Posts Tagged ‘The T’
411,840 inch scuttle accomplished
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Pittsburgh has lots of alleys, especially so ‘Downtown.’ They don’t put the garbage out on the sidewalks in front of the big office buildings for collection here, rather they use the alleys for that. A few blocks away from this spot is where Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies shot the formative encounter between the Wayne’s and Joe Chill. The entire trilogy was mostly Pittsburgh based for its filming.
Me? My busted ankle was singing, and luckily I had managed to walk some six and half miles on this one. It took me three and change hours, mind you, but I did it. Look at me ma, top of the world.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In the downtown section, Pittsburgh’s ‘T’ light rail service operates in a former freight rail tunnel, found under the city, and runs in the manner of a subway under the office buildings. It rolls through several modalities over its course – the T does – street running, cantilevered tracks, and there’s also elevated trestles. It’s all very exciting, really.
I boarded the Red Line service at the Wood Street station and settled into a seat for the roughly five mile ride back to HQ. It was good to sit down, after a longish walk.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
About thirty minutes later, I was standing on a corner in the Boro of Dormont, and getting ready to lean into the last and shortest leg of the walk: down the hill back to HQ where Our Lady of the Pentacle and Moe the Dog awaited my return.
It was my turn to cook dinner, which ended up being air fryer cooked chicken thighs, served over rice and with a lot of broccoli.
Back next week, 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.
316,800 inch long scuttle, part 5
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The last leg of the longest walk I’ve been able to execute, and really the first one which I’ve truly enjoyed without pain or discomfort (ok, there was a bit of swelling), since breaking my ankle last fall.
I was walking on one of the rail trails, chosen for its flat character, and along the Monongahela River shoreline after having crossed the West End Bridge. Pictured above is the underside of the Fort Pitt bridge with downtown Pittsburgh in the background.
Fort Pitt is sort of the ‘master cylinder’ for traffic flow here in Pittsburgh. On one side it leads to a tunnel which feeds traffic to the south onto an interstate roadway (I-376), whereas in the other direction it feeds traffic either to downtown, another high speed interstate roadway heading eastbound, or onto the Fort Duquesne Bridge which offers connections to the west and north. Approaching this bridge at the high volume times of day is a major mistake which drivers should avoid.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The rail trail proceeds through the Station Square area, and it follows the coast of the Monongahela River and the CSX Subdivision Tracks which parallel it. Onward, soldier, onward. I opted to continue on towards that brewery I like, which was maybe a mile or so beyond the position where the shot above was captured.
Wasn’t planning on making a ‘night’ of it, rather I was desperate to use the bathroom and a pint of beer or two would definitely reignite my flagging energy levels. It’s been a long long time since I walked five miles, and the atrophy suffered in the upper legs due to the wheelchair interval is something I’m assiduously working on reversing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Along the way, a somewhat unoccluded view of the ‘colors’ house I showed y’all at the start of March appeared, and I gathered a shot of it for the archives. So quirky.
The pavement gets a bit difficult in this area, as it’s all busted up from trucks parking on the sidewalk, and the underlying Appalachian soil beneath the road is absolutely legendary at producing potholes. Had to be a bit cautious here. Remind myself that I’m still no where near ‘100%.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Normally, I’d be walking along that fenceline dividing the CSX tracks from the trail, but in that direction the trail is blocked by a gigantic pile of railroad ballast stones. It’s only about four feet high, and fairly easy to surmount – if you’re not concerned about the recovery of your shattered ankle. Discretion being the better part of valor, I opted to go with the broken sidewalks and pothole scarred street path instead.
Missed a couple of trains, but there we are.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While scuttling through, a T light rail unit exited the Golden Triangle and crossed over the Monongahela River via the Panhandle Bridge, and it began the climb up Mount Washington via Arlington Avenue.
Finally, I reached the Sly Fox Brewery. After ‘dewhizzulating,’ which is how I colloquially refer to the act of urination, I ordered a lovely O’Reilly’s stout and decided to sit inside at the bar for a while. Met a nice bloke named Jimmy, who was a retired pilot, that regaled me with tales of his travels. Nice guy.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was time to summon a rideshare car to carry me home, and the Lyft service was engaged in that pursuit. Whew.
Five miles is 316,800 inches, in case you’ve been wondering all week.
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.
