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CSX Cumberland apertif
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally, I found a point of view location for the CSX Terminal in Maryland’s city of Cumberland. Take that, jabronies.
One realizes that this quest of mine sounds fairly obsessive, and I haven’t been able to get close at all to what I really want shots of (the roundhouse), but… darn it… this is the closest I’ve managed to get to the facility and I was glad of it.
This whole ‘train thing’ has been a real learning experience, I tell you, but I’m not done yet. Learning, learning, learning.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is my second or third day trip to this area, which is about a two hour drive, and what I’d consider to be the southeastern corner of the Pittsburgh metroplex. A significant section of the journey takes place on the modern incarnation of the ‘National Road’ – Route 40, which dates back to 1812, and travels through the Laurel Highlands. If you’re interested in seeing an absolutely gorgeous section of the eastern United States – put the Laurel Highland on your list.
Cumberland is high on my ‘to explore’ list, and I’ll definitely be trying to pay the place a good amount of attention while waving the camera around.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An oddly painted track maintenance unit was spotted at the Cumberland Terminal, all decked out in the sort of urban camouflage pattern which the military favors. Can’t imagine why you’d paint equipment like this in such a manner, but there you go. Normally these sorts of things are brightly painted so you can’t ‘not notice’ them.
Back tomorrow.
“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.
CSX in the rain
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
To start with, as a humble narrator is punching away at the keyboard and writing this very post – he’s just suffered through a root canal procedure at one of the local Dentists here in Pittsburgh. This wasn’t a bucket list assignation, I would mention, instead it’s the result of me not exactly winning the genetic lottery when it comes to dentition. Ultimately, it’s just pain. I’ve felt worse.
Conversely and regarding the photograph above, captured on an evening during which I was feeling considerably less pain – since I was at a bar – one was lucky enough to witness another parade of CSX freight trains navigating along the CSX Pittsburgh Subdivision along southern side of the Monongahela River. That’s CSX #296, which is positively modern – a General Electric built AC4400CW model locomotive which hit the rails in September of 1997 – or so I’m told. It was pulling carloads of coke and coal in an eastwards direction.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Next up was CSX #916 – an ‘ES44AH’ model locomotive also built by the guys and gals at General Electric. It was hauling cargo boxes and tankers, heading westwards.
The worst mouth pain I ever experienced was the time that I got kicked in the mouth during a biker bar fight on the west side of Manhattan. This is before the gentrification dealie really got going in the Meat Market zone, and I caught the toe of combat boot as it smashed vertically into one of my front teeth. That one hurt for a long while, mainly as I didn’t have the cash on hand to visit a dentist. I still feel it sometimes, mainly when trying to eat a hard pretzel.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The life I lead now is quite different, as compared to those days. Back then, when an injury occurred which didn’t involve bleeding to death, I’d just kind of suck it up. I’ve been stabbed, beat up… heck, I once had a guy work me over with a baseball bat back in the Brooklyn days. Once, I broke my drawing hand, during an interval when I was working as a professional comic artist and illustrator. My ‘pay the rent’ job had to get done, so I propped the brush into my swollen digits and then used masking tape to sequester my broken hand around the thing in order to get the job done. To this day, my right hand’s pinky finger still sticks out at an odd angle. It looks like I’m drinking tea from a comically small cup, all the time.
That’s CSX #5206, a GE ES40DC model locomotive. As you can see, it was starting to rain, but I kept on drinking beer and pointing the camera at passing locomotives.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
By the time that CSX #568 came along, hauling cargo boxes and tanker cars, the rain had become steadier just as it was starting to get dark out. My lens got wet, as you can tell from the streaks, but there’s something I really like about that one above.
I’ve got a million injury tales, as a humble narrator is both a real klutz and has a long history of annoying people so much that they are compelled to rain blows upon me. The most recent major ‘owwie’ was that ghoulish crush injury to my left big toe that happened (at home) near the end of 2019, which is the reason why I was limping when the pandemic came around. That was a real joy, I tell’s ya. Thing is, I used to heal like Wolverine, but not so much anymore in my dotage.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A second shot of #568 was my favorite of the session, with the droplets of rain suspended in the head lamp illumination of the locomotive.
