Posts Tagged ‘Dormont’
Back to HQ
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After a long walk down a steep hill and a thousand feet of steps, my dogs were barking. Thereby, I was quite pleased when a T light rail train set arrived to ferry me back to HQ, some five miles distant.
This option is pretty much going to not exist for the entire summer, which sucks, but the transit agency people are going to be reconditioning the concrete and rails which the T rides on. Necessary repairs, they say.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s going to be brutal for a lot of people, having this particular rug yanked out from under them. There’s going to be shuttle buses working the route, but a bus ain’t a train, and it’s going to take a longer time to get where you’re going. What are you going to do, fight City Hall?
If this was NYC, and MTA was running the project, the three month ‘T’ outage would probably balloon into five years.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Limping at this point, as all of those steps had triggered my ‘trick left foot,’ I managed to make it back to Dormont where HQ is located. That’s the block where all things Pentacle revolves around these days.
Back next week with something different – at this, your Newtown Pentacle.
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Goldurnit
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sigh… so… the local transit outfit, which operates the T Light Rail here in Pittsburgh, is called ‘Pittsburgh Regional Transit,’ or simply ‘PRT.’ Compared to the monstrous political patronage outfit and financial black hole back in NYC which calls itself the MTA – PRT is comparatively a small family sized business that runs buses, inclines, and a truly tiny light rail system around the Pittsburgh metro area. The PRT does a better job of all this – with far fewer resources – if you ask me, but they’re still the ‘Gub’mint.’
Recently announced, there’s a series of repair and maintenance projects barreling down the pike towards Pittsburgh. Several of these will specifically affect me, so when PRT announced they were going to stage a public meeting to present on and discuss the situation…
As always: They’d show up with their PowerPoint presentations, and a consolidated ‘This is how it’s going to be’ message. Somebody from the community always has to show up, ignore the social contract of not questioning your betters, and say to them ‘not good enough.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I said that I was never going to another Governmental meeting, didn’t I?
I’m done, I said.
Despite that… there I was, with my big mouth flapping open and saying it – “Hi, I’m Mitch Waxman, and…” Before I knew it I was asking how they’d combat decaying headway times during the construction process, and questioning their (highly optimistic and flawed) metrics about the time factor of loading shuttle buses versus the light rail system.
Damn it. The battle with darkness never ends, does it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Suffice to say that you’re not going to be seeing shots here of the T running between the end of May and September, and that I’m finally going to be taking a ride on a Pittsburgh bus. Looking forward to checking out the busway system, I am, with its private rights of way separate from private vehicular traffic. That’s the plus, the positive side of things.
The negative is that the summer of ‘24 outage in T service is just the beginning of a long series of projects which are scheduled to play out over a nearly five year interval. Even worse news is that I’m supposed to attend a meeting of the local transit advocacy group, tomorrow night.
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.
Starts with T, ends with T, sounds like ‘tea’
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After a short walk, described this past week, a quick bit of waiting at the light rail station saw my chariot arrive. I’ve got a car parked back in the driveway at HQ, but give me a choice between driving and mass transit… I’m always taking the train if I can.
Has nothing to do with any lofty ideals or anything like that. I feel a greater sense of freedom not having to worry about where I parked and how to get back there, and I can even stop off for a quick beer if I like when I’m on foot. I’m fairly ‘hardcore’ about not driving when ‘substances’ might be involved, these days. On this particular walk, no extracurricular activities occurred, but if the camaraderie of a tap room called, I could answer that clarion call.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Upon returning back to Dormont, which is where HQ is located, I hung around the station for a few minutes to capture the shot above, of a Pittsburgh bound T. I normally shoot this sort of thing from the inward bound platform, rather than from the outward bound one. What can I tell you, the light was nice.
By this part of the day, the chorus of cracking and popping sounds echoing up my skeleton had abided, as all of my internally lubricated parts had received a fairly nice amount of exercise. My plan thereby worked and I’m clearly the smartest one of all.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is the street which HQ is located on, and it’s found all the way down at the end of the block at bottom of the hill. The spot where the pavement changes is the legal border between Dormont and Pittsburgh, so I can report that I dwell on the edge. Green and white street signs are found in Dormont and Blue/White ones are Pittsburgh, and that’s how you can tell where you are.
Back next week 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.
Ten mile scuttle, part six
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I punked out on the last section of my walk, and headed over to the T Light Rail Station on Pittsburgh’s First Avenue to catch a ride back home. Of all the T stations I’ve visited, the one that looks the most ‘right’ to me is First Avenue.
On your way out of Pittsburgh, you either pay when exiting the T or at the Station you’re getting out at. It’s all very confusing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back in Dormont, after debarking the T and getting a Gatorade at the gas station across the street, I stopped off for a quick shot of a Pittsburgh bound train set picking up passengers.
I began my scuttle down the hills towards HQ, with a genuinely weary gait. I had walked somewhere just over ten miles in about three hours.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As I faced down the ice on the steep hill of the block that HQ is found at the bottom of, I cracked out one last shot of a lovely little house that has just changed hands at the top of the hill. I know the place is vacant, so I was positive that nobody’s privacy was going to be pierced by clicking the shutter.
According to Zillow, this 1,104 square foot, three bedroom and two bathroom house just got sold for $319,000. There’s a driveway, and a pretty big yard, too. Sweet.
Back next week.
“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.
All cars are street cars… just sayin
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Christmas Day is when these shots of the ‘T’ streetcar, speeding through the Borough of Dormont here in the Pittsburgh Metropole, were shot. Our Lady of the Pentacle and myself had met up with neighborhood friends at the local dive bar for a few holiday drinks.
Me? It was actually somewhat bright outside and I couldn’t help but wander about a bit.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The T pictured above and below is a Siemens SD-400 model streetcar, which runs on Pennsylvania Trolley Gauge tracks. These are facts I learned by visiting a detailed and nicely researched post found at tramreview.com.
These streetcars replaced a fleet of earlier and ‘proper’ Trolley cars. I’m planning on heading over to the PA. Trolley Museum at some point in the coming months to learn more.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was nice having a little get together with the neighbors on Christmas, and also getting a few belts in during the early afternoon.
Day drinking, amirite?
It ain’t the 7 train, the ‘T,’ but I find it pretty interesting. Still haven’t taken a bus or checked out Pittsburgh’s ‘Bus ways.’
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 