Posts Tagged ‘Wheeling and Lake Erie’
What could possibly go wrong? Pfft…
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Bridgeville, PA., well, that’s a community which can be found within the South Hills region of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area.
Historically, Bridgeville’s economy was centered around coal mining, during the late 19th and first few decades of the 20th centuries.
Basically; Boom and bust, entrepreneur and robber baron, monopoly and trust, abandonment and dissolution. Usual story.
The coal people left behind a huge environmental mess, and it’s pretty routine to observe the waterways in this part of Pennsylvania running with bright orange water, suggesting that it’s runoff from abandoned mines that’s causing the pollution. The orange coloration is caused by dissolved metals, notably pyrites and iron, in the ground water. In prior mentions of Bridegville, I’ve mentioned the vast taxpayer funded environmental remediation efforts at work in the area.
Our Lady of the Pentacle has been taking a class in Bridgeville – and apparently – so have I. While she’s bene inside ‘a-learning,’ I’ve been wandering the streets, which are my classroom.
I recently spotted this charming feature, pictured above, which seems to be an open to the atmosphere coal mine portal. Lovely.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Now that I sort of know what to look for, it’s everywhere.
Conversation with the locals reveal that it’s only been a generation or two since mine work was a common experience, for men in particular. My dad used to tell me that you could pick up non-union day work along the waterfront in South Brooklyn, unloading ships and loading trucks, back in the 40’s and 50’s. Wonder if it was the same sort of situation here, but with coal instead of maritime trade goods?
I’ve read that child labor was pretty common in the mines, as a note.
One was standing along the fence lines of a large industrial site, which in modernity hosts several businesses, and that’s where I spotted that chunk of rusting machinery pictured above.
That thingie looks like the remains of, to me at least, a ‘Coal Tipple.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The older structures at this industrial park display a characteristic masonry motif that one has learned to associate with the Pittsburgh Coal Company, a historical monopolist trust that was controlled by the Mellon Family.
Hey… where do you think that the extra money to start a university, and then a bank, came from for these Captains of Industry? They had poor people dig treasure out of the ground for them on 12 hour shifts, employed child labor, and colluded with oligarchal colleagues like Henry Clay Frick – who were the end customers for the coal at the steel mills – and with whom they conspired to set wages and prices – so everyone felt great about the whole affair, while drinking french wine in their baronial mansions, before moving to Manhattan. When the coal seam sputtered out, the trust moved on, leaving behind a real mess.
Captains of industry, right? Not ‘Robber Barons,’ right? America was great, back then, right? Which side are you on, kid? Bah!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Our Lady’s class was scheduled to last an hour, so I had a somewhat limited amount of time available to me to wander about with the camera.
An interesting bit of trivia about this particular area, transmitted to me by the folks who were conducting Our Lady’s class (they are located within this complex), is that this section of Bridgeville seems to have been rich in deposits of Vanadium. So much so that a nearby road is dubbed ‘Vanadium Road,’ and that tenants in these industrial buildings need to set up specialized monitors and ventilation systems within, as the subterrene deposits of Vanadium produce radioactive gas, and the depositional strata associated with the element seems to include the compounds that produce Radon, with all of this reactivity happening deep down within the Appalachian Layer Cake forming the ground hereabouts.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now! That’s Wheeling & Lake Erie #6986 hurtling by.
Above and just beyond these tracks is a bus depot and maintenance garage. Below them is that open coal mine portal. Sigh…
The really annoying part of this scene is what they were hauling.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Don’t know if the tankers were full, but they were pulling a long train of LNG tankers through a densely populated area. I’ve used the term ‘bomb train’ before, but it’s alarmist and somewhat disingenuous.
Let’s just say that if conditions were just right when said conditions went perfectly wrong, and any single of those tanker cars were to derail and became punctured… that would make the news. Remember East Palestine in Ohio, where a train went boom?
There’s a lot of ‘horizontal fracturing’ or ‘fracking’ oil company activity around these parts. Major part of the local and national economies, it is. Future generations will hate us for this, and talk about this industry in the manner which I do, regarding coal.
Back tomorrow with something different.
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Tripling down
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just a short post today, carrying a trio of somewhat random photos captured during my various and quite ultramundane travels through the Pittsburgh metro area.
The one above depicts a street level view of the Wheeling & Lake Erie RR outfit’s ‘Rook Yard’ at the border of Carnegie and Green Tree. It was a Sunday, and nothing profound was happening there. Cracked out a shot as I had made a special trip to spy upon them.
The photos in today’s post were largely gathered while operating the Mobile Oppression Platform, a Toyota.
Needless to say, but the car’s transmission was in park mode as the shutter was depressed – before anyone asks or shouts ‘j’accuse.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This one is from the evening of Halloween, and was captured in Dormont, where Newtown Pentacle HQ is located, while on foot. It didn’t rain, believe it or not, despite the warnings of the meteorological crew.
Your humble narrator has been feeling pent up, boxed in, and the old wanderlust has recently reignited. Physical limitations due to the ankle dealie have been lessening, and it’s time to bust out of my rusty cage and roam again.
