Posts Tagged ‘CSX’
Ends are always odd
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the end of a medium length scuttle, and your humble narrator once again had a pint glass filled with a yummy oatmeal stout beer in his grubby mitt, and that’s when CSX #913 appeared.
Hey Now!
The locomotive was pulling a mixed up line of rail cars. Automotive cars, containers, even semi truck trailers were in line behind it.
A ‘GE ES44AC-H’ model locomotive, that’s what I’m told #913 is.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I was there for the length of two drinks, about an hour, and the only train which passed through the CSX subdivision choke point during the interval was #913.
It gets dark really fast in Pittsburgh during the winter, as the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself lowers itself behind Mount Washington and probably Ohio, a deep shadow is cast.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s some of the semi trailers the train was hauling. I get comments all the time about only showing the locomotive engine, and not running shots of what it’s hauling, so there you are.
As the sky grew dim, and the air colder, I headed within and paid my tab. A quick visit to the loo followed, and then back out into the street.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An elevator was used to raise my point of view, and I hung around in the dark for a bit, hoping another train might be transiting through.
No such luck, and I made my way back out to the street. I’d be summoning a ride to get back to HQ, something easier accomplished from ‘up here’ rather than ‘down there.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Along the way, I couldn’t help but react to the ‘noir’ being offered up by those darkened streets. Spooky. This is what 5:30-6 p.m. looks like here.
It took a while for a cab to get to me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Eventually, the rideshare chariot arrived and a reunion with Our Lady of the Pentacle and Moe the Dog ensued. Good times.
Also, Merry Christmas to all you Goyem.
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.
rolling rolling rolling… rawhide!
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The last legs of this particular walk were fairly uneventful, as your humble narrator picked his way along the shoreline of a Monongahela River ‘rail trail’ and towards my eventual destination at the Sly Fox Brewery.
I was scouting out a couple of locations along the way, ones with a pretty good view of the rail tracks used by CSX.
I’ll be showing you a scene quite similar to the one above in the future, but with a CSX train hurtling through it. This setup looks like it could be kind of promising.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Once I was again safely sequestered from vehicular traffic and onto the rail trail, which follows the former ‘right of way’ of a defunct railroad, my headphones were reinserted into those ear holes one might observe on the sides of the sensory and gustation stalk that sticks out of the collar of my t-shirt. Just had to watch out for bikes.
As mentioned in a prior post, these photos were gathered on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, and Pittsburgh was pretty much deserted.
Good. That’s the way I like it. The human infestation can be noisome.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a bend in the path when you reach the South 10th street bridge, which is where the trail transmogrifies into ‘Colors Park.’ Herein, street art and so called ‘graffiti’ is encouraged and allowed. By creating an out door gallery space for the pursuit, it cuts down on the vandalism and ‘tagging’ for nearby spots where graffiti is unwanted. Smart.
CSX’s tracks are on the other side of that little fence, found at more or less the center of the shot above.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s always a bit of new art on the pier of the South 10th street bridge, which is where I took a moment to consider and observe.
I moved on. This excursion was about movement, and accruing speed in my striding gait. The ankle was singing an aria by this stage. It seems that I’ve got arthritis in that joint now, and as it was a cold day…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Y’know, back in NYC… the NYPD would be very interested in this sort of scenario. In Pittsburgh… it’s likely that a groundskeeper just forgot to load up his fuel can after cutting the grass and left it behind by accident.
Regardless, one continued on. Thump, drag, thump, drag… hey, cut that out… thump right, thump left, thump…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey now! Suddenly, CSX’s #3166 hurtled past.
I had less than 15 seconds to get this shot set up after I heard the thing coming. This is why I like shooting trains at the brewery, incidentally, as there are grade crossing signal arms on either side of that space and you get nearly a minute of preparation time for lining up your shot and figuring out the exposure settings.
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.
So many axles
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator had to hang about for around about a half hour on a pedestrian bridge over their tracks before Norfolk Southern’s #1181 thundered past the lens, here in the South Side Slopes section of Pittsburgh.
