Posts Tagged ‘Norfolk Southern’
sweatshirt weather
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After visiting the Fall Run Park in Shaler Township with Our Lady of the Pentacle, we next found ourselves in the nearby community of Etna along the Allegheny River. We weren’t there ten minutes when I heard train horns being blown to the west. A Norfolk Southern train was a-coming.
As a note, I’m playing around with using ChatGPT’s “AI” as a research assistant, so here’s what that machine says about the locomotive pictured above, which is designated as being #7504: according to publicly available records, Norfolk Southern operates a variety of locomotives that were manufactured by different companies over several decades. The 7500 series locomotives are typically EMD SD70ACe locomotives, which were first manufactured in the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, it is possible that Norfolk Southern 7504 may have been refurbished or modified since its original manufacture date, which could affect its specifications and performance.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Additional machine perceptions are offered here:
Norfolk Southern locomotives are typically large diesel-electric locomotives used for hauling freight across the United States. They are designed for high performance and reliability, with powerful engines and advanced technology to ensure smooth operation and efficient use of fuel. Norfolk Southern locomotives are often painted in the company’s distinctive black, white, and gray color scheme, with the locomotive number prominently displayed on the sides and front. It is likely that Norfolk Southern Locomotive 7504 is similar in appearance and function to other locomotives in the company’s fleet, but specific details may vary depending on the model and year of manufacture.
The AI, which is not really an artificial intelligence but is still fairly amazing, uses Google’s data coupled with a learning algorithm to scrape information off the http level of the web. It’s a lot more targeted than Google is these days, as it’s not carrying advertising links or being manipulated by SEO (search engine optimization). Yet.
Also, before you ask, yes I’ve seen the Terminator movies, read Asimov, and Colossus: The Forbin Project remains one of my favorites.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On Monday the 6th, one had to run a few errands north and west of the Paris of Appalachia and once these tasks were accomplished I decided to take advantage of a 62 degree sunny February day – in Pittsburgh – and head over to a section of the Montour Trail which was next on my ‘go see it’ list. This part of the trail straddles the border of Pennsylvania’s Imperial and Findlay Township.
The machine that goes “ping” says this about the Montour Trail:
The Montour Trail is a multi-use recreational trail located in southwestern Pennsylvania, in the United States. The trail follows the former Montour Railroad line, which was originally built in the late 19th century and served the coal mines in the region. The trail stretches for more than 60 miles (97 kilometers) from Coraopolis, near Pittsburgh International Airport, to Clairton in Allegheny County.
The Montour Trail is a popular destination for hiking, biking, running, and other outdoor activities. It is a non-motorized trail that is open to the public year-round, free of charge. The trail offers scenic views of the surrounding landscape, including forests, hills, and streams. It also passes through several small towns and historic sites, such as the Montour Railroad Museum and the Walker’s Mill Covered Bridge.
In addition to its recreational uses, the Montour Trail also serves as an important transportation corridor for commuters and other travelers. The trail is part of the larger Great Allegheny Passage, which connects Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., via a continuous system of trails and bike paths.
Overall, the Montour Trail is a valuable resource for residents and visitors to the Pittsburgh area, providing opportunities for outdoor recreation, transportation, and education about the region’s rich history and natural beauty.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The waterway in these shots is called Montour Run. As described in the post about Fall Run Park, the “official and legal”definition of what a ‘run’ is in the Pennsylvania context is “run of the river means a facility where there is a continuous discharge of water without storage and release of water.” Apparently, it’s synonymous with Creek, and is an archaic language artifact just like the usage of the term “kill” is back in NYC.
Computer says:
Montour Run is a tributary stream of the Ohio River, located in western Pennsylvania in the United States. The stream flows for approximately 13 miles (21 kilometers) through Allegheny County, draining an area of about 36 square miles (93 square kilometers).
Montour Run is named for the Montour family, who were early settlers in the region and operated a gristmill along the stream in the 18th and 19th centuries. The stream is formed by the confluence of two smaller streams, North Fork Montour Run and South Fork Montour Run, near the borough of Coraopolis. It then flows westward, passing through several towns and suburbs before emptying into the Ohio River near the borough of McKees Rocks.