I don’t really talk about the heart attack these days, but that happened too. It’s the ‘levee breaking’ moment for a humble narrator, and the juncture moment by which I divide my life into ‘before and after.’ I guess that moving out of NYC to Pittsburgh is another such moment, and it’s something I’d have never even considered prior to that experience. The experience changed me profoundly.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After about four pints of beer, I was half in the bag and it was time to head back to HQ in nearby Dormont. Luckily, just after paying my tab, CSX #7271 came roaring through. It’s a GE AC4400CWM model. Frankly, I don’t remember what it was hauling, as I was on my way out.
The Root Canal business has been a real pain in the butt, or noggin more accurately. Expensive procedure, but I’ve been experiencing quite a bit of excruciatingly annoying pain for the last few weeks whenever ingesting cold beverages or eating anything that required serious chomping. It’s part of the whole medical journey I’ve been on since getting to Pittsburgh.
Excellent health system here in Pittsburgh, I would offer. A marked contrast to the rushed experience of NYC’s system. Same science, of course, but the Docs here take their time with you since they’re not as worried about paying their landlord’s an exorbitant rent.
“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.
CSX parade
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
CSX #62 was the first locomotive to pass by the Sly Fox Brewery, here in Pittsburgh, as a humble narrator ‘rehydrated’ himself with several pints of beer after a long walk on a hot day. As a note, regarding anything I’m passing along about these trains in todays post – make/model etc. – is based on a ‘scratch the surface’ level of google search. I freely admit that this subject is one that I’m absolutely not an expert on. I like taking pictures of, and having a general knowledge of, locomotive stuff but that’s it. If something is incorrect here, please share the skinny in the comment section.
Supposedly, this is a ‘GE AC44CW’ model 4,400 HP locomotive, built in 1995. It was hauling a staggeringly heterogeneous load – tankers, cargo boxes, etc. That was the first one.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Next up was CSX #5426, a ‘GE ES44DC’ which was loosed upon the nation’s rail system in 2007. It was also hauling a mixed up collection of various forms of cargo boxes. Both of these trains were heading towards the Ohio River side of the city.
Right about this point, I headed into the brewery and ordered a second beer and a cheeseburger. I had earned that burger, dammit.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
From the opposite direction, heading away from the Ohio River in the direction of McKeesport, CSX #7247 hurtled past the lens. I’m led to believe that this model is a ‘rebuilt GE CM44AC’ but I have no real idea what that means.
It was also hauling a conglomeration of random cargo cars.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Next up, and heading for the Ohio, was CSX #5209. This train is the same model GE ES44DC as CSX #62 in the first shot, and I’m told it has been hurtling around North America since 2005.
Burger quaffed, second drink guzzled, I headed back inside the brewery to purchase more fortification, as well as a tall glass of ice water. It’s critical to mix some water in when you’re drinking beer. It’s nice to catch a buzz, I always say, but being drunk is a miserable experience. At least it is for me.
A fumbling idiot with no dexterity, absolutely zero emotional or behavioral barriers, fairly useless.
That description is applicable to me when I’m still sober, by the way. Drunk me… that can be chilling.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Heading the other direction, away from the Ohio, CSX #5101 showed up next. It’s a GE AC44CW, same model as #62, and I have no idea when it started juggernauting around America’s rail system. Other than that it was built sometime between 1993 and 2004, when General Electric was still producing this model of locomotive.
I should mention that I had some company, two young guys whom I had struck up a conversation with on my way into town on the T. They were talking trains, and when they said ‘heritage unit,’ I realized they were railfanning, I turned them on to my ultimate destination at the brewery and they met me there. Turns out the two guys I was hanging out with were employed in one way or another as Railroaders. One of them was a sales agent who booked space on a competing company’s trains, and the other worked as a freight train conductor for that same entity.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
By the time that CSX #7238 appeared, I had basically spent as much time at the brewery as I had done walking around. The bar was closing up, and we were bid a fond adieu about 9:30 pm.
That’s a ‘GE U30C’ model train, and nearly as old as I am having come out of the factory in 1969. It was doing mineral hauling, with cars that were emblazoned with the logo of ‘coke express.’ That means that they had been working on delivering the stuff to a steel mill further up the Monongahela River, and were heading back to the Ohio side empty.
I took the ‘T’ back home, and Our Lady of the Pentacle was floored when she saw that my normally grim visage had been replaced, as I crossed the threshold by a hideous imposture of a smile upon my face.
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.