According to the AI at Google – ‘Norfolk Southern locomotive #1181 is a 2019 GE EMD SD70ACe model that was formerly a Progress Rail unit designated as “EMDX 7239”. It is one of the newer locomotives in the Norfolk Southern fleet and was converted to the #1181 number around 2019.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the pedestrian bridge I was standing on, one of several which provide pedestrian egress from the ‘Slopes’ section the ‘South Side Flats’ below. I’ve waved the camera about at this spot a few times, most recently in the post ‘Cage Match, baby.’
Also from Google’s AI, which is now offering up one of my shots in its results… grrr…
Overview
The Norfolk Southern (NS) tracks are located at the base of the South Side Slopes, spanning the area known as the “Flats”. Pedestrian bridges, like the one at S. 10th Street, were built to reconnect the Slopes and Flats after the railroad was established, providing a crucial link for residents to cross the tracks and access either side. These bridges are a response to the steep topography and the physical barrier of the active rail line.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
#1181 was hauling garbage and sewer solids, which – god help me – is something I knew just from looking at the type of containers loaded onto its rail cars. It was heading ‘towards Ohio.’ That bridge is part of the PJ McArdle roadway, as a note.
At any rate, got my NS train shot, so then I moved on and headed down to the South Side Flats area and over to the Sly Fox Brewery, where a bathroom visit and then a pint of beer awaited me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
CSX was unusually not busy on this particular day, and only one of their trains appeared while I was there.
It was #7211, which I’m told is a rebuilt GE CM44AC model locomotive. There you are.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I ended up hanging out and chatting with somebody for a while, and after a couple of more beers, it was time to start heading back to Dormont. It gets dark about 4:30-5:00 p.m. out here, at the moment.
Night kind of snuck up on me, but to be fair – I was having a nice time and also drinking beers, so…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On my way back to HQ, I noticed a tugboat navigating its way under the Liberty Bridge on the Monongahela River. One last shot.
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.
Bottoms and bridges
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
To start – this location has been ‘on my list’ for a while – and despite that, it just hasn’t been convenient (from a time, getting there, atmospheric lighting) point of view for me to get to.
Serendipity recently struck when Our Lady of the Pentacle announced that she and a friend would be attending a pierogi festival held at a Ukrainian Church in the area during a recent Sunday afternoon. Her friend would be driving, so I asked if I could tag along and thereby be free of having to oblige and worry about the car. Positive affirmations followed.
I’ve executed a few drive throughs of this area and have tilted my lens here and there in the past, check past posts out here. Purely scouting, though.
Welcome to McKees Rocks’ Bottoms.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It topically seems to be one of Pennsylvania’s many ‘used to be, once, long ago’ sort of places, old mill towns that persist after the mill has left, but the area seems to be very much alive and kicking. We walked around the neighborhood for a bit, prior to the start of Our Lady’s pierogi extravaganza.
I wasn’t there for the luncheon, at least not the kind you eat. My nutritionally needs could only be sated by walking upon that which I came here to see.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The McKees Rocks Bridge is a major crossing of the Ohio River, and is the longest bridge in Allegheny County. It’s a massive structure.
It carries three lanes of vehicle traffic, which first crosses over a set of busy Norfolk Southern rail tracks and then a gargantuan sewer plant to the north, then the Ohio River, whereupon it overlands into the town after overflying a rail yard on the south side.
When figuring in the ramp approaches to this monster, the bridge is 7,300 feet long. Roughly 1.5 miles, that. 100 feet high at deck level over the river. The stairs pictured above are on the McKees Rocks Bottoms, or southern, side.
Check out all its statistics at pghbridges.com. Additionally, there’s a great document from the HAER (Historic American Engineering Record) people which can be accessed here that will fill you in on all the ‘nitty gritty’ revolving around why and how this monster bridge was erected and funded in Pittsburgh, all the way back in 1929.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The stairs lead up to this arched section, where it overflies the rail yard and tracks. Those CSX trains which I often photograph down river, nearby that brewery, are all heading this way when I describe them as ‘heading towards Ohio.’ The train pictured above, #866, is heading ‘away from Ohio.’
