Posts Tagged ‘South Side Flats’
Going to and coming from…
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After executing a fairly long scuttle, along the Great Allegheny Passage Trail between Homestead and the South Side Flats section of Pittsburgh, just as I was arriving at the Sly Fox brewery for a rehydration session with a coy-Le of lovely pints of Stout, the train tracks signal arms lowered and the alarm bells started ringing.
A train was a-coming. HEY NOW!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
#3418 was heading westerly, towards Ohio. It was hauling cargo boxes and tanker cars. A ‘GE ET44AH’ model locomotive, its fairly modern by CSX standard, having been built just during the last twenty or so years.
‘Grade crossings,’ as in when a vehicle/pedestrian path is interrupted to allow train egress, are pretty rare back in NYC.
Apparently, Robert Moses made it one of his missions in life to eliminate as many of NYC’s grade crossings as possible, except at Newtown Creek. Here’s one in Blissville, one in Maspeth, there’s LIRR in DUPBO, and one that’s from East Williamsburg.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The spot I was standing on was once part of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie rail yard back in the days of steel, and the brewery I was headed to is sited in a building that used to serve as a rail yard warehousing and intermodal operation. Railroad tracks were here first, so everything else has to wait when a train comes through. Saying that, I see people racing against oncoming trains all the time. It’s only a matter of time before I photograph something horrible happening.
Hey now?
They don’t do Guinness at this establishment, but they do offer a couple of other choices in the ‘Stout’ category which I’d describe as ‘salubrious.’ After a quick visit to the porcelain within, and then to the bar, your humble narrator soon sat down for the first time in a few hours, and slurped on a pint of grog while hoping for the next train to arrive.
Vainglorious hope, and after an hour I paid my tab and started moving again. There’s an elevated truck ramp that overflies this familiar spot, which the current owners of the property have fashioned as ‘The Highline.’ I headed up there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just as I got to the ‘top,’ the signal arms began to chime and another train appeared, this one heading south easterly and away from Ohio.
CSX #3200, its a GE ES44AC-H model locomotive. Same basic design as #3418, I’m led to believe, but equipped with different electrical gear and traction controls.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
You have to respect ‘nerdom’ and all the facets it may take.
There’s comics people, music people, sci-fi people, philatelists, sports people. Uncredentialed experts in their fields of study, these people nevertheless are amazing fonts of knowledge about esoteric things. Like railfans are. Respect.
As stated a hundred times: I’m not a ‘railfan,’ in terms of understanding all the nuance and detail that’s rolling past the lens. I just like taking pictures of trains, an activity which I find kind of challenging.
I’m a photo nerd, these days.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After the train passed, it was time to head back to HQ and I opted for the lazy solution to getting home – calling a ride share. It’s about $12 for that fare, as Pittsburgh isn’t terribly large and HQ is roughly five miles from this spot.
Moe the dog danced and brayed on my return, then promptly fell asleep.
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.
Cool Cars, Van edition
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Longtime readers will recall that the ‘cool cars’ designation for a post used to be fairly common here at Newtown Pentacle, but that was in Western Queens. The tag on post signifies that I wandered past an unexpectedly charismatic vehicle, during a walk, and felt compelled to photograph it. Hence…
Check out this crazy van.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The bonnet, as the British born ‘Our Lady of the Pentacle’ might call it, was festooned with skulls. Wouldn’t want to clear snow off of this one.
I’m guessing that the owner must be in a band. The cargo racks on top… gotta be a vehicle which a band tours out of. Metal band, I’ll wager.
It’s also possible that the devil had simply parked in the South Side Flats area and this is its ride.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Front shot of the thing, and then your humble narrator moved on.
It was still too early in the day for a beer, so despite my proximity to the Sly Fox Brewery and it’s non stop parade of CSX trains, your humble narrator instead ‘leaned into it’ and continued on with his scuttle.
I was determined to use mass transit to get back to HQ, but that’s another story for another day. 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.
Six mile scuttle, fin
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had to kill an hour or so before the next CSX train showed up, on their Pittsburgh Subdivision Tracks, but at least I had a place to sit down.
If this shot looks familiar, it’s because you’ve seen it dozens of times here but from a different POV. In this instance, I was high above the Sly Fox Brewery, whereas I’m normally down at ground level.
The building that the brewery is located in is a former railroad terminal and warehouse called ‘The Highline,’ by its owners. There’s a former vehicle ramp which overflies the scene below, hence ‘Highline.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had drank a pint glass of ice water, and then two beers, while waiting. Honestly, I had given up hope and remembering the very productive day which saw trains, and a smokey incline, and then bridges and even tugboats appearing in front of the camera – I didn’t want to be a glutton.
