Posts Tagged ‘CSX’
Hey Now! Come and Go
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now! CSX #6926 was approaching!
These shots are from the end of a shortish walk on the 24th of August of this year, which began up in the South Side Slopes neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and then continued on to the South Side Flats section, a path which eventually carried me here – to a pinch point along CSX Transportation’s Pittsburgh Subdivision tracks.
Said tracks are what remain of the once gigantic P&LE RR (Pittsburgh & Lake Erie RR) rail yard.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Given how often I gather shots from this spot, you know that I dig it.
The concrete factory in the background, with its web of conveyor belts and other cool gear, and the Liberty Bridge too. The Panhandle Bridge is back there too, and when all the stars align there’s a T light Rail unit in the frame too.
Existentially, there’s shade and public seating here, in a park like environment, with a nearby brewery which offers not just food and drink but toilets too.
The park area is also set along one of the waterfront trails.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I headed up to the upper level of the location.
There’s another park like public space up there, and since I had already gotten #6926 from below, I figured that I’d head up there for a different POV should another train appear.
I cooled my heels for around twenty minutes before the signal arms began to chime and descend.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now! That’s CSX #801.
Both trains were heading ‘away’ from Pittsburgh to the south east. In that direction lies the three big USS Steel plants, and ultimately Maryland and West Virginia. The highly industrialized shorelines of the Monongahela River, and the communities that the mills and factories exist in, are referred to locally as the ‘Mon Valley.’
Normally, I do a ‘one and done’ for these CSX shots, but on this day I decided to follow #801 through the pass.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After the train rolled through, your humble narrator had to get himself all encased in the web of bag and camera straps again. I was traveling with the ‘full pack’ on this one, which weighs around thirty pounds all told.
Ended up using the one zoom lens – which was on the camera when I left HQ – all day, so I carried all that heavy gear for nothing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve had to rethink my pack a bunch since moving out to Pittsburgh from NYC. Here, I have to carry a water bottle as there aren’t any bodegas.
Right now, I’ve got three different camera bag setups which I switch back and forth between, depending on what the day’s plan is. It’s all very confusing.
Back tomorrow with something different – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Hey Now! and then Sterling
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Same old, huh? This shot of CSX #917 was captured at my ‘usual’ spot, nearby that brewery on Pittsburgh’s South Side which I hang around.
Wasn’t out for a walk on this particular evening, rather Our Lady and myself were on our way to a fantastic sushi dinner and had decided to stop off for a quick pint as we were early for the reservation. Birthday.
Saying that, a desire has been building of late in my mind, for the novel.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Nevertheless – exercise day arrived again, and despite my desire to experience something which I hadn’t seen before – one nevertheless returned to Sterling Street’s City Steps – in Pittsburgh’s South Side Slopes section.
This is a particularly long set of City Steps, and as I keep reminding myself – every scuttle doesn’t have to the Odyssey, or be about ‘art.’
Sometimes a walk is just a walk.
I was dropped off by a rideshare car, thereupon my ghastly physical realities oozed from the thing and one puddled up on the street, where I belong. Your humble narrator got organized, straightening out all my bag straps and dangling camera gear, whereupon my feet got down to kicking dirt again.
An infinity of time was not on my menu, as I’d had a fairly busy early morning and there was ‘stuff’ to do in the evening, so only a three to four hour window to wander about was available to me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Stage one of this outing involved Sterling Street’s installation of one of the Pittsburgh’s City Step infrastructure. To the left in the shot above is the extant property of a city park, and within there were a group of people from its ‘friends of’ group planting and caring for trees.
From this POV, it looks like a ‘straight shot’ to the Birmingham Bridge spanning the Monongahela River below, but the relationship between appearances and deception is an old trope.
Especially so in Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the span – mentioned above – pictured, and it’s dubbed as being the Birmingham Bridge, which is often featured here at Newtown Pentacle as I cross it on foot and also by car frequently.
It was a fairly warm day, but the humidity and breeze were both at comfortable levels, as far a day in late August goes.
The Newtown Pentacle time warp has alleviated slightly as I secretly took a bit of time off at the end of the summer, from all of the writing and photography. Didn’t go anywhere or do anything worth mentioning, but I’m still maintaining my ‘advance padding’ of scheduled posts. These shots were gathered on the 24th of August, and the words were mostly written on the 6th of September. If the scheduling works out as anticipated, you’re seeing this on the 15th of October.
