Posts Tagged ‘City Steps’
The Big Kahuna of City Steps
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Lanark Street, on the north side of Pittsburgh, and looking back towards the Fineview Overlook where this scuttle got started. According to municipal signage, I was standing on ‘Television Hill.’
The reason for that is pretty obvious, if you look at the next photo.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This broadcast antenna is used by two local television stations WPGH-TV (Fox 53) and WPNT (The Point). It was in a large and stoutly fenced off property with lots of ‘no trespassing’ and ‘danger of electrocution’ signs. No bueno.
I underexposed this one by a couple of stops to make that pale sun visible in the cloudy sky.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So, why was I up here on Television Hill on the ‘ass side’ of the Fineview neighborhood? Glad you asked.
Pittsburgh offers pedestrians a choice of hundreds of sets of ‘City Steps’ to help negotiate the often steep streets within this Appalachian city.
I was heading for the fourth longest set of steps in the city, which offers 371 individual vertical steps that play out over just 2/10ths of a horizontal mile. The vertical distance from the top to bottom of these steps is equivalent to the height of a 15-18 story building. Masochists and sports enthusiasts use these steps for training and running upon, usually in an upward direction. I opted for the downhill experience instead.
That’s where I was heading… and they’re called ‘Rising Main.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The first sets of steps along Rising Main Avenue you see are wooden, constructed from the sort of ‘treated’ lumber which is commonly used for decks and docks. The first house at the corner of Rising Main Avenue looked abandoned and I spotted a condemnation notice on its window. This persists for about a block, ending at a wide intersection.
That’s not so dramatic, you might think. Interesting but…
Then you see the actual Rising Main steps.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One has been fascinated by the City Steps of Pittsburgh since moving here. Remember when I walked down those terrifying metallic steps nearby Duquesne University back in 2023? I’ve been wandering all over the place, using the ones strung through in South Side Slopes section as well. Heck, I’m just getting started out here…
On a side note: let’s say somebody regularly experiences fairly debilitating episodes of PTSD, at the top of staircases due to having suffered an ankle crushing injury in the recent past. In that case, what sort of gentle ‘exposure therapy’ might you recommend in the direction of mending this mental health issue?
18 steep stories of rickety ass steps? Yup, that’s the ticket.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Also, I’d like to mention that I’ve been going back and forth on the title of this post. It’s not my term, ‘Big Kahuna,’ rather that’s what they call these steps locally. Saying that, I’m fairly certain that there’s got to be some form of racism which I’m completely clueless about which describes the origin of the term ‘Kahuna.’ Don’t know. If so, sorry. That’s what they call these steps. The Big Kahuna.
Back next week with more from Rising Main and the North Side of Pittsburgh at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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It’s a fine view, yo.
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There are scuttles, and then there are scuttles.
Most of my walks over the winter months have been constrained by ice and snow, and the still recovering busted ankle situation. Now that the streets are clear again, one feels unbound. Accordingly, a walk which I’ve been desirous of experiencing was finally at hand, and I had all the time in the world to wander about on the 12th of March, a Thursday.
Fineview is this neighborhood’s name. It’s found on Pittsburgh’s extremely hilly north side, and there’s an ‘overlook’ platform there from which to take in and admire the sights. I wasn’t there to look at Pittsburgh from on high, though, I was on a mission.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I did pop out a shot of the ‘Heathside Cottage,’ which was built between 1864 and 1868, and somehow still stands. It’s not remarkable when an important office or governmental structure from the middle 19th century is encountered, it is so when it’s a private home. Wow.
The path at the outset of this one involved a street called ‘Lanark.’
There used to be a trolley/street car which operated on the 12.5% graded Lanark Street, the Route 21–Fineview line, which was extant until 1966. There’s a video on YouTube, with still photos, from the last day of its service – click here for that.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So… the first thing I learned on this particular day involved transit, which was the beginning of a series of lessons on this day spent in the university of the street.
This scuttle ended up blowing my mind, as it uncovered a series of historic revelations which I had no suspicion about previously. Serendipity!
I am – of course – putting absolutely zero effort into historic research about Pittsburgh – at all… none, zilch.
One prefers to live in total ignorance, and not attempt to understand the terrain that is found all around me. I’d rather that strangers on the TV tell me things to believe and to be afraid of, instead of seeing them for myself and then reading scholarly texts to intuit their actual history…
Saying that, I’ve got two things which I’m currently reading about… crap… I’m not doing any research! Nothing, nein, nada. My ignorance is palpable.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Walking up the hill on the former trolley route of Lanark Street, you encounter a set of raised sidewalks attached to residences. Empty lots begin to manifest soon after this, and signage becomes scant.
