Posts Tagged ‘Dawn Avenue’
Precipitant parading
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Owning a car can be a real pain in the neck, sometimes.
Mentioned about a month ago, there’s a ‘recall part’ which Toyota is obligated to replace under the hood of my car, and the last time I made an appointment for the work to be done the local ‘stealership’ it turned out that they had neglected to order the replacement part.
That’s how and why I found myself up early in the morning and dropping the Mobile Oppression Platform off at the mechanic a month later, and then walking down Pittsburgh’s (Route 19 Truck) West Liberty Avenue during a thunderstorm, again.
This storm was accompanied by a sudden and noticeable change in climate, and it had actually become quite warm and humid at ground level. I was shvitzing, but I was still all wrapped up in insulating garments and ready for winter.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Some jackass in a pickup truck was driving through here at 80 mph recently, whereupon they lost control of the vehicle and smashed into several utility poles. Knocked out power for hundreds of homes and dozens of businesses for an entire day, that Yinzer did.
If you ever find yourself driving around these parts, give the pickups a wide berth. Something happens to drivers behind the wheels of those things, wherein they want to teach strangers ‘lessons.’ Not allowing other drivers to merge towards highway exits, or signaling a right turn when they’re going to make a left, if they happen to use the directional indicators at all. Driving about like self entitled jerks, in general.
It’s one thing when somebody has to drive a truck for work, and there’s plenty of those folks on the roads, but what you really need to watch out for are those ‘somebodies’ who pull up next to you in a giant vehicle covered in ‘don’t tread on me’ or ‘let’s go brandon’ stickers which they paid north of 50-70k for, and which only gets 26 mpg. The truck is used exclusively for driving to and from an office job, on a high speed road, despite wearing ‘mud tires.’ This sort of vehicle is referred to as a ‘pavement princess’ and conspicuous consumption is why it was purchased. This is the sort of truck which wiped out at 80 mph on a local street and knocked out electricity to an entire neighborhood.
All of this represents high levels of cognitive static, to me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sweet signage, I’d mention.
My plan for the morning was… well… it was to wait for the mechanic to tell me that their repair process had finished. Wasn’t expecting ‘the call’ until the afternoon, at any rate.
It seems there’s a sort of master cable which electrically connects all the disparate computer controlled mechanisms under the hood of the car. It also seems that the initial ‘manufactured and shipped’ version of this cable is quite vulnerable to salt corrosion, and Toyota is on the hook for replacing them all due to a lawsuit. I haven’t had any problems with the thing, so the repair was proactive.
No matter what happens, I always end up walking in the rain.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My rainy walk carried me over to a spot called ‘Dawn Avenue,’ where a series of overlaying infrastructural bits can be observed. It was an extremely unpleasant spot to be on this particular morning, due to the rain and concurrent muddy conditions. I had decided to ‘give it a half hour’ and see if I’d be lucky enough to spot a Wheeling & Lake Erie locomotive moving through here, but came up empty again.
At least I got to peel off my coat and hat, and cool off while sheltering from the rain under that elevated causeway, which carries one of Pittsburgh’s Busways as well as a right of way for the T light Rail. It made for a sound umbrella.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking up Dawn Avenue, towards a residential pocket in the Beechview section. I really have to get up there and explore that section, one of these days.
There’s some very fresh content coming down the pipeline, I’d mention. I’ve visited a few really interesting spots, since this rainy day morning.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After a fruitless half hour, one slopped his way up a set of stairs, shambled horribly across the busway, and then cast my putrid shadow upon the innocent pavement while waiting for a T light rail unit to arrive, and carry the pre-corpse back to HQ in nearby Dormont. The car was ready later in the afternoon.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t my only car maintenance chore for the week.
Back tomorrow with something 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.
Operation Huílái
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just a few scouting shots from an entrance to Pittsburgh’s ‘T’ light rail service today, found at the Dawn Avenue stop on the City’s Southern Busway.
As mentioned last week, one was killing some time while the Toyota was off at the ‘stealership’s’ mechanic shop for an annual inspection and a recall based replacement of an engine component. Your narrator had humbly scuttled down a primary arterial road here in Pittsburgh after his automotive assignation, a ‘stroad’ dubbed as ‘U.S. Route 19 Truck’ for its totality but which is designated as ‘West Liberty Avenue’ in this vicinity. One was heading for the Dawn Avenue stop on the “T” light rail service.
The opportunity to wave the camera around in this vicinity and scout out a few locations for future use was gladly taken.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An interchange of local and arterial roads feeds vehicle traffic into the Liberty Tunnel, described in some detail in a prior post. Said tunnel provides connection between the South Hills section (where Newtown Pentacle HQ, in Dormont, is found – approximately five miles away from this position) and then on the other side you gain access to the rest of the Pittsburgh Metro’s road network, notably I-376 and I-379.
