The Newtown Pentacle

Altissima quaeque flumina minimo sono labi

Hey Now!, Bottoms Up

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Wednesday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Topsburgh to Bottomsburgh part seven:

Your humble narrator has been keen to capture a shot of a CSX train running through that little bridge seen above for quite a while now.

The Carson Street Rail Bridges is what this dual span is called, just for the curious.

Really, this was a pretty lucky shot to get. I was hoping for it, but… Y’know… it’s just like fishing.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

That’s CSX #3141, incidentally.

It was hauling minerals, probably coke or coal. These are the same course of CSX tracks which I often shoot along, whether it’s from that recently shuttered brewery, or from up on the West End Bridge, or along the trails which line the banks of the Monongahela River. When pointing out that a train is heading north-westerly, that means it’s heading in this direction.

Hey Now!

– photo by Mitch Waxman

I stuck with the train for a minute. The light was good.

Saying that, this was the final ‘wish’ on my shot list for the day.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

One still had to ‘walk out’ of the industrial area and find a safe spot where I’d be able to ‘chill’ while waiting for a ride home. Another three or four miles to the east was a T light rail stop, but the walk there would involve walking along the side of a highway, and marching my mud covered butt right through another scary vehicle interchange.

I consider myself lucky for having not gotten squished by a truck back at that Ohio River Blvd.’s crossing, onto the McKees Rocks Bridge.

Nope.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Here’s a closeup of the rail bridge. Neat.

An amalgamation of adolescents were observed, who were congealing into a mob of unfocused energy nearby, so one skipped along his path a bit quicker.

Teenagers… brrr… no impulse control.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Finally, that’s Chartiers Creek, which winds its way through the South Hills on its way to the Ohio River. Just out of frame, a couple of guys were fishing.

About a block away is a car wash, where I summoned a rideshare cab to come scoop me up and carry the bloated monstrosity my brain is trapped within back to HQ, where Our Lady of the Pentacle and Moe the Dog awaited.

Back tomorrow with something different.


“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle

Buy a book!

In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.

Written by Mitch Waxman

May 13, 2026 at 11:00 am

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