Posts Tagged ‘North Side’
There is a season…
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Western Pennsylvania is kind of famous for its autumnal ‘leaf season,’ and appropriately so. The place is absolutely choked with vegetation (confirming the ‘sylvania’ thing), whose foliage turns orange and red and yellow as the wheel of the year turns with the seasons. I was lurking alongside a set of rail tracks, hoping to see a passing Norfolk Southern train set when these leaves caught my notice. The train shot didn’t happen, wrong time of day, I guess.
I checked in via a texted cell phone photo, with an arborist hippie buddy of mine back in NYC, a fellow whom I always rely on for plant identification about whether or not this might be Poison Ivy. He was a little ticked at me as he’s actually currently overseas in South East Asia, and that text ended up costing him fifty cents to receive, but he nevertheless assured me that this looked like Boston Ivy to him.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This particular morning involved another checkup for Our Lady of the Pentacle, in regard to her recent medical procedure. One had time to kill, so I took up station alongside these RR tracks on Pittsburgh’s North Side. As a note, that white car at the bottom left of the shot is the oft mentioned Mobile Oppression Platform. You only get one license plate in Pennsylvania, which goes on the back of the car, but since I bought the car in New York where you’ve got two, the front plate mount on the MOP is empty.
Most of the locals install a humorous plate when they’ve got an out of state car, or a license plate shaped placard which displays allegiance to some sports ball team or a political ideology. I can’t commit to any single humorous message or motto, and couldn’t care less about the sports ball fetish. I’d really like a super bright LED panel there, to be honest. One of the RAV4’s failings is an anemic set of headlamps.
I’ve always liked ‘grass, gas, or ass – nobody rides for free,’ but that’s really more of a mud flap thing, not a plate.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back at home, on the same evening as my walkabout, I was still testing the new gear, specifically seeing how the new wide angle lens might handle ‘astro’ shots. If you click on through to Flickr to the larger incarnation of this photo, you’ll see some stars. This was from one of the very rare days in Pittsburgh when there weren’t any clouds. It’s not perfect, I would mention, theres’ a tiny amount of ‘pull’ or coma on the stars.
One needed to begin adjusting his sleeping schedule right around this point in the week, however, going to bed earlier and earlier to facilitate that upcoming day trip I mentioned yesterday, which would start in the extreme early morning a couple of days hence…
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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“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.
Whoopity Doo!
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the North Side of Pittsburgh, one will the presence of a medium sized city park called the ‘Allegheny Commons Park West.’
The National Aviary is contained therein, and the surrounding streets have an unusual number of schools and cultural institutions. I’m told this can be a bit of a rough area at night, but you hear that about a lot of neighborhoods in Pittsburgh.
During one of the post surgical checkups that Our Lady of the Pentacle had to endure, post facto of the procedure she was the subject of, I had a couple of hours to kill. I’ve been hungry for the shot of a Norfolk Southern train set moving through this rail trench, cut into the park, for a while now, and since I had some time to kill… I parked the Mobile Oppression Platform in nearby metered spot and then waited…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s NS’s #8041 in the shot above, which was built at the start of this century by General Electric and is a ES44AC model locomotive. Apparently, this sort of rig has lower emissions than earlier models, complying with the EPA’s ‘Tier 2’ standard. The AC stands for alternating current, and the tracks which it’s hurtling upon are part of the rail company’s “Pittsburgh Line.” The train is ‘coming into’ Pittsburgh, rather than leaving it.
As a note – I’m planning on returning to this spot when the autumnal leaves have fully turned. The trees are of the Ginkgo speciation, and their leaves turn bright yellow gold. Given that Pittsburgh’s official colors are black and gold, that’ll make for a nice ‘PGH’ shot – or so I reckon.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One has since returned to this spot, during other medical appointments, and I can report that this is a fairly reliable POV as far as train spotting goes. My cold weather plans for further explorations over the next few months involve following this set of tracks all the way up the Ohio River and to the Norfolk Southern Conway Yard. I haven’t scouted that one yet, but will be doing so soon enough.
Pittsburgh is so damn cool, and visually pleasing.
Back tomorrow with something different.
“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.
Stretching my legs in Pittsburgh
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The shot above was captured from the top floor of a hospital parking garage, here in Pittsburgh. A humble narrator had just dropped Our Lady of the Pentacle off for her medical procedure, early in the morning on a cloud struck day. I’d be returning here about six hours later to gather her up and bring her back home, then spent a good week or so trying to shield her from the necessities of life, and the affections of Moe the Dog. The second of two such intervals, responsibility at home precluded one from doing much else. Exigency, it affects us all.
Sleeping was my main goal during this interval, and my personal exercise schedule suffered, which resulted in a creeping bodily stiffness and a sound not unlike crushing handfuls of popcorn emerging from the knees, while walking up and down stairs. After receiving the ‘all clear’ from her medical professionals, Our Lady insisted that I get the hell out of the house and go ‘do my thing.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One rode the T light rail from HQ to the end of the line on Pittsburgh’s North Side, an elevated station across the street from the site of pilgrimage and worship for the Yinzers – a sports ball stadium wherein dwell the Pittsburgh Steelers. That is Acrisure, formerly Heinz, Stadium. The Pittsburgh people call it Heinz, not Acrisure.
