Archive for the ‘Pittsburgh’ Category
McKees Rocks, where men scuttle…
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This post details a part of an interesting walk recently undertaken in the McKees Rocks area, a Borough of Allegheny County which is part of the larger Pittsburgh Metro area.
I’ve been to McKees Rocks a few times in the past, but usually on the literal other side of town, and this was the first time I’d wandered through this section on foot. These shots were captured along Thompson Avenue.
As is the standard with the Pittsburgh area, just because a lot is purposed towards something in modernity, the modern use of the property has little or no relevance as to the purpose which the industrial buildings on the lot were originally designed to accomplish. The particular company whose tenancy I was walking past would appear to be in the iron pipe business, but are actually in the drilling business.
It’s funny… I really can spot ‘em.
That structure pictured above is what’s left of the 1905 Taylor-Wilson daylight factory, which is an architecturally significant and historic industrial structure. Son of a gun…
quoting from sah-archpedia.org –
‘Cummings designed Taylor-Wilson to be cheap and fireproof, and also to show artistic flair. Six bays wide, sixteen bays long, and three stories high, it encloses an enormous space (160 × 120 feet) with a gently arched roof, one-story projecting aisles, and a facade dominated by a round-arched window twenty feet in height, though now boarded over. Wooden window frames were painted red to provide contrast with the intervening bands of gray concrete. Used originally for the production of custom-built machinery for heavy industry, the factory currently serves only as a storage facility.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Neat! Daylight factories were part of an effort by the ‘Captains of Industry’ in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to stave off a nascent labor and class war revolution which had been brewing in the United States since the Homestead Strike.
Back when America was ‘great,’ the strike busting and general hostility shown towards labor by the bosses had radicalized the proletariat instead of taming it. The bosses started realizing that improving conditions at the mills and factories just might ameliorate some of that class rage, and the assassination attempts they were experiencing, and also possibly tamp down the chances of a Bolshevik style revolution breaking out.
Historically speaking, prior to the New Deal, ‘which side are you on’ could be a life or death question. I know this all sounds ridiculous at the stage in history that we’re in, but anarchists and socialists were a major concern for the monied classes at the start of the 20th century. Roosevelt was famously accused of being a traitor to his ‘class.’ Don’t worry, the 2030’s are going to be a blast, so we’ll get to live through it all again during the ‘Great Again Depression.’.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Well… can confirm that these are active tracks. At least sometimes.
According to Google’s Gemini AI:
The tracks operate as an active, localized industrial “switching” and short-line corridor rather than a high-speed passenger or cross-country main line.
- McKees Rocks Industrial Enterprises (MRIE): They use the line as a primary transloading vein. Heavy materials—such as raw steel, coal, industrial aggregates, and bulk commodities—are moved off river barges on the Ohio River, loaded onto rail cars via these tracks, and staged for transport.
- Pittsburgh & Ohio Central Railroad (POHC): This is a larger regional short-line railroad owned by industry giant Genesee & Wyoming. The POHC maintains its regional operational headquarters right in McKees Rocks and utilizes interchanges with the PAM trackage to ferry chemicals, plastics, and minerals to and from Neville Island and Washington County.
- Class I Interchanges (CSX & Norfolk Southern): The Thompson Avenue trackage serves as a critical local collection point. Once the short-line switchers aggregate the industrial cars from local businesses, they funnel them out to the major national networks. They interchange with CSX Transportation (which operates a sprawling facility adjacent to Stowe Township) and Norfolk Southern at nearby Duff Junction.
Because the line curves through dense industrial corridors right past factory gates—including the PennDrill facility at 500 Thompson Avenue—trains operate at restricted, low yard speeds (typically around 8 mph) to spot cars for local manufacturing tenants.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Couldn’t confirm as I don’t trespass, but supposedly Chartiers Creek flows on the other side of these industrial lots. The waterway is on the map, but I don’t believe anything these days unless I’ve seen it with my own eyes.
I’m planning on returning to this stretch with the car at some point, so that I can sit and linger, while waiting for a train to come through. There were LOTS of great compositions encountered along the way which were just missing a train moving through them, I’d mention.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
St. Mary’s RC church was my navigational icon throughout this part of my day. My wayfinding confidence has been shaken by the two recent ‘wrong way’ decisions, described in prior posts, and now I’m a regular ‘Nervous Nellie’ about committing another gaffe. Shame!
One was in ‘full pack’ mode. I had everything with me – lenses, tripods, you name it. Forgot the railfan scanner radio, of course, but it migrated off the bag when I was slotting an umbrella into the equation.
Throughout the scuttle, I was playing around with a new addition – one of the magnetic camera filters which I had mentioned acquiring, a few posts back. This one was a ‘circular polarizer.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The polarizer gives me some control over reflections, and to a certain extent – color saturation. Particularly so in the sky, where haze and atmospheric humidity can be somewhat compensated for.
The great thing about these magnetic filters is that you just pop them on and off the lens as needed. The older filters I’ve got required you to screw them onto the lens, which is a fiddly, time consuming, and annoying task.
Back tomorrow.
