Posts Tagged ‘Norfolk Southern’
Boss… ze train, ze train
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s Norfolk Southern’s Locomotive #1825 pictured above, and below, hurtling through Pittsburgh on the south side of the city. The unit came online in 1993 as NS #2507, an EMD SD70 model. #2507 was rebuilt in 2019 and the upgraded engine is now an SD70ACC model. The tracks it’s riding on are the ‘Mon Line,’ which was formerly owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. As far as I can discern, other than an upgrade of certain mechanical drive and braking systems, the difference between the two models revolves around the operator’s cabin and the electronics found therein.
I know people who keep this sort of information in their head, all the time. This post was actuated as a response to one of these fellows, a friend of mine and whom I consider to be my ‘go-to’ or ‘rabbi’ for understanding how the insanely complicated world of Choo-Choo trains works. Like all my friends, he likes telling me what I haven’t done.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had sent this particular fellow a link to a few prior Newtown Pentacle posts which featured another train line here in Pittsburgh, that the CSX outfit operates on. An offered critique was that ‘I had mastered the flying wedge photo alright, but I needed to start getting to “rail photos level 2”…’ Grrrr, thought I.
So… after scuttling down Arlington Avenue – as described in the two posts directly preceding this one (here and here) – one proceeded to the PJ McArdle Roadway where I knew a ‘POV’ for the Mon Line tracks awaited a humble narrator. Grrrr. Level 2, my ass.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One had to hang around for a bit, and I used the time to call my old pal Armstrong back in Brooklyn and check in with her. While chatting about the news of the day and hearing about the old neighborhood, #1825 rounded a corner and appeared in the distance. Gotta go, said I.
I had already figured out the camera’s exposure triangle, but it needed a bit of fine tuning. The shot above is zoomed out at 300mm, so atmospheric heat distortion manifested itself.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The train got closer, and I kept on shooting.
My big news for this day’s walk was that for the first time in literally years, I was using my headphones and listening to one of my beloved Lovecraft audio books. This particular entertainment was a ‘radio drama’ performed by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society’s “Dark Adventure Radio Theater” company, a dramatic adaptation of ‘At the Mountains of Madness.’
As mentioned several times, ever since Covid appeared and the streets got weird, I’ve been avoiding the use of headphones while out walking. This habit started in NYC, and whereas I’ve continued it in Pittsburgh, I needed to let a different set of voices talk in my head for a change, and listen to something other than my horrific inner voice, which is impossible to tune out.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve actually been listening to some music, as well, other than the tried and true playlist which I refer to as my theme music. That inner voice of mine, with its paranoid imaginings and cruel replays of past failures and or embarrassments, has really been getting old and tiresome lately. Best to drown the intrusive thoughts, and fill my head with music, podcasts, or fiction instead – at least while I’m awake.
I know that I’m more than 20 years out of date on a lot of music, but I’m particularly enamored with this 2001 song at the moment – which quite fits my current mood. That’s a real cracker of a rock video too, if you ask me.
One was standing on a bridge while shooting these, a cantilevered span which carries a fairly high speed road, and one whose designers didn’t anticipate camera toting pedestrians running across the travel lanes in pursuit of a photograph. That would have been a very bad idea.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Thereby, the lens was extended out into its zoom range again for this final shot of NS #1825 heading eastwards. As a note, remember when I mentioned rock slides further up the Monongahela Valley? Turns out that a landslide in 2018 just a half mile west of here and which damaged the Mon Line tracks caused a Norfolk Southern derailment, which created no small amount of chaos and damage. Wow.
Level 2… grrr…
Back next week with something different, at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Duquesne isn’t pronounced ‘Doo-Kess-Knee’
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was a rainy sort of middle June day, but the rain was intermittent. Bands of storm clouds were racing about in the vault above, but it was one of the days which I’ve scheduled myself taking a ‘short walk.’ Desirous of taking a picture of something ‘interesting,’ the Mobile Oppression Platform was fired up and one drove about a half hour to the Great Allegheny Passage trail in Duquesne.
As described in the past, the GAP Trail involves a former rail road right of way, one which has been converted over to the usage of bike riders, joggers, and pedestrians. There’s a trail bridge spanning the very active railroad tracks which lead to the Edgar Thomson ‘Mon Valley Works’ steel plant on the opposite side of the nearby Monongahela River, pictured above. Pictured is Norfolk Southern 4234.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This shot actually preceded the first one, but the first one made for a better ‘marquis image’ in todays post, so there you go.
This sort of statement is usually when one of you out there decides to take umbrage about something I did or said or didn’t do or didn’t say. Usually, it’s somebody who doesn’t do much at all who will leave me a mean spirited message, or a cutting comment castigating my points of view, or observations, or whatever. Haters gonna hate.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It started to rain heavily, so I headed back to the car the Mobile Oppression Platform. A quick drive towards where HQ is found saw me hurtling into nearby Homestead, just as the rain blew away. I decided to stop off at the Homestead Pump House to continue my exercise, and wave the camera around at something else.
Luckily, just after arriving a tow boat (which is what I’ve repeatedly been advised to call a riverine tug boat) was passing by. Call sign # WDK2256, Jennifer Ann was built in 1971 and is 42 meters long by 11 meters wide, and if you want to know more about the boat and where it might be at this very moment – check out marinetraffic.com.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a neat bit of statuary at the Homestead Pumphouse site, honoring the workers who used to occupy the place. The Homestead Works used to occupy both sides of the Monongahela River here, which was discussed in the posts offered a few weeks ago about the Carrie Furnace. This installation is called Yellow Dog.
