Posts Tagged ‘Dormont’
Operation Run, gun, and Hey Now
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It had been about three weeks since a ‘big’ winter storm had blanketed Pittsburgh in about a foot and half of snow, and that weather event also accomplished the arrival of arctic air, here in the Paris of Appalachia. Said atmospheric incursion installed frigid conditions which persisted for the better part of a month.
The shots in today’s post (and in several subsequent ones) were gathered during a short scuttle on February the 10th of 2026. As you might discern, my efforts at maintaining ‘lead time,’ as far as when these posts publish in relationship to when the photos were actually shot is currently well ahead of schedule and working out. One less thing to worry about, for me.
Of course, it’s likely that early spring has started in the northeast, as you’re reading this, and here I am reminding you of a hard winter. I’ve always offered others a glimmer of darkness, just as the sun begins to rise. I’m like a dark cloud on a sunny day, or an irregularly shaped mole on someone’s ass which suddenly starts to bleed. This is part of why everyone hates me. Pariah.
This was kind of a short walk, and ‘the path’ was governed by endemic ice and snow conditions, and the frosty horror was adhering to sidewalks and roadways. My ‘way’ was decided for me, in many cases, by these frozen accretions and the paths around them.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After debarking the T Light Rail service, which had carried my pre-corpse into town from Dormont, one set upon a northwards path.
Whereas the air temperature on this particular day was measured as being in the high 30’s, the ground temperature was still sub zero after long intervals of single digit and below zero temperatures. Any melt water coming off the snow pack instantly froze onto any concrete or masonry it touched, forming sheens of fresh and super slippery ice.
‘It was slippy aht,’ as the local Yinzers might offer, in the regional dialect.
I didn’t really have a set goal for the day, as you really can’t plan around finding out a four to five foot tall wall of plowed snow is blocking your path, in random places. One followed his nose, thereby.
It was really all about movement, and staying in it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The first area I scuttled through was right next to what I’ve learned to be the former ‘Clark Bar’ candy factory, of the D.L. Clark outfit. There’s a rail bridge back here, one which I’ve had my eye on for a bit, so I figured…
Hey Now?
Well… the sidewalks were clear at least…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey now indeed!
Luckily for me, Norfolk Southern’s #4430 showed up just as I arrived. It’s a rebuilt GE AC44C6M model locomotive, which I’m told was originally christened as NS #9212 when it first rolled out of the RR factory in 1998.
It was hauling some sort of black mineral. Likely coal or coke, but unless you know something for sure… don’t guess.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This span (the Merchant Street Bridge) connects to a rail trench which then flows northwards through Allegheny Commons Park, a spot which I’ve visited fairly regularly. These tracks then follow the Allegheny River for a spell. There’s a branch off spur which allows cross river rail connection over the Allegheny at the Fort Wayne Rail Bridge, and then also at the 33rd st. bridge. There’s other rail trestles upriver, and downriver, obviously, but I haven’t shot them all… quite yet.
Hey Now!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Yes, I’m completely aware that I’ve been moving through this area quite a bit in recent weeks.
Here’s why: I can get here pretty easily during inclement weather using mass transit, and given the presence of large institutions like the stadiums, parks, and hospitals found in this ‘zone,’ better odds of encountering pavement where the snow had been cleared exist. Theoretically, at least.
Saying that, Pittsburgh absolutely faceplanted on snow clearance during this season. I don’t think I need to mention the ‘orthopedic incident’ as being psychologically omnipresent while negotiating ice and snow.
Back tomorrow with more.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Kurz-Bricht von da Lag
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This post wraps up the tale of a short walk in a wintry Pittsburgh, with its frozen over rivers and endemic ice and snow. One had used mass transit to get here from HQ in Dormont, and that’s how I planned on getting back.
Thankfully, now that the orthopedic incident recedes into ‘something that happened,’ I no longer have to rely on expensive ride shares to get around when I don’t want to drive. The T light rail was my next goal.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
People here don’t understand it… You’ve got a car in your driveway, why would you…
What can I say, I’m still a New Yorker at heart and unless you ‘need’ to drive somewhere why would you? Part of my allergy to using the car as my sole form of transportation revolves around having to get back to wherever it is that I parked the thing after walking miles and miles. Additionally, as I often opine: you can’t really see anything from a car or a bike as you’re moving too quickly.
I sometimes like stopping off at a bar to grab a drink after a walk, too. Can’t do that if you drove.
Famously, that brewery where I shoot all the CSX trains is a good example of that. Couldn’t engage with pints of beer with the car in tow. Basically, I don’t want to be bothered, and prefer leaving my options open for serendipity. Having to loop back to wherever I parked the car also creates a limitation on my wanderings.
Ultimately, I enjoy riding the trains.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
You have to plunge through ‘the cultural district’ to get to the T Station I was aiming for. There’s a theatre or two here, and a few restaurants and bars, with the convention center a couple of blocks east of this spot.
