Posts Tagged ‘Carnegie’
Running Dry
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Our Lady of the Pentacle was busy, with a class she’s taking in Pittsburgh’s Bridgeville section, and your humble narrator had an hour or so to kill before having to pick her up and drive her back to Moe the Dog.
An hour isn’t really all that long a time, as far as ‘getting into it’ photography wise, so my plan was to find some flowing water and use those new lens filters and ‘superclamp’ setup recently acquired.
I headed over to the nearby ‘Whiskey Boys trail’ where there’s meant to be a wooden bridge spanning a stream.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had to walk ‘in’ a bit to get there.
I’ve been here before but on a different pathway, with Moe the Dog.
This is a prepared crushed limestone trail for most of the way, with a nice firmament for hiking. It’s kind of buggy in there, but Pennsylvania is uniformly kind of buggy in the summer. Functioning ecosystem, huh?
The whole state is pretty much upstate New York, but with more woods, and a whole lot more in the way of mountains and streams.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
When I got there, it was discovered that this is now a ‘former’ stream.
Here I am standing in the stream bed, and shooting pics of a bridge that spans no water, troubled or otherwise.
Cannot win.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One is looking forward to some sort of autumn this year. I lost two autumns in a row to the broken ankle, and there’s a tiny voice in my head that keeps saying ‘you’re missing out.’
Have to come up with a plan…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The time warp is still deeply in effect here at Newtown Pentacle.
These shots are from the 25th of July, and this post is being written during an early morning in mid August, whereas the publish date for this post is set for late September.
At this rate, you’ll be seeing Halloween stuff for Christmas.
Saying that, I’m still able to offer a daily post, which arrives in your e-mailbox in the manner of a metronome. Enjoy it while it lasts, folks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This blog will eventually cease publication, as a note.
I do have a date in mind for when that’ll happen, but that’s still years away. It would be unlike me not to make a big deal of something major as it’s approaching, so don’t worry. Nothing is ending anytime soon, and I’ve still got a LOT of stuff I want to see, do, and explore in these postings.
Alternatively, I could have a stroke or get hit by a car tomorrow, so…
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.
Tripling down
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just a short post today, carrying a trio of somewhat random photos captured during my various and quite ultramundane travels through the Pittsburgh metro area.
The one above depicts a street level view of the Wheeling & Lake Erie RR outfit’s ‘Rook Yard’ at the border of Carnegie and Green Tree. It was a Sunday, and nothing profound was happening there. Cracked out a shot as I had made a special trip to spy upon them.
The photos in today’s post were largely gathered while operating the Mobile Oppression Platform, a Toyota.
Needless to say, but the car’s transmission was in park mode as the shutter was depressed – before anyone asks or shouts ‘j’accuse.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This one is from the evening of Halloween, and was captured in Dormont, where Newtown Pentacle HQ is located, while on foot. It didn’t rain, believe it or not, despite the warnings of the meteorological crew.
Your humble narrator has been feeling pent up, boxed in, and the old wanderlust has recently reignited. Physical limitations due to the ankle dealie have been lessening, and it’s time to bust out of my rusty cage and roam again.
As far as the limitations go… they just set parameters for me to work within at this point, and I’ve also grown quite tired of such matters getting in my way. The ‘will to power’ urge grows within, like a cancer.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another ‘behind the wheel’ shot, this time from one of Dormont’s neighboring communities, in Mount Oliver. Something about that converted garage apartment just grabbed me. Very, very, Greg Brady, but with a dystopian air which satisfied me.
Back tomorrow with something a bit more substantial.
“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.
Potpourri day
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Circumstance and ‘getting things done’ finds me driving all over the City of Pittsburgh on the regular.
As a former New Yorker, one of the things you’ve got to get past here is a long encoded belief that ‘crossing the river’ or ‘rivers’ is kind of a big deal.
If I had to go to New Jersey from Queens, it would be an all day ordeal with the City of Greater New York throwing up random obstacles at every step of the way. In Pittsburgh, you just go.
Picklesburgh was recently offered to Pittsburgh, a resounding success according to all reports. The closest I got to it this year was the shot above, captured through my car’s windshield. It was in the high 90’s that weekend, which isn’t exactly ‘brined food’ weather.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The town of McKees Rocks was also recently transited through, and there was something about this truck parking lot which caught my eye.
Round three of scouting has begun, I should mention, now that I sort of know some of the shape of things out here, and I’ve been noting what I call ‘pregnant locations’ for a while now which I wanted to get a bit more granular with. This section of McKees Rocks is called the ‘Bottoms’ and it’s a visual treat. Kinda crimey, I’m told.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
McKees Rocks has a lousy reputation, which sometimes includes ‘murder capital of Pennsylvania.’ It’s also got a medium busy rail yard with a CSX outpost. There also a rail company based out of here which I also haven’t seen on any of the tracks I’ve been watching. One of the two ‘white whale’ RR’s in Western PA which have so far escaped my camera.
I’ve spent a bit of time over the last few weeks in a quest for ‘points of view,’ and driving from place to place. I’ll spend some time in Google maps the night before, tagging locations via their street view before an ‘explore’ when I visit these spots in the real world.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A particular interest of mine at the moment, there’s a rail trestle over a highway in Carnegie which I’d love some shots of a train crossing, but so far I haven’t figured out how to get close to it. Pictured above is a service road leading to and from a U.S. Mail sorting facility, which dead ended right where Google suggested a route up to the trestle would exist.
