Archive for August 24th, 2026
NYC Trinkets, in Pittsburgh
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s funny, the way you can walk past something over and over without noticing it. Pittsburgh, as you’d imagine, never wants anyone to forget about the steel industry, and the role that this city and its satellites played in the industrial rise of the United States during the 20th century.
Everywhere you go, there’s some totemic representation for the ‘old days.’ Ingot molds, bucket cars, train cabooses, weird pieces of mushroom shaped slag which are installed on streets like art.
As a reminder, I was scuttling along one of the waterfront ‘rail trails’ after having explored a section of McKees Rocks earlier in the day. Eastwards was my direction.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Despite the fact that I walk this stretch at least once every couple of weeks, I had never taken a close look at or really noticed one of these monuments before. Glad I did, as it was a little chunk of ‘the old neighborhood,’ just sitting there in a parking lot.
The thingamabob with the numbers embossed on it to the right is one of the ingot molds mentioned above, whereas the steel girder is a display item, promoting the mill which manufactured the steel for the Hell Gate Bridge, back in Astoria.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Wowza, will this upset a certain bridge obsessed photographer I know from back home, or what? I don’t really discuss my ‘pissing contests’ with other camera/historian types, but my experiences back home with this guy in particular (and the historical society types too), are a big part of why I’ve been so solitary since moving to Pittsburgh at the end of 2022. I really do not like dealing with these people.
Have no idea how long this artifact has just been sitting in a parking lot.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As is my habit, when encountering signage, I record a shot – signage link here. Apparently, this sample of American Bridge Company’s work was shipped about to expositions and trade shoes by the American Bridge Company, another one of Andrew Carnegie’s ventures. In addition to their contributions on Hell Gate, ABC built or worked on a lot of NYC’s minor bridges. Several of their projects were on Newtown Creek, as a matter of fact – notably the Pulaski Bridge.
Neat!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Continuing along, and the Towboat Cori Weiland was observed navigating a huge raft of barges up the Monongahela towards the confluence point of the ‘Three Rivers.’ Black minerals, from the look of it, likely coal or coke.
As always – if I don’t know what something is – for sure – I get general. Yeah, it’s probably coal. Looked like coal. Do I know that as a fact? No? Black minerals, thereby.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One last shot of the Towboat with the central section of Pittsburgh’s ‘Downtown’ area behind it. I owed myself a beer at this stage of the day, and I was pretty close to that brewery with the train tracks… so tomorrow we all get to say ‘Hey Now!’ again.
Back tomorrow.
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