Posts Tagged ‘Dormont’
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.
Maritime Monongahela
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily enough, while this wandering mendicant and humble narrator was crossing Pittsburgh’s Smithfield Street Bridge, spanning the Monongahela River, a towboat and barge setup suddenly appeared.
I’ve been missing the act of photographing maritime action lately, so… I got a-clickin with the camera.
That’s the Darlane B Towboat – you can read its ‘specs’ and history here – and she was navigating westerly under the Panhandle Rail Bridge. Joyously, there was also a T streetcar riding on the Panhandle as the boat moved under it. That T was, in turn, heading southwards out of the First Avenue Station and across the ‘Mon’ towards the Station Square stop at the foot of Mount Washington.
Ultimately, that’s where I was heading to, too.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was one of those days where I’m carrying only prime lenses rather than zooms and traveling light with a minimum ‘kit.’ For this one I used the 85mm lens, which was the closest thing to a telephoto that I had with me.
Sated by my peregrinations thereby, I crossed the Smithfield Street Bridge over to the south side of the river where the T Station is found, to catch my ride back to HQ.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The T streetcar was boarded, and one soon found himself back in the Borough of Dormont, some five or so miles away from the center of the city. While walking downhill and back to HQ, one soliloquized that an absolutely spectacular sunset had set itself up. Couldn’t resist cracking out a few shots, thereby, of this celestial display.
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.
A Dormont ‘thigh buster’ scuttle
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The scene above is found about a block and a half from HQ, in the Dormont Borough which directly borders the City of Pittsburgh. Actually, the shot above is in Pittsburgh proper, as the city’s border line is found somewhere’s mid block. I’ve mentioned that HQ is nearby a gorge in the past, that bridge spans part of that landform.
Also mentioned in the past are the presence of hundreds of sets of municipal steps here in Pittsburgh, installed to help the citizenry navigate the area’s challenging terrain.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This bridge is ‘officially’ a set of stairs, or at least it leads to a set of them, which climbs up the other side of the gorge. I’ve walked Moe the Dog back here in the past, and for this particular day’s ’constitutional,’ I decided that I wanted to do some leg work.
According to the phone, when I had gotten to the top of this and its accompanying structure, I had walked something like 11-12 stories worth of stairs in the equivalence of two city blocks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These stairs are set against a wooded hill, where those deer which keep on wandering into my back yard spend their time. Pittsburgh used to have predators, notably Panthers and Wolves, but they’re long gone and the deer population is thereby unfettered by predation. Their main danger to them these days revolves around getting hit by a car.
Good cardio, these stairs.
I forced myself to move up them at a rapid clip while enjoying the feeling of absolute tearing agony in my thighs. I’ll admit to having to take a short break to catch my breath and allow my heart’s ‘beats per minute’ to settle down midway.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The top of the stairs exits you onto a tertiary arterial road, one which follows a parabolic curve around the hill. This is a scary spot, as there’s not any sort of sidewalk, and you’ve only got about a hundred feet of view in either direction. A car moving at 35 mph would bring annihilation so you have to choose your crossing moment quickly.
There’s a red light found at the bottom of this hill, where this street interacts with a busy secondary arterial road.. When a burst of passing cars has passed, that’s when you sprint across the double laned street.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the other side of the road is yet another set of stairs which carry you from the aforementioned secondary to a tertiary arterial road, and the top of a ridge. The street sign across the street is blue and white, meaning it’s in the ‘City of Pittsburgh.’ It’s also labeled as being a ‘way’ which indicates that it’s officially an alley. That’s the way they roll here.
Along the path above, somebody has placed plastic religious sculptures, depicting what I’m seeing as the Catholic Saint Francis. What do you think? This Francis or what? Help a guy out, youse ‘Catlicks,’ in the comments section? Whaddya say?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My goal was to get to the top of these stairs without dying, huffing and puffing, and then continue on a relatively flat path for a mile or two. I’d broken a sweat on all of these rises and runs, which was one accomplishment I was hoping for. I’d also gotten my heart rate elevated for an extended period, and positively blasted my thighs out with all these steep steps. It felt pretty good, I’ll admit.
In case you’re wondering, on this walk I was listening to music rather than an audiobook. Early Butthole Surfers, if you’re really curious.
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.
Getting around
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Ok, this is the last post which will be focused on discussing the experimentation with that new wide angle lens (16mm) I’ve recently acquired, which I walked around with in Pittsburgh on a recent autumn afternoon and evening. Pictured above and below is the T light rail, which was utilized to get ‘to and fro’ on this particular day.
The point of these shots were about testing the thing’s capability, seeing where it sings and where it fails. I learned quite a bit about the lens, and have continued its usage rather than returning it for refund.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The next few days, after these shots were captured, were quite rainy. That was fine with me, as I had quite a bit of research to complete for an upcoming day trip, one I’ve been anxious to experience since arriving here in Pittsburgh. It has been just about one year now since I closed the cover on Newtown Creek, but there’s a connection to that malign ribbon of urban neglect snaking along the undefended border of Brooklyn and Queens back in NYC, which I’ve long wished to witness. Those posts, exploring the day trip dealie, start up at the end this week, and I hope you’ll come with…
Overall, I’m intrigued by the new lens and what it’s going to let me do. It performed pretty well in low light, I’ll offer. It’s also a weird new tool which I haven’t shot with enough for it to be called ‘predictable.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This time last year, one was moving at a thousand miles an hour preparing to leave NYC, and execute the move to Pittsburgh. A humble narrator was also trying to do everything, see everyone, and always be conscious of the fact that ‘everytime was the last time.’ There’s a lot of people whom I just said ‘goodbye’ to, as it’s unlikely I’ll ever see or hear from them again. That’s the New York way, when somebody leaves.
This year, I’ve been in a very very different place, figuratively and literally. I’ve also got that snazzy new 16 mm lens, so there’s that, too.
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 