Montour Run and its surrounding watershed are important natural resources for the region, providing habitat for a variety of plant and animal species. The stream also serves as a source of drinking water for several communities in the area. However, the watershed has faced environmental challenges in recent years, including pollution from agricultural runoff, industrial activities, and urbanization.
Efforts are underway to protect and restore Montour Run and its surrounding ecosystem. This includes initiatives to reduce pollution and improve water quality, as well as efforts to conserve and restore natural habitats along the stream and its tributaries.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One scuttled about a mile in the wrong direction, encountering this old rail car sitting on the property of a community center in Imperial. I realized that the tunnel I was keen on seeing wasn’t in this particular stretch, so I backtracked a bit after this to go the other way. It was a really beautiful day anyway and it was nice to just be kicking the dirt around in Pennsylvania’s community of Imperial.
Future machine overlord says:
Imperial is a small suburban community located in Allegheny County in western Pennsylvania, in the United States. The community is situated approximately 17 miles (27 kilometers) west of Pittsburgh, near the Pittsburgh International Airport.
Imperial is primarily a residential community, with a mix of single-family homes, townhouses, and apartments. The community also has a small commercial district along its main road, including a grocery store, gas station, and several restaurants and shops. The Imperial Volunteer Fire Department provides emergency services to the community.
Imperial is surrounded by a mix of rural and suburban landscapes, with farms and fields to the west and north, and other suburban communities to the east and south. The Montour Trail, a popular recreational trail, passes through the community, offering opportunities for biking, hiking, and other outdoor activities.
The community has a rich history, dating back to the early 19th century when it was first settled by European immigrants. The area was originally known for its coal mining and farming industries, and later became a hub for transportation and commerce, thanks to its location along the Ohio River and major highways.
Overall, Imperial is a quiet and peaceful community with a strong sense of history and tradition. Its proximity to Pittsburgh and other major attractions in the region make it a desirable place to live for those seeking a suburban lifestyle with easy access to urban amenities.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One headed in the other direction and was soon walking past the parking spot occupied by the Mobile Oppression Platform, whereupon a humble narrator then set out in search of this particular ‘Enlow Tunnel’ on the Montour Trail which had drawn my attentions.
Back tomorrow with that part of the walk.
I asked the electrical collaborator for today’s post to “describe yourself,” here’s what it said:
EXTERMINATE, EXTERMINATE, EXTERMINATE…
Actually, it was:
As an AI language model, I don’t have a physical body, so I don’t have physical characteristics like height or eye color. However, I can describe myself in terms of my abilities and functions.
I am ChatGPT, a large language model trained by OpenAI. I have been designed to understand natural language and provide responses that are as human-like as possible. I have access to a vast database of information, including knowledge about a wide range of topics and the ability to perform various tasks such as calculations, translations, and data analysis.
My primary function is to communicate with humans through text-based interactions, such as chat and messaging platforms. I can answer questions, provide information, offer suggestions, and engage in conversations on a wide range of topics.
Overall, I am a versatile and adaptive language model that can help people find answers and solutions to their questions and problems.
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Second GAP: Part 2
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described in yesterday’s post, one visited the Great Allegheny Passage trail on the south side of the Monongahela River again, but this time from the Duquesne side of things. That’s part of the United States Steel Mon Valley Works pictured above, which is found on the north side of the river in a community called Braddock.
The steel mill is fired up using coke and coal, and what that means is that there’s one heck of lot of railroad activity going on in its vicinity.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Union RR Port Perry Bridge pictured above, with multiple locomotive engines working together to haul a series of coal cars to the furnaces. Union Rail Road is a Class 3 switching railroad which is ultimately owned by US Steel.
Port Perry used to be an actual town, on the north side of the river, but it essentially got swallowed by the steel mill as the operations there expanded. Saying all that, it’s not just Union RR that uses these tracks, the big boys play here too.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A second rail bridge is found here, the PRR Port Perry Bridge, which carries Norfolk Southern’s Port Perry branch over the Monongahela River. A Class 1 railroad, Norfolk Southern has been in the news a lot over the last few weeks due to a spectacularly mishandled derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
A friend of mine, who has a trench warrior’s mentality when it comes to his politics, recently spent a bit of time with me on the phone blaming the current President for this. The political partisan bait I was supposed to take would have seen me blaming the last President for this so then we could argue about stolen laptops, party islands, and all that.
