Posts Tagged ‘towboat’
Clamps, clamps, clamps
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator had been involved in a fun scuttle for a couple of hours, when the photo above was captured.
Depicting the Fort Pitt Bridge over the Monongahela River, this and a couple of the other shots in today’s post were shot in the name of testing out a new piece of gear, recently added to the camera bag.
I should mention that I’m obsessed with unique camera support devices. One of the few spaces wherein I ‘tinker’ revolves around building novel support mechanisms for the camera. I’m forever attaching tripod heads and ARCA Swiss plates to all sort of things – bean bags, blocks of silicone, you name it.
The new addition is a ‘Super Clamp.’ Clamp, clamp, clamp.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It needed some modification, ‘out of the box,’ to fit my particular ‘use case scenario.’ Specifically, an extended bushing which introduced instability into the mount needed to go. I ordered a smaller bushing from Amazon which I swapped in – a tripod mount screw size (1/4 inch 20 turn) on one side and tripod head mount size (3/8ths 16 turn) on the other. That allowed me to securely attach a tripod head to the thing.
I screwed a ten stop ND filter onto my lens for these, to ‘slow’ down the flowing waters of the Monongahela and capture reflections.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The beauty of this device is that it allows me to clamp my camera onto fences, poles, even fire hydrants – offering a rock steady mount.
Given that I was quite taken with the thing’s performance, it’s become a regular carry ever since. My problems have now transferred over to the lens filters themselves. The ones I’ve been carrying – for years and years – are screw on filters, which are a pain in the neck to manipulate in ‘the field.’
My problem is encapsulated in the shift to the next shot.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had time to unscrew the filter, and ‘rekajigger’ the camera settings away from ‘long and loving’ exposure over to a ‘freeze the moment’ setting, for this shot. It isn’t always the case that I can do this quickly enough, so I often miss stuff when the camera is set up for filter usage.
Accordingly, I’ve spent a bit of cash on a new set of lens filters, which use a magnetic system in lieu of the screw in system. You do have to screw an adapter into the lens, which is ferrous in composition so when a magnet enabled filter gets close to it, the glass disc just snaps right into place.
Just got these delivered, at this writing, so the verdict is out on whether or not I pissed away my money, or if the things will work as I hope and help rather than hinder my efforts. I’ve been ‘feeling’ longer exposures again for some reason.
Comparing the two bridge shots above, you can really discern the amount of color cast which my older filters alter the scene with. All ND filters have a ‘cast,’ some more severe than others.
Also, clamps.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Can’t miss a Towboat shot though, can I?
Gotta say, I’m missing the smell of salt water these days, and it’s been a long time since I was on anything but a tourist boat.
This is about when I heard the hissing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This Canadian Doofus was angry at me.
A bit of recent research in this direction revealed that – in Pittsburgh at least – the Canada Gooses segregate into two groups. There’s a purely migratory population of them, and there’s a static one which occupies the waterfronts all year long – even in winter. The latter are larger in stature and weight, according to the Pennsylvania environmental peeps. These monstrous iceholes enjoy Federal and State protection, and their only natural predators are Coyotes, Eagles, and Owls.
These predators don’t mess with adults like the one pictured above – mind you – instead preferring to pick off either the newborn Goslings, or sick and or elderly adult Gooses who can’t fight back.
I stand by my conviction that Canada Geese, as a specie, are dicks.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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West Virginia’s Weirton
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Scouting, scouting, scouting.
This shot was actually from the Steubenville, Ohio side of the Ohio River, with West Virginia’s Weirton shoreline visible behind that Towboat.
While shooting these on the Ohio side, a car pulled up and two Juggalo’s got out with a bevy of fishing equipment. They were fully committed to the ICP, as they had facial tattoos of clown makeup and told me they were planning to ‘catch catfish for suppah’ from the Ohio River.
Of course I had to chat with the Juggalo’s. Who am I?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Over in Weirton, on the West Virginia side, the ‘big show’ is the massive Weirton Steel Corporation mill – owned by the Cleveland Cliffs outfit – and it was fully shuttered back in 2024 after years and years of industrial activity. This mill used to be the single largest employer in the entire state of West Virginia. I’ve seen numbers stretching as high as 7,500 – as far as numbers of lost steel worker jobs.
Seriously, this is one of the largest industrial operations I’ve ever seen. Bigger than a battleship, and in fact – if you wanted to build a battleship you’d pretty much have to start doing it right here.
Most definitely going to be coming back this way in the future.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A rail spur travels through the central footprint of this mill, and my advance scouting via the Google Maps service suggested that a small rail bridge was nearby. I parked the car in a municipal lot associated with the local government and walked over to that bridge.
I felt it coming before I heard it coming, and I heard it coming before I saw it coming… Hey Now!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The air gets compressed when a train is nearing, and the thrumming of its diesel engine is palpable. As is my habit, I got my exposure triangle in order for this shot.
Come on already… sheesh… I’m so impatient.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Norfolk Southern #5342 appeared, towing a short line of mostly tank cars.
Again, a member of the railroader crew was observed riding on the nose of the engine and looking intently down at the trackage as they went. I’ve been seeing a LOT of this sort of activity lately, specifically by Norfolk Southern employees.
Any ideas, railfans? What do you think they’re doing?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The train continued on, heading away on that spur which leads through the closed Weirton mill. I stopped off at a couple of other spots on my way back to the highway to Pittsburgh, but didn’t ‘get’ anything worth sharing.
About 15 minutes later, I was heading for the road back to Pittsburgh, and saw this train again, in the distance.
I’ll definitely be coming back here for a second taste sometime.
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.
