Posts Tagged ‘Ohio River’
On the hunt
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After visiting Emsworth Locks and Dam along the Ohio River, located just outside Pittsburgh, one noticed a plastic box labeled with ‘take one’ that contained xerox flyers proclaiming this spot as being ‘Buzzie’s Corner.’
I haven’t been able to find out too much about this cognomen, but apparently this was, and is, a popular railfanning location. There’s a website: Buzzie’s Corner, but the proprietor thereof confesses their own ignorance as to the origin of the name and whom Buzzie was or is.
I’m reminded of a Staten Island spot on the Kill Van Kull back in NYC which my friends and I started called ‘Skelson’s Office’ in honor of our dearly departed pal John Skelson – a photographer who lived nearby that spent countless hours photographing the parade of maritime vessels exiting and entering Port Elizabeth Newark from a certain spot on the shoreline.
Man, I’ve got a lot of dead friends.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Historically preserved, restored, and moved from its original location, pictured above is a 1797 vintage log cabin dubbed the Dickson Log House. The Buzzie’s Corner site has a page devoted to its story – check it out here.
Me? It was time to move on to another location and see what could be seen from it. A few miles down the river was found a neat little town which looked a great deal like a fishing village. It was all of two to three blocks in depth, and pavement on its roads stopped about 200 feet from the highway off ramp that took me there. At the very end of an unpaved and muddy road is a small park with a baseball field that sits right along the same Norfolk Southern tracks mentioned yesterday.
I discovered that the end of this road is where the local ‘working guys’ go ‘cribbing,’ meaning that this where they park their trucks while taking a nap at work.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Still batting zero on the train front, I keyed in the next destination on my phone, and let Google maps guide me to another spot I wanted to check out. A rather circuitous route was laid out for me, which allowed for visual inspection of a nearby suburb. One is often annoyed by the navigational suggestions hereabouts. Google doesn’t seem to take into account that their ‘shorter by three seconds’ route requires driving up a mountain and back down again when a U or K Turn would have done the job more simply and not burned out a bunch of fuel.
What also annoys me is these sorts of routes send motorists into residential neighborhoods, increasing traffic flow in precisely the areas where you want it to be cut down.
Back tomorrow.
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Emsworth Lock and Dam
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As part of a humble narrator’s continuing exploration of the Pittsburgh metro area, an afternoon in late March found me standing at the fence lines of an United States Army Corps of Engineers installation called the Emsworth Locks and Dam, on the Ohio River. As it turned out, I missed a dramatic set of events here which would occur in early April when an unusually high volume of rainfall caused all sorts of chaos here in the local vicinity.
Hullabaloo, I tell’s ya, hullabaloo.
The Three Rivers overflowed their banks which flooded several waterfront parcels, and here at Emsworth – 26 maritime barges which were tied up upriver that were full of minerals got loose from their moorings, and ended up wedged up against the dam.
Before you ask, I followed my usual policy of staying the hell away from such horrors unless someone was specifically going to be paying me to take the risk, in order to get a photo or deliver a video.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned above, this particular afternoon was one of my ‘exploratory trips’ wherein a series of waypoints were encoded into a Google map, which I then followed while driving the Mobile Oppression Platform from place to place. This one wasn’t a walk, it was a drive.
So far, my ‘get out there and see something’ instincts have been drawing me up the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers away from the center of Pittsburgh, with just a few ventures out and along the Ohio.
There’s a series of GPS waypoints which I’ve tagged along this river’s banks – boat launches, public parks, trails, etc. – which I’ve planned on visiting sometime in the near future, or in the case of this week’s posts – now. There’ll come a moment sometime in the future when I’m actually crossing into – y’know, the State of Ohio – which is about a 90 minute drive from Pittsburgh, here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Along the Ohio River, and this shot is from the northern side of the waterbody, there’s a pretty expansive series of rail tracks which are used by the Norfolk Southern outfit. I was hoping to catch a shot of a passing train when I was here, but no such luck was on offer. Have to get myself one of those railfan scanner radios one of these days, so I know if something interesting is coming my way.
Go west, old man.
Back with all that, at this – your Newtown Pentacle, 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.
Ohio Digestif
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is a short one, filed under ‘Odds and Ends.’ After taking a short walk up the Ohio River and turning around at the Western Penitentiary campus, here in Pittsburgh, I was quick stepping it back to the car.
The quick steps thing was about getting my heart rate up to a certain level and maintaining that speed for an interval. Cardiology, amirite?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Along the way, I grabbed a few opportune shots, including one of what seems like an abandoned concrete factory on Brunot’s Island.
Man, if I ever find a way onto that landform, I’m heading straight for this spot.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I love a rusty sign, especially one which hosts a message from an earlier era’s governmental bureaucracy, or some long shuttered business, admonishing or threatening arrest for trespass. I always found this sort of thing to be quite useful from a historical POV, along Newtown Creek and the East River.
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.
The Pen in Western Pennsylvania
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the closed ‘State Correctional Institution – Pittsburgh’ or ‘Western Penitentiary’ pictured above, aka ‘The Wall.’ Founded back in 1826, this counterpart of Philadelphia’s famously haunted ‘Eastern State’ was closed in 2017. A more modern ‘Big House’ called SCI Fayette now houses the Commonwealth’s incarcerated bad boys and girls.
