Posts Tagged ‘Station Square’
Catenaries and atavists
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve mentioned that the local transit agency – dubbed ‘PRT’ for ‘Pittsburgh Regional Transit’ – which operates the T light rail service, has been conducting a profound series of repairs and upgrades to the Red Line light rail service which runs through the area that HQ is located in all summer long.
The availability of rail based mass transit is one of the factors which decided where Our Lady of the Pentacle and I would settle, I’d mention.
These repairs have been going on since June, and in lieu of running the T service, rail shuttle buses have been carrying the load instead. Theoretically, the week after Labor Day was meant to see a return of regular T service, but a fallen tree had interrupted things again by pulling down a series of the catenary wires that power the thing. Outbound from Pittsburgh’s center was running fine, but inbound towards the City was blocked by repairs and rewiring.
Sigh. I finally rode on a bus in Pittsburgh, thereby.
The rail shuttle carried my fellow commuters and I via surface streets to the Station Square facility along the Monongahela River, whereupon we were directed onto one of the T platforms to finish our journeys. The other two lines were, and have been, up and running and while waiting for a Blue or Silver line light rail unit to show up at Station Square to carry us the rest of the way, an outbound Red Line caught my eye as it entered the facility.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This was a ‘long walk’ day. The Blue Line T arrived, and deposited me at its terminal stop on Pittsburgh’s North Side, nearby the sportsball stadiums. I was eschewing the headphones on this scuttle for some reason, wanting to pay attention to my surroundings with the whole compliment of built in sensory equipment. My goal was to wander back to more or less the start of this walk at the Station Square T facility.
The North Side is absolutely lovely, despite it having a somewhat ferocious reputation. There were a few spots along a loosely decided upon route that I had in mind, but I had planned in ‘serendipity.’
Serendipity is when you happen across something which you didn’t anticipate on a photowalk, and is a joyous sort of experience.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As it turns out, there’s a Historic District tucked into the North Side, full of late 19th and very early 20th century structures, a fact which was otherwise unknown to me. It’s called ‘Allegheny West,’ and it’s one of twelve such historic districts in Pittsburgh which receive special attention from the City and the residents who live there. Neat!
I’ll definitely be wandering back through here again, and checking out what’s on display. How the other half lives, indeed.
Back 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.
Outside, always
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After quaffing an adult beverage at a local brewery, and getting a couple of shots of a passing train, it was time to scuttle back to the T light rail station for my ride back to HQ. This was to be the ultimate T ride home for me, as the next day a prolonged interval of maintenance would begin and the light rail service serving my particular paradigm will be unavailable until autumn. They’re running shuttle buses in the interim, the Governmental Transit agency is, but it ain’t the same for one such as myself.
While shlepping along, I kept on shooting.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There are three active light rail lines which disperse into Pittsburgh’s South Hills region – red, blue, and silver. The Red one is getting the maintenance attention, and that’s the one which HQ is found along, unfortunately and of course.
As mentioned yesterday, it was ungodly hot out on this particular evening, and I couldn’t help but remark on the fantastic luck of walking in direct sunlight for most of it. Good stuff.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, the light rail service station was held in total shadow. Unluckily, the maintenance work, further upstream on the service, saw me cooling my heels there for the better part of an hour waiting for the correct light rail train set to arrive and carry me home. Bah!
The thing finally arrived, and I shoveled my sloppy from sweating pre carcass onboard and found a seat.
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.
Listen for it
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While scuttling back to the T light rail station after a short walk, where a humble narrator hoped for transit egress back to HQ, a Norfolk Southern train was spotted rolling along its elevated tracks. Remember, yesterday, when I was musing about owning a better telephoto zoom lens than the one I have for random times when a long reach would be handy? Situations like this one are why I covet such things.
One of my favorite shots from last year was captured up near those tracks (location, and shot), when another Norfolk Southern unit was thundering through in the opposite direction. Apparently, there was a pretty dramatic derailment in this area a few years ago (2018) that saw train cars falling over the edge of the track bed, which damaged the light rail station. Wow.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Those tracks up there are set against Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington prominence and are pretty busy, to my observation. This is the south side of the Monongahela River, and downstream – after the ‘Mon’ joins with the Allegheny to form the headwaters of the Ohio River – there’s a bridge which allows these trains to cross the water and continue on westwards using the northern shore of the Ohio.
There’s a medium sized rail yard kind of nearby that those tracks go through, one which I haven’t gotten close to yet. It’s on my list, however. So’s Christmas.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Now that things are warming up a bit here, I’ve got a few things I want to check out on that extensive ‘got to check that out’ list of mine.
In particular, I’d like to pay some more attention to the steel mills east of this area, check out what I can see around Norfolk Southern’s regional ‘home base’ at the Conway Yard, and get a shot of the Westinghouse Atom Smasher.
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.
Tomato makes everything taste better
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The best thing about the shot above is that I was in a bar with outdoor seating, one which adjoins the tracks, and could just sit and quaff beer while waiting for a train to come my way. The other best part was that the tracks involve a couple of street crossings, so I had ample notice to jump up and get into position with the camera, well before the train appeared, since the signal arms would go down and warning bells start to ring when it’s approaching the spot. Awesome!
The brewery has pretty ok burgers too. It’s called Sly Fox Brewing Co., and I can endorse it as place to drink beer and take pictures of trains.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The bar is also right next door to a concrete factory which I’ve found myself pointing the camera at more than once.
A ‘T’ light rail station is also nearby, so I also didn’t have to worry about getting back home after pouring alcoholic beverage into my maw.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A short walk from the position of the first shot allows one access to a point of elevation, where views of the train tracks are available as well.
Back next week with more from Pittsburgh, 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 