The Newtown Pentacle

Tuesday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

First… the bad news: That brewery along these railroad tracks, which I’ve been haunting since moving to Pittsburgh from NYC, has closed its doors.

It seems that me showing up once every couple of weeks to photograph CSX trains, while drinking the two beers they sold me, wasn’t enough to keep them open. That’s why these shots are from ‘above’ instead of the usual ‘down there.’ The good news is that the brewery immediately changed hands and a new operator for the space is currently moving into the property. Whew!

Your humble narrator was ensconced upon an elevated causeway which forms a bridge over the rail tracks, a trestle structure designed with heavy trucking in mind. This entire area used to be part of a rail yard operated by the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie RR.

The building that the brewery, and this very ramp upon which I was standing is based within, used to serve as an intermodal facility where cargo could be unloaded from rail cars, warehoused, and then loaded onto trucks for local delivery.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

It’s empty offices and residences, mainly, these days. It’s owned and operated by one of the big real estate players from South Brooklyn who have had their hooks in the Bush Terminal along the Gowanus for a long time. Same set of problems here, as they have created there.

The riverfront trail is nearby, along with with Colors Park, but observationally the retail levels of this property are disastrously underutilized, and I barely see anyone coming or going from this structure who isn’t a security guard or maintenance worker. There’s an office of some kind in there, as you’ll notice ‘professional looking’ people exiting the place while wearing lanyards with ID’s on them at about five in the afternoon. Other than that – it’s usually quiet as a tomb. Perfect for me, but not so much for all 3 of their retail tenants.

I’ve been struck, incidentally, after watching a series of documentaries about Pittsburgh which were crafted back in the 1980’s and 90’s by a fellow who works for the local PBS station (WQED) named Rick Sebak.

It’s startling to see ‘that’ Pittsburgh, before the suburban diaspora really kicked in, when the Downtown section was pulsing with life and the ‘Station Square’ area surrounding this ‘Highline’ building was absolutely popping with both daytime and nightlife activity.

These days, it feels like there was a plague…

oh… wait…

– photo by Mitch Waxman

CSX #5381 was hauling some sort of mineral – which looks like coal – but I’m assuming that one there so let’s use ‘mineral.’

That isn’t some sort of political statement, by the way. I’ve caught crap from the local boomers, on social media, about this verbal stand of mine, but they’re the same people who use the word ‘Democrat’ like it’s an accusation.

It may walk like one, and quack like one, but I’ve learned over the years not to pronounce something as being a duck if I don’t know for sure that it is indeed a Duck. Looks like coal, probably coal, I don’t know for sure.

Pronouncing something as being ‘something’ without any sort of proof or knowledge of the subject you’re commenting upon may be enough to get you elected to the Senate as a Republican, but otherwise that’s just how you end up with egg on your face. (that’s a political statement)

– photo by Mitch Waxman

One walked back over to Station Square for a ride back to HQ on the T, and son of gun if Norfolk Southern didn’t make an appearance too.

This was a red letter day for rail, in the end. Admittedly – not a great POV for Norfolk Southern #9813 up there, as it rode along their elevated trackage on a berm set against the foothills of Mount Washington, but beggars and choosers – huh?

The Sebak documentaries are charming, folksy, and betray a real love and appreciation for Pittsburgh and its unique cultures. If you can find them without paying PBS… well… why don’t you just donate to PBS instead?

What struck me while watching these Sebak films is the visualization of the depopulation of the central node of Pittsburgh’s business districts. In the 1980’s, films of ‘Downtown’ reveal a thriving metropolis with thousands of people walking the streets and interacting with retail level shops.

Modern Pittsburgh’s Downtown ain’t like that.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Several times on this short walk, I asked myself ‘where is everyone?’

Not in the sort of areas I’d normally inhabit, where the answer usually is ‘no, and why in the name of hell are you here at a sewer plant or waste transfer station?’ No, I’m talking mid afternoon on a weekday, in the business, political, and administrative center of an American City.

The difficult part about capturing this sequence of photos involved getting the camera’s focus to land on the train, rather than on the web of wires and tree branches surrounding it. Other than that, I was just sitting on a station bench, waiting for a T light rail ride back to HQ.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Tomorrow, we’ll start a much longer walk – an actual adventure of a scuttle, if you’d indulge me. I had a great time at least.

At last… the long threatened return to Skunk Hollow! The things I saw… wonders… wonders…

Back tomorrow – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.

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