Yes, I’m now six weeks out from publication date. This is not a bad thing, for me at least, but I’ve got to spend some time getting Halloween posts together for spooky season.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking back at where I’d just scuttled…
These long downward courses have absolutely been what the doctor ordered, as far as getting my legs back into shape and reversing the muscular atrophy experienced during the broken ankle interval.
I’m still dealing with muscular and tendon related after effects from that injury, as a note. They said it would take two years or more, for full recovery, at my orthopedist’s office…
Sigh…
As described in the past, the benefit of walking these long downward step courses involves development in the front meat of the thighs and calves, which are otherwise hard muscles to ‘hit.’
The act of walking down these steps, despite the background PTSD I experience (the injury occurred on a set of steps in my house) while scuttling down long courses of rises and runs, also causes the actuation of a bunch of those hidden ‘rubber bands’ found in the foot and ankle which are otherwise calcified, and still stiff from the injury.
I’m all ‘effed up.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As you descend, the steps take the form of several homes sidewalks.
I always muse to myself about how difficult it must be to handle the ‘business of life’ here in the South Side Slopes. Food shopping, parking the car, getting a delivery – all must be informed and constrained by this crazy terrain.
Back tomorrow with more.
“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.
2 ‘Hey Now’s,’ price of 1
Thursday October 8
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After arriving on the south shore of the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, via the T light rail from the Downtown area, your humble narrator scuttled towards a familiar destination – a brewery that sits alongside the CSX Pittsburgh Subdivision tracks.
The plan was to grab a beer, but just one on this day, as it was still kind of early (around 2 pm). I was on my way to the brewery when the signal arms descended and the chimes began ringing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now!
CSX #3028 hurled past. Heading away from Pittsburgh, in a southeasterly direction.
Historically, the space I was walking through used to be a part of an enormous train yard operated by the PLERR – ‘P&LE” or the ‘Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad.’
That trivia would matter, when the next one appeared.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One was heading towards the usual spot at the brewery, and that cold beer I had been dreaming about for a few miles now. So was #3028 and the line of mixed rail cars that it was hauling behind it.
Managed to get to the brewery, inspect the porcelain, and order a drink.
Just as I was securing my gear around the outdoor table which I’d be occupying, the signal chimes lit up again and the RR’s wooden barrier arms descended at the street intersections.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Next up was CSX #1875.
Hey Now! – This is the 15th train which the CSX people have painted up with ‘heritage’ color ways and branding for this year’s July 4th dealie.
Here’s their press release.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I wish there was some way I could convey how loud the experience is, having a fright train shoot past you about ten to twenty feet away – at speed – while it’s passing through a space wherein it’s entirely surrounded by brick walls. Sound bounces, and reflects, and… scalar effects, that’s what they’re called.
Suffice to say that I could be listening to Black Sabbath – at maximum volume – through headphones jammed tightly in my ears, and I would not be able to hear a single note of it. Lord of this world, indeed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Similarly to #3028, #1875 was heading in a southeasterly direction and towards the ‘Mon Valley,’ a highly industrialized series of communities which hug the shorelines of the Monongahela River all the way through PA, and then into West Virginia.
To sum this area up simply – it’s the rust belt.
Back tomorrow with something that’s WAY different.
“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 Hey Now! Triad
Thursday sep 24
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After a medium length walk, one ended up at a familiar spot in the South Side Flats section of Pittsburgh.
What’s now called ‘Burgher’s Brewery,’ formerly the ‘Sly Fox Brewery,’ sits alongside a set of CSX railroad tracks that are fairly busy. Upon my arrival at the brewery, and after a visit to the lavatory, I purchased a pint of ale and got busy.
First up was CSX #1897, which was painted up in ‘heritage’ colors.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
American Railroads offered a quite confusing business map when they were the dominant form of investable industry in this country, and it gets more so when you enter and exit the post Conrail era. The current nationwide companies consolidated, with other survivors of the industry’s early 1970’s apocalypse and nationalization, out of Conrail.
Outfits like Norfolk Southern and CSX were formed from the smoking rubble of the bankrupted freight rail system, dominated by Pennsylvania Railroad and their arch rivals New York Central in the northeast.
This is too long a tale to tell, so I’ll direct you towards Wikipedia for what Conrail was and how all of the modern freight rail companies ‘fell’ out of it.
