Posts Tagged ‘The T’
Library Road, or part of it anyway
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As you might recall from recent folderol, your humble narrator was hiding away from the tumult of the NFL Draft, during the last week of April, by hunting around Pittsburgh’s Bethel Park area.
I was looking for remnants of the massive footprint that a series of coal mines once enjoyed in this area. After visiting the grave of Andy Warhol, one’s feet were again pointed at Route 88/Library Road.
This coal thing with me kind of started while driving along this route. ‘It’s a modern road, set up in the 1930’s and 40’s, why is it serpentine?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The answer was – of course – railroading.
Significant trackage used to exist here (beyond the elevated tracks of Wheeling & Lake Erie, pictured above), servicing a series of coal mines found along the Saw Mill Run waterway, which is a quick flowing urban stream. Said waterway should be regarded as a bit more of a ‘watershed,’ if you wanted to get a bit more ‘nitty gritty’ about it.
Saw Mill Run is fed by hundreds of smaller springs and streams, which trickle down out of the steep hills surrounding it. A primary arterial street called ‘Saw Mill Run Blvd.’ more or less shadows its path.
Saw Mill Run has been mentioned here quite a few times.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My rather hazy and still forming picture of things hereabouts suggests that the right of way used by the T light rail runs more or less in the footprint of the defunct Saw Mill Run RR, which carried mined coal to the Ohio River waterfront via a tunnel punched through Mount Washington.
Library Road narrows suddenly, and of course the thing that they didn’t have any room for anymore was sidewalk pavement. One was thereby forced to divert.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Nearly every stage of life is covered by that shot up there – the school’s playground is childhood, handicap parking is for the middle aged, and there’s a cemetery up on the hill. Neat, and very efficient. That’s ‘thinking ahead,’ right there.
Truly, the lengths I went to in the name of avoiding the NFL Draft, held in Pittsburgh in the last week of April, were ‘outré.’
To maintain my pedestrian access to sidewalk pavement, and not get squished by a pickup truck on Library Road, where the sidewalk just disappears I diverted to a small bridge, carrying an intersecting local road over the Saw Mill Run waterway.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Coincidentally, this adjusted path just happened to follow the tracks of the T Light Rail service. Fancy that.
There are three lines currently; Blue, Silver, and Red.
Red is the one which flows through Dormont, where HQ is found. All three terminate to the southeast behind a shopping mall, and the antipode of that spot is found on Pittsburgh’s North Shore, nearby Acrisure Stadium. They’ve got some sort of ‘hop on-hop off’ dealie going on with the fares, which I’m kind of hazy about the rules for, but it seems that when you pay a fare there’s a grace period during which you can transfer onto another T, or a bus, or one of the inclines.
It’s all very confusing. Nobody in Pittsburgh fully explains things. You’re just expected to ‘know.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One was scuttling towards a nearby T station called ‘Overbrook,’ where I’d be able to catch one of the ‘Red’ line rail units back to HQ.
This is a pretty little section of Bethel Park, have to say. There’s quite a few local shops, and I often see people actually walking around here, while I’m driving through. It’s a dichotomy.
I generally end up driving through this section a few times a week during my daily rounds. There’s quite a few interesting spots here, beyond the whole coal angle which I’m currently fascinated by.
Back next week with more, at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
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The ‘T’ to Bethel Park
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The history of Pittsburgh is pretty large.
There’s a whole lot of young George Washington, you’ve got Lewis and Clark, glass factories, steel mills, deindustrialization, and then rebirth under their ‘Eds and Meds’ conceit. It’s a lot to wrap your hands around, and I’ve been doing a lot of reading on the subject, but it’s still all quite confusing.
A big part of the confusion involves the rapacious business environment which was prevalent here, for much of Pittsburgh’s existence.
The darkest forms of capitalism were practiced hereabouts – company stores, unincorporated towns where the local Police were employees of the mill or mine and who were loyal to the boss and not any sort of actual law, with both the laborers and their families treated like medieval serfs.
I’ve decided to learn all of this ‘stuff’ by starting at the beginning.
Neither the Washingtonian nor post colonial eras for me, there are dozens of academic books authored by lettered historians on those subjects, if you’re interested in that particular part of the story.