Neat.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the actual Homestead Pumphouse, which is a preserved ‘historical place.’
A difference of opinion I have with frequent commenter George the Atheist is somewhat political in nature. He has chided me for usage of the ‘commie term Robber Baron’ when discussing Andrew Carnegie and Henry Frick, preferring instead that I use what I would describe as bootlicker talk: ‘Captain of Industry.’ For my part, at least, I enjoy a debate.
Here’s the story of, and the body count of, what these captains of industry did here at Homestead in 1892.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On my way back to HQ, I steered onto a few streets that dead end at a set of rail tracks, hoping to get lucky. In the end I sort of did. At least I got start and end with a Norfolk Southern rail road.
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.
Garlic is good for the heart
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another day, another doctor’s appointment. There’s nothing ‘new’ wrong with me, in case you’re wondering. Instead, after literal decades of ignoring my health, I’m taking advantage of Pittsburgh’s amazing Medical Industrial Complex to do some catch up. My new Doctor here has had me running around the area for various tests and probes. I’ve been magnetized, and irradiated, and punctured multiple times in pursuance of removing the ichor within for testing. Luckily, nothing terribly concerning has materialized from this inspection, and instead the Doc is busily establishing a base line of readings to work from, once things inevitably hit the fan.
Whilst driving about from place to place, I like to stick the camera up through the Mobile Oppression Platform’s moon roof and crack out the odd photo. This one is from Downtown Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Over in Homestead, which I was visiting in pursuance of attending a Costco’s sale on men’s hats, and to take advantage of their fantastic pricing on a rotisserie chicken as well as purchasing puppy food for Moe the Dog, I got stuck in traffic for about a half hour while waiting for an endlessly long Norfolk Southern train to pass by.
Me? I love taking a picture of a train, so much so that I didn’t use the moon roof this time around and just shot it over the hood of the Toyota and through the windshield. I had a devil of a time dealing with the window’s tint while developing the shot, by the way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m not always driving, of course, and on yet another one of my walks – this time a long one of about 18,000 steps – according to my phone – I found myself in what’s proving to be one of my favorite sections of the City of Pittsburgh, in the South Side Flats section. My kind of spot, with heavy and light rail transiting about, heavy industry at work, and a series of interesting bridges overflying the waters of the Monongahela River.
Back tomorrow with lots of Choo-Choo.
“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.
Onions make you cry
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned earlier in the week, a humble narrator is in the midst of an intractable argument with the guy in the mirror. It’s not fun behind the eyes or between the ears at the moment, but that’s me – I’m like the Kiwi – a fuzzy little fruit with a lot of personality, which doesn’t taste anything like you think it would if you take a bite.
That’s the Heinz factory pictured above, which has been converted over from production of the 57 varieties to housing. I love the aesthetics of the campus, and we actually considered it as a place to land when moving out here. Ultimately, it was too ‘urban,’ and one of the things we wanted, when moving from NYC, was to not share walls with random madmen anymore.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The 16th street bridge, which I walked back and forth over a few times on my constitutional short walk – on it and a section of the adjoining Great Allegheny Passage trail (about 8,000 steps, according to my phone) – offers some pretty nice views of the center of Pittsburgh. That’s ‘Downtown’ or ‘D’ahn-tahn’ as the local idiom would call it.
Translating from NYC Brooklynese to Pittsburgh Yinzer – Youse is Yinz. Being nosey is ‘being nebby’ and so on. The Yinz slang thing is commonly embraced here, and there’s a range of products available which embrace the linguistic stylings thereof. It’s odd. Rubber bands are called ‘gum bands’ in Pittsburgh, and they also put french fries in salads.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While scuttling back to the Mobile Oppression Platform, parked in one of the Great Allegheny Passage parking lots on the north side, I spotted a Norfolk Southern train set transiting over the Fort Wayne Rail Bridge in the distance. Luckily, I had a zoom lens on the camera and was able to get a long telephoto shot of it.
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.
Egress in Etna
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned yesterday, I had a friend in town, who wanted to see the sights here in Pittsburgh. Our travels around the region were by car, and the Mobile Oppression Platform allowed for the visitation of several extant locations.
We got lucky at the Etna Riverwalk when a Norfolk Southern train set came barreling through.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Senator Robert D. Fleming Bridge over the Allegheny River. You’re not crazy, btw, I’ve been here before – back in early February. There’s a bunch of places which I’m planning on revisiting now that the trees and hills are dressed up in green.
I’m starting to get a feel for Pittsburgh, I think. I’m not traveling around with the entire photo kit that I would carry to an ‘away game’ anymore, and am instead saying ‘this lens’ is what I’ll need for today. Not prepared for ‘everything,’ just ‘most things.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This one looks up the Allegheny towards the USACE’s Lock and Dam 2. I’m fairly sure that’s the Highland Park Bridge, and a rail bridge behind it, but I can’t really be ‘sure’ of anything yet as I’m still learning about the place. Back in NYC, I was like a walking encyclopedia. It’s refreshing to not be that person anymore, and learning new things every 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.
The Newtown Pentacle 