Frustrating. Yeah, I know, use a drone.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Next door to Dormont, where HQ is located, is the tony suburb of Mt. Lebanon. It’s populated by tree lined streets with expensive homes, mainly, but nearby one of the T stops this massive apartment house and parking garage is seen. It really stands apart.
To the rails…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The scouting work pays off occasionally, and I’ve just found a point of view which looks downwards at Wheeling & Lake Erie’s Rook Street Yard.
There’s nearby parking, and this is definitively a spot you need to drive to. There’s a really cool shot waiting to be captured here, just has to be the ‘right time’ for this ‘right place.’
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.
Carothers Avenue Bridge
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
You see variants of that design of bridge above all over the place in Pennsylvania. It’s called a Warren Pony Truss style bridge. The span is some 146 feet long, and it was erected in 1927. The Carothers Avenue Bridge is its name, and it spans Chartiers Creek pretty close to what could be called ‘Downtown Carnegie’ or at least ‘Main Street Carnegie.’ Actually, the commercial street in Carnegie is called ‘Main Street,’ so…
This link will take you to historicbridges.org, where all of the details and the story of this span are revealed. Personally, I think it’s neat.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I visited the Carothers Avenue bridge on Memorial Day weekend, and Carnegie itself was buzzing with back yard BBQ’s. Felt like it would be ostentatious to set up the whole tripod and filters dealie, so I just circumnavigated the thing and did handheld shots. Definitely coming back at some point to get all artsy fartsy here. I dig it.
As mentioned, Carnegie is one several communities neighboring Dormont, where Newtown Pentacle HQ exists currently. All of life’s little missions see me driving around a bunch, and I pass through this area at least once a week in pursuance of whatever minutiae controls the day.
Have always been intrigued by it while passing by, and thereby I desired a closer look at the bridge. Luckily, Our Lady’s schedule allowed me the opportunity to do so. Yay.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A last look, as I circled around the thing like a predator. After this, I headed back to the car and negotiated my way towards picking up Our Lady for the drive home. About 15 minutes, but you have to watch out for deer. It seems that during this time of the year, young deer go exploring in search of new greenery to devour. This often leads them onto roads.
It’s not the carnage you’ll notice in late autumn and early winter during ‘rut,’ when love crazy stags chase after does to ‘get busy.’ Those horny stags often find their way onto the highways, and… suffice to say that the crows and vultures are well fed in fall and early winter here in Pittsburgh.
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.
Kicking dirt in Carnegie
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The region of the Pittsburgh Metro which HQ is located in is called ‘The South Hills.’ In the past, I’ve already established that Dormont where HQ is specifically located, is part of an area once known as Lower St. Clair.
Practically next door to Dormont is the municipality of Carnegie, which is about a 15 minute drive on local streets away from HQ. Water runs through Carnegie, specifically Chartiers Creek. I’ve brought the camera here before but there’s a lot to see in Carnegie.
Luckily, Our Lady of the Pentacle had scheduled a class she wanted to take in Carnegie, on a recent weekend day. I drove her to her deal, and then I went to work on visiting several waypoints I had dropped onto a Google map the night before. I do a lot of remote scouting this way, using street view to figure out if there’s opportunity in unknown spots.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Since I was in the car, I was traveling heavy. Tripod, all the lenses, etc. one of the waypoints I had coded into my ‘Carnegie Map’ was the Wheeling & Lake Erie RR’s Rook yard. A nice history of how this rail yard got sited here, and why it’s called ‘Rook’ can be experienced at hmbd.org.
Turns out I didn’t need to have all that gear with me, but since I didn’t have to carry it – who cares? Also, I got lucky. The W&LE RR people were getting busy and moving trains around when I randomly drove up, and on a Saturday no less.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
#6996 up there was functioning as a DPU, Diesel Power Unit. Everything you might want to know about the W&LE outfit – its rolling stock, rights of way, corporate structure – can be gleaned here.
It was a beautiful day in Carnegie, PA. Mid 60’s in temperature, with a strong breeze. The Rook Yard was one of several places which got a quick drive by and lookie loo.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
#3049 was in the lead, and after coupling to a train of tanker cars, began moving away from my position. Not entirely sure where they go after this. I have vague ideas, but finding out is one of my summer projects.
I had my little railfan radio scanner with me, and was listening to the conversations between tower and engineer, but it might as well have been Greek they were talking. I’ve got to learn to speak railroad.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had a couple of hours to myself while in Carnegie, and spent about a half hour or so of it right at this spot watching other people at work. Definitely coming back here in the future. No fences!
There were a few other spots which I wanted to take a good look at, but it was also Memorial Day weekend. When I got to a some of those other points of interest (tomorrow’s post), in the residential sections, back yard parties and BBQ’s were going on and I was sticking out like a sore thumb.
Next time, it’ll be a weekday morning visit, when the streets are a little less populated.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Chartiers Creek runs through Carnegie on its way to the Monongahela River which it is a tributary of. This post shows where that admixture occurs nearby the West End Bridge.
There’s all sorts of ‘desire paths’ along the water which fishermen use to get down to the shore. I plan on following a few of those this summer as the ankle situation continues to improve.
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.