My path had been ‘figured out’ before leaving HQ, and I knew – more or less – where I was heading. A few cars passed me by, but there were never more than four or five vehicles. There were zero pedestrians, bike riders, or even people walking dogs – none of that sort of urban stuff – nor were there indications of morbid habitations, or even homeless encampments.
It felt like visiting Salem’s Lot, during the daytime.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One followed the prescribed path, across these raised pavements, and started for a truly unoccupied section up further. There’s some kind of commercial broadcasting operation up here, supposedly there’s a drinking water reservoir up here, and also a whole lot of abandoned houses are found in the direction which I was heading towards.
This section of Pittsburgh, on the North Side of the City, has a ferocious reputation, but I had zero interaction with anybody up here – good or bad. The people on the TV tell me I’m going to get shot while walking around here.
Barbarians abound.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had no real idea what I was about to see, or what the research I’m definitely not doing afterwards might reveal.
Suffice to say: cheap Pork knuckles, a huge and populous neighborhood, urban renewal horror stories, and a section of the city which Pittsburgh and the PA state highway people pretty much nuked in the name of ‘progress’… that’s what’s found lurking on the other side of that hill.
Come with? Sounds salubrious, don’t it?
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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“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.
Skunk Hollow
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One had been desirous of perpetrating this scuttle before the verge grows back, as vegetative cover obscures detail and annoys me.
This is Lorrigan Street, looking back and up the hill at the area discussed yesterday. You can take the boy out of Brooklyn, but the Brooklyn boy is always going to spin on his heels occasionally to see if he’s being followed by some creature of the streets.
Disappointingly, I was all alone. So lonely…
As you’ll see in the coming weeks, one has fully reactivated himself. A maelstrom wrapped up in a filthy black raincoat has been observed blasting about Pittsburgh, in all sorts of unseemly places.
I’ve seen things… wonders… I tell you… wonders.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Ella Street Steps were encountered.
Apparently there’s a bit of local affection for these stairs from what I’ve seen online, but oh my goodness were they in a bad state of repair. One of the series of posts coming your way in coming weeks will show off a set of steps which look closer to collapse than these, but ‘jeez louise.’
Spalling, cracking, separation of structural members, subsidence, shifting foundation moving out of ‘plum’… this structure had it all.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Look at that. The only thing holding this set of stairs together is gravity. All the pieces are just resting on each other, which is why it still stands. Bah!
As described in the past, the City Steps of Pittsburgh enjoy the legal status of being streets or sidewalks, and provide pedestrian access between the shifts of elevation common in the Appalachian landscape.
I can recommend Laura Zurowski, Matthew Jacob, and Charles Succop’s recent ‘City Steps of Pittsburgh’ book for a cogent history of this unique infrastructure, a publication which builds upon earlier volumes on the subject by author Bob Regan, with photos by my pal Tim Fabian.
Laura Z is quite active on Instagram under the handle ‘Mis.Steps.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Glorious, that’s how I’d describe this part of my long scuttle. I had outfitted the camera with an omnivore lens – my 24-240mm one. Glad I did, as I was constantly dialing back and forth between the wide and telephoto range.
Little did I know what awaited me at the bottom of this incline.
Well… I kind of did know, since I had clicked through here on the Google Maps street view before leaving HQ, and had previously walked through the other path through the ravine, but I’m also just trying to build some dramatic tension there for Monday and Tuesday’s posts…
Let’s just say ‘Hey Now!,’ and leave it at that for the moment.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There are multiple rail ‘rights of way’ laid down in Skunk Hollow, along with one of the bus ways. Three of the area’s four major freight rail operations roll through here, as does Amtrak. If only there was a brewery with out door seating and a view nearby…
I was hoping for trains, which… well, once again… that’s for Monday and Tuesday next week, yo.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Very, very interesting place for one such as myself, but I’m known for my love of insalubrious valleys, concretized devastations, and urban wastelands.
Back next week with lots of Choo-choo – including what I consider to be one of the best locomotive shots which I’ve captured since living here in Pittsburgh.
“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.
You hip, you hop, you don’t stop
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
About an hour and change in for this particular scuttle, and your humble narrator could be observably noticed as loping along the steep streets of Polish Hill, here in Pittsburgh.
Along the way, several sets of ‘City Steps’ manifested themselves, and photography was committed, but the steps were passed by. Future walks in this ‘zone’ will be somewhat granular, and likely involve these pathways, but this time around the goal was to keep moving.
Gosh, what it must look like to normal people… a decrepit and gray haired thing, encased in a swirling amalgamation of black sackcloth… lurching along in some herky jerky impression of human locomotion… with a camera and flash orange ball cap sticking out of the ebon maelstrom clothing it. Children cry, dogs screech, old ladies clutch at their purses. Men are gathered by Priests to form posses, they gather and light torches, arming themselves with pitch forks… all I can do about it is wave my arms about and snarl.