To understand the ‘world which was,’ let’s just analogize that in the late 19th and early 20th – you didn’t gamble on bitcoin or tech stocks which were promising breakthrough AI services – you bought into railroad stock, and then got out as soon as it paid a return. Rail was pretty much the ‘high tech sector’ back then, but was far more volatile. Let that sink in.
All of the modern freight carriers run ‘heritage units,’ with specialized paint jobs, which signify railroad routes and companies which they have consolidated into the modern operation. Rail fans love this stuff.
‘Monon Railroad’ was one of the many smaller outfits that were combined into CSX. Hear about 1897 direct from the horse’s mouth.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I usually don’t keep shooting after the ‘head of the snake’ has passed out of frame, but there were several ‘DPU’ locomotives in line behind 1897 and a couple of them were interesting to me.
Y’know, even if I was shooting video here, there’s no way I’d be able to convey the absolute landslide of reflected noise which a group of locomotives makes when passing through a narrow brick lined slot like this. Were I able to record it, I wouldn’t be able to play it back at the same volume without the benefit of some movie theater’s sound system – and even then… LOUD.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another interesting locomotive was in line, this one painted up with the branding and color way of the ‘Maryland Midland’ outfit.
Hmm. That’s a new one.
I headed inside the brewery and ordered a ‘reload’ for my ale, and also paid my tab. As mentioned often, two drinks is plenty for me these days.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I started walking towards the Station Square Light Rail station shortly after CSX #5236 up there passed me by. I followed one of the trails, after returning my glass to the bartender. Yep, inspected the porcelain again, then set off. I managed to meet up with the group of people I wanted to see, and got a free hot dog out of it too.
At the end of the game, after arriving back at HQ, I had walked something like nine miles all told. ‘Not every walk has to be the Bataan Death March’ is – as you might recall – a new motto of mine.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While plying the trail towards the T light rail station, yet another CSX train rolled past me. All told, I felt pretty satisfied with the outing’s effort.
My day didn’t suck.
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.
CSX Trains and Hey Now! Vibes
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A few shots from the end of a short but cool walk in Pittsburgh, and pictured above is the ‘Uptown’ or ‘The Bluff’ zone along the Monongahela River. Picture’s POV is from the pedestrian walkways of the South Tenth Street Bridge.
I decided to head over to the brewery nearby the CSX tracks that I frequent, in the ‘South Side Flats’ section. Hadn’t had a drink in a couple of weeks, and a cold beer sounded fantastic.
About 15 minutes worth of scuttling, and I arrived. Headed inside, inspected the porcelain, purchased my drink, headed for the door leading to the outdoor seating… and just as I was walking outside…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now!
CSX #1852, all spiffed up with a July 4th paint job, hurtled through the pass. Funnily enough, the night before this was shot, I had been chatting with a railfan buddy of mine back in NYC, saying ‘I really don’t care about all that July 4 stuff they’re doing, if I were to get a shot or not, I don’t care.’ I also extended that statement to cover the Union Pacific ‘Big Boy’ event too. Pfft.
Of course, I got shots of everything, including Big Boy, which will be published fairly soon. Newtown Pentacle Time Warp reminder again, I’m way ahead of the schedule here – for once. This post is being written during the second week of July, for instance.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now!
CSX #7505 came through next, heading westerly just like 1852 was. Empty mineral cars behind it.
Finished that first beer right about here, went inside and received a reload. Headed back out to where I was sitting, and…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now!
Oddly enough, the sequentially numbered ‘next’ train coming through was CSX #7506, heading easterly.
Finished my second beer, and then paid my tab. Began getting ready to head for the T light rail, and catch a ride back to HQ.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now!
CSX #3610 was the next one through, which I captured from an elevation. This is from pretty much directly over the spot that I normally shoot from, below at ground level. The train? Heading easterly.
Short walk, and a pretty cool day for a humble narrator.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I keep on saying it to myself – ‘everytime you leave the house with the camera it doesn’t have to be a marathon, icehole.’
Just out of curiosity – if you’re having a mental chat with yourself, talking out loud to that person in the bathroom mirror for instance, how do you address the part of yourself you’re trying to speak to?
Hey ‘Jerkwater,’ ‘Sir,’ ‘youse,’ or do you talk to yourself formally, with a ‘Mister’ or ‘Frau’? I’ll usually unleash a chord of blue language at my doppelgänger, but that’s ok as luckily the other guy – the one in the mirror – finds my invective as funny as I do.
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.