My plan for the afternoon was to ease into the walk, but to also include as many flights of stairs into the equation as possible. Ligaments, tendons, and joints – they all formed up into an internal rhythm section. My headphones were plugged into the appropriate orifices, and I was listening to a playlist of Black Sabbath albums.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The path I had chosen for the day was informed by the several hospital trips we had made in the prior three weeks by car, and the bridge we drive over in this pursuit. Ultimately, I’d be riding the T back home at the end of the walk, which I’d pick up at the first stop it makes in the central zone of Pittsburgh, at the Station Square stop. It was lovely out, with Pittsburgh displaying an uncharacteristically clear sky, not macerated with dynamic banks of cloud.
It was ‘shorts and a sweatshirt’ weather, which is my favorite sort of atmosphere. For one reason or another I was drawn into using my zoom lens at its widest setting – 24mm – for much of the first half of the walk.
Come with? More tomorrow at 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.
Allegheny, north shore
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After having woken up prior to sunrise and popping off a few shots from the West End Overlook, a humble narrator was hoping to visit the Mr. Rogers monument along the Allegheny River on Pittsburgh’s north side. Unfortunately, a crew of laborers were performing some sort of maintenance there and the thing was roped off. I had already fed the parking meter, so the Mobile Oppression Platform was happily ensconced and thereby I set off along the river trail.
That’s the Fort Duquesne Bridge, Pittsburgh’s famous ‘bridge to nowhere’ pictured above, with the office buildings of downtown Pittsburgh behind it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There seems to be a whole ‘scene’ here, revolving around pleasure boats navigating down the rivers and tying off along the waterfront. I’m sure there’s some form of governance, fees, all that. Saying that, boats can tie up to cleats and bollards and people overnight on them. That’s pretty cool, if you ask me.
It’s nice to live in a place where such things are ‘normal,’ and treated in a business like fashion. NYC identifies things people like to do, and then taxes the activity into oblivion and or criminalizes it. Can’t leave your house or attend a gathering without the ‘Reverend in Blue’ administering every single human interaction there, or having some bureaucratic entity doing its best to monetize you.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This odd thing caught my eye. Theory #1 is that somebody found these keys and automobile ‘FOB’ on the sidewalk and stuck them into the tree to help out whomever lost it. Theory #2 is that some drunk tried to start up or unlock a tree. This spot was equidistant between the Steelers and the Pirates sports ball stadiums, and there’s a LOT of bars found between them, so I thereby lean towards Theory #2.
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.
Scuttling on the North Side of Pittsburgh
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the northern bank of the Allegheny River, here in Pittsburgh, there’s an area called the ‘North Side.’ There’s lots of individual neighborhoods found within the region, but this section of the greater metro area used to be an independent municipality called “Allegheny City” which Pittsburgh annexed at the start of the 20th century. Further up the river is where the Heinz Factory was, and the ‘zone’ I was in for this post was the one that touches the ‘Mexican War Streets.’ The spot which I was specifically in has the National Aviary as its landmark, with said institution sitting in the middle of the very nice Allegheny Commons Park.
I’ve mentioned the many, many diagnostic medical tests which a humble narrator has endured in recent months. Our Lady of the Pentacle has also been getting probed and pinched and irradiated, and on a recent morning while she was enjoying just such a procedure, I needed somewhere to take Moe the Dog. We ended up in this park, which is somewhat nearby the hospital, while waiting for Our Lady to be done. I made a mental note to come back on foot without Moe, and that’s why I was there on this particular day. Scouting!
You’re all caught up now.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve been looking for a spot to observe these rail tracks, cut into a trench through the park, for a while. While Moe was chasing down a squirrel, the little dog led me right here. There’s a swell ‘autumn’ shot to be gathered here, with the black Norfolk Southern locomotives moving through the trench. The trees planted along the fence are Gingkos, I’m told, whose leaves turn a bright golden yellow during fall. You’ve got your black train and your gold leaves – which are not just Steelers colors but in fact are the heraldic colors of Pittsburgh.
On this particular afternoon, a humble narrator wasn’t trying to get all ‘artsy fartsy,’ instead I was walking quickly and observing the state of the neighborhood ‘milieu.’ North Side has an insalubrious ‘reputation’ according to the ‘born n bred’ Pittsburghers, but to my eyes… Heck. East New York and Far Rockaway are my delimiters for danger, so my perception of things is a bit different than that of the locals, I think, due to the experience of having lived in “Home Sweet Hell” my whole life.
Walk around Industrial Maspeth at night during a pandemic, I’d offer, if you want actual scary.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The purpose of this adventure was to get some exercise and fix a geospatial awareness of those rail tracks in the old noggin, and to also work out how to get to this area using the T light rail rather than driving here. This section of Pittsburgh reminds me of several spots in Brooklyn and Queens, especially their scarcity of street parking.
One leaned into it and started heading southwards.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This may look pretty desolate, but the land under these expressway ramps is a parking lot about two blocks away from the sports ball stadium which the Pirates baseball team plays in. On game days, this lot would be brimming with tail gate BBQ’s and hundreds if not thousands of people and their vehicles.
The rest of my day’s plan involved the other side of Pittsburgh, and I’d need to cross two rivers on foot to get there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m told that the modernist building in the shot above is the HQ of the ALCOA aluminum outfit. That river is the Allegheny, with downtown Pittsburgh looming up behind and to the south of it.
It was a warm but lovely day in Pittsburgh, with a decent breeze and temperatures in the middle 80’s. It was fairly humid, however.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There are three fairly identical bridges found here, called the ‘Three Sisters.’ The one pictured above is the Rachel Carson Bridge, named for the author of the seminal environmentalist book “Silent Spring.”
Back next week with more from the Paris of Appalachia.
“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 