Posts Tagged ‘Fort Pitt Bridge’
Engage
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally, a day arrived here in Pittsburgh when it wasn’t; a) raining, b) snowing, c) under 20 degrees fahrenheit. One packed up the camera bag, donned that filthy black raincoat which I refer to as my ‘Street Cassock,’ and set forth to scuttle up the hill to The T light rail station.
I have a real preference for leaving the car at home unless I absolutely have no other choice to do so. This is odd for the region I now live in, which very much ‘car country.’ Personally, I don’t want to be bothered with parking and then getting back to the thing when I’ve got a mass transit option. The car cuts into the often serendipitous decisions which occur when I’m walking about.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the solution that they came up with here in Downtown Pittsburgh to solve the ‘Homeless people pissing on the streets’ problem. Imagine that, not having to chance a ticket to do what comes naturally, and a large municipality which acknowledges human biology.
NYC’s response to a lack of such accommodation for the downtrodden has always been to send in the “Reverend in Blue” to write them a fine for pissing in public. I tell people about this here in Pittsburgh, NYC’s total lack of public bathrooms, a problem that only got worse after COVID.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Going back to the reasoning behind why I left the car at home, a random decision to walk over the Fort Pitt Bridge occurred to me and I was soon navigating my way over the Monongahela River, on the span’s bike and pedestrian path.
This was a medium long walk, incidentally, and over the course of the afternoon I probably scuttled out about 6-7 miles. It was also one of those walks where I was just making up my path and I didn’t have any sort of predefined destination or route. Just walking here, me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve been hitting this ‘inner circle’ of Pittsburgh where the 3 Rivers meet for a couple of months now – for fairly prosaic reasons – it’s easy for me to get to, and it’s where the waterfront trails are the most developed. Additionally: tugboats and trains and bridges…
As soon as the weather becomes reliable (as in not freezing or snowing) in the early Spring, I’m planning on visiting a couple of other places in Pittsburgh’s ‘neighborhood,’ notably Cleveland. I’m going to overnight that one, as it’s a bit of a drive at about two and a half hours.
I’ll be passing through East Palestine – where that train blew up last year – on that one, as a note.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Fort Pitt Bridge connects to the Fort Pitt Tunnel, and is punched through Mount Washington. It spans the very end of the Monongahela River, and is close to the Ohio River. That bridge in the distance is the West End Bridge, and it stretches over the Ohio, just for reference on the geography.
I didn’t catch the name of that Tug with those minerals barges, despite it being the protagonist of the photo (meaning that it was what the lens was focused on).
The path on the bridge for pedestrians like myself doesn’t go into the tunnel, instead it turns west and takes you – ultimately – towards the West End Bridge pictured above.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s kind of getting personal now, not getting the composition above with a train on those tracks. Beyond personal, it’s annoying already. I’m going to get it, have no doubt. I think I’m going to have to set up the camera and just sit there waiting for something to happen. Photography is often a lot like fishing, you prepare your gear and go to where you need to, but if they ain’t biting…
Bah! One continued along his way, walking the pedestrian path’s ramp back down to ground level on the south side of the Monongahela River.
Having ridden the T into town from HQ, a free transfer to one of the inclines was in the offing, and since I was heading in that direction anyway…
Back tomorrow.
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Fort Pitt Bridge
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A humble narrator is taking the week off from the usual folderol, and on offer are single shots captured sometime in the last year since relocating from ‘Home Sweet Hell’ back in NYC to Pittsburgh.
Pictured above is the Fort Pitt Bridge, carrying Interstate 376 over the confluence of the three rivers – Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Kwazy Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year to you all. 2024 is going to be a real whopper, I think.
“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.
Them’s boats on that river
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
West End Bridge’s pedestrian pathway here in Pittsburgh had pulled my attentions upon itself, and mainly so for several exciting points of view which are found on its south eastern terminus. The bridge’s history was summarized in a prior post, here at Newtown Pentacle. A humble narrator plans on returning here, in the early morning hours, sometime soon for a sunrise session.
Additionally, one encountered a set of ‘Bernie Holes’ cut into the fencing where the bridge overflies the CSX Pittsburgh subdivision tracks. Nothing like a Bernie hole.
