Archive for the ‘railroad’ Category
baffling region
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
About a hundred and change years ago, roughly a hundred horses a day would die of exhaustion and overwork somewhere in the greater NYC area every single day. Common practice was to just abandon the corpse on the street, and an entire industrial sector operated around the collection and disposal of the beasts. Van Iderstine’s in Long Island City and other rendering operations happily accepted the bodies, and they’d melt them down into tallow. The hides, hooves, and bones had other destinations. Leather manufacturers, Neet Oil distilleries, and fertilizer mills took those parts.
What about the horse poop, you ask? If you’ve got a predictable bunch of dead horses turning up every day, imagine how many living ones there were spraying fecal matter onto the streets? Well, the Long Island Railroad had a manure dock at Newtown Creek where the collected “stuff” would be piled up, but there were lots of takers for the brown gold. Fertilizer mills, remember? I’ll bet our grandfathers and great grandfathers would have killed for a piece of construction equipment like the one pictured above, spotted on Astoria’s Broadway, back then.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sunnyside Yards is always in focus here at the Newtown Pentacle. HQ is just a few blocks away from the 183 square acre 1909 vintage property, and I’ve got an inventory of holes in the fences through which I can focus the camera. Given that I end up crossing this area at least once every couple of days, I use those fence holes a lot.
That’s an Amtrak train which is coming off of the turnaround track at the eastern edge of the rail complex. That eastern edge is along 43rd street, and this shot was gathered on the Harold Avenue Truss Bridge, or 39th street as the dross commoners of Queens might call it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I happen to quite enjoy the company of those dross commoners, as a note. If you’re involved with all the high fallutin crap I am, one of the things that’s easy to lose is perspective. You forget that the things you’re fighting for and about are barely on anyone else’s radar. You spend your time battling with people who are flying some activist flag, or want to demolish your neighborhood in the name of “insert today’s cause here,” and that have long lost any track of a reality beyond their own. As I like to remind myself, these are people who eat pizza with a knife and fork, who have never been punched in the nose. You end up becoming as alienated as they are from reality when arguing with them. What’s the quote – when you fight monsters, be wary of becoming one your self – or something? I dunno, think that was in a book or whatever.
The shot above is from Queens Blvd. in Sunnyside. It was an unbelievably hot and humid evening when this was captured, and I was taking advantage of the shade offered by the elevated tracks of the 7 line to try and cool off. Seriously, my fingers were sweating and I had to keep on wiping my hands on my shorts to handle the camera. Yuck.
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devastating reflections
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There is no “try,” there is only “do.” You either succeed or you fail. Humanists will tell you that everyone is special, but this is a mechanism of control designed to compel the weak minded to strive for something greater than themselves. Walk the tightrope over the village square, amuse your masters with the derring do. When you fall, the only one who will comfort you will be one like me, and the last words you hear will be the proclamation of my revelation. Go beyond good and evil. Find new ways to enjoy yourselves and revel in the chaos. Get yours.
As you may have guessed, a humble narrator is in a bit of mood this week. One requires a short break, so single images of various scenes will be greeting you, along with rather depressing anecdotes. Happy Summer.
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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.
had ventured
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A problem often encountered regards the motivations of other people. I understand it when someone is beating the drums and they are advocating for an urgent issue of the day in vociferous fashion. Also “got” is when somebody is at their wit’s end and frustration with the various processes offered by Governmental authorities boil over. Thing is, there are some you encounter who are just plain mean.
I don’t want to indicate that they’re “mean” to others as a political tactic, since there’s apparently a validity to the strategic move of being a colossal dick – it might even make you Governor or President someday. Why be ugly when you don’t have to be? Why make enemies when you don’t have to? If you can see trouble coming, why not take steps to avoid it? Pissing contests and dominance displays amongst the mice don’t even amuse the elephants, since they’re not paying attention to what’s going on down on the ground.
Seriously, every single day that a humble narrator has to deal with this sort of thing is just one day closer to the day that I say “I’m out” and drop the mike. I’m really, really, trying to allow my better nature to remain dominant at the moment. Spring loaded, however, is “full Brooklyn.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My fascinations with the tracking systems on the newish camera continue to fascinate. I’ve been trying to figure out where it fails, and giving it difficult things to lock onto, such as the shot above with trains and overhead wires and a million little contrasty features in frame. So far, it’s a champ. At least I have technology, huh?
