Archive for the ‘Pennsylvania’ Category
Kicking dirt while waiting for a T
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It had been a fairly seamless afternoon, with a long walk down a steep slope, and then burning out a few miles of flat land grinding. Got my heart rate up and even, stretched and strengthened the rubber bands in my gamey ankle, and shot a bunch of photos. A good day.
‘Yay’ for your humble narrator.
My last stop of the day would involve mass transit, specifically the ‘T Light Rail’ station at First Avenue, here in Downtown Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is where the Panhandle Bridge, originally built for heavy rail, connects the T to the South Side Flats section across the Monongahela River and the Golden Triangle section of Pittsburgh.
Ongoing construction on a transit tunnel found on the other side has resulted in decaying headways, and quite a few capacity issues on the single trackway of the Panhandle. (Yes, I know, pictured are two tracks. They converge on the other side after spurring off.) Under normal circumstance, that transit tunnel feeds into the Station Square stop and the T’s approach the Panhandle from a higher capacity spur.
I had just missed the Red Line train, unfortunately, guaranteeing the longest possible wait time for my chariot to arrive.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve always passed time while commuting by taking photos, and this occasion was no exception to that rule. This station is where the catenary powered light rail units convert from running as a trolley and over to being a subway.
It’s also the start of the ‘free zone’ where transit runs ‘sans coulottes’ as far as fares go. My trip was to outside of the free zone, so I had to pay when I debarked. That’s how it works.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The station was playing an announcement proclaiming delays and apologizing to the riding public, but I didn’t care much. I was having a good time waving the camera around.
Besides, I got to sit down in the shade for a spell, a welcome break after the walk down Mount Washington and across the Monongahela River.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One had a good half hour’s wait time to spend, and from what I was observing, it looked like the ‘logjam’ that the PRT people (Pennsylvania’s Port Authority is the top banana for this area, with Pittsburgh Regional Transit as the local outfit that operates services for them) were dealing with involved a surfeit of Pittsburgh bound trains that were all trying to cross the Panhandle Bridge.
It was all terribly exciting, really.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally, my chariot arrived, and it was time to head back to Dormont to reunite with Our Lady of the Pentacle and Moe the Dog.
The ankle was sore but fine after the walk, although I was a bit shvitzy and needed a quick bath upon returning to HQ.
Back next week with something different – at this – 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.
Cool Cars – motorcycle edition
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While walking to the T light rail station at Pittsburgh’s First Avenue, this motorcycle caught my eye. It’s a Royal Enfield, which already makes it remarkable, as you mainly see people here riding either Harley Davidson bikes or one of the many offerings from the East Asian manufacturers.
The Enfield was ‘done up’ in a trim that was reminiscent of how their bikes were finished during the Second World War. It looked modern to me despite it, this bike, but I’m no expert.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My British father in law actually is an expert on this sort of thing, but I haven’t been able to petition him about it as of this writing.
Regardless, ‘cool bike.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I wonder if it’s a movie prop or something? Seems to be a legit street bike, with a license plate and everything, so…
Neat!
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.
From now on, nothing but…
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned – one desired the usage of mass transit, for his return to HQ in Dormont, from downtown Pittsburgh. A quick walk across the Smithfield Street bridge, spanning the Monongahela River, was thereby enacted. It’s a Roebling Bridge, partially, and a Lindenthal Bridge too.
It had been a lovely but warm summer afternoon here in Pittsburgh. Middle 80’s in temperature, steady breeze, comfortable humidity. Made me feel all ‘wide angle.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’d remind that when this post is being written is quite chronologically disconnected from when you’re receiving it.
Somehow, I’ve managed to regain my ‘lead time’ here at Newtown Pentacle again, and this missive is being written during the last week of August. This sort of scenario is ideal for me, as it’s actually difficult and quite a lot of pressure to oblige publishing dates ‘on the fly.’ I like having the next post ‘in the can’ and especially so when there’s 10-15 posts ‘ready to go and scheduled.’
It was almost exactly a year ago, to the day, that I shattered my left ankle into three pieces during an accident at home. That kicked off a hospital stay and a round of surgery, and then a multi month interval of extreme pain and discomfort which I spent a good part of sitting in a wheelchair. Luckily, I’ve got a ‘deep bench’ of prior posts which I was able to pull out of backup as ‘archive’ postings to have ‘something’ show up here.