316,800 inch long scuttle, part 1
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One has finally managed to break the pernicious five mile walking threshold which has been actively blocking my activity since September of last year, due to the broken left ankle and dislocated foot incident. I know that five miles – or 316,800 inches – sounds like no big deal, and normally I’d be the first one to say so, but it’s taken me months of physical therapy and self guided exercise to get here.
So, huzzah.
The endeavor began when I walked the hill which I live at the bottom of on up to the T light Rail station, here in Pittsburgh’s Boro of Dormont. I did take a picture of the train I actually rode in on, but the shot above is of a train set heading in the other direction made for a better opening shot.
Lighting, yo, lighting.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The T was ridden to its terminal stop, which is directly across the street from the actual center of the Pittsburgh universe – Acrisure (Heinz) stadium. On this walk, I was still consciously avoiding uneven or angled paths, as such terrain still gives me a bit of trouble. Instead, I decided to try and work a few flights of stairs into the equation to spice things up.
As I’ve mentioned, a bit of PTSD seems to be floating around in the old Gulliver these days, which is centered around stairs.
Given that the ankle shattering occurred while I was walking down a set of steps it’s fairly understandable, but when confronted with a set of steps these days I freeze up a little bit and get overly cautious. This set of psychological reactions actually endanger me while negotiating a set of stairs, which causes me to move stiffly, in an almost robotic manner, and sets my nervous side on fire.
I’ll get past this because I have to. My whole life has been ‘have to.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, the T station has escalators, which don’t fill me with dread despite being stairs and all the horror stories my pal Hank the Elevator Guy has told me about these devices. Industrial meat grinders use the same design, he opines.
I exited the station and headed north west. I’ve been carrying a little compass with me these days, and like to check in on the cardinal directions periodically to maintain my bearings. Pittsburgh is still very much a foreign place to me, even after a couple of years here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Passing by an abandoned building along the way, one was amused by the ‘SPQR’ graffiti. If you don’t know what that means, you should read more, specifically the classics of the pre modern era. The decline of the Roman Republic is very much a to[ic you should be familiar with these days.
Edward Gibbon… read Gibbon. Marius and Sulla are next, for us, and that’s where it gets bloody. Caesar is absolutely coming, but is still a few decades away. It will be very exciting for people to watch on tv, all this. They will feel things… indignation, fear, anger, pride… all of the seven deadlies. They will microwave burritos and watch.
Me, I’m just walking here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The major crossing over water for the day was Pittsburgh’s West End Bridge. It crosses the Ohio River, roughly at the waterway’s point of navigable origin where the admixture of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers occurs. It’s yellow.
The specific yellow is a color called ‘Aztec Gold,’ which – if memory serves – is manufactured by Pittsburghs own ‘PPG’ or Pittsburgh Plate Glass.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The ankle was behaving itself. I felt no clicking or the sensation of cords being pulled in my heel or on the top of the foot. I was consciously altering my pace and ‘leaning in’ while walking. A couple of times my brain sent orders down the spine for the legs to move as they normally would have prior to all this trouble. I moved quickly!
Couldn’t sustain it for more than a couple of city blocks at a time, but your humble narrator managed to scuttle along a great deal faster and more surely than at anytime in the last six months.
Top of the world, ma, top of the world.
Back tomorrow with more.
“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.
Scuttleburgh
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Ok, I’m really starting to lean back into my ‘normal’ things, lords and ladies. I’ve fully convinced myself that nobody thinks I can fully recover from the busted ankle because they think I’m old and weak, and further packaged that up with a lot of of other personal resentments and annoyances, so I thereby have to prove the world wrong. Again.
What? How do you motivate yourself out of the house to enact a forced march when the only thing you want to do is stay at home and whine about how much your ankle is bugging you? Pfah.
The hill I live at the bottom of was vaingloriously surmounted, and your humble narrator then heroically scuttled off in the direction of the light rail station. The goal for the day was a short walk, of about three miles, but the effort would also include walking some of Pittsburgh’s steeply problematic hills.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I made it to the apex of those hills, here in Pittsburgh’s Boro of Dormont. That’s where you’ll find the T light rail station, and it’s where I boarded the carriage to carry me to a more visually interesting section of the metro area. I boarded the thing and it lurched roughly towards Pittsburgh, about 5-6 miles away. For you New Yorkers, think boarding the subway in Downtown Brooklyn or the Northern Blvd. sections of LIC and Astoria for an analogue. Just a few stops and you’re ‘there.’
