Posts Tagged ‘The T’
Montour at Library
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another ‘short walk day’ found me scuttling down a section of the Montour Trail that I hadn’t visited yet, here in Pittsburgh, this time it was in the South Hills town of Library.
As you may have guessed by now, I’m really leaning into the exercise at the moment. I’ve always walked a lot, but that was in New York where you could walk on a mostly flat plane for dozens of miles in any direction. The terrain of Pittsburgh is challenging, to say the least, and I’m walking about 20% less in terms of miles than I used to according to the phone’s health app.
Use it or lose it, regarding internally lubricated parts…
Luckily, rail’s road grading standard is one foot of elevation per every hundred feet, and since the historic Montour Railroad’s ‘right of way’ has been ‘nationalized’ and turned into a bike and pedestrian trail it’s easy to rectify all that.
Several sections of the Montour Trail have been visited in the single year that I’ve lived here, click here to see those posts in reverse chronological order.
My gameplan for this explorative process on the Montour has been to pick a parking spot and then walk around 5 miles in one direction and then double back to where I parked the car (the trail’s ‘org’ offers parking lots at some of the trailheads).
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Library Trestle, a 506 foot long former rail bridge which carries the Montour Trail over a primary arterial street called ‘Library Road.’ Said road varies in shape, width, and purpose over its travel route.
Midway along Library Road, quite near the massive recreational center called South Park, it’s what traffic engineers would call a ‘Stroad.’ Wide, multi laned, with strip malls and shopping centers populating either side. Stroads often omit sidewalks in favor of having pedestrians walk in the store’s parking lots instead. Here in Library, this stroad transmogrifies into a single travel and parking lane, in each direction, and it functions as a sort of ‘main street.’
The real estate in the surrounding towns, whose road system branches off of Library Road, is fairly expensive and quite suburban in character.
There is a T station in Library, however, which is accompanied by a large ‘park and ride’ lot that is seemingly free to use. I didn’t pay anything, at least, when I parked the Mobile Oppression Platform there for this walk. I looked around for some sort of kiosk, couldn’t find one, so… free.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
When I was walking across the Trestle, a T Silver Line came rolling by below. As you can see, the streetcar service uses a catenary system to power its operation.
The waterway you see in the top left of the shot, to my knowledge, is called Montour Run.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This time around, the audiobook I was listening to was a reading of Bram Stoker’s Dracula as narrated by Christopher Lee.
It really fed into a creepy mood I was enjoying. The great thing about these trails is that you’re often totally alone and isolated from surrounding communities. Sure – a bike rider will zip through, or you’ll cross another walker along the path, but the isolation can be glorious.
Surrounding the trails, there’s usually a bit of that massive urban forest which Pittsburgh hosts, but just as often you get to peek into unknown neighborhoods and observe ways of life alien to your own.
Gotta say, it’s weird seeing the Confederate flag being flown, especially so in Pennsylvania, where a lot of that conflict played out.
Y’know, many horror movies are set in Western Pennsylvania, not just Night of the Living Dead. Something about the place is inherently spooky, and especially so at night.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had walked through several communities on the Montour that particular day. I only know this because they set out ‘welcome to’ signs along the trail. I had doubled back by this point of the walk, having walked the trail about three miles or so. With the turnaround, it boiled down to about six miles which I walked quicker than usual down – about 3.2 mph, according to the fore mentioned health app.
Every walk has to have a ‘turn around’ point here, either to get back to the car or to the T. It’s not like NYC where I could walk to the Gowanus from Astoria, and then just hop on the G to get back to LIC.
That’s (as I still believe it to be) Montour Run again.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I hung around on the trestle for a bit, hoping that I’d get another ‘T from above’ shot, which eventually paid off.
This wasn’t the only section of the Montour Trail which I’d end up taking a walk along this particular week. There’s reasons I’m leaning into the exercise as hard as I am at the moment, which aren’t dire, but mainly revolve around toning up the musculature and dropping a few pounds by revving up the ‘old’ metabolism.
No… I literally mean ‘old’ here, and not colloquially. I’m at that age where men begin to lose muscle, and it’s a ‘use it or lose it’ type scenario regarding staying active.
Back tomorrow.
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An avenue called Broadway
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described in yesterday’s post, one decided to climb the equivalence of 12 building stories worth of municipal steps here in Pittsburgh’s Borough of Dormont, on a short walk around the neighborhood. Thing is, when you leave these steps, you’re in a different neighborhood than where you started – pictured in today’s post is one called Beechview. Beechview is notoriously hilly, but there’s a fairly flat street called ‘Broadway Avenue’ which the T street car runs along, so that’s where I was heading to.