It feels fantastic to be firing on all cylinders again, and presenting new posts, just 12 months later.
It wasn’t altogether certain that this was something I’d still be able to do, which is something I haven’t really mentioned in public. This injury was a potential ‘crippler.’ It’s been a long and noisome trip getting back to trim. Thanks to all of you for sticking with me through this journey, it’s meant a lot.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One arrived on the southern or Monongahela shoreline of Pittsburgh’s ‘Golden Triangle’ and proceeded to lean into the last leg of this walk – getting to the First Avenue T Light Rail station where I’d catch my ride back to HQ. Had to crack out a few shots of the complex of ramps and highway lanes which line the shoreline here.
Love me them parabolas, I does.
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.
Cool Cars, Van edition
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Longtime readers will recall that the ‘cool cars’ designation for a post used to be fairly common here at Newtown Pentacle, but that was in Western Queens. The tag on post signifies that I wandered past an unexpectedly charismatic vehicle, during a walk, and felt compelled to photograph it. Hence…
Check out this crazy van.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The bonnet, as the British born ‘Our Lady of the Pentacle’ might call it, was festooned with skulls. Wouldn’t want to clear snow off of this one.
I’m guessing that the owner must be in a band. The cargo racks on top… gotta be a vehicle which a band tours out of. Metal band, I’ll wager.
It’s also possible that the devil had simply parked in the South Side Flats area and this is its ride.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Front shot of the thing, and then your humble narrator moved on.
It was still too early in the day for a beer, so despite my proximity to the Sly Fox Brewery and it’s non stop parade of CSX trains, your humble narrator instead ‘leaned into it’ and continued on with his scuttle.
I was determined to use mass transit to get back to HQ, but that’s another story for another day. 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.
Entirely pedestrian pursuits
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Continuing today, a medium length scuttle that started in Pittsburgh’s Allentown section, continued down the Knoxville Incline Greenway, and then stepped back out and onto the steeply graded streets of the South Side Slopes neighborhood here in the Paris of Appalachia.
The housing stock in this area used to be considered as ‘worker’s dwellings,’ back when the shorelines of the Monongahela River were lined with steel mills and rail yards. The quote for what Pittsburgh used to be like in the late 19th and early 20th centuries comes from the greatest of all American quotidians: Mark Twain.
Twain’s offering was that ‘it looked like hell with the lid off.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My path carried me towards a small masonry bridge at South 12th street which overflies a set of rail tracks and acts as one of the connections between the ‘slopes’ and the ‘flats’ zones. I’ve looked around a bit, and it seems that this one actually belongs to Norfolk Southern rather than the municipality- although I’m pretty sure that the latter entity likely controls the surfacing, signage, and maintenance of the actual roadway.
It’s a real pickle driving over this puppy, by the way.
Blind turns, all that. It’s also ‘pre modern’ in its approach to the pedestrian space. Definitely not ‘ADA’ compliant, and it would be a serious challenge to negotiate a mobility device like a wheelchair through here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was ‘ankle safe’ though, in its defense.
The subject of people who have mobility issues seldom seems to come up in the civil discourse around streets these days, drowned out as they usually are by the bicycle people and their demands for… whatever the hell it is they’ve decided they want this time. The wheelchair, cane, and walker crowd is always shouted down by these anti-car hooligans, who desire the installation of obstacles into the common roadway and the removal of obstacles from theirs.
Bah!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a few cool views on this path, including ground level visual access to the Norfolk Southern tracks. I was specifically not hunting for trains on this walk, instead the goal was purely one of ‘exercise’ with a layer of photographic opportunity on top.
On, and on, did your humble narrator scuttle.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just look at that. The parking lane on the left side of the shot is part of a street where there’s a legal left onto the bridge – a blind 120 degree turn.
The pedestrian space leads to a step at the end of the ramp, so screw you young parents with a carriage or anyone using a wheeled mobility device.
You go a couple of hundred feet on the bridge roadway and there’s another blind turn, followed by yet another at the top of the thing. All the while, opposing traffic is executing a series of blind turns as well. The roadways design is essentially a capital letter ‘Z.’
Madness.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back on flat ground, in the South Side Flats area, and onto somewhat familiar ground. The first half of my walk carried me down the side of Mount Washington, and now I was on the flood plain of the Monongahela River.
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.
The Newtown Pentacle 