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Wiggling around, McKees Rocks
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described yesterday, your humble narrator was involved with another exploratory scuttle in the Borough of McKees Rocks, a part of the Pittsburgh metro area here in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County. A walk over the Wind Gap Avenue Bridge had been perpetrated, and now my footsteps were pointing in the direction of an industrial zone.
I wasn’t using my headphones on this one, as I wanted to be 100% aware of my surroundings. Lots of industrial driveways, nearby residential… if you’ve ever been certified by OSHA instructors, you know the mantra: How can I get hurt? How can I avoid getting hurt?
Simply speaking: never, ever, cross an industrial driveway without full stopping, and looking. If there’s somebody sitting inside a vehicle in that driveway, do not cross in front of it until the driver definitively acknowledges your presence. Indicate what you’re going to do next, as in point at where you’re planning on walking through.
Overkill? Yes. Not killed? Better.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the church, St. Mary’s apparently, which would be my landmark for most of this part of the day. I like having a prominent building to use for such purpose. Given my recent idiotic proclivity towards walking in the completely wrong direction, I obviously need assistance.
The residential area is built on an elevation. The industrial area i was scuttling through is lower in altitude, and obviously built on the flat flood plains surrounding Chartiers Creek. There are also lots of rail tracks running through this ‘zone.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The path I had figured out before leaving HQ led to an underpass beneath that rail trestle pictured above. As far as I could surmise from the Google Maps app, consulted in advance, that was the iron gateway to the industrial zone, from the Wind Gap Avenue side. The truss roadway in the background is the Wind Gap Bridge, featured in yesterday’s post.
I don’t like driving on pavers, at all, but they’re not too shabby for pedestrian usage. You just have to watch out for paver bricks which have been ‘frost heaved’ out of position and create trip hazards. That’s how you’d get hurt here, with the prophylaxis against a fall down injury being ‘watch your step.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m almost certain that these are Norfolk Southern tracks. That picture above would look pretty cool with a train in the middle of it, huh?
Unfortunately, these tracks were dead as a door nail on this particular morning. Something else I had to do evaporated on the day I visited this section of McKees Rocks, so the opportunity to get out a bit earlier than usual was taken.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The intersection under the rail trestle is the kind which has signs instructing drivers to honk their horns before turning, as the intersection is ‘blind.’ If you’re curious – here’s a Google Maps link depicting where this spot can be found.
This actually ended up being a pretty cool day.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s ‘routes of convenience’ for walks, which I’ve discovered here in the Pittsburgh metro area. The many rail and river trails, for instance, are cheap and convenient places for to engage with, and mass transit provides an alpha and omega to the effort. Another example of ‘frequented areas’ include my ‘North Shore’ scuttles, which are again in the reach of mass transit, specifically the T light rail.
McKees Rocks isn’t one of those easy places. It takes a bit of effort to get here, and back again.
I had a definite end goal for this McKees Rocks scuttle on this particular day, and a plan to get back to a light rail station cheaply. Saying that, there were several interesting things ahead of me.
More on all that next week – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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McKees Rocks and the Wind Gap Bridge
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back in McKees Rocks, a Borough of Allegheny County found directly across the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, today.
Last time that I scuttled about in this general area was a few months back, and it involved a walk over the gargantuan McKees Rocks bridge on the other side of the town. This time, I was in a different ‘corridor,’ and started my efforts nearby the Wind Gap Avenue Bridge.
Over the next few posts, you’ll follow the walk through a nearby industrial zone, see a waterway called Chartier’s Creek, there will be trains – and also – America’s most deadly wild animal.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As a note – the Newtown Pentacle time warp is getting deeper and deeper. These shots are from June 15, and I’m writing this post on the morning of the 4th of July. If my scheduling is correct, you’re seeing this in mid-August. How’s the future? I wonder…
Anywho, it seems that what was likely the oldest building in the Pittsburgh area, a hotel which Washington actually did stay at, was demolished to make way for the modern (1985) version of the ‘Wind Gap Avenue Bridge – CC02.’
As is my habit, a shot of the plaque affixed to the structure can be accessed here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Also, entirely by accident, I started this walk at the exact location of the former ‘Mann’s Hotel,’ which is the one that hosted George Washington.
As it turns out, the intersection I was standing at used to be colloquially known as ‘The Five Points.’ Serendipity, lords and ladies, serendipity.
There’s a great YouTube channel called ‘Time Travel with Tim’ which showcases a lot of historical photos, and ‘tells the tale’ of the Wind Gap Avenue Bridge. I’ve learned a lot from this Tim fellow, I’d mention.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Down under the Wind Gap Avenue Bridge, there’s Chartiers Creek.
This waterway has been popping up here a lot lately. Specifically, there have been a few recent posts about its course in nearby Bridgeville, discussing the consequences of abandoned coal mines regarding flowing water.
Chartiers Creek is a tributary of the Ohio River, flows from Washington County to the south in a north westerly direction towards McKees Rocks, and it carries a whole lot of solute that it picks up along the way. Yucky water, which gets a pretty decent amount of combined sewer input, but it’s still a living waterway. I see people fishing in it all the time.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Given my recent proclivities towards walking in the wrong direction, multiple consultations with the little compass hanging off my camera bag were made. That church pictured above became my polestar for this part of the day, and it would aid my navigation.