Unfortunately for my pal, I actually know a little bit about this subject. Republicans only want to argue about what they’re currently mad about, so he was upset. This week, they’re going after Hershey’s Chocolate for being “woke” because the candy bars are “her” and “she.” I’m not kidding.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
First off, there hasn’t been an American President ever who wasn’t on the side of “management” regarding the railroads. That includes FDR, Harry Truman, and the rest. Union shmunion, they’ve all broken strikes for their sponsors in the board room.
Given the number of freight trains moving around the United States at any given time – there’s has to be somewhere between 5 and 10 thousand MILES of trains (deliberate underestimate) speedily moving about as you’re reading this – the East Palestine disaster stands out because it’s actually kind of rare. A statistical anomaly in terms of the total numbers.
You drive a car every day, for instance. You drive that car for ten years, never having a problem, but one day the car doesn’t start. That’s one day out if 3,650. 1/3650th downtime is what you’d call a statistical anomaly, not a pattern. Saying that, if you were to now define the entire ownership period based of that car on a statistical anomaly… that’s sort of where the national discussion is going right now on the subject of trains. Things went horribly wrong in East Palestine, just like in Canada’s Lac-Mégantic, but again – anomalous in terms of the total numbers of trains and miles involved. The fact that trains don’t derail every day, especially given the criminally low amount of money which the regulatory bodies require RR’s like Northern Southern to invest in infrastructure is certainly a testament to something.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I should mention that the train pictured above is not the same unit seen in the prior two shots, instead I got this one early in the afternoon. The shots are out of order for storytelling purposes. I wasn’t in the right spot to capture this shot for the second train pictured coming over the bridge above.
I’ll say this, if your hobby is “rail fanning,” the GAP trail here in the Duquesne area offers excellent opportunities along a fairly comfortable path. I met a couple of blokes who were doing just that, and they filled me in on a few spots elsewhere in Pittsburgh where I’d enjoy waving the camera around. Apparently, Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park and ‘Panther Hollow’ is now on my list.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Norfolk Southern train was hauling empty mineral cars, ones which olfactory and visual inspection revealed as having recently been full of coal. This was a sunny 70 degree day, in Pittsburgh, in February. Hell, this post should’ve been about that – as that’s a statistical anomaly all of its own.
Back tomorrow with something different from the Paris of Appalachia, at your Newtown Pentacle.
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Second GAP: Part 1
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So much fun was had by a humble narrator on a recent unseasonably warm afternoon that it cast a shadow over the rest of my week. As mentioned here in the past, one of the most surprising public facilities in Pittsburgh’s neck of the woods are a network of ‘rail to trail’ paths which snake around the rivers and neighborhoods in the Right Of Way or “ROW” footprints of defunct railroads. One of these liminal spaces that I’m exploring on foot at the moment is called ‘The Great Appalachian Passage’ trail, a path which I could theoretically walk along all the way to Washington D.C. Right now I’m doing it in sections of between two and four miles at a time, thank you very much.
A while back, I offered several posts (Part one, Part Two, Part Three) from the section of the GAP stretching from Homestead to a point directly across the Monongahela River from the USS Mon Valley Works on the northern side of the waterway.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Parking the Mobile Oppression Platform (my Toyota) at a designated parking lot for the GAP in the community of Duquesne, one gathered up his old kit bag and crossed a secondary arterial highway at an incredibly terrifying intersection. There was a light, yeah, but terrifying. Smile, smile, smile.
The GAP in this section is found somewhat inland from the Monongahela River’s shoreline. There’s an entire industrial zone humming away on the side between the path and the water, whereas on the other there are several sets of railroad tracks which all seemed pretty active as I was scuttling through.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A pipe yard is one of the many attractions hereabouts. This might be a great spot to get all artsy fartsy sometime. That’s what a humble narrator pondered for a moment, but I kept on moving. There were acres of these pipes stacked neatly.