For those of you who haven’t been with me from the start, my dearly departed friend Bernard Ente was a devotee of the railroad world, and my mentor at the start of the whole Newtown Creek thing. Bernie would cut fence holes just big enough to stick a lens through at several photogenic spots along Newtown Creek, and all over Western Queens, to facilitate his art. Those of us who were fortunate enough to be in his circle refer to these artifacts of his time with us as ‘Bernie Holes.’ I doubt these are his, of course, but i call them ‘Bernie Holes’ nevertheless.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Bernie also introduced me to the NY Harbor community, where I was infected by a real appreciation of tugboats and the importance of the towing industry. A Towing outfit, here in Pittsburgh, is based out of a spot nearby the West End Bridge. Observationally, they mainly move fuel and mineral barges. There’s another set of these docks further east on the Monongahela River, nearby the Edgar Thomson steel mill.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any mechanism here for interaction between the tug or tow boats and the freight rail which is commonly witnessed as crossing through the city. Personally, I also find it odd that there isn’t a ferry system in Pittsburgh given the dense population centers stacked up on the shorelines of the 3 rivers.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After leaving the West End Bridge, one continued along the Monongahela shoreline and the river ‘rail to trail’ pathway. It’s actually a bit scary, getting from ‘A’ to ‘B,’ but I’m not the timid type and would often scuttle along roadways in NYC that were far more dangerous for pedestrians. You ever walk the Astoria Boulevard fenceline of St. Michael’s Cemetery between 49th & 77th streets? Brrr.
That’s the Fort Pitt bridge which that boat is navigating under.
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.
DUFPBO
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I haven’t made this joke in nearly a year: Down Under the Fort Pitt Bridge Onramp, that’s where I was, and absolutely nobody in Pittsburgh calls it DUFPBO except me. Back in New York and along Newtown Creek, a humble narrator would often christen otherwise nondescript areas with nomens like ‘DUPBO’ for Down Under the Pulaski Bridge Onramp, ‘DUKBO’ for the area around the Kosciuszcko Bridge, and there was also DUMABO (Metropolitan Avenue), DUGSBO (Grand Street), DULIE (Long Island Expressway), and ‘DUGABO’ (Greenpoint Avenue Bridge). After announcing the terminology on tours, I’d follow it up with “you have to,stay ahead of the Real Estate people with this sort of thing.” Yeah, I’m an idiot, but I have a good time.
As far as DUMABO goes, yeah – like Peter Stuyvesant – you could call it ‘Arnheim,’ but other than a few history nerds like me, nobody would have any idea what you were referring to. Arnheim is a deep cut in North Brooklyn history, btw.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve had a few Pittsburgh people ask me what the fascination with trains is about, lately. Short answer is that non passenger rail was such a scarce commodity back in my old stomping grounds, the frequency and variety of rail moving through Pittsburgh just grabs at my attentions.
CSX #5417, a General Electric ES44DC locomotive, is a positive infant by CSX standards having been built in January of 2007. It was doing Coke train duty. The coke was likely coming from one of U.S. Steel’s mills further up the river, and the train was heading westwards in the direction of Ohio.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This ‘zone’ used to be all rail yards, I’m told, belonging to the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie RR outfit. Me? I was heading more or less eastwards. As mentioned yesterday, I was traveling light with a fairly minimal kit in my camera bag, but I had a tripod with me and sunset in mind.
More 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.
Curvilinear footpaths
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There was an public event scheduled for the evening, at a sports ball stadium occupied by the Pittsburgh River Hounds soccer team, so there were scores of their fans gathered in the parking facilities of that institution. Many of them were tailgating, and the BBQ smelled pretty enticing as I exited the pedestrian/bike path of the Fort Pitt bridge onto the enigmatically named ‘West Carson Street.’ This is a wide and fairly high speed local arterial street, one which stitches several important bits of transit infrastructure together. The West End Bridge and a primary arterial road called Saw Mill Run Blvd. are to the west, the funicular inclines and Fort Pitt Bridge in the midst, and the T’s ‘Station Square’ light rail junction as well as the Liberty Bridge and tunnels are found along its length. After crossing under the T’s Panhandle Bridge approach ramps, this via publica becomes East Carson Street, which leads into what’s essentially a nightlife district. Lots of stuff along its path, many of which are interesting to one such as myself.
Ain’t exactly pedestrian friendly though, West Carson, and although I normally cross this interval on the parallel rail trail found along the waterfront, one figured on daring the sidewalk (or scare walk). Kind of a weird place to scuttle, I’d offer, but you never know how something tastes until you try a bite of it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The goal for this scuttle, beyond scouting with the camera and learning the foot paths, was to get in some exercise. My goal for a longish walk like this one is to hit about 10,000 steps, which I did. I can actually walk 5-6 miles, which is more or less what those steps equate to, standing on my head. Lately, I’ve started incorporating the altitudinal side of Pittsburgh into the calculation, so my phone’s health app told me that I had also walked something like 12 flights of steps as well. Cardio, lords and ladies, cardio.
Saying that, I was fashvitzed by this point, and just wanted to get back to HQ for a shower. I negotiated my way back to the T station, at Station Square, and waited for my chariot to arrive.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Based on the frequent mentions offered about the service, you’ve probably guessed that I’m a fan. One of the factors which made Our Lady of the Pentacle and I choose Pittsburgh as a home base, and Dormont in particular, was the availability of mass transit. I like having the car available, mind you, but I also like leaving it at home and scuttling about on foot. I still haven’t taken a bus anywhere.
Back tomorrow with something I’d been looking forward to shooting for a couple of months.
“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 