I’m of the belief that this building is ‘St. Mary’s Church’ Archangel Gabriel Parish. It appears to be Roman Catholic in terms of religious focus, but when I don’t know something for sure… best not to presume. What it was for me was a landmark which I could walk towards and then away from.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Down below, there’s a smallish industrial area on the flood plains surrounding Chartiers Creek. Corrugated steel walls for the structures, a set of rail tracks, unpaved roads. I hung around for a few minutes in case a train might be coming through, but it was dead quiet.
Onwards and upwards, or really across and down… your humble narrator leaned into the day’s scuttle. Come with?
Back tomorrow with more…
“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.
Scuttling, diagonally
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described yesterday, your humble narrator was out for a short walk.
Not an exodus, nor a crossing of some hostile desert, this time around it was all familiar territory.
One was loathsomely scuttling down the diagonally cantilevered PJ McArdle roadway, here on the face of Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington. I’ve walked this way several times over the last few years.
That’s the Monongahela Incline, pictured. It’s a funicular railway.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Every now and again, one needs to relax a bit, take it easy. Ruminate.
I’ve really been getting around, in the last six months in particular.
A lot of attention has been paid to Pittsburgh’s North Side in the last six months, and to several other ‘zones’ around the city which I have some sort of intellectual interest in. Troy Hill, East Liberty, East Street Valley, Perry Hilltop and the Swindell Bridge, Skunk Hollow, Brighton Heights, lots of new and novel sights for me.
This scuttle was a bit more like visiting a relative’s house, I’d venture.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My day was abbreviated, due to an incoming weather system promising to bring thunderstorms and tornadic warnings to the area. It was quite a nice day at the time I was out and about, climatological wise, otherwise.
Happily, I was wearing a new pair of Merrell hiking boots, after discovering that I had ground my older pair’s soles down to flat.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Speaking of flat, when I got down to Carson Street, the Via Majorica of the South Side Flats section – a wrecker towing a bus was observed. I whipped the camera forward, and the two guys driving the thing saw me and started vamping for the shot. Sweet.
Me? I wanted to go shoot a picture of a train and also drink a beer.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now! CSX #3346 shot through the usual spot and satisfied my urge. I had a singular glass of suds, and then walked back towards the T light rail which is about a half mile or so away from this spot.
All told, maybe three miles in total, if we’re stretching it.
Specific ‘leg work’ for the day involved hyperextension of, and stretching the tendons, leading into and out of my ‘bad’ ankle joint while walking downhill. Accomplished mainly via a series of walking postures.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally, a ride back to HQ in Dormont on the T light rail, and yet another happy reconciliation with a dog named Moe, and a woman called ‘Our Lady of the Pentacle.’
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.
Reigning it in, a bit
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
‘Dude, every time you leave the house it doesn’t need to be the Bataan death march…’ that’s what I said to myself in the bathroom mirror on the morning that I set out for this latest scuttle.
One shlepped up a steep hill to the ‘T’ light rail, and headed into Pittsburgh from Dormont, where HQ is found.
The Newtown Pentacle time warp is still very much in effect, and growing more severe. These shots were gathered on the 9th of June, and these words are being written on June 30th. If my scheduling is correct, this will publish during the second week of August.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The T dropped me at the Station Square stop.
You get a free transfer to one of the incline/funiculars here, so I decided to take advantage of that service to get high up, on Mount Washington. It had been a while since I walked the ‘PJ McArdle roadway’ path, so that was my plan for the afternoon.
For the last few months, I’ve been intentionally pushing my limits, as far as endurance and overall length of walking and photo sessions. Big part of how I’ve managed to maintain a month of lead time here.
The busted ankle is still a background character in this story, and whereas I’ve reversed a great deal of the atrophy to muscularity caused by the injury, I’m still living with it and getting used to the aftermath.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Up top, and the scuttle gets started.
The goal for this day was just to kick a bunch of dirt, and not to explore new or novel places. It was about obliging a certain walking speed and maintaining a slightly above average heart rate. One walked a bit more urgently than normal – not ‘maximum boogie’ speed – but a couple of paces faster than my ‘usual.’ Close to 3 mph, as opposed to my more normal 2.3 – 2.6 mph.
It’s all downhill from here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One remains fascinated by that ‘Colors House’ on Cola Street, in the South Side Slopes. At least one of those other homes sitting on the cantilevers near it is an expensive AirBNB. Fun.
The camera was waved around for a minute or two.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This shot looks along the Monongahela River; with Smithfield Street, Panhandle, Liberty, South Tenth Street, and Birmingham Bridges in view.
In the distance is PITT’s Cathedral of Learning in Oakland, and closer to the POV is the uptown or Bluff neighborhood where Duquesne University is installed. Recent posts have wiggled about in the areas visible in the shot above.
Man… I do get around.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally, one reached the pedestrian walkway of the the PJ McArdle roadway itself, a diagonally set double lane street which descends from the prominence of Mount Washington’s ‘Grandview Avenue’ down to the mean streets of the South Side Flats below.
Come with?
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 