennsylvania.’ To my eyes, it reminded me a great deal of the 1980’s and quite Irish version of Rockaway I used to be familiar with, or of Brooklyn’s Gerritsen Beach area. An insular community of long held property owners in a somewhat distressed area, doing what they can with what they’ve got.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Me? I was heading towards the crown of the bridge, where the double arches span the Ohio River.
More on all that tomorrow.
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