An excellent work up on Western Penitentiary, with enormous attention to historic detail, is found at abandonedonline.net.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The trail I was walking on ends nearby the western side of the prison campus, so it made for a convenient turn around point for the scuttle.
My understanding is that infrequent opportunities to photograph the interior of the place do manifest in the form of tours, and a humble narrator intends on attending such an outing (or is it an ‘inning?) when I can. I’ve never been inside a jail, which doesn’t mean I’m a model citizen, rather it indicates that I’ve just never been caught while doing anything really bad.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
All of these shots were gathered through the stout iron fence surrounding the campus, while following my personal prohibition forbidding trespassing. There was a security guard sitting in a car in the place’s parking lot, but that’s not what dissuades one such as myself from trespass.
I’m like a Vampire, and need to be invited in to do my thing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This was a particularly cold and ‘raw’ day. I was wearing longjohns under the normal black sackcloth ‘Mitch Suit,’ and the flapping black raincoat (aka my ‘Street Cassock’) was all I needed for the outer shell.
Another one of the adaptations I’ve had to make since moving to Pittsburgh has involved the purchase of an actual Winter Coat.
I chose one from the Carhartt brand, as it offered several voluminous pockets which zipper close and is of stout construction. Its downy insulation is only needed when it’s going to be freezing or below, I’d add, and it feels a bit like I’m wearing a down comforter when it’s on. Given how warm it is, it’s surprisingly light in terms of weight, which is a plus.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At my ‘turnaround point,’ and standing in the driveway of the abandoned state prison. I’ve read about several schemes hatched over the years to do something productive with the property. It belongs to the Commonwealth, as in the State, which is something that seems to annoy the municipality level politicians who want to build… ready for it… ‘affordable housing’ on the 21 acre footprint of the place.
It’s funny, but it seems to me, something like this joint should be turned into a museum that explores the history of the carceral state and law enforcement. Apparently the cost of maintenance and in particular heating and cooling the interior of the gargantuan structure is an untenable expense, however.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One began the scuttle back towards the spot which I had parked the Mobile Oppression Platform (my car) in, where this short walk had started from. It gets dark early here, and I wanted to be well on my way home before I had to activate the MOP’s headlamps. It’s about a ten mile drive from this spot back to HQ, if you’re curious.
Back tomorrow with a few odds and ends from this very gray day.
“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 along the Ohio
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in prior posts, we’re currently experiencing weather conditions which the Pittsburgh’s native ‘Yinzers’ call “The Gray.” Unoccluded skies are a rarity this time of year and it’s often quite wet and cold. Regardless, it was time for a short walk. This time around that took the form a roughly five mile scuttle along a trail that follows the Ohio River nearby the ‘north side’ and ‘chateau’ neighborhoods.
This section of the trail is buttressed by an industrial zone, a sewage treatment plant, a defunct prison, and a power station so… it felt like home to this humble narrator.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I was heading towards the 1890 vintage Ohio Connecting Railroad Bridge at the outset of my scuttle. The trains which use it are generally Norfolk Southern’s. The trail I was walking on was part of the Three Rivers Heritage trail, but signage encountered suggested to me that it was likely added to the larger entity, and was originally called the ‘North Shore of the Ohio River Trail.’ I’m still enjoying my ignorance here, but a sign is a sign.
There are a few small private boat marinas in this section, but the waterline is generally inaccessible unless you like climbing on things. In most places, there’s a 15-20 foot wooded and fenced off drop down from the street/trail level. No doubt this terraced shoreline is part of a flood control strategy.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A few boat ramps were encountered, but they were littered with cast off vehicles, trailers, even a couple of single wide residential mobile homes were observed. The trail was fairly well populated, with bike riders and joggers, and the occasional dog walker.
An interesting conversation was struck up with some bloke who was riding a sort of electric bike, specifically a model that was new to me. He assured me that his conveyance was more than capable of handling Pittsburgh’s steep hills.
I want one of those, to use as a shuttle craft to and from the Enterprise Car.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Combined Sewer Outfall? Heck yeah! The Ohio River is, as it turns out, the most polluted waterway in the United States. That’s an awful fact, as this river is also the primary source of drinking water for multiple communities in several states.
As mentioned above, on the landward side of this trail, there was an industrial zone. Most of it seemed to be populated either by municipal service installations, building supply warehouses, last mile shipping depots, and there were a few examples of odds and ends sort of businesses like HVAC and truck mechanics. I didn’t explore this upland area – at all – on foot, but did drive around a bit after finishing my walk as I’m a connoisseur of industrial zones.
More or less, this Google maps link shows the location where this scuttle took place.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Ohio Connecting Railroad Bridge connects the north side of Pittsburgh with Brunot’s Island (and then the south shore of the Ohio River), and it is inaccessible by foot or vehicle for the average Joe.
I was hoping for a train, but an unoccluded view from the trail was not available. Damned vegetation!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, the Richard A. Nomanson Towboat slid into view while it was towing a fuel barge. I wasn’t able to find out much about this boat, which is extremely odd, in my experience.
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 