Nope, I’ve decided that the thing I want to learn is the first rung on the industrial history local ladder, and that’s coal.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve mentioned my growing fascination with this coal subject in prior posts, but the tipping point at which I stop reading about something and then ‘go there’ to see what’s still extant occurred recently.
It should also be mentioned, the photos in this and subsequent posts were gathered during the week of the NFL Draft, which took over most of the central section of the city in late April, and which I avoided at all costs.
I don’t care about sportsball, and hate crowds.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One boarded a T Light Rail unit in Dormont, heading southeast.
There’s a largish community nearby, which like Dormont is part of the larger ‘South Hills’ region, and is called ‘Bethel Park.’ I’m still getting my timelines and details together here, but I’m led to believe – by scholarly sources – that there used to be five distinct and enormous coal mining operations in Bethel Park, starting in the late 19th century, and one of these mines was in business all the way up to the early 1980’s.
Now, I’m fairly familiar with this ‘zone,’ but from the perspective of driving through it. Moe the Dog’s Vet is out here, and there’s a variety of retail establishments which we also frequent in the area.
There’s freight tracks rolling through here as well, with the logic of their location now making some sense to me, given a history of mining.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Washington Junction is the T stop where I debarked from the light rail.
I’m led to understand that part of the reason that the transit people set these lines in where they are had to do with assuming or ‘nationalizing’ the abandoned ‘rights of way’ once enjoyed by the defunct freight rail services that were laid down to service the mines.
Washington Junction is set upon a large flat space, which is largely depressed downwards, and away from the surrounding hilly landforms. Guess what used to be here?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a fair bit of housing density nearby. One and two family homes from the look of them. These also look decidedly 20th century in design.
A bit of a ‘shlep’ carried me across the parking lot of the T station’s ’park and ride’ lot and up towards Route 88/Library Road.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A local gas station chain had sponsored free rides on the T during the NFL Draft, with said chain called ‘Sheetz.’ Interesting family owned company, which is expanding, and if they ever go public I’m buying stock. They have a great business model, excellent marketing, and a pretty big multi-state footprint in the Appalachian region.
In return for their sponsorship, Sheetz got to do vehicle wraps with their brand colors for the T, advertising their wares to the MFL crowd.
Tomorrow, hunting for coal town remnants, and Andy Warhol.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Scuttle’s end
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Swindell Bridge to North Shore, part eight.
This is the last post in this series, which began up in the Perry South section nearby the Swindell Bridge here in Pittsburgh. We then followed Perrysville Avenue to the Federal Street Extension, got some rail shots at Allegheny Commons Park, and here we are – crossing the Allegheny River on the way to ‘the train.’
I’d be heading back to HQ in nearby Dormont, and using the T light Rail to do so.
As you may have noticed, I’m a bit of an enthusiast for the light rail service, which makes me stand out a bit here in Pittsburgh. People would rather spend $25 on a cab to ‘get into and out of town’ than $2.75 on the train. Weird.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Slow Danger!
That’s the worst kind of danger.
My ‘dogs were barking’ by this stage of things, but ‘push, push, push.’ Back and shoulders were a bit sore as well. I was thirsty, and concerned about the future.
All told, this ended up being a 7ish mile long walk. The path got my heart beating quickly a few times, surmounting hills and such, and the goal of ‘hitting the fronts of the thighs and hips’ on downward slopes was accomplished. I’m still regaining strength and endurance – post broken ankle ‘orthopedic incident’ – and ‘downhill’ is currently my jam.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One made it to the ‘other side,’ onto the central peninsula of Pittsburgh.
I would have boarded the T on the North Side if it wasn’t for all of the NFL Draft preparations. Bah!
It was decided that the Gateway Station was likely the closest one to my physical location, and one headed there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is one of the underground ‘subway’ style stops on the T light Rail. It’s built into an old freight train tunnel.
I used the elevator rather than the stairs, because…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Brutalism meets 1980’s style ‘modern,’ that’s how I’d describe this station’s esthetic. One of the odd things about the T system is that few of the stations look anything like the next one.
Sure… there’s similar stainless steel accents, signage, and primary color plastic panels… but Gateway doesn’t look like Station Square, which doesn’t look like First Avenue, which doesn’t look like South Hills Junction, which doesn’t look like Washington Junction… you get the idea.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally, my chariot was arriving, and the ride back to HQ..