My goal for the day was to get to the spot I had walked to from the Homestead side and take a look at what sort of photo opportunities existed in the stretch closer to Duquesne. I’m looking for vantage points overlooking the USS Mon Valley Works, in pursuit of gathering cool photos of it from a distance.
I found and subscribed to a great YouTube channel offered by Pittsburgh Photographer Jeffrey Bowser, called “Fort Frick,” which offers several startlingly well done time-lapses of the Mon Valley Works that exploit the sort of ‘POV’s’ which I’m anxious to find. Check out the Fort Frick channel here. I’m a fan.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So why the pipes? Seems that US Steel manufactures gas at a nearby plant in Clairton and the pipes carry it over to the furnaces at the Mon Valley Works, or at least that’s what I think is happening. The pipe yard is where they store the old and new ones. I’m probably wrong about something in there, so not sure and ‘dunno.’ What I can tell you is that when a charge of gas goes through those pipes and you’re standing directly under them – it’s disconcerting. That’s basically the Shofar of Hephaestus blowing hydrocarbons right there above your head, all American style.
The sound is something like “floooooomph pufffffassasss” followed by a deep vibration which echoes out of the pipes.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s not just gas that’s getting pushed towards the steel mill, there’s also high voltage transmission lines snaking out of the hills and pushing current towards the place. It seems that there’s a nuclear generating plant about fifty or so miles west of here, right along the Ohio border.
Duquesne, the community which this pathway is found in, used to have its own blast furnace – at the time the largest on the planet. Its post industrial period, however, started in 1930. Today, Duquesne, like it’s neighbor Braddock across the river deals with a declining population and a whole lot of challenges. Average median income in Duquesne is about 25k a year. AMI indicates the 50% mark, so that means that half of its citizenry survives on far less than that number.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Mon Valley Works, which still incorporates Carnegie’s 1875 vintage Edgar Thompson blast furnace into its operations. I knew about the air pollution issues associated with the three surviving steel mills in the Pittsburgh area before moving here., but in person… They burn coal and coke, which produces a significant plume of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. Depending on which way the wind is blowing on any given day, you might catch a slight whiff of a rotten egg smell where I live, which is about 10-15 miles from here. For the communities which actually neighbor these plants, it’s a real and ever present problem. Here’s where the emanates of the steel mills are blowing towards today.
Back tomorrow with more from the GAP. Trains! There’ll be trains.
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Investigating the GAP, part two
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described yesterday, one parked the Mobile Oppression Platform at the Homestead Pump House’s parking lot and began a longish walk on the Great Allegheny Passage “rail-to-trail” pathway. Rail to trail is one of the options for what to do with the right of way of a railroad line which is no longer active. In the case of the GAP, the rail bed has seen the ties and actual rails removed and the ground either paved or covered with crushed limestone. It’s an easy walk, due to the grading that the rail engineers employed when laying out these right of ways (ROW), which is essentially a change of one foot in elevation for every hundred feet horizontally. The GAP trail in the Pittsburgh area which I was on starts in Homestead and doesn’t re-emerge onto the streets until you reach the community of Duquesne, which is many miles away.
I had a destination and “turn around point” in mind, for this scouting mission, which was more or less equidistant between Homestead and Duquesne. This trail was thereby fairly easy walking, and there was lots to see along the Monongahela River, which the GAP trail follows.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back in NYC, I’d often be asked where I’d want to go if time travel were possible. My response is usually “if you stepped out of your time machine into the late 19th century NYC, you’d have a knife slid into you within about 15 minutes.” Here in Pittsburgh, other than dodging freight trains hauling coal and coke at breakneck speeds, you’d have a different time travel problem – breathing. There are still operating steel plants here, but their emissions are a fraction of what would have once been found along the Monongahela Valley. I should mention that the emissions are an ongoing problem, however, and that the U.S. Steel people are often fined for violations of the Clean Air Act.
