Posts Tagged ‘railroad’
Kicking dirt in Carnegie
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The region of the Pittsburgh Metro which HQ is located in is called ‘The South Hills.’ In the past, I’ve already established that Dormont where HQ is specifically located, is part of an area once known as Lower St. Clair.
Practically next door to Dormont is the municipality of Carnegie, which is about a 15 minute drive on local streets away from HQ. Water runs through Carnegie, specifically Chartiers Creek. I’ve brought the camera here before but there’s a lot to see in Carnegie.
Luckily, Our Lady of the Pentacle had scheduled a class she wanted to take in Carnegie, on a recent weekend day. I drove her to her deal, and then I went to work on visiting several waypoints I had dropped onto a Google map the night before. I do a lot of remote scouting this way, using street view to figure out if there’s opportunity in unknown spots.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Since I was in the car, I was traveling heavy. Tripod, all the lenses, etc. one of the waypoints I had coded into my ‘Carnegie Map’ was the Wheeling & Lake Erie RR’s Rook yard. A nice history of how this rail yard got sited here, and why it’s called ‘Rook’ can be experienced at hmbd.org.
Turns out I didn’t need to have all that gear with me, but since I didn’t have to carry it – who cares? Also, I got lucky. The W&LE RR people were getting busy and moving trains around when I randomly drove up, and on a Saturday no less.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
#6996 up there was functioning as a DPU, Diesel Power Unit. Everything you might want to know about the W&LE outfit – its rolling stock, rights of way, corporate structure – can be gleaned here.
It was a beautiful day in Carnegie, PA. Mid 60’s in temperature, with a strong breeze. The Rook Yard was one of several places which got a quick drive by and lookie loo.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
#3049 was in the lead, and after coupling to a train of tanker cars, began moving away from my position. Not entirely sure where they go after this. I have vague ideas, but finding out is one of my summer projects.
I had my little railfan radio scanner with me, and was listening to the conversations between tower and engineer, but it might as well have been Greek they were talking. I’ve got to learn to speak railroad.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had a couple of hours to myself while in Carnegie, and spent about a half hour or so of it right at this spot watching other people at work. Definitely coming back here in the future. No fences!
There were a few other spots which I wanted to take a good look at, but it was also Memorial Day weekend. When I got to a some of those other points of interest (tomorrow’s post), in the residential sections, back yard parties and BBQ’s were going on and I was sticking out like a sore thumb.
Next time, it’ll be a weekday morning visit, when the streets are a little less populated.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Chartiers Creek runs through Carnegie on its way to the Monongahela River which it is a tributary of. This post shows where that admixture occurs nearby the West End Bridge.
There’s all sorts of ‘desire paths’ along the water which fishermen use to get down to the shore. I plan on following a few of those this summer as the ankle situation continues to improve.
Back tomorrow.
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Nebby, me
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In Pittsburghese, ‘nebby’ means ‘nosey,’ as in ‘I’ve got a nosey neighbor.’ In ‘New Yorkese’ – yenta.
Your humble narrator is intrinsically nebby, as I’m always watching and photographing somebody or something while they are doing things. On a recent walk down the face of Mount Washington, using the PJ McArdle roadway route, a quick detour along the path found nebby me standing on the Liberty Bridge, clicking the camera’s shutter button as a series of ‘T’ light rail train sets moved back and forth over the Panhandle Bridge spanning the Monongahela River. ‘What?’ my mother would ask, ‘you think this is normal? Why are you like this? I didn’t raise you this way…’ Yeah, I admit it, it’s an odd way to spend your time.