Slideways, then down, not up
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Continuing with photos from a short scuttle in Pittsburgh, on a day I got fairly lucky, were the subject of passing freight trains to come up. Your humble narrator was loathsomely crossing the Allegheny River upon one of the ‘Three Sisters’ bridges. I was busy with the self loathing and all that, so one barely even noticed the weather.
It was a lovely day, with temperatures in the high 50’s and a stiff breeze. The sky was partially overcast, but there was plenty of sunlight. My bad ankle was happy, for once.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Normally, when a municipality hangs a traffic sign on a bridge, it’s telling you what you can’t do. The signage above seems to indicate to drivers that they can do pretty much whatever they want. That kind of fits with how Pittsburgh drivers operate their vehicles, observationally.
I headed over towards a T Light Rail station.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is the scene Downtown, from Liberty Avenue. On a weekday afternoon. It’s like a zombie apocalypse has occurred. Where is everybody?
I pointed my toes towards the T’s Wood Street station, where my chariot would soon arrive and carry me across to the South Side area. For once I didn’t have to worry about which line I was boarding, since I’d be debarking the thing at the first stop on the Monongahela River side.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One descended into the narrow depths, using a moving staircase.
A quick ‘sit down’ ensued, while waiting for the train.
During this interval, I observed the behavioral tics of the humans Yinzers in the same manner as I’d observe zoo animals. ‘Look,’ a dominant male… and over there, that breeding age female must be in estrus, based on the veiled reactions to her from that teenaged male over there… ‘that one’ looks sick, and ‘that one’ is wearing a MAGA hat. A woman over there… she seemed to have two prosthetic legs but was walking without a cane. As it happens, I was midway through my annual listening of Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ album while waiting, and these were the songs which were playing.
I’m all ‘effed up. Bah!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
‘On the other side’ is at The T’s Station Square stop, and as I was debarking the facility a Pittsburgh bound T unit rumbled into scene.
The final steps of my day were all about greed.
I’d been very lucky all day in terms of syncing up with passing trains, and was thereby desirous of seeing whether or not my luck might hold out. It did, but that’s tomorrow’s post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A passing Towboat caught my attention while walking along, as it was all framed up by the Panhandle Bridge. Luckily, I can report to you that this was the last of my ‘rinse and repeat’ routed scuttles, wherein I was constrained in movement by ice and snow. The weather has since ‘cured up’ a bit, and all of the paths are once again clear.
I’ve also allowed my ‘lead time’ to evaporate a bit, in terms of how far in advance these posts are scheduled. These photos were captured better than a month ago, on February 13th. These words are being typed on the morning of March 13th, a Friday.
Back tomorrow with Choo-Choo’s, and a ‘Hey Now!’ or two.
“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.
Two pints worth of ‘Hey Now’
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Triskedecaphobic? Don’t worry, your humble narrator got extremely lucky in terms of timing regarding these shots, so hopefully some of my good fortune will rub off on you during this Friday the 13th.
After a marathon scuttle through the heart of Pittsburgh, one had arrived at the Sly Fox Brewery and the Pittsburgh Subdivision Tracks of the CSX RR outfit in the South Side Flats section. I hadn’t ordered my drink yet, as I was some 40-50 feet over the tracks on a causeway, hovering.
CSX #5464 came through the pass first. I’m told it’s an GE ES44DC model locomotive.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just as I was fixing to head downstairs and buy a drink, a Towboat was spotted navigating on the Monongahela River and under the Liberty Bridge.
There’s a flight of stairs here, but as is my practice, I decided to audit the elevator’s service instead. I’ve got legit reasons to use the elevator although it’s an elective, mind you, but I think it’s important to see how the ‘other half’ lives.
By the other half, I mean people with mobility issues. Everybody forgets about them, all the time.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Next up was CSX #5456. It was heading ‘away from Ohio.’
I had a lovely stout, if you’re wondering. Tasted almost like licorice.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Also moving ‘away from Ohio,’ the next train was CSX #7422.
This one came through as I was finishing my second pint of stout. That was my limit for the day, so I headed inside and resolved my bill.
Trains come through here in the late afternoon and early evening about every 20-30 minutes. Sometimes it’s an hour. This isn’t a hard rule, just an observation. Isn’t true all the time, but when it is – they just keep on keeping on.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just as I was leaving the brewery, CSX #5429 hurtled through as well.
I boarded that elevator again, and used it to bring me back up to the causeway, which connects at sidewalk level to the street which leads back to the T station and my ride back home.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is what the brewery looks like, for the curious. Out door tables, train tracks, beer, food, a bathroom… what else could you ask for?
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.
Homestead, & towing action on the Mon
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Kicking dirt in Homestead, and killing a couple of hours prior to picking up Our Lady of the Pentacle – who was over at Carrie Furnace on the other side of the Monongahela River – your humble narrator drove over to the Homestead Pump House. In addition to a parking lot, a rail bridge is there that I’ve been… patiently… waiting for a train to transit over while I’m present for close to three years now. More on that one tomorrow.
Today, ya got’s one a dem boats.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
You can read up on the 1981 vintage ‘Vernon M Weiland’ Towboat at tugboatinformation.com. Apparently, it’s currently operated by an outfit here in Pittsburgh called ‘Ohio River Salvage Incorporated.’
Me? I’m always just happy to see the maritime industry being industrious.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned, Our Lady of the Pentacle was taking a class in metal working at Carrie Furnace, the ruins of which which rise out from behind the tree line on the opposite shore in the top right of the shot above. The nonprofit outfit which looks after the Homestead Pump House, the actual furnace site, and a few others spots in the ‘Mon Valley’ is called ‘Rivers of Steel.’ They offer all sorts of ways to connect with the past, and work to shape the future.
Back tomorrow, with my pay-off for the many hours I’ve vaingloriously sat here waiting for a train to transit over that rail bridge.
“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 