There were no fences, you can just walk right up to the tracks. That’s very progressive, if you ask me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It has been a minor goal of mine to walk this bridge when opportunity struck, but who could have guessed it would be a pierogi festival I wouldn’t be attending that would bring me here?
Up the stairs hurtled I, the filthy black raincoat flapping about in the wind like some obscene membrane. Storms were moving through the vault of the sky, and the dynamic cloud systems surrounding the periodic bursts of rain were causing the light to change minute by minute. I was ready for the rain, just in case, with an umbrella attached to my camera bag, but it wasn’t needed in the end.
Up and at ‘em.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the main arch of the bridge, as seen in the distance. There really isn’t too much worth seeing after exiting the bridge on the other side, which places you on a narrow sidewalk, set against a de facto highway. Not exactly ‘pedestrian friendly’ over there, so I decided that my first walk over this span was going to be a ‘there and back again’ sort of affair.
This was practically a religious experience for me, scuttling over the McKees Rocks Bridge, something which I could only compare to a walk over the Kosciuszcko Bridge back home, as far as offering the camera a unique point of view.
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.
Ala dextra divisa
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The last steps of a fun scuttle, as detailed in prior posts, saw your humble narrator shambling towards mass transit for his ride back to HQ. A swirling confusion of black fabrics wearing an orange ball cap, adorned with a camera, one picked his loathsome way towards the Monongahela River, where egress to that light rail chariot which would carry him back to the vault in which he dwells could be attained.
The humans were avoided, while moving through their infestation.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Smithfield Street Bridge bore my bulk, and provided a path over the waters. Lament and regrets stained my thoughts, with past sleights and insults bubbling up and begging for renewed attention. I was in a mood, suddenly. Hatred and loathing. I think it’s because I scanned through one of several alerts on my phone, regarding the National position.
Everything political is busted, riddled with tumors, and the country on the whole seems to be metastasizing.
What can I do about it? Nothing. All I could and did do was continue on the way, after burning out a couple of hours worth of walking time. Bah!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had hoped that another train might approach, and hung around on Smithfield Street Bridge for a few minutes, in vainglory. Just after I gave up and started heading across the river, however…
…and of course…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
CSX appeared again, this time it was CSX #4766. I’ve noticed that freight trains seem to have been getting shorter in recent months, which is a ‘tell’ for how the macro/non Financial Industry side of the national economy is doing. Back in NYC, my barometer for ‘good or bad’ was always based on activity at Port Elizabeth Newark, rather than the booms and busts on Wall Street.
I asked Google’s AI for some detail on Port Elizabeth Newark:
Port Newark/Elizabeth Specifics
- Economic Engine: The Port of New York and New Jersey, which includes the facilities in Newark and Elizabeth, is a major economic engine. A study released in October 2025 highlights the port industry’s role in supporting over 580,000 jobs and generating substantial tax revenue.
- Infrastructure Investment: The Port Authority has made significant capital investments in the area, including the $3.6 billion 2025 Capital Spending Budget which funds projects like the Port Newark Port Street Corridor roadway network project. These investments are intended to accommodate future growth and maintain the port’s status as a leading maritime gateway.
- Cargo Activity: The port has shown strong cargo activity, recording strong growth in April 2025 (latest data available in search results). In May 2025, it was the nation’s busiest cargo gateway.
- Challenges: The port may face some operational challenges in Q4 2025, including potentially elevated dwell times in Newark and mild congestion, which could slow cargo movement. Low water levels in the St. Lawrence River might also affect inland irregular flows.
In summary, while the regional economy is facing headwinds with slower overall growth and a softer job market, the port operations themselves are stable, seeing continued cargo volume and benefitting from ongoing strategic infrastructure improvements.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the other side of the river, one began picking his loathsome path towards the T light rail station a few blocks away. There’s a series of not exactly pedestrian friendly crossings one must negotiate to get to the relative safety of one of the waterfront trails, which then leads right to it.
I was keeping my eyes open for Day Vampires, Drug Enthusiasts, Pickup Trucks, Canada Gooses, Packs of Teenagers, and all the other perceived threats to my happiness which might light my amygdala afire.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Along this path, I noticed a right wing which had been dislocated from its owner. Odd.
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.
The Newtown Pentacle 