Boy, that’s an exposition heavy statement above, ain’t it?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The next phase of my walk would involve negotiating a problematic series of pedestrian obstacles, including a decaying set of city steps which then feed into a dark and always muddy walkway. It was at the muddy walkway where the fellow I’ve been mentioning for a the last couple of days – whom I’m pretty sure was turning into a zombie – dwelt. I’m not kidding – his extremities were blackened, his eyes blood red, and his skin mottled. The smell…
At the end of what I now call ‘the zombie’s mud covered walkway’ (I’m talking six inches of wet slop, btw.) was where I’d encounter one of the top ten worst pedestrian experiences I’ve ever found – this is Athens level BS. Seriously, click here and then put Google maps into street view mode to see what I’m talking about. For at least the next six months or so, there’s also T light rail traffic included at this intersection too. Wow.
All hazards were surmounted; mud, zombie, bad crossing at dangerous intersection but soon I felt began to feel a bit ‘faklempt.’ Nevertheless, I was on the second half of the PJ McArdle roadway and was back on my inexorable path down towards the ground, at an angle, again.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
When I got to this little bridge along the path, I shed the camera bag for a few minutes and hung it on a fence using the stout caribinier that’s always installed on its pull strap. Train tracks were below me, and since I hadn’t seen any Norfolk Southern traffic during this entire walk, I felt like the odds were quite in my favor regarding the appearance of a train. I fired up the radio scanner and my hopes were confirmed. Something was heading my way. ‘Hey Now’ shouted your humble narrator.
Lucky me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the ticket. I find myself saying ‘hey now’ when a train appears in front of my lens these days. Like an exclaim it out loud sort of thing – ‘HEY NOW.’
Don’t ask me why, you can’t be expected to explain this sort of thing.
Given that I’ve barely mentioned the bum ankle for the last couple of couple of posts, I should mention it was performing admirably on this outing. No ‘clicking’ or weird cramped ‘tightness’ and whereas you can’t help but be overly aware of the joint. The thing mainly played ball with my aspirations this time around. Felt like it was finally back on the team, after all this time.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This walk wouldn’t end when I got back to flat ground, as I still had about another hour’s worth of steam to spend. I also planned on grabbing a pint of beer at the end of the scuttle, at that brewery by the CSX Pittsburgh Subdivision tracks which I frequent. I mentioned that I was faklempt, no?
People keep asking me if I’m back…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Last shot for this week, and post, was of a bunch of kids playing ball on an athletic field in the South Side Flats section.
Next week – a bit of Choo Choo – and then…
Something different, at this, your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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CSX 5470, too
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One had no intention of running two posts in a row with nearly identical photos in them today, but… recovering from the broken ankle and having multiple bands of snow and ice blowing through Pittsburgh on a seemingly never ending daily cycle… so… that’s CSX #5470 advancing towards the lens in the shot above.
Captured these the same evening that I got yesterday’s post, as you’d imagine. It was all very exciting, really. What was I saying about ‘working the shot’ in yesterday’s post?
Things are progressing according to schedule hereabouts, with continuance of my twice a week ‘PT’ – or Physical Therapy – appointments. I’m walking better, although balance seems to be a bit of a challenge at the moment. Still displaying a limp, however. If you saw a time lapse of me attempting to walk over the last six weeks, I bet it would look a lot like the tracking shot of ‘Verbal’ at the end of the ‘Usual Suspects.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Saying all that, keeping ‘close to home’ has been my watchword, but the desire for adventure is positively ringing in my ears. A humble narrator was trained to never say ‘I’m Bored’ as a child. If I uttered that forbidden phrase, one of my parents would announce ‘I can fix that’ and I’d soon be working on some unsavory household job or doing the laundry.
When a humble narrator entered his adolescent existentialist phase, I tried having a conversation about Camus with my Dad. He looked at me, and then said ‘that’s interesting, why don’t you tell me about it while you’re cleaning the toilet?’ An attempt at a conversation about Nietzsche once resulted in me detailing his car. Saying all that, it’s been a minute since I had any fun at all.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Train photos are kind of fun, but I’ve been to this spot a bunch of times. I’m desirous of the novel, the new, the unexpected. About three months of my life were lost to this injury, including all of autumn and that’s normally my favorite time of year. I missed Halloween, for goodness sake.
