Posts Tagged ‘33rd street rail bridge’
Views via Bigelow Blvd.
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As established last week, your humble narrator could have been observed as scuttling along on Pittsburgh’s Bigelow Boulevard, enjoying views from on high.
The route I was walking is more or less parallel to one which carried me through Lawrenceville (which is down there on the Allegheny River’s flood plain) a few weeks back. That’s the 33rd street rail bridge, btw., for a point of reference on the Lawrenceville walk.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a few residential buildings found along Bigelow Boulevard which have stout garage doors facing out onto this de facto highway. There’s an auto detailing shop found further along the route as well, and both on the opposite side of the ‘Polish Hill’ side of the road where I was walking. That’s some door.
For some reason, George Romero and the Pittsburgh incidents of 1968 and 1978 came to mind as to why it seemed so secure and stout.
One continued on his way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Every now and then when I’m walking along, I’ll spin 180 degrees and grab a quick shot of where I’ve been. Old habit, it also informs if someone is following me. That happens sometimes. Whether it’s a ‘creature of the street’ or a ‘neighborhood guardian’ or just some maniac junkie who thinks I might be an easy mark, I want to know if I’m being predated.
Of course, I was the only maniac walking down Bigelow Boulevard on a blisteringly hot July day in the late afternoon.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
From the look of this structure, my guess would be ‘used to be a car mechanic’s location.’ There were a few businesses located along this stretch, along with a handful of residential buildings. I saw a good number of ‘for sale’ signs affixed to the latter.
One pondered the complexities of sewer and water lines, electrical and telecommunications hookups, and all the complications surrounding the necessities of habitation, as associated with siting a building at the apex of a steep hill that has a high volume road at the front door.
How do you get deliveries? Where can a truck or car pull over to drop a passenger? Is it ever quiet? This is probably where the ‘way’ or alley streets come into play.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The cross streets visible from Bigelow Boulevard, which are a part of a neighborhood called ‘Polish Hill,’ offer a few clues. In my own steeply hilled neighborhood, back in the Borough of Dormont, Our Lady and I seldom use our front door when coming and going. The car is in the driveway out back, and we typically use the basement door to access the house from that entrance rather than the one in the front we get mail delivered to. I imagine it’s much the same deal up here. Guessing, though.
The Hill District, long the titular center of Pittsburgh’s African American community, is just next door to Polish Hill on the next elevation, but I never hear the latter described as being a part of it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Along the path that I was following, a couple of sets of City Steps were observed, and noted. Future scuttles will, I’m sure, incorporate these paths. Saying that, divergence from my path wasn’t on the menu. Too hot for serendipity.
For this one, I had a prepicked turn in mind, which would lead to something else I’ve been keen to take a long hard look at.
Back tomorrow.
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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.
Turty Turd st. bridge, and such
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The 33rd street rail bridge isn’t just a bridge, it’s a complex of ramps and trestles which sprawls along both sides of the Allegheny River, between Herr’s Island and Millvale on the northern shore, and Lawrenceville on the southern. It was erected in 1921 by the B&O RR people, which replaced an earlier rail bridge here that was built in 1884. It’s massive.
Would love to see a train moving on this thing, but it’s serviced by the Allegheny Valley Rail Road (AVRR), a Class 3 railroad which moves and switches rail cars around in service to the Class 1 railroads (CSX, Norfolk Southern, Wheeling & Lake Erie) here in the Pittsburgh region. AVRR doesn’t have many train sets operating at any given time, so spotting one is like spotting ‘a white whale’ ala Melville.
If I do get a shot of a train on this bridge, ever, it’s going to be a lucky stroke and pure serendipity for me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned, the structure is massive. To the right of the roadway pictured above is a Restaurant Depot warehouse, and yeah – I was having serious ‘memberberries’ while walking through their parking lot to get a few shots of a gigantic bridge. To the left of the shot is a complex of theatrical studios (TV and Movies) set up in former warehouses, which are dubbed as the ‘31st street studios.’ Made me think about Broadway Stages back in Brooklyn. Lots of tv and movies film hereabouts. ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ keeps them busy these days.
One continued on with the scuttling. Walking involves a lot of conscious thought for me at the moment. ‘Don’t protect the ankle,’ ‘don’t waddle like a penguin,’ ‘keep your eyes on where your next heel strike is going to land,’ ‘stride, don’t step.’ All of this used to be simply autonomic, but for the late recovery stage of this horrific injury, it’s required.
I’ve relearned how to walk, now I need to relearn ‘walking with a purpose’ and ‘Brooklyn strut.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Saying all that, the path I ended up walking was an incredibly difficult one. Torn up pavement, potholes filled with six inches of street runoff, gravel and rock ballast everywhere, all sorts of obstacles. Not ankle friendly at all, but the goal is ‘stretch and strengthen’ so that means I need to challenge myself by not walking solely on flat pavement. As mentioned in prior posts, the end goal for this walk would involve getting a ride on the ‘T’ light rail back to HQ. The station I was heading for was underneath that orange colored building in the distance, the one with the ‘KL Gates’ logo on it, as that’s where the T’s ‘Wood Street’ station awaited.
Back next week with more, from the Paris of Appalachia – 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.
The Newtown Pentacle 