Posts Tagged ‘south side slopes’
Lauer Way Steps
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The day which I had picked to visit the Lauer Way steps here in Pittsburgh’s South Side Slopes area was at the very end of that crazy heat wave which had plagued the nation for a couple of weeks. A cold front was forecast to blow through later in the afternoon, trailing a powerful line of thunderstorms behind it, and I calculated the timing that would save me from getting wet.
I was totally and absolutely wrong in my calculation, which wouldn’t be the first time that I screwed myself over, but that’s just tomorrow’s post being foreshadowed for you.
After descending down the first section of the Lauer Way steps, there’s a very narrow road cut into the steep hillside which one encounters.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking left, my first thought brought a shudder, as I pondered about having to potentially drive through here. I also wondered how you’d bring a fire engine, garbage truck – or really any large vehicle – through here. Jeez.
Heck, I was thinking about how difficult and nerve wracking it would be to drive my Toyota RAV4 through here, and that my Mobile Oppression Platform really isn’t all that much bigger than a standard car and even then it would be a difficult route to navigate. Brrr.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking in the other direction – and same deal.
I mean… it’s a paved road, and there were fire hydrants and such, so obviously it’s done by someone, but wowza.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The steps continued their downward journey, after a bit of wooden patchwork that had been married to the older steel and concrete dealie.
I was traveling light, I should mention. Prime lenses in the bag, along with my trusty umbrella and the now ubiquitous water bottle. Last time I was weighed in at the doc, I asked them to indulge me and we did one with and one without the camera bag.
Seven and a half pounds in toto, as it turned out, for my ‘bag of prime lenses’ bag configuration, with umbrella and water bottle riding within, as well as the camera strapped onto me separately.
Bare minimum kit, just what I need, most of the time.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Lauer Way steps don’t go all the way down to flat land, instead they terminate on a street called ‘Fritz.’ From there, about 3-400 feet of cross scuttling will find you at the last section of the German Square steps, which terminate at a pedestrian bridge over a set of Norfolk Southern rail tracks. As you may have guessed in recent months, rail is a big draw for me, in terms of pointing the camera at something.
That pedestrian bridge is where I was heading while the wind was starting to pick up, and the skies darkened. That cold front was a bit ahead of schedule.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The views from Fritz Street were great. To the left is Pittsburgh’s ‘Downtown’ section, and the red brick section of the shot is the city jail. Instinct found me constantly reaching back to my bag and touching the umbrella. One of my little dealies is to constantly and obsessively check the contents of my pockets and bag to ensure that I haven’t dropped or lost any of the gadgets in the bag, or my keys, or wallet.
A mundane fact I’m quite proud of is that a part of my key ring is the last surviving part of the very first key ring I was presented at 8 or 9 years old by my parents back in Brooklyn. My wallet is a 1983 vintage Levi’s velcro one, purchased at the Gap in Brooklyn’s Kings Plaza shopping mall back in Tenth Grade. I’ve never lost either one, which elicits a somewhat shocked reaction from others. Those little check in’s of mine pay off.
Back tomorrow with more.
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Sicut ambulans hic
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Before you ask, the Latin title above means ‘I’m walking here.’ See, I just saved you a Google. I’ve included latin titles this week to make it seem like I’m better educated than I actually am, but it’s all just a ‘Fugazi.’ Often, I’ll intentionally create the impression that I’m dumber than I actually am by mispronouncing words. I’ll say ‘spahtoolah’ instead of ‘spatula,’ as an example. In reality, my intellect is best analogized as being an institutional beige/gray wall with a badly framed picture of a kitten on it which bears the motto ‘What, me worry?’
As you may recall, last Friday’s post ended with a humble narrator mid walk and heading down the roughly 12 stories of ‘City Steps’ that the kids call ‘German Square.’ Well, the kids of the 1920’s at least, but they likely referred to themselves as ‘Kinde’ back then.