Whitaker Flyover
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recent endeavor was the causal agent of my oft repeated phrase of ‘every other day’ again, so a quick drive across Pittsburgh’s South Hills was perpetrated and soon I was scuttling along the Great Appalachian Passage trail nearby Homestead for one of my constitutional walks.
There’s a terrific amount of rail trackage in this area, and one’s expectations were not disappointed during direct observation.
That’s the Union RR pictured above, which is sort of the ‘house brand’ for U.S. Steel’s operations in the Monongahela Valley. By ‘house brand,’ I’m referring to the sort of private label products which supermarkets and other retailers offer – Kirkland at Costco, for instance.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Speaking of the Monongahela River, the Towboat Alquippa was passing by while I was at the Whitaker Flyover. It seemed to be towing mineral barges of – what looked like – gravel or concrete.
The Whitaker Flyover is just one part of the GAP trail’s many charms, a pedestrian and bicycle focused truss bridge that spans these busy rail tracks and allows egress from one section of the ‘rail trail’ to the next.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Norfolk Southern’s #4294 appeared at the head of a long snake. It was hauling a thoroughly consistent series of cargo cars which exuded a very familiar smell to one such as myself. It was NYC’s garbage heading west!
Back when I was doing the Newtown Creek tours around the waste transfer stations in Queens and Brooklyn, I’d always relate the experience of having asked a DSNY Commisioner what the destination for the City’s trash was. I was told ‘can’t tell you, Homeland Security.’
Those blue boxes were hard to miss as they moved through Pittsburgh’s Homestead section, however, as I’d often see them in the wild back home.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Ultimate destination? I’m guessing here, but this train was heading towards Ohio… so… do the math. There’s lots of mined out holes in the ground that need filling found in this part of the country, a holdover from back when there was a coal mining industry.
Good news? Future archaeologists are going to absolutely love us.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Union RR returned, and was the headed in the direction of the steel and coke plants found down river. I’m told that those are fairly old locomotive units which the Union RR uses, but that’s not too big a problem for them as these things are never too far from their home base at the mills. Long distance transport is accomplished by third parties like Norfolk Southern or CSX.
One was just hanging around on the Whitaker Flyover at this point, pacing from one side of the bridge to the other. About a dozen people appeared during this interval, mostly riding bikes. One or two of them were the official ‘bike bros’ type of jagoff, wearing the silky racing shirts and lycra shorts, and riding very expensive bicycles. These were the ones who said ‘get out of my way,’ as opposed to the normal people who ride bikes that simply said ‘Hi.’
Hey, yinz noticed how I used ‘jagoff’ there? I’m finding myself leaning into Pittsburgh idiom and slang occasionally. Next, I’m going to want french fries on the inside of my sandwiches.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After a few more minutes of restive waiting and pacing, yet another Norfolk Southern train set appeared, led by #4737. It was hauling what seemed like an entirely random series of cargo cars – tankers, car carriers, cargo shipping boxes.
It was starting to get a bit warm out, and the hour was growing late, but I also wanted to commit a bit of time to something else found along this path so I started heading that way to get on with all that.
Back tomorrow.
“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.
Lucky scuttler
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the end of a medium long walk, it was time for me to grab a beer at that brewery in Pittsburgh’s South Side Flats section which I’ve become a once every couple of weeks customer of. Just in the name of hydration, of course.
Just as I got to the intersection of a riverfront trail and the actual streets where it’s located, the rail track’s signal arms activated and CSX #5414 appeared, heading southeast.
After the thing passed by, I went into the brewery and ordered myself a glass of ice cold Pilsner. As is my habit, one gravitated to a table outside.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While quaffing, phone oriented attentions dominated, and I answered emails and returned a phone call. Soon, the signal arms activated again and CSX #3220 thundered past my position. ‘All in all, a pretty lucky day for trains’ thought I.
Satisfied with the refreshing beverage, I paid my tab and used an elevator to get up to the street level offered by the ‘Highline’ development. It’s about thirty to forty feet, I’d reckon, from down here to up there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
When I got ‘up there,’ I heard the signal arms start chiming again, and was barely able to get into position when CSX#3091 appeared, hauling what appeared to be coal or coke mineral cars to the southeast.
So glad I was able to see all this, and share it with you lords and ladies, here at your Newtown Pentacle.
“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.
The Newtown Pentacle 