The ‘culture’ they mention in the designation is for the ‘upper class’ version of culture – theatre, and ballets, and opera. Unless you’ve got a ticket for one of these things, the culture you’ll actually observe hereabouts is one that proudly exhorts: ‘Opioids are great, and so are amphetamines.’ A lot of people you’ll meet hereabouts, on the street, will loudly proclaim ‘I don’t give a ‘eff,’ about a broad range of subjects.
The older I’ve gotten the more I’ve realized that you should give as many ‘effs as you’ve got. Life’s like that.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I made it to the T’s Wood Street station, and then entered the facility.
A Red Line T soon arrived and thusly I was heading back to HQ.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s what it looks like onboard, if anyone is curious, while riding the T light rail away from Pittsburgh.
Soon, I was back in Dormont and uncomfortably slushing my feet through the snow, back towards home. Maybe four to five miles worth of walking this time around, all told and door to door.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Couldn’t help but get a shot of this enigmatic snowman for my last shot of the day. It was a frustrating walk, this one, but I’ve got to keep moving or I’ll stop moving so there we are.
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.
Ad arma se conferre
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Stir crazy, that’s how I’d describe the mental state one enjoyed after hunkering down for endless days during a fairly historic weather event here in Pittsburgh. Couldn’t stand it anymore.
One wrapped his pre-corpse in the usual fuligin, except for the coat, which was the heavy duty and super warm Carhartt ‘Pennsylvania Coat.’ The only other exception to the usual rule was my headwear, which was a fedora constructed from thick leather.
The hat is something I only roll out during icy conditions, and it provides me with some protection from falling ice which is sloughing off of trees, utility poles, and trestles. A baseball cap ain’t gonna help you at all if a chunk of ice gets dislodged from a structure and falls, cracking you one right in the gulliver. The leather hat ain’t a hard hat, but it’s kept me from getting clogged on the noggin by falling ice several times over the years.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Walking toward the T light rail station, here in Pittsburgh’s Dormont, I passed by a ‘parking chair.’ There’s a lot of colloquial customs out here. The Pittsburgh Left isn’t a legal move, but it’s expected for you to participate at narrow intersections to keep traffic moving. You signal the other driver that it’s ok to turn in front of you by flashing your ‘brights’ at them.
The parking chairs are installed by someone who dug a car out of the snow and then left for work, with the chair vouchsafing that the hard won spot will be there afterwards. Woe to you, should you decide to move somebody else’s parking chair, and leave your car in that space. Ain’t pretty, what happens next…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Up at the top of the hill, where the light rail station is found, and one was passing the time while waiting for my chariot by waving the camera about. Dormont has a snow removal operation underway, with heavy equipment. We received about 14 inches of the stuff in the first big storm, which was then followed by a severe drop in temperature, and then by what seemed like daily bands of light snow which striped new layers of precipitant onto the original problem. All of this ‘weather’ has resulted in a not insignificant amount of ‘frozen’ which needs to be cleared away.
The Yinzers might say ‘it needs clear.’ They have a weird local language tick out here, part of the local cultural ‘vernacular.’ As a non Yinzer you’d say that ‘I need to wash my car,’ whereas the Yinzer would say ‘my car needs wash.’ Fascinating usage, to me at least.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Pittsburgh bound T light rail arrived, and your humble narrator boarded the thing. As I passed through the aisles of seats while shambling onboard, people looked up with concern and disgust visible on their faces, women clutched at their handbags, a service dog began to growl.
The plan for the day was for a short scuttle, due to the cold, but I’d been sitting on my butt for better than a week at this point and I was anxious to get out and about. One was ‘traveling light,’ with the camera and only a couple of lenses. What I’ve described in the past as my ‘minimum kit,’ the basics.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was an unambitious route that I had cooked up. I’d take the T to the North Side, a path which I’d calculated as being a bit less risky regarding blocked sidewalks and such, due to the presence of large institutions in the area – stadiums, hospitals, office buildings. Turns out ‘not so much.’
Again, without the retribution for inaction offered by an army of DSNY inspectors who write tickets with abandon, people just kind of let things slide. Sliding is a lot of what I ended up doing during this afternoon walk.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I debarked the T light rail at the ‘North Side’ stop, which more or less underlies the stadium where the Pittsburg Pirates regularly disappoint their fans. Even the hotels didn’t feel compelled to fully clear their sidewalks, and one negotiated his way through a path that was suspiciously the same width as your average snow shovel. No wider than maybe 18 inches, with slush lagoons.
One of the nearby hotels had rid itself of several mattresses. The wrapped up one betrays the protocol for bed bugs, as a note.
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.
Stroad Tales
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These shots were gathered during a recent walk in frigid clime – which started in Pittsburgh’s Mount Lebanon, and ended back at HQ in neighboring Dormont.
Continuing, one was walking through a quite hostile to pedestrians corridor called ‘Route 19 Truck’ by officialdom. In this section, 19 is called ‘Washington Road,’ but at some magical spot along the way it transmogrifies into ‘West Liberty Avenue’ when entering Dormont, and then proceeds towards the Liberty Tunnel some 5 or so miles hence.
It’s not a well designed pedestrian experience, have to say, and it would be freaking terrifying to ride a bike through here as well. Route 19, a primary and sometimes secondary arterial road, is what’s known in transit planning circles as a ‘stroad.’