I then headed up to the Highline, with the intention of walking back out to the street side of the property and summoning a rideshare home. Then the signal arms started chiming…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
What am I supposed to do, not take pictures? Sheesh.
I was fairly tired at this point. Six miles is about all I can get out of the ankle at the moment, although my stated goal for this stage of recovery from the injury is ten miles. What can I tell you? I’ll get there when I can.
Saying that, it did pretty well when I was back in NYC in June.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As quickly as I could walk, the other side of the Highline ramp was attained, and what I would call ‘fetching shots’ of the train were captured.
Really lucky with light on this particular day. There was a not inconsiderable amount of heat distortion to deal with, but it’s summer.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The CSX train cavorted off towards Ohio, and your humble narrator officially declared his day as done.
A quick car ride saw me back at HQ, reunited with Our Lady of the Pentacle and Moe the Dog.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Glad that I decided to have a second drink, would have missed out on that last train if I hadn’t.
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.
Subdivisioning
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Dynamic was your humble narrator, as he had spied from the corner of his wicked eye a CSX train set being held static by signals nearby the Fort Pitt Bridge, while said narrator was hurtling past in his automobile. Haste was made to arrange said automobile, a Toyota, into a parking spot and nearby a familiar location.
Happy day. The signal arms flailed about and lights and bells were activated. Just like Christmas, the bells and lights. Hooray. Like a sinner from hell’s heart, that CSX train arrived in a puff of noise.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
CSX #1972 appeared. Apparently, it’s a ‘Family Lines’ ‘Heritage Unit.’ My joy at getting a nice shot, above, soon became interlocuted with sadness. The sadness intruded because of the realization that I might have to deep dive on what the hell ‘family lines’ means, and reenter the Byzantine world of the railfans.
Really, I just like taking pictures of trains. It’s a difficult subject – huge, quick moving, need to be able to react quickly when one appears… that’s me. Commenting upon how the CSX people used the wrong screw on one of the metal plates, or that this train once rolled past something important is just way outside my wheelhouse. Maritime metaphor is intentional.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I wasn’t planning on running this shot, but I got a request in the comments section a few days ago, asking about the appearance of the Sly Fox Brewery, which is often mentioned within similar posts that have also focused on CSX’s Pittsburgh Subdivision Tracks nearby this spot.
That’s Sly Fox in the background, but I wasn’t in attendance there on this particular day. First off, it was something like 11:30 a.m., and secondly I had the car with me. I also had other places to visit on this particular day.
Why use the car on a ‘photo day’? It was about 100 degrees outside with humidity and dew point levels in the 90’s.
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.
Done, Dirt Cheap
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Welcome back to Pittsburgh, where a humble narrator recently took a short walk in search of a couple of pints of beer and passing locomotives.
Norfolk Southern’s tracks ride on an elevated berm in this area, carven out of the cliff face of Mount Washington itself. The opening, beneath that trestle it’s riding on, is the transit tunnel normally used for buses and the T light rail. Said tunnel has been undergoing a rehabilitation project for the last few months.
I heard a train coming, and managed to capture a quick peek of #4462 when it appeared in a break through the verge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was about 4-5 in the afternoon as I was moving through this zone, and vehicle traffic was beginning to stack up, in the approaches to various bridges, and tunnels, and the on-ramps to high speed roads.
Me? I was in a mood.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Nothing specific was wrong, in terms of triggers, just woke up unhappy and easily angered by minor stimuli. Like an asshole. I’d been trapped by obligation and climate for nearly a week, and really needed a day off.
This post is being written mid month, incidentally, whereas you’re receiving it at the end of July. I’ve managed to rebuild my ‘lead time’ here at Newtown Pentacle in the last month or so, and hope that I’m able to maintain a two to three week ‘ahead of schedule’ posture moving forward. Hate publishing a post when the ‘the pixels are still wet.’
I always strive for lead time here, but it seldom works out.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The brewery I haunt, in this area, is found alongside a set of CSX’s Pittsburgh Subdivision tracks and it’s one of the choke points for that rail outfit’s operations here. If one of their train sets is coming through the city, heading east or west, it’s quite likely going to be moving past this spot. What? You’ve never gone fishing? You go where the fish are forced to go and drop the hook there.
That structure on the left is part of a concrete company.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
CSX #7030 appeared, and I wanted to get a slightly different point of view for this photo than I normally do when at this spot.
It was the only train that appeared while I was there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The locomotive was heading westwards, likely into Ohio at some point, after passing through McKees Rocks, where the company has one of its corporate outposts. I imagine there’s crew turnover there, but I’m just guessing. This is the POV I normally use when here, as a note.
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 