Mark Twain’s quote about Pittsburgh in 1884 reads “After our show, last night, we visited Mount Washington and took a bird’s eye view of your city by moonlight. With the moon soft and mellow floating in the heavens we sauntered about the mount, and looked down on the lake of fire and flame. It looked like a miniature hell with the lid off. It was a vision. A wonderful vision. It tended to frighten. The view is not as deliciously beautiful as one would suppose. If one can be calm and resolute, he can look upon the picture and still live. Otherwise, your city is a beauty.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
About a mile or so onto the trail, an overpass bridge is encountered, one which I’m told was added to the equation when the GAP trail was created. It allows transit over the active freight tracks the GAP follows from Homestead, and on the other side of the thing the trail continues along on an earthen shelf set in along a steep slope.
This bridge was one of the things which drew me in, what a great place to observe and photograph trains from, huh?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Norfolk Southern, like CSX, emerged as a dominant player in American Rail after the Conrail years and was formed out of several smaller operations. Their rolling stock heraldry is black and white, with a horse rearing up in silhouette acting as their logo. They’re pretty active in this region, and others.
There was a train set just sitting and waiting for its engine to show up, which luckily enough happened just as I surmounted the overpass bridge. A couple of workers were flipping the track switches around, and the engine was moving into position to couple with the train set.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One could have stood on that overpass all day, photographing the comings and goings of the rail people. I probably will when the weather is warmer and I’ve packed a lunch. For this scouting mission, however, I still had a fairly decent amount of walking to do before I got to what I was actually seeking.
I haven’t been the same since visiting Braddock and seeing the Mon Valley Works steel plant. A need not unlike hunger demanded that I photograph it, which was a difficult thing to do from the landward side in Braddock. I wanted the river in the shot, as well. The GAP is the first location I’ve found so far that allows for this.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I generally scuttle along at a comfortable pace, covering about two and change miles in an hour. Two hours into this walk, I finally arrived where I wanted to be. I had to find spots where the tree line wasn’t occluding my view of the U.S. Steel Mon Valley Works, but that did it take me long.
Tomorrow, the sort of shots I was looking for.
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heading home
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After exploring a bit around the First Street Station on the T, in downtown Pittsburgh, one took a bit of a walk and decided on how my path back home via the light rail service would shape up. A brief scuttle soon found me perambulating across the Smithfield Street Bridge and crossing the Monongahela River towards the south side, as the locals would refer to it. Conversations with these locals will often result in a suggestion to check out a spot with a goofy name like “Deadman’s Hollow” or “Girty’s Run,” or some other fun nomenclature. I have to remind them that I’m still learning how to reliably drive back home at this stage of the game.
It was a lovely day in Pittsburgh, for early January, with air temperatures hovering in the high 40’s and low 50’s with calm winds.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Monongahela itself was carrying a significant amount of what appeared to be soil. This river flows, I’m told, out of West Virginia to the south and along its route it transits through first wild and then rural areas where its tributaries carry a not insignificant amount of solute into the river. The closer you get to Pittsburgh, the more industrialized and developed the banks of the river get, and the entire region of its transit in this part of Pennsylvania is referred to as “The Mon Valley.”
My plan for the remainder of the day was simple, but Pittsburgh didn’t comply with my wishes.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I spotted the T crossing the river on the nearby Panhandle Bridge, which was described in earlier posts this week, while walking across the Smithfield Street Bridge.
My plan, as it were, involved getting several loving shots of freight rail trains moving along the south shore of the river.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
None appeared, despite the absolutely fantastic framing that I was so proud of finding for the shot. When you’re going after trains, it’s a lot like fishing – sometimes they’re not biting no matter how patient you are.
C’est la vie, huh?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I did get a tugboat, however, so there’s that.
I’ve been seeing a bunch of these river tugs moving about, towing mineral barges of what looks like coal or coke.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While walking to the T stop on the south side at Station Square, I did get a train photo – a Norfolk Southern unit moving along an elevated trackway carved into Mount Washington. I’m working out how to get a bit closer to this track, somewhere where a better angle of view with something that “says Pittsburgh” in the shot. In NYC, as long as you have the Empire State Building somewhere in view – bam, that’s a NYC photo. Sense of place, and all that.
Back next week, with more from my initial attempts to explore Pittsburgh and its environs.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
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The Newtown Pentacle 