My legs were absolutely quivering from bounding up all those stairs. Goal set, and achieved.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Like the section of Dormont where HQ is found, this part of Beechview is largely residential and its streets are lined with fine old houses of heterogenous character, and hosts many hills and valleys. Broadway Avenue runs along a ridge at the top of the stack, and the T streetcar tracks run along it.
The streets in Beechview are quite challenging to drive along let alone walk – I’d mention – narrow and set against the steep slopes. In fact, the 2nd steepest street on the planet is found nearby, dubbed Canton Avenue. There’s a street in New Zealand which is half a degree steeper, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The T was passing by just as I got to Broadway Avenue, and the streetcar service was entering a small rail only bridge which carries it over a gully. This one is moving away from Pittsburgh, towards its South Hills terminal stop several miles away.
The T system is confusing for this MTA Subway veteran.
You pay your fare while boarding on your way into Pittsburgh, and while debarking the car when you’re leaving Pittsburgh.
In the center of the city, you can ride it for free.
You buy a credit card like thingie called a ‘ConnectCard’ at one of the local supermarket chains, and then either load it with cash or simply connect it to a checking account. I prefer the latter, although back in NYC I refused to ever connect a Metrocard to my bank account because… MTA. They have ticketing machines too, but they’re a pain in the neck. Supposedly, they’re rolling out a ‘tap your phone’ system, but I haven’t done that one yet.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s what Beechview looks like, from Broadway Avenue. You can kind of understand why they build all of those municipal steps.
Ruminating while scuttling along, it occurred to me that I’ve spent most of my adult life along ‘Broadways.’ When I lived in Manhattan, its was at 100th and Broadway. Astoria was 44th and Broadway. In Dormont, I’m a few blocks from Broadway Avenue. Weird.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another T came rolling by, as I walked on and on. This had to be about 4 or so in the afternoon, I reckon. In this section, the T isn’t separated from vehicle traffic as it is back in Dormont. It mingles with automotive and bus traffic. They have little raised concrete ‘islands’ set up for people waiting to ride the service. The islands are protected from traffic by bollards and those little plastic sticks with the reflectors on them (flexible delimiters is the official name for these sticks).
Personally speaking, I detest having to drive on top of the streetcar’s rails, and especially so when it’s raining or icy out.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My turn around point on this walk was at a T stop called ‘Fallowfield,’ and the plan was to actually take the T back to Dormont rather than just reverse course on foot. Those stairs really are something.
You’ll notice two sets of doors on the T. The foremost set are designed for the little customer islands, and within the car there’s a set of bus style steps you use to enter or leave the thing. The second set of doors are designed for the ‘high platform’ stations which are also found within the system. Neat.
Back next week 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.
Inclined towards
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As previously described, one was executing one of my ‘long walks,’ which play out over several miles, one recent afternoon. Along the path I scuttled upon, you find yourself passing under the cantilevered trackway of one of the funicular inclines, specifically the Duquesne Incline (which I refer to as the ‘yellow one’). I got lucky, as the coincidental timing of when I was passing by included a close up of one the cars of the incline passing by virtually at arm’s length.
The T streetcars, the buses, and these inclines, are operated by the Pennsylvania’s Port Authority here in Pittsburgh. I still haven’t taken a bus, although I’m anxious to observe the various busways which snake through the city.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s one of those T streetcars from above, exiting the Panhandle Bridge and heading away from the city’s center, to the Station Square stop on the south side of the Monongahela River. The properties surrounding the bridge in the photo above used to be rail yards, operated by the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie RR – back in the day. There’s supposedly a whole lot of real estate development going on in this area, as part of the post steel industry revitalization effort.
The sky was beginning to look ominous, but as is my habit – I had checked the weather report and was carrying an umbrella with me.
The zoom lenses had been left at HQ, and I was carrying my kit of ‘bright’ prime lenses only. One on the camera, three in the bag – 16mm, 35mm, 50mm, and an 85mm.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Midway along the roadway I was scuttling down is found the 1924 vintage Liberty Tunnel, a high volume roadway dug through Mount Washington. Just over a mile in length, this tunnel is motor vehicle only, and it provides quick automotive access to the South Hills region of Pittsburgh from the ‘downtown’ center. HQ is at the bottom of one of those southern hills, and I drive through this tunnel frequently.