Observably, I seem to be the only person in Pittsburgh who shoots photos out of the T’s windows, but that’s a habit I started back in NYC while riding the subways. Helped pass the time during a commute, and you never really knew what you were getting until going through the photos back at HQ. Most of my ‘shooting out of a train window’ ends up getting trashed, but every now and then you get something unique or interesting.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That concrete blockhouse looking structure is the entrance to Pittsburgh’s Liberty Tunnel. The terrain surrounding it is byzantine, with multiple arterial roadways leading here. There’s also the T tracks, which are elevated on a causeway here, and there’s also busways, and a couple of heavy freight rail trestles also get threaded through this area. It’s complicated!
One of these days I’m going to debark the T at a nearby stop and try to get some decent shots of the complex. At least until the cops chase me away, or I get bored while waiting for a freight train to cross one of those trestles.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in prior posts, a good amount of construction work is currently affecting the T light rail, and the lines will all be detouring through the Allentown neighborhood until the autumn. Unfortunately, the ‘PRT’ transit agency which runs the show only added a single stop way at the top of the hill for the inconvenience, but there you are.
If you’re curious, the camera formula for this sort of ‘out the window shooting’ involves setting the ISO sensitivity up to nighttime levels (6400 for my camera) and setting the device to its ‘AV’ or aperture priority mode. The camera will then find the correct exposure automatically while maintaining the ISO and aperture settings (which is f8 for the particular zoom lens I was using this day). Normally, I shoot in full manual mode, which allows me control over all aspects of the exposure, but shooting out of the window of a moving vehicle isn’t very normal and the technological assist is welcomed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the set of tracks which I often point the camera at, the ones nearby that brewery I keep mentioning. My plan for the day involved the relative flatness of this area. The beginning of my walk involved a bit of muscle, in terms of getting to the T via the hills of Dormont. This section was all about exercising the more discrete tissues in the foot and ankle, and getting them moving and all lubricated.
Six months, and two weeks. That’s exactly how long I’ve been dealing with this broken ankle business. As mentioned last week, the Doctors have more or less given me the ‘all clear’ and thusly I now need to seriously work the joint in order to get back to what I consider ‘normal.’ Thing is, ‘normal’ is what it used to feel like, and it’s a pretty different ankle after the injury and surgery. How it works, feels, performs – all different.
The asymmetry is really hard to get used to, but in time I don’t think I’ll even notice it. If only I was born patient, instead of good looking…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The T was debarked at the Second Avenue station, which is fed traffic by the Panhandle Bridge pictured above. The plan was to walk a bit on one of the trails along the waterfront of the Monongahela River, cross the waterbody on the Smithfield Street Bridge, then try and get a few train shots. It wouldn’t be a ‘have a beer too’ day, although my end point for the walk would be nearby that now familiar spot nearby the brewery.
Back tomorrow with more.
“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.
Down, with the T
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I drive through that intersection pictured above, in Pittsburgh’s Borough of Dormont, at least once a day. Every single time, I comment to myself that I should some shots of the light rail there. Instead of parking the car and doing so I always lazy out and head back to HQ about four blocks away instead. Some day, I say.
Get behind me Satan, this day would be that day.
The light rail tracks cross through here, but they leave behind a street running section of the line and proceed into a right of way that clearly pre-dates the real estate development around it. Apparently, the T made use of decommissioned trolley lines when its ’right of way’ was being laid out to take advantage of existing municipal real estate.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A Pittsburgh bound T showed up, catching some nice afternoon light as it did. At my back was the station I normally use, and these tracks continue out several miles to the South Hills Village Mall terminal stop on one side, or continue on to a North Side of Pittsburgh terminal stop nearby one of the sportsball stadiums.
Your humble narrator had taken up station right alongside the intersection in the first shot, if you’re curious.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A South Hills bound T arrived next, and I hurriedly crossed the street for a better angle. I mean, as ‘hurried’ as I can manage these days. One of the parts of my life that sucks right now is that I’m fairly slow moving at this stage of the medical drama, and will be spending the spring season getting my legs all muscled up. My normal walking speed used to be about 2-2.5 miles an hour, these days I’m lucky if I can do a mile in that interval.
Getting better every day, in every way. When I’m whole again…
Back next week 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.
The Newtown Pentacle 