My return to this installation was initiated by wanting to impact all of those muscle groups which I had strained and sprained on my first outing – the front of the thigh, sides of the knee, the ligaments between, and those calf muscles which reach down into the top of the foot from the shin, the entire lower back. This is a really good workout for those particularly hard to reach areas, and the views are sick.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My inexorable march would lead to one of Pittsburgh’s Light Rail or ‘T’ stations, where I’d board a train and ride out to its terminal stop in South Hills Village – which is a shopping mall complex of some size. It’s not exactly pedestrian friendly where I was heading, and my journey was cloaked in fear and loathing. A Doctor’s appointment awaited me, which was set to address an ‘out of nowhere’ medical condition which has recently asserted itself.
The fear and loathing part involved the nature of the practice itself, which is Ophthalmology. Last time that I visited the Optician to update my glasses prescription, the Doc spotted something worrying and advised me to climb up the eye doctor food chain to a ‘retina guy.’ The retina guy confirmed the condition and after a thorough examination, ordered me to return on the very day these shots were captured, for further examination and possible treatment.
What’s the treatment, asked I?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hypodermic injection into the eye, said the doc. ‘Don’t worry,’ he continued, ‘we’ll anesthetize you.’ I needed to be anesthetized right there, after hearing about that nugget of nightmare fuel.
My friend Steve Bissette (the legendary cartoonist and illustrator) offers a lecture, periodically, which traces the roots of horror in graphic narrative, and presents an overview that begins with the invention of the printing press and passes though the lurid ‘EC comics’ era of the 1950’s, and into the modern era. He categorizes several motifs that have always gotten a rise out of people during this talk.
One is the ‘hand mutilation motif,’ and there’s also the ‘eye mutilation motif.’ Both thema offer a visceral and instinctual reaction from the viewer – it’s deep down monkey stuff.
Thoughts of the ‘Zombie 2’ Lucio Fulchi film (content/trigger warning on that link) thereby assumed a front and center position in a humble narrator’s mind, during the month long interim between my first visit and the one scheduled for later in the day.
Paroxysms of anxiety erupted within, but all I could do was to keep on walking. My fate was binary – it would be ‘either’ or it would ‘or.’ Given that I had zero agency to affect things one way or the other… I couldn’t worry about things outside my control.
More apprehension, and raw existential terror, tomorrow.
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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.
Dispassionate observation
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An errand had carried me out the door quite early in the morning recently, and I found myself killing time between that task and my next ‘have to’ by sitting in the car and talking on the phone with My Pal Val, who’s back in NYC. Suddenly, I said ‘have to hang up, train coming,’ and jumped out of the Mobile Oppression Platform to capture the shot above.
Depicting a Canadian Pacific locomotive engine operating along CSX’s Mon tracks, the shot above is what I got. If you’re reading this, Val, there you go.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The next afternoon, on another fairly warm day, one was negotiating the streets of Allentown on foot. Said community is found amongst the South Side Slopes region. I had left the car at home, and used a cab to get from HQ to here. It’s only a couple of miles, but the hills are ferocious and I’d have to cross a major traffic interchange on foot otherwise, which would frankly be a death defying feat of courage.
As always stated – my physical cowardice is vast, and I must be the least courageous exemplar found amongst all of the living males in these United States. Not wanting to freeze up and or then start crying out of terror and fear, I took a cab.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
‘It’s all downhill from here’ is an oft retreated phrase of mine, one which all of my friends from NYC dreaded hearing, since it was usually followed by a ten mile death march through an industrial zone. Literally true in this case, this is the apogee of the steep hill upon which Allentown nests, and I’d be heading downhill. There used to be an incline found right in the middle of the shot above, as a note, but it was demolished well before my birth. C’est la vie, huh?
I actually had a limited amount of time allotted for this walk, as I had to attend a Doctor’s appointment, several miles away, later on in the day. I left the car at home as my eyes were going to be chemically dilated to aid in the medical personnel’s examination thereof, and having already made the mistake of trying to drive home after a prior dilation… I’d be calling another cab to return to HQ. There’s a big difference between the dilation effect of an Optician’s chemicals versus the absolute ferocity of an Opthamologist’s formulation.
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.
