Posts Tagged ‘Pittsburgh’
Used to be, once, long time ago
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned yesterday, a humble narrator was desirous of spending a night out on the town, and used mass transit to get to a bar which occupies a visually interesting location. The area which this particular establishment is found in is feature rich, so one planned in a two hour long scuttle, to exercise both the camera and myself, prior to settling down in front of a pint glass.
There’s lots of natural compositions to be had in this part of Pittsburgh, alongside the Monongahela River. Vehicle and rail bridges, lots of industrial activity… that sort of stuff.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As you’re reading this, Our Lady and myself are barricaded in the house back in Dormont. Today is the anniversary of the ‘Pittsburgh Incident’ of 1968. A documentary film about the regional tragedy was made available to the public in October of that year, one which is now in the public domain, and you can watch it at this YouTube link.
This is a solemn night in Pittsburgh, and the tradition here is to board up your windows in remembrance and to stay up all night with a loaded gun on your lap until dawn. The Pittsburgh Incident of 1979, aka the Monroeville Incident, is seldom discussed hereabouts as it started at dawn and led into a fairly lousy day.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Brrr. One found a comfortable spot at the brewery’s outside seating and settled in for a few drinks. Conversation with a fellow patron ended up consuming several hours of merrymaking, and many pints of the brewery’s offerings were consumed.
That’s the T light rail passing over the Panhandle Bridge, incidentally. 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.
Light and heavy
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A recreational night out was recently on my agenda, so a quick trip on Pittsburgh’s Light Rail service – dubbed ‘The T’ – carried me to the south side of the Monongahela River and the figurative center zone of the City. I was heading back to a certain brewery located alongside CSX’s (street grade heavy rail) Pittsburgh Subdivision tracks, where I had photographed an absolute parade of trains during a prior visit. The beer is pretty good there, too.
Despite my better judgement, I’ve started reading up on the history of Pittsburgh’s public transit services. Saying that, I absolutely refuse to become historically literate about the thing. No. J’ refuse.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The neighborhood surrounding my destination is the sort of place I feel most comfortable in; industrial, desolate, broken pavement, heavy truck traffic, homeless encampments, etc. This spot has garnered a lot of my interest in recent weeks, as it is fascinating visually.
It’s also a spot where you definitively want to be wearing a hat in the late afternoon, as the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself radiates directly upon you with virtually zero vegetation blocking its influence.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A few people have asked why I don’t find a schedule for trying to catch shots of passing trains like the one above, here in Pittsburgh. First off, there isn’t one – or at least there isn’t one which is publicly available. Secondly, my observation of the situation reveals that what controls the frequency of rail traffic here are the shift changes and industrial needs of the nearby steel mills, which is where the rail traffic is concentrated, and that’s a subject which I have near total ignorance of.
That’s CSX #916. I’m told it’s a ‘ES44AH’ model, built by General Electric, and the engine produces 4,400 HP worth of motive juice. If you wish to be bored to tears reading about all the nuances which this model offers – click here.
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.
All wet at Carrie Furnace
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Carrie Furnace and the ‘Rivers Of Steel’ outfit, which and whom I’ve mentioned before, were offering a ‘photo safari’ event at sunset on a recent evening and a humble narrator could not resist the opportunity to be there. For a brief history of, and shots of what I saw the first time I visited the site (in the early afternoon) check out: part one, part two, part three, part four.
I had been looking forward to this one, and telling people that because of my interest in the experience I was expecting a ‘Blizznado’ or some other crazy meteorological event to cancel it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Four easy words to learn and repeat are: Mitch is always right.
A thunderstorm front was offered for consideration by the TV weather people, one which was scheduled to hit Pittsburgh at exactly the interval of time which the photo safari was scheduled for.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just before the rain hit, a CSX train set hurtling across a trackway on the other side of Carrie Furnace’s fencelines.
It wasn’t a lightning maker, this storm, instead it was cold front pushing through after a week long siege of high 80’s temperatures coupled with extremely high humidity. Sigh… you work with what you’ve got.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just after the Carrie people gave us the safety talk and a set of rules for being on their property, the sky opened up and it began to rain cats and dogs. That would describe the experience for about the next two hours.
A humble narrator is an old hand at getting caught out in the weather, and my fancy little umbrella was thereby deployed. One made it a point of spotting and seeking out ‘rain shadows’ offered by the ruins.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The weather situation was something I was aware of before I arrived, and I had thought out what I’d be focusing on accordingly.
That’s a ‘Torpedo Car’ which the Carrie people have on display, and the flooding around it was actually a blessing. I used the tripod and set the camera to no higher than knee level for this one. Low and slow.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The storm intensified, and the rain was absolutely cascading out of the atmosphere. I had a full kit with me, and a couple of new toys were in my bag which I didn’t get to use because of the precipitation. Notably a very bright strip of LED lights which are powered by a USB connection, and a power bank battery unit for them to connect to. I didn’t trust either of them to withstand a soaking rain so I kept them in my bag.
Over the next few days, I’ll show you how another one of my new toys performed. 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.
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.
Restive placeholding
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It had become furiously hot here in Pittsburgh for the better part of a week, with temperatures in the high 90’s. This is pretty unusual for this region. Humidity is the culprit behind summertime shvitzing hereabouts, not high temperatures. Pittsburgh’s ‘normal’ highs in the summer are in the middle 80’s, with night time atmospherics typically dropping into the 70’s or even the 60’s. The climate is modulated by the river valley topography, and the vast amount of urban forest. There’s mature trees everywhere around here, and even across the street from HQ here in Dormont you’ll find a forested gorge with flowing water. We regularly see all kinds of critters – hawks, ground hogs, deer.
Oh, Appalachia.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As part of our ‘let’s make the puppy tired’ agenda, Moe the dog has led Our Lady of the pentacle and myself to many places where a long linear walk is possible in recent weeks. Grandview Avenue up on Mt. Washington is where we were, and I took a minute to wave the camera around for a handheld panorama. Check out the original giant image here.
Since our last check in with Moe, when he bit me in the crotch, he’s chilled out a bit. Miles and miles of walking are needed to deplete his batteries, however, but… this is me, so hold my beer. The latest wrinkle and phase Moe is in is him needing to poop at 4 in the morning, so…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m constantly remarking to myself on the qualitative differences in civil infrastructure encountered here in Pittsburgh, and how they contrast with what you’d see back in Queens. The picture above is from Patomac Avenue in Dormont, where Newtown Pentacle HQ is now found.
Back tomorrow with something else, 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.
The Newtown Pentacle 