Curbs are uneven across its length, sometimes you step off an 18 inch curb, and a block later there’s a 1 inch curb. Curb cuts at intersections are uneven, as well, and there are seldom ‘rumble strips’ inserted into the curb cuts to accomodate users of mobility devices.
Mostly 30 second red lights with ‘walk, don’t walk’ cycles that start blinking red before you’re even a third of the way into the crosswalk.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Route 19 accretes traffic to itself as it moves towards the Liberty Tunnel, scraping vehicles out of the local grids of Dormont, Brookline, and Beechview principally. It also narrows to one lane in spots, due to on street parking in Dormont and elsewhere.
Drivers seem to grow fevered and enraged in this area as they encounter a series of red lights, slowing their progress towards the central section of the city. Road rage and narrow streets… magic combination right there.
This used to be a trolley route, by the way. Notice those iron utility poles with the three electrical connectors up top?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One prides himself as being ‘able to read a city like a book.’ If something is old and it’s still there, there’s probably a reason. In my case, there is no reason, but I’m old and there…
Everything I’ve definitely not read – as far as history goes – suggests that Pittsburgh began the process of abandoning its trolley system as early as the 1960’s. If an iron pole is still present on the sidewalk sixty to seventy and change years after its built purpose has faded away, there’s a reason.
Definitely not doing any historic research at all, me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Here’s an example of why I’m on history strike. People are idiots. Being smart has become a liability now. Act dumb, and fit in. Don’t stand out, squeaky wheel gets replaced.
The future just sucks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I was tracking where the addresses on shops changed over from being on Washington Road over to West Liberty Avenue, and now have an idea where that municipal ‘line’ between Dormont and Mount Lebanon is.
I know where the cultural line is, as they have it delineated with a platinum and copper band set into the road where Mount Lebanon starts, and there’s also the golden fire hydrants… there’s also a nightly drone light show…
In Dormont, we use a line of crushed charcoal for our borders. Used up stuff, from the base of a Weber they keep at City Hall for cook outs.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another walk through the cold wastes… this post is actually being written in your past, as it’s the very end of January right now and it’s negative four degrees outside while I’m writing this. It’s very, very cold. Bah!
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.
TCB, in Mount Lebanon
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Ice, snow, extreme cold… no bueno.
An overnight plunge in temperatures, combined with freezing rain, convinced me of the fact that this would an excellent day to not be driving a car. Saying that, I had a bit of ‘business’ to take care of and since the nearest corporate outposts of the particular outfits I needed to transact with were just up ‘Route 19 Truck,’ aka ‘West Liberty Avenue,’ or in the case of where I was heading ‘Washington Road,’ I decided to use the T light rail to get there.
Normally, I’d just drive, about ten minutes at worst from Dormont. The T took me about a half hour or so, figuring in the walk from HQ to the station and waiting for the train.
My business was all personal – an ATM visit, pick up some stuff from here and there, that sort of errand set. I actually found a pretty decent pizzeria in this zone.
Brought the camera along as I was going to walk back to HQ in Dormont along West Liberty Avenue, one of the roadways I’m looking at in a granular fashion at the moment.
Several posts were offered recently, about the terminus side of Route 19 where it meets the Liberty Tunnels. Check those out here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is the start of ‘Mount Lebanon,’ a wealthy suburb of Pittsburgh. We dwell in nearby Dormont, which is a bit more affordable – if you hear what I’m saying. They have a kickass library, I’d mention.
One roamed around in the cold, wearing his bubbly winter coat, snapping pix while shivering and scuttling along.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My errands complete, a walk back to HQ started. There’s a cemetery across the street here which I’ve only taken a single quick look at, shortly after moving out to Pittsburgh from NYC. That cemetery is also ‘on the list’ for another lookie loo.
There’s also a couple of tall apartment buildings hereabouts which would provide commanding views for an itinerant photographer, if only he could find a method to talk his way up to their roof.
There’s three huge churches also found in this section, which is fairly close to that invisible legal border defining Dormont and Mount Lebanon.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In this section, Route 19 is built onto a ridge line, with the residential neighborhoods surrounding it seemingly oozing down the hills.
Needless to day, you need to regard snow and ice conditions quite seriously here in Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The prominence of the Hill which Route 19/Washington Road rides on peaks nearby the local Roman Catholic’s outpost. Just a few blocks away, you’ll notice iron being used for utility poles, which are actually cross purposed trolley infrastructure. Here, the utility poles are wooden.
Hilarity usually emerges in conversation about Mount Lebanon, when it occurs in Dormont. ‘They’ve got gold and platinum fire hydrants, the Lebos do,’ and ‘they can afford it’ is usually the answer to any scandal of the day which might be going on over there. Suffice to say that the ‘average median income’ of Mount Lebanon includes several extra commas, as compared to that of Dormont.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Roman Catholic outfit mentioned above, St. Bernard’s. I randomly visited the church once, shortly after moving to Pittsburgh. Check that out here.
Back tomorrow with more wanderings.
“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 