I should explain, in a vague way, that I’ve become embroiled in a controversy or two not of my making. A particular fire starter here in Western Queens is actually the “maker” of these imbroglios, and they have caused me no end of angst and worry and forced me into “having to deal with this.” Said arsonist will discover in January, after the current Mayor has left office, that all of their bridges have long since burnt away and that the people who currently lend them legitimacy will have either left office or will be done using them as a stalking horse. Lessons will be learned, subsequently, about arson. Be toxic, live toxic, die toxic.
On that note, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if this particular player’s “cancel crowd” came after me or mine in the near future. Maybe they’ll succeed. Others have tried. Where are they now? I’ll point out that over on Newtown Creek I often tangle with trans national energy companies and Federal level regulatory entities, employees of which tell me that they’ve got private detective produced file folders on me which include my high school transcripts. Somehow I’ve survived that sort of inspection.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, while testing the autofocus setup on the camera rig, an Amtrak trainset came rolling by while lit up all nice by the setting sun. Something to hang my hat on for a late spring afternoon’s effort. I like trains.
There’s a sticky NYC summer setting up, lords and ladies. Hope your hot weather clothes still fit. Back next week 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.
cosmic continua
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This week’s posts start and end with trains. There’s your “Chekhov’s Gun” for you, laid out all nice and obvious. Pictured above is an out of service Long Island Rail Road train which has been stored at the Blissville Yard in Long Island City’s Blissville section for about a year. It recently received a new coat of graffiti, and I’ve shown it to you in the past when its last iterative coating of street art was applied.
A humble narrator is in a bit of a mood at the moment. Controversy and politics amongst those of us who scurry about trying to pick up the crumbs that drop from the master’s table has broken out. If you’re reading this and know what I’m referring to, I’d opine that you should leave me out of your arguing. Don’t make me come over there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Stupid, selfish, and self obsessed – that’s how I’d describe the mythological “noble” character of this country of ours in modernity. We’ve always been absolute monsters to each other, despite what the National narrative teaches. An iconoclastic fad is underway at the moment, dedicated to tearing down the firmament of our national sense of self. Extreme ideologies with no grounding in historical custom or law has been loosed upon a poorly educated and incurious population. Take a breath, y’all, huh?
Luckily, summer is coming, which indicates that I’ve got a roughly 60 day long break from having to attend any meetings regarding governmental bullshit nearing. This whole cycle of bullshit we’ve all been dealing with for the last decade or so should be coming to an end within the next couple of weeks, which will kick off a new cycle of bullshit. By the end of June, after the electoral primaries, we’ll know who the new god kings of Queens are going to be and exactly where and when they want their asses to be publicly kissed or when they privately want smoke blown up their alimentary.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On Railroad Avenue, in the Blissville section of Long Island City, a tree can be observed. It’s the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil on Newtown Creek. Same species as the one in Eden, just not as knowledgable a fruit. Go figure. One recently encountered a cast off fruiting of this tree, just lying there on the side of the road. Like the great shit sandwich that is our culture, I had to take a bite. As a note, there were no serpents slithering about.
No more Mister Nice Guy, that’s what I said once the scales fell from my eyes. I wasn’t that nice to start with, so…
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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.
glancing backward
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One does wish that the pandemic related train cleaning regimen MTA has been observing included the polishing of the window glass on their rolling stock, but there you are. That’s part of the Sunnyside Yards pictured up there, shot through a 7 train window while heading west. A Long Island Rail Road train is at the bottom of the shot, and the owners of the trains parked in the colossal coach yard behind it include New Jersey Transit and Amtrak.
Someday I will get invited to walk around down there. Someday.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Visible from another subway line is this view of the Triborough Bridge. Specifically, it’s the Astoria Blvd. stop on the N/W service. That’s the onramp of the great bridge, and the transitional point where traffic leaves the Grand Central Parkway. Local traffic west of 31st street travels on Hoyt Avenues North and South. East of 31st street, it’s officially the “I-278 Truck Bypass” but we common mortals refer to the travel lanes as Astoria Blvd. N & S.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the extreme western end of Sunnyside Yards is the section called “Yard A” or the “Arch Street Yard.” MTA has a train maintenance facility here, and for the last few weeks they’ve been playing around with a new series of LIRR trains which they just got delivered. I’ve noticed them doing “shake down” trips at night with these new units, which I’m told is probably in pursuit of testing their signaling systems. In the foreground is an Amtrak train emerging from the tunnel which allowed it to escape Manhattan.
“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 