I have to be careful not to end up trapped at some old mill, lest I be contained within, while the surrounding mob of villagers sets it alight.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The old mill thing is a problem, because… Pittsburgh. About 40% of the building stock here is basically an old mill. I’m so screwed.
Another set of steps popped up, but other than mentally noting where they are, one stayed in motion. Drapes and Venetian blinds would energetically close as I approached residential areas.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The landmark for Polish Hill is the 1905 vintage Immaculate Heart of Mary RC church. Visible from large swaths of turf in Pittsburgh, it’s not quite the navigational aid that the Empire State Building back in NYC is, but it’ll do as far something to measure your geographic position against.
The plan for the rest of my day revolved around ‘leaning into it.’
The sections which I was headed for offered a bit of novelty, but within a half hour I’d be pounding pavement which has been described several times over the last few weeks, so it was less of a photowalk and more of ‘just a walk’ for a bit.
That all plays out here next week, so get ready. Whew.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One giggled out loud, due to this randomly encountered topiary.
If my pre-planning for this scuttle worked out correctly, I’d soon be encountering a cross street which would deposit me at the border of Bloomfield and Lawrenceville.
As described many times, I use Google Maps’ Street View feature to figure and plan out the ‘where’s’ and ‘how’s’ of moving around in parts of Pittsburgh that are unfamiliar. I don’t ‘tie my hands’ by religiously sticking to a predetermined route, as you’ve got to factor in ‘serendipity,’ which is what I call it when something unexpected just pops up in front of you begging to be photographed.
Back in 2010, for instance, I accidentally wandered past an Andean Passion Play being performed in Blissville, while on my way to Newtown Creek. In 2016, I spotted the nose section of a submarine being transported down the East River. Serendipity.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another set of City Steps were encountered, which in addition to going up and down also went around the hill. They connect up at the other end with another staircase. One stayed the course. Plenty of time to come back for a closer look.
This is right about when I started seeing the actual horizon again, as one was looking northwards and towards the Allegheny River.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Famously, homes found on this sort of terrain display one or two stories on the street side, where the mail gets delivered, but the back of the structure will reveal three, four, sometimes five levels. Amazing.
Back next week with more from this long and productive scuttle – 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.
Cage match, baby
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After ascending a set of City Steps back in Dormont and neighboring Beechview (as described last week), your humble narrator boarded a T light rail bound for Pittsburgh’s Allentown, whereupon one set out on foot heading down the very steep Arlington Avenue. My horrible path diverged at Hartford Street, where the ‘German Square’ City Steps soon suffered my odious presence while I scuttled down their course.
I like loneliness. The humans are always disappointing, fractious, and weak in body and mind. I avoid checking notifications on my phone these days, as it’s always something horrible. Better to be alone, and commune with a favorite audiobook. I was listening to Upton Sinclair’s ‘The Jungle.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The City Steps open up to vistas at street intersections. The particular one above is at ‘Fritz Street,’ and then another set of steps continue downwards, after a quick walk from one corner to the next. This area is called the ‘South Side Slopes’ and by the standards of this surrounding neighborhood, Fritz Street is like a superhighway with its travel lanes and parking.
It must be so challenging to live here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These steps come close to flat land at a set of Norfolk Southern railroad tracks, where a series of pedestrian bridges span and provide for egress over the trackage.
I had a feeling that I was about to see a train (seeing the signal lights change was kind of a giveaway) and I changed the camera lens over to something that could shoot through the chain link fence – my trusty 85mm f2 prime lens.
The little scanner radio I carry around with me was activated, and overheard radio chatter suggested that I was correct in my assessment that the signal lamps changing would lead to something interesting happening on the tracks below.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now!
This Norfolk Southern train set was moving ‘away from Ohio,’ although it’s likely that it’s more likely moving from the Conway Yard in PA.
Unlike CSX, which I show y’all all the time, Norfolk Southern isn’t forced into routing trains through a single street grade choke point. They’ve got options, and just off the top of my head there’s at least three other ways for them to travel through, just in the central area of Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Norfolk Southern’s #4235 locomotive was apparently built in 1997, and originally called NS #9038. In August of 2019, the GE AC44C6M unit was rebuilt and renamed as #4235. At least, that’s what the internet tells me.
Again, not a railfan, I just like taking pictures of trains. If I get something wrong, in an extremely topical search, please let me know. I always take corrections and then embed them into the posts retroactively. Only way to really learn stuff is to be wrong about something.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s nothing quite as ugly a sensation as getting blasted with a train’s exhaust when you’re literally standing 10-15 feet over the exhaust ports. Volcanic heat suddenly blossoms, the air is stained with diesel exhaust, it’s a real joy, that. Hey now?
Locomotive NS #4821 was providing ‘DP’ service to the main engine, adding motive power to a long chain of cargo boxes and containers.
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 