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.
Hey Now, yet again
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was Palm Sunday, and… well, what do y’all think us Jews do when you Goyem are in your churches, communing with your god?
This ‘hebe’ was out taking pictures of trains.
After having captured shots of another Norfolk Southern freight unit hurtling past from a point of elevation over the tracks (yesterday’s post), one scuttled about a city block east at the edge of the South Side Flats zone, and then found a pile of big rocks to sit on while waiting for #872 up there to arrive.
Sated, I moved on.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I didn’t have any sort of plan for this part of the walk, just following my nose and kicking my feet around. Eventually, I’d need to get back to the T Light Rail’s Station Square stop, which is about a mile or so from the spot pictured above. Movement, that’s what I was after.
Hey, I don’t think I’ve walked that way yet, wonder what’s there?
As usual, I was the singular pedestrian.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Street Furniture was encountered, and somebody must seriously regret not dealing with this couch prior to a rainstorm which blew through Pittsburgh the previous night. Sheesh. Hell, back in NYC, this sofa would already be in somebody else’s living room. A lot of people don’t lock their cars up here, or even their houses when they go out. Can you imagine?
My toes were pointed, in the direction I needed to go.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another view of the South Tenth Street Bridge, complimenting yesterday’s more aerial POV from those high flying City Steps up in the South Side Slopes. I’ve noticed a serious drop off in foot traffic in this area in the last few months. Wonder why?
I figured on being RR greedy, and headed down towards the trackage of CSX, but they weren’t busy – at all. Nothing was coming through.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
More street furniture was encountered.
Littering and dumping in Brooklyn and Queens was always done in a somewhat artistic way. You wouldn’t just abandon a couch like this, you’d need to ‘eff it up a bit,’ maybe even set it on fire before abandoning it. Paint some obscene graffiti on it. Maybe include a sort of explosive into the plan… something… give the couch a Viking funeral. It’s been loyal.
That sort of thing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I keep on reminding myself that ‘every walk doesn’t have to be an exodus,’ and accordingly kept on heading back towards transit. There’s a T light rail unit crossing the Monongahela River via the Panhandle Bridge, which was the last shot from this one.
Back next week with something – completely – 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.
Squeaky wheel
Thurs
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A few random shots from the end of a satisfying scuttle. I swear, the working guys have no idea how esthetically pleasing I find these sorts of arrangements they leave behind. They’re artists, and don’t even know it.
I was moving through the area surrounding Allegheny Commons Park, which has a trench running through it for the railroads.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Norfolk Southern #1832 came through, heading north/west. It was hauling short blue cargo boxes, of the type which sewer solids are shipped within. Likely heading towards the sewer plant nearby the McKees Rocks Bridge, or Ohio. A lot of things nobody else wants end up in Ohio. I’ve been there, and really – they pretty much sent their best to Washington in Vance.
Stay out of Ohio, you’re not ready for what you might see there.
Regardless, one haughtily scuttled on.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This truck caught my eye. I was intrigued by those Doberman silhouettes silk screened on the thing. Also, that’s one crazy truck, yo.
My steps carried me into the ‘ceremonial center’ section of the Coty of Pittsburgh, where the Stadiums are found, and where there’s coincidental opportunities to board the T light rail service and ‘get out of dodge.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
See that mound on the right side of the shot? Coal mine’s historical entrance, as it turns out.
As I mentioned a few posts ago, this coal thing suddenly brings everything into a place where it makes sense. I’m not ‘smart enough’ to really delve into the topic here yet, but I’ve started reading up on the Pittsburgh Coal Company Trust, and others.
Heck of a story there. Eventually, I’ll know enough of it to point y’all at primary sources on the subject.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The T station came into sight, just as one of the light rail units rose out of the tunnel that it travels under downtown within, and climbed up the truss to the terminal stop opposite Acrisure Stadium.
Most of the Yinzers I meet ‘poo-poo’ the T, but I ride it all the time.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My chariot arrived, and as soon as those doors opened, I was ensconced in a seat. This was about a six or seven mile walk, all told. I had a nice time, and nobody threw any rotting fruit at me, for a change.
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.
