Double time
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The last phases of a recent, and quite long, walk occurred along familiar territory. After debarking the Herron Street Bridge, one ‘hung a left’ onto Pittsburgh’s Penn Avenue. My next destination was off in the distance, where those tall buildings lurk.
As mentioned at the start of this multi week series of posts, the weather was on my side for once. It was fairly warm, with mild winds, and no precipitation was forecast.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A rail trestle, one that connects to the 33rd street rail bridge, was observed on Penn and then one moved on after cataloguing its location. This would be a great spot for getting shots of that ‘white whale’ rail service – the one which I can never seem to reliably catch shots of – the Allegheny Valley RR.
I kept on keeping on.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Some of that new construction cracked me up while walking along. Antics… wonder if this one passed inspection… I’ll bet it did.
This section is kind of a boring walk, with shops and stores selling stuff. Former warehouse buildings, some converted over to U-Haul dealerships or strip clubs, with some still warehouses still functioning according to their built purposes. There’s a few auto mechanic, and services, oriented businesses and at least once every two blocks there’s an opportunity for you to buy some branded Steeler’s ‘merch.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The 40th street Bridge was passed by next.
At this stage, I was mainly carrying the camera rather than wielding it, as I had just passed through this section a mere week before this occasion.
Along the way, conscious arrangements of my feet on the pavement were conducted, vouchsafing the gamey ankle and working on improvements to ‘gait.’ Can’t run before you can walk, all that.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Next up was the 16th street Bridge.
The short time goal for this section of my day involved getting to one of the T stations, to grab a quick ride to the South Side, and thereby save myself a couple of extra miles of walking and gain an hour of daylight.
By the time I got back to HQ, and checked, it seems that I had broken well through that noisome ten mile barrier which has defied me since the orthopedic incident.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally, the last bridge on this section of the walk, and it was the approach trestle to the Fort Wayne Rail Bridge. Whew.
Back tomorrow.
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The Newtown Pentacle 
Last photo, tanker rail cars on elevated tracks over the street and between buildings of a particular height brigs back images of the abandoned rail in southern Manhattan which eventually became the hip urban experience known as the High Line. My personal experience of the NYC elevated rail snaking between and through buildings is encapsulated in memories of one day’s photographing in the then still-active, and quite pungent, meat packing district. On a sweltering day in July many years ago I dragged a friend through the blood-and-offal caked streets beneath the former NY Central tracks, trying to get telephoto shots of the “stations of the carcasses” — elevated chains of meat hooks which were the unloading mechanisms for the filthy rail cars stuffed with skinned and beheaded halves of cows, and clouds of flies. Your image of (presumably toxic chemical-filled) tanker cars threading their way through otherwise ordinary city canyons is a reminder of the sights and sounds of a still thriving corner of Manhattan devoted to an industry long since replaced by “Luxury Condos” and a raised pedestrian path between them.
Magyar Éjszakai Fotós
February 12, 2026 at 4:54 am