CSX #5470 is a GE ES44DC model locomotive which – I’m told – rolled out of the factory in 2007, as an aside.
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.
CSX 5401, coming through
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Our Lady of the Pentacle and myself headed out on a fairly nice evening – with temperatures in the high 40’s and just a bit of wind, no precipitation – with the intention of drinking a couple of beers at the Sly Fox Brewery location found in the South Side Flats section of Pittsburgh and waving the camera about if and when a train came by.
So… I’ve been asked why I keep going back to take from this same well, and present a fairly similar series of shots of trains here time and again. You’ve seen one CSX train, you’ve seen them all, right? Not so much, for me at least. I’m working on camera technique, and hoping ‘the planets align’ on a few fronts eventually.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A habit born back in NYC, when I’m ’working a shot,’ I’ll return to it a hundred times until I get ‘the one.’ There’s variants of photos captured in this spot which are pretty close to what I’m hoping to get. Is the T Light Rail is visible on the Panhandle Bridge in the background, is the sun hitting the freight train, and is the locomotive itself is kicking up dust that’s also catching the sun? If so, hoorah!
For instance, this version of the scene from September was fairly banging, as far as what I’m looking for in this composition. Saying that, this spot has become a bit of a hang out for me, and when you find ‘fish in a barrel’ you return to that spot.
Suffice to say that this brewery location offers a lot more comfort than you’d normally get while out shooting – easy access to a toilet, beer and food, etc. The trains roll through, in the evening hours, about once every 30-40 minutes here and you really can’t fault a location for the frequency of interesting subject matter which comes hurtling past the lens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I used to have sludge boats, you see, and several well worn locations on Staten Island where you could be assured of a maritime presence. I also used to have a certain Creek, which had fairly infrequent rail and tugboat action, but it had them. Honestly, if there had been a bar up on the Pulaski Bridge…
These days, it’s freight trains, one reckons. I swear, if I don’t take a picture of a large machine at least once a week…
Back tomorrow with more.
“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 Fourth, and Final, Potato
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just a short one today, with the last few shots from a Birthday walk wherein I contemplated – amongst other things – just how Superman would stop a runaway train without causing a derailment. I had just taken up station at an oft visited brewery found alongside CSX’s Pittsburgh Subdivision tracks when CSX #3320 appeared from the east. Or at least eastwards. I’m still working out the cardinal directions here, and have added a compass to the long list of stuff attached to or in my camera bag.
I had an ‘ok’ cheeseburger for dinner. Beer’s pretty good here, but the food is – as the youngins would say – ‘mid.’ #3330 is a GE ET44AH model locomotive, incidentally.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
From the same direction a GE C30-7 model locomotive, which CSX has assigned the charming moniker of ‘#7036’, appeared. It’s a fairly old train, apparently, as this model was produced sometime between 1976 and 1986. It seemed nice.
Given that it was my birthday, and that I also thrive on this sort of ‘Doctor Nerdlington’ information, it seems that the average rate of human fingernail growth is about 1.5 inches a year. Thereby, some 7.125 feet worth of fingernails have been produced by and clipped away from me, over an entire lifetime. How much of a mess are you? How much cellular debris do you think has been let loose upon the world in your name?
Apparently, I’ve also shed something in the neighborhood of 85 pounds and 8 ounces of human skin, as exfoliate, over the years.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
CSX currently has 2,700 locomotives in its fleet, the average length of which is 60 feet. All together that’s about 162,000 feet of end to end hardware. In miles, that translates to 30.68 miles of just locomotive engine. That assembly would theoretically produce a force of 11.34 million horsepower if combined perfectly.
This brings us back to Superman, doesn’t it? Given that the Man of Steel has ‘one arm’ pushed the Earth out of the way of a passing comet and returned the planet to proper orbit multiple times, can we say he’s more powerful than ‘ALL the Locomotives’ in the future? I’ve done the math on this, or at least a handy computer program has.
The last of my Birthday trains was CSX #7037.
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 Newtown Pentacle 