Posts Tagged ‘PJ McArdle Roadway’
Little trees and Two Hey Now’s
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
‘Everytime you leave the house it doesn’t have to be the Odyssey,’ that’s what I keep telling myself.
Now that the busted ankle has transitioned to ‘more or less reliable’ again – I’m additionally trying to make my ‘old’ exercise schedule of ‘two short walks, and one long one, 20-30 miles every week’ habitual, again.
…so… do what you say and say what you do?… These aphorisms of mine really do bind me into jams…
This time around, it was the South Side Slopes section of Pittsburgh, for a short walk of around five to six miles, and the first thing that caught my attention was this tiny tree growing out of a concretized sidewalk seam.
Neat.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After negotiating an interesting downwards course involving a couple of sets of Pittsburgh’s ‘City Steps,’ my target for the next section of my day involved the ‘PJ McArdle Roadway’ – a busy vehicular pathway, cantilevered out from the face of Mount Washington and providing diagonal egress between the ‘flats’ below and the prominences above.
The section of the roadway I was visiting additionally provides, for those of us who are wandering mendicants wielding cameras, an overlook opportunity for the trackage of the Norfolk Southern railroading outfit.
Hey Now!
Norfolk Southern #1099 was coming through.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is a relatively safe spot to hang out and wait for trains to come and go, I’d mention, with stout concrete and steel separation between the pedestrian path and the vehicle lanes. It’s also a kind of photogenic spot, since you can see the tower buildings of Downtown Pittsburgh from it.
My old pal Bernie always said ‘make sure you get something in the background to give it a sense of place.’ He was referring to Newtown Creek, of course, and how compositions with the Empire State Building in frame instantly ‘placed’ the waterway and told an implicit story.
Norfolk Southern #1099 was hauling a long train of cars that were carrying a black mineral. Probably coal, but unless I know what something is, I stay general.
Take a look (Flickr link). What do you think it is?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In between trains, I was entertained by the antics of the local fauna, but I’m a man/boy simpleton. Ask anyone.
One was traveling light again on this walk. The camera was wearing the 24-240mm zoom lens, and the only spare lens I had with me was an 85mm one, which I can use to shoot through chain link fences.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the advantages of this spot is that you can see the RR signal lights from up here, and thereby I knew to hang around as ‘something else was coming.’ You can look that one up, the codes for the lights, btw.
About twenty minutes behind #1099, along came Norfolk Southern #6955.
Hey Now!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Norfolk Southern #6955 was pulling a line of train cars similar to those that were behind #1099, but these particular contrivances were loaded with large quantities of – what seemed to be – metallic slabs.
Most likely these were slabs of steel, as this is – indeed – Pittsburgh.
That’s a guess, though, and as in the case of the black minerals being hauled by #1099 above – if you don’t know what something is – for sure – speak about it in ‘general terms.’
What do you think it was? Take a look (Flickr link).
Back tomorrow with something different – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
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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.