I drive through here regularly, but as is often stated: you can’t ‘see’ anything from behind the wheel of a car as you’re moving too fast.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These rail tracks are used by the Wheeling & Lake Erie RR outfit, and I will certainly be haunting this location when the climate warms back up while hoping for rail shots to manifest. Directly across the street from those stairs leading to the busway, this is.
I waved the camera around for a bit.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Heading towards my transit connection, but still shooting on my way to the busway where the stop is, which is up that flight of steps. These images should be defined as ‘what’s there’ snap shots, rather than being ‘photographs.’
Photographs – to me – are considered and composed shots meant to tell a story. A snap shot is something executed quickly, without much consideration. Mind you, there’s a lot to be said for quick observations, and about 80% of what you see here fit into my definition of ‘snap shots.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Yikes! The weird PTSD symptoms I’ve been experiencing around walking down flights of stairs was triggered by this sight. Yikes!
There are multiple ‘busways’ in Pittsburgh. These roads are closed to all but transit and municipal vehicles like those operated by the cops, fire departments, and ambulance services. The Southern Busway, which those stairs lead up to, incorporates tracks and catenaries for the T light rail. I’ve been riding past this particular stop at Dawn Avenue for three years, and I’m glad that I finally took a look at what’s here.
Plans for the warmer months which I’m crafting involve these busways.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Red Line T appeared, and one boarded the thing for a ride back to Dormont, where the plan for the day called on me to helplessly wait until the Toyota people called to say that the car was ready for pickup. I had photos to process at home anyway, so no big deal. They said they’d send a ‘courtesy vehicle’ to pick me up.
As it turned out I wasn’t done walking for the day.
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.
Operation Ochtendgloren
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So… that’s where I was heading… Dawn Avenue’s intersection with Route 19 / West Liberty Avenue at the Liberty Tunnel interchange.
This has to be one of the least pedestrian friendly spots in Pittsburgh. Traffic is literally coming at you from every direction of the compass. It’s the ‘last stop’ for commuters towards the downtown section of Pittsburgh, and high speed road connections to points north and east of the city itself, from the South Hills.
Drivers get quite salty when they get caught at red lights in this zone.
One found an intersection with a painted crosswalk, and hit the little arrow button on the signal pole. Soon, the device was telling me it was safe to cross and one burst across the intersection as fast as his fat little feet could carry him.
It’s been more than a year now, and I basically still cannot run due to the orthopedic incident. Working on it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Traffic insanity is everywhere. Pittsburgh drivers will maliciously slow down to make you catch a light. Pittsburgh drivers will intentionally keep you away from highway exits by lurking in your blind spot, and commonly tailgate other vehicles – at speed – on the highways. They’ll ‘fake’ a left turn and then go right… they suck.
Why? Lulz. The Yinzers think it’s funny.
After wiggling my butt across the intersection, I realized that the lighting had changed again and things had gotten quite photogenic all of a sudden.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Up that flight of steps, that’s where I’d need to get in order to go back to HQ.
I enjoyed a quick chat with a fellow named Brian who owns that auto shop whose signage is seen in the bottom left of the shot above. He gave me some time of day ‘intel’ on when Wheeling & Lake Erie RR commonly transits through this area, and he then informed that me he’s retiring and that the business is up for sale ‘if I know anyone interested.’
After a quick hand shake and my admonition that I wasn’t interested in purchasing an auto repair and used car sales business, I was off on my way. Hope he finds a reliable buyer. Nice guy.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking back at West Liberty Avenue from Dawn Avenue’s paver covered roadway. Pavers (cobblestones colloquially, or more accurately ‘Belgian Blocks) are used on roads all over Pittsburgh, and particularly so on these steep streets. They suck to drive on, as your car is bouncing all over the place, but the pavers do enhance the ‘grip’ of your tires and allow for a bit more control in terms of speed and braking on a slope.
This was a fairly barren spot, by the way. Didn’t see any evidence of homeless encampments, or any sort of morbid habitations, here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Those are the steps leading up to the Southern Busway, which is partially ‘tracked’ to serve the T light rail. Nearby is the yard used by a towing company which seems to enjoy a municipal contract. If you parked illegally, and they scooped up your auto, odds are that you’re coming out here to get it back.
Reminds me of the old days in NYC when the NYPD used an area under the Kosciuszcko Bridge, in Queens, as a tow yard. At least in Pittsburgh, the tow yard is sited somewhat near mass transit. NYPD used to tow cars out to a remote spot which you needed a car to get to, which I always thought of as being a kind of perverse joke.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
People live up here, and there’s a small neighborhood present in these foothills. This is, as I often call such places, a ‘pregnant location.’ Lots of photo opportunities. I’ll be coming back, and specifically so in pursuit of some rail shots from this spot.
Back next week with more – 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 