Posts Tagged ‘33rd street rail bridge’
A Long Walk ends
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Pictured are various overhead trestles branching off the 33rd street rail bridge, here in Pittsburgh. This bridge serves as – more or less – the division marker for when you’re exiting the Lawrenceville section and entering Pittsburgh’s Strip District.
One had followed the shoreline of the Allegheny River from nearby the Highland Park Bridge, scuttled along Butler Street, and then headed slightly northwards to capture railroad shots. As the crow flies, this would be a six to seven mile walk, but with all the curves that the river introduces to the path, by the time I returned to HQ in Dormont, I had scuttled around twelve and change miles by the time I returned to HQ.
That’s what the phone said it was, at any rate.
This walk was a major ‘post broken ankle’ threshold point for me, as a note. Longest scuttle I’ve managed to pull off since shattering the joint back in the fall of 2024.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned at the start of this opus, I was traveling light. No tripods or other heavy gear, which I absolutely regretted when observing the scene above. I’ll be back for this one at some point. That’s the ‘Washington’s Crossing’ bridge, pictured above, as a note.
I actually stopped off at a sandwich shop and ‘filled my tanks’ for the last stage of things. The sandwich was shit, but the icy cold Gatorade was key.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
From here, it was all ‘known territory’ for me.
I feel obliged to mention that the Newtown Pentacle time warp is still very much in effect. These shots were gathered on the 14th of September, and the posts are being written during the first week of October. If my scheduling is correct, you’re seeing this during the second week of November. Given that there are literally thousands of undeveloped shots on my hard drive at HQ which are ‘in production,’ it’s likely that the time warp will continue and intensify as we move into the winter months.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This pedestrian survey of mine has ranged all over Pittsburgh in the last year, as the ankle has healed and the post surgical atrophy of the musculature in my legs has receded.
North Side, South Side, East, West, all over the place.
At this point, I can pretty much say that if it’s within ten miles of downtown and there are sidewalks which you can see a river or train tracks from, I’ve likely wandered through it by this point. I’m beginning to understand the place, and develop some intimacy with it.
Next up, and one of my winter projects, will be ‘Operation Busway.’ That set of moves is still being planned, but I’m hoping to achieve some level of granularity on the subject in those posts. Long time readers of Newtown Pentacle will tell you – there’s nothing more interesting to me than novel transit infrastructure.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The long walk had taken a toll.
My ankle was sore, and so was my back. As mentioned above, I had stopped off for luncheon at a shop along the way but otherwise I’d pretty much been walking nonstop for something like four to five hours by this point.
As a note, that concrete wall you see in the distance there is ‘Crosstown Boulevard,’ and that blue tower is the brand new FNB building. Both of these were described in prior posts, click the links if interested.
Leaving the Strip District, you soon find yourself ‘Downtown.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The last scraping steps of this scuttle saw a horrific localized phenomenon best described as your humble narrator alter course, as it pointed that loathsome pre-corpse, within which I dwell, in the direction of the T Light Rail’s ‘Gateway’ station.
The usual wilting of plants and barking of dogs occurred as one moved along, as did the always welcome purse clutching, and defensive deployments of cell phones and pitchforks amongst the gentry. Security cameras swiveled, and followed my path. ‘Flock that,’ I said.
A quick ride on the T, and I was soon back in the tender embrace of Moe the Dog and Our Lady of the Pentacle. This spared anyone from outside the household any chance of being startled by my ignominy.
Back tomorrow 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.
A long… wait a minute, say what?
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So… as you might recall from last week, your humble narrator was involved in a long scuttle along the Allegheny River side of Pittsburgh’s central peninsula, one filled with lots of self-recrimination. Fun walk, lots to see and ponder. Everybody hates me. All caught up.
One had wandered into the Lawrenceville section, and encountered a passing freight train at street grade, and then…
I saw this street sign.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Now – for some ‘behind the curtains’ POV – I’ve started inserting shots of street signs into the flow of photos at my Flickr account, to act as visual bookmarks and to remind me of where I was when one photo or another was captured. At the end of the week, when you’re looking at a thousand raw captures, this practice aids in the organizing of things, from a cogently geographical and narrative sense.
Yes, that is a real Pittsburgh street sign, signifying the intersection of Willow Street with 43 1/2 street.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I stood there staring at this sign for a couple of minutes, in disbelief. Was it a fake? Something some real estate yahoo screwed onto a pole?
Nope.
From Google’s AI:
Origins and Naming Original Name: The lane was originally called Snowden Alley.
Landowner: It was named after H. Snowden, who owned property on both sides of the alley north of Butler Street around 1852.
Fractional Renaming: The city changed the name to 43rd ½ Street via a city ordinance in 1871. An 1881 ordinance accidentally listed it back as Snowden Alley, before it was officially updated again to “Forty-third and One-Half Street” in 1896.
Local Lore: Early Pittsburgh historian and columnist George T. Fleming joked in a 1915 Pittsburgh Gazette Times column that the quirky fractional name meant the street “surely has a name and a half”.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I have no information, regarding the artist or intention of that mural painted on the residential building pictured above, but I dig it.
As you can see in the shot’s background, this is right about where a bunch of the ‘new’ construction, found on the border between Pittsburgh’s ‘Lawrenceville’ and ‘Strip District,’ collides with older real estate schemes.
Were I as loquacious as I was back in Queens, I’d christen this as ‘an angle between’ those two neighborhoods. I’m not.
Neat.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
By this point, my walk through the ‘Butler Street Corridor’ had transmogrified into ‘the Willow Street Corridor is more interesting right about now,’ so I followed it under the 40th street Bridge where the roadway becomes a narrow pass for pedestrians and bike riders only.
The predominance of my scuttle having been accomplished, the route now became an expedient one, designed to angle my toes towards a T light rail station that was still at least a couple/three miles away in the ‘Downtown’ section.
Yep, could have always hopped on a bus, but that’s not the actual point of these endeavors. Got to keep moving or I’ll stop moving.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At 33rd street, where a gargantuan railroad bridge is found right along the waterfront of the Allegheny River, that’s where I walked past next.
There’s all sorts of signage from the railroad people warning off trespass, camping, and other morbid occupations, but I continue to operate in compliance with the rules of 1980’s Brooklyn.
‘Things are only illegal if there are Cops around,’ or if you break into or graffiti onto something, and as there weren’t any Cops hanging around and I had no intention of painting my name here, there we are. I did find a private spot in the bushes for a piss.
There’s rail tracks on the ground, I’d mention, but they are clearly not active and are quite overgrown. I’ve seen videos of camera wielders getting hassled around here by the RR Cops, but have a feeling that those particular videographers made themselves ostentatious to the gendarmerie.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