18th street steps
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As has been mentioned in prior installments, a humble narrator has working his way around Pittsburgh’s inventory of ‘City Steps’ in recent weeks. Serendipity found me standing on the veritable breach of the 18th Street Steps recently, found in Pittsburgh’s ‘South Side Slopes’ section.
Somebody installed a pleasing bit of signage for this pathway, I’d mention, a close up of which you can admire here. The steps enjoy the same status that sidewalks do, as in they’re there for the scuttling public to use.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This set is a bit shallower than the German Square steps that I’ve described in the past, and offer a plunging descent that’s probably no greater than about six building stories.
As the name would indicate, these South 18th street steps deposit pedestrian traffic onto South 18th street in the South Side Flats area. There’s actually something quite magical about these paths, I’d also mention. Hidden corridors, surrounded by lush vegetation and private residential lots, and you don’t have to worry about motor vehicles or bicycles suddenly appearing and smashing into you. Instead you worry about stumbling, but that’s a different banana.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This set of steps ends in a high set structure which winds down to the street level, but what drew me to this particular path was a POV which I had noticed one day while driving through on that street down there. I walked down to a shady patch on the next landing and hung around for a few minutes hoping to see a train moving through.
Oddly, I was experiencing a slight bit of vertigo while walking this section, and thereby held onto the steel bannister while doing so.
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.
Cage match
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described yesterday, a humble narrator was navigating a set of Pittsburgh’s City Steps in the South Side Slopes neighborhood, dubbed as being the ‘Church Route Trestle Steps,’ in pursuance of finding yet another ‘point of view’ or POV of the Norfolk Southern RR’s ‘Mon Line’ trackage and right of way which snakes along the hillside hereabouts.
Say that three times fast, I dare you.
The section of the steps which overflies the RR tracks is contained within a fenced in steel truss, pictured above. It forms a short pedestrian bridge, and offers a pretty neat set of photo opportunities.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking north and west across the South Side Flats area towards Pittsburgh’s downtown, that’s how I’d describe the shot above. I’m particularly pleased with myself, regarding this capture. I’ll take the credit, but kind light and the atmospheric conditions should really get the top billing. I just clicked a button or two.
While shooting this one, a conversation was struck up with one of the locals, who was walking back and forth and up and down the steps. He jokingly referred to the bridge and steps as his own 2.8 million dollar municipal stairmaster.
While chatting, a familiar rumble was heard coming from the east.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Norfolk Southern #4675 appeared, hauling a varied series of cargo cars. There were tankers, and cars for cargo boxes, and also car carriers. I’ve been trying to accumulate some knowledge regarding what the many different train cars and containers I observe rolling past are used for. I’ve picked up just a bit of the lore, but this inquest moves me dangerously close to railfanning.
As always – not a railfan, I just like taking pictures of trains.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, this tenancy of mine on the pedestrian bridge soon saw another subject appear from the west. Two trains in one go?
Well… it was time to tighten my belt and get busy!
The stair climbing fellow I was chatting with lived in the adjoining South Sides Flats area, and we had an amiable chat about what that’s like. He pointed out a few things to me, and we discussed the environmental consequences of a busy train line in your back yard. He asked how I knew the things I know, which is one of the few times since Ive been here that Newtown Creek has been discussed.
He thought I’d be leaning into talking about air pollution, which is a hot button item here in Pittsburgh due to the operations of U.S. Steel downriver, but I pointed out to him that there is no observable vegetation growing on or near the track beds despite it being surrounded by the urban forest.
Defoliants, pesticide, and leachates entering the ground water, sayeth I.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Turns out that the second train was Norfolk Southern #9889, which also hauling a mixed up group of cars behind it. I shot a lot more images than just these three, of course, but these were the ones which seemed to tell my story most efficiently.
I bid my companion adieu, and continued on my way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The plan for the rest of the early evening was to walk to the waterfront after passing by the 1889 vintage St. Adalbert’s Church (on the left in the the shot above), hang a left at the river, grab a beer at that brewery I like with the CSX tracks alongside it and…
Well, you’ll see all that 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 