By the way, New Yorkers – this was shot at rush hour on weekday… they call this heavy traffic here. Wow.
It was starting to rain, but I was nowhere close to done with my day’s activities. My umbrella was deployed, and fixed into position between my camera bag’s strap and the left shoulder joint. This allows hands free usage of the thing, more or less.
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.
A gray day
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was exercise day again, so the now familiar ritual of walking to and riding the T streetcar, from HQ to the metropolitan center of Pittsburgh, was enacted. I’ve been using my headphones again on these walks, after a quite long interval of not doing so, and one was listening to an audiobook.
This time around one was listening to a ‘various hands’ reading of the text of Nietzsche’s ‘Beyond Good and Evil,’ with different narrators reading the various chapters, a file I had long ago downloaded from the LibriVox outfit. It’s a series of awful readings actually, of a book written by an awful man and the audiobook uses a not so great translation as its source. The audiobook has a series of what sounds like 19 year old American college students do the readings. Seriously, if you want to produce something like this, find somebody who sounds like Werner Herzog or Brother Theodore to do the narration. It’s Nietzsche, after all.
Thus spake Waxathustra, while watching as a village fool, walking on a tightrope of aspirant desire, took that first step in order to delight the sheep below.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I switched over to a different audiobook, and proceeded to scuttle towards Pittsburgh’s West End Bridge, spanning the Ohio River. The T had dropped me on the North Shore of the Allegheny River, nearby the sports ball stadium utilized by the Pittsburgh Steelers to thrill the community, and at the streetcar service’s terminal stop not too far from the aforementioned West End Bridge.
The new audiobook I had keyed in was Nellie Bly’s ‘Ten Days in a Mad-House.’ The text triggered a vast set of reminiscences for me, about Roosevelt Island and the Queensboro Bridge. This narration was read by a woman who sounded quite young, and quite apropo for the voice of Nellie, who was the inspiration for Lois Lane.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After crossing the Ohio River, one encountered the outfall canal of its tributary ‘Chartiers Creek,’ a waterway which was mentioned in a post about a recent visit to the community of Carnegie for a short walk, not so long ago. This day’s endeavor, however, was one of my ‘long walks’ and there were a few things which I planned on getting a look at along the way, which included the outfall pictured above.
Ten Days in a Mad-House, if you’re not familiar, revolves around a 19th century Reporter Nellie Bly getting herself committed to New York’s Welfare Island (today’s Roosevelt Island) asylum, as part of an undercover assignment for the New York World newspaper. If you want to check out the free audiobook – here you go.
Later in her career, Bly would ‘go around the world in 72 days,’ write a novel, and then married a 73 year old millionaire when she was 31. After her husband’s death in 1904, Bly became an industrialist running his steel can and container manufacturing business. Nellie Bly was a pen name, she was actually named Elizabeth Cochran.
More 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.
Getting around
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Ok, this is the last post which will be focused on discussing the experimentation with that new wide angle lens (16mm) I’ve recently acquired, which I walked around with in Pittsburgh on a recent autumn afternoon and evening. Pictured above and below is the T light rail, which was utilized to get ‘to and fro’ on this particular day.
The point of these shots were about testing the thing’s capability, seeing where it sings and where it fails. I learned quite a bit about the lens, and have continued its usage rather than returning it for refund.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The next few days, after these shots were captured, were quite rainy. That was fine with me, as I had quite a bit of research to complete for an upcoming day trip, one I’ve been anxious to experience since arriving here in Pittsburgh. It has been just about one year now since I closed the cover on Newtown Creek, but there’s a connection to that malign ribbon of urban neglect snaking along the undefended border of Brooklyn and Queens back in NYC, which I’ve long wished to witness. Those posts, exploring the day trip dealie, start up at the end this week, and I hope you’ll come with…
Overall, I’m intrigued by the new lens and what it’s going to let me do. It performed pretty well in low light, I’ll offer. It’s also a weird new tool which I haven’t shot with enough for it to be called ‘predictable.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This time last year, one was moving at a thousand miles an hour preparing to leave NYC, and execute the move to Pittsburgh. A humble narrator was also trying to do everything, see everyone, and always be conscious of the fact that ‘everytime was the last time.’ There’s a lot of people whom I just said ‘goodbye’ to, as it’s unlikely I’ll ever see or hear from them again. That’s the New York way, when somebody leaves.
This year, I’ve been in a very very different place, figuratively and literally. I’ve also got that snazzy new 16 mm lens, so there’s that, too.
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 