As far as the limitations go… they just set parameters for me to work within at this point, and I’ve also grown quite tired of such matters getting in my way. The ‘will to power’ urge grows within, like a cancer.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another ‘behind the wheel’ shot, this time from one of Dormont’s neighboring communities, in Mount Oliver. Something about that converted garage apartment just grabbed me. Very, very, Greg Brady, but with a dystopian air which satisfied me.
Back tomorrow with something a bit more substantial.
“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.
Now more than ever, for always
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator recently found himself driving past the Wheeling & Lake Erie rail yard in Greentree, which neighbors Pittsburgh’s Dormont – where Newtown Pentacle HQ is found. They weren’t doing anything terribly exciting down there, mainly maneuvering the rolling stock around from one track to the other. I was just passing by, and then I parked the automobile, cracked out a few shots and then got back to my daily round.
The shots in today’s post are were captured mid October, incidentally. I’m still maintaining my advance ‘lead time’ here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Usually, some variation of this scene is the first shot I take when going out for a walk. It’s my front yard, and the corner at the bottom of the steep hill which I sometimes mention. Not a terribly exciting composition, admittedly, but the reason I pop out this shot is to figure out the ‘median’ exposure triangle which I’ll likely be using for the rest of the day’s effort.
It’s like a gray card for the photographic environment, this practice. lets me know that the ‘sun is dark today’ or that ‘there’s too much light.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Our Lady and myself attended another festival/town event here in Dormont, and the titular ‘main street’ of the Borough was closed to traffic while a music festival was underway.
Hundreds, I tell you, hundreds of people were there. There were vendors ‘tabling,’ which included the PA Constable’s Office doing recruiting, and the officer therein was a really nice guy who answered several of my rather specific questions about their patrol and responsibilities. I’m not looking to become a constable, but now I know what their enforcement duties are and what they do. Neat.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The clarion call of lonely places was singing in my ears. Empty alleys where… but this was a ‘social’ day, however. Hanging out with and getting to know the neighbors. Music was playing from three stages, and a couple of the local breweries were set up nearby selling beers.
It was a warm day in Pittsburgh, middle 70’s and bright sunlight. Shirt sleeve weather, basically.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Personally, I find this sort of thing somewhat emotionally draining. To start – afternoon alcohol drinks put me to sleep early these days, and there’s lots of potential hazards to pay attention to as the human still about. Increasingly, my ‘all too human’ need to be ‘amongst people’ is squashed by my ‘I hate everyone’ instincts. I’m really, really, struggling to try and ‘remain positive.’ Staying ‘chipper’ is a bit of a challenge.
I don’t belong in this sort of scene… happy people being nice, while the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself is bouncing around above… this sort of thing is more my speed.
Human… all too human… me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After the festival, our neighbors and Our Lady decided on one last beverage, which we obtained at the local dive bar. While staring out the window of this joint (which I’m not really a fan of), a passing ‘T’ Light Rail unit caught my attentions. I’d be riding one of these the next morning, when my next scuttle would occur.
Back tomorrow with something different, thereby – 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.
Things a-popping, everywhere’s ya looks
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After a long interval of ‘have-to’s,’ your humble narrator finally found a little time for the camera’s exercises. I had the car with me, and drove to where I was going, violating my normal habit of leaving the car at home when out scuttling. Since I was hyper-mobile, I checked in on the Rook Yard of the Wheeling & Lake Erie RR outfit while on my way. They were doing ‘something,’ with that train set moving back and forth while workers adjusted the switches. Everybody has something to do.
Our Lady of the Pentacle was out of town, and Moe the Dog was thereby nervous and ‘faklempt’ without her for better than a week. She’s goodness and light, Out Lady is, and when she’s not here all the dog has to rely on is me.
I’m horrible, an intelligence of malign instincts housed in the decaying cadaver of a man, an outsider and abomination which somehow walks and breathes but never seems to stop talking. Poor Moe had to deal with me, but after a certain interval of service to the pup, one needed to get some exercise and wave the camera around lest madness take over.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I drove down to the Monongahela River shoreline, and the Colors Park, where there’s also a parking lot. After the Mobile Oppression Platform was safely stowed, one gathered his gear together and set out for a scuttle. It was just a few miles this time, and I opted for a familiar section of the Great Allegheny Passage trail to focus in on and where I’d slap the pavement with my feet.
The concrete factory next door to the Sly Fox brewery was unloading a minerals barge and piling the stuff up for processing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Since this was going to be a short walk, it had been decided to try and walk as fast as I’m capable of these days. Cardio, yo.
It was a warm autumn day in Pittsburgh, with clear skies and temperatures in the upper 70’s. Your humble narrator ‘leaned into it.’ No headphones or audiobooks for this walk, which I’d already capstoned as being ‘Liberty Bridge to Fort Pitt Bridge and back.’ There and back again is just under three miles. A short walk, thereby.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back at HQ, Moe had really been working me during Pu Lady’s absence. I’m fond of telling the neighbors that Moe is very much Our Lady’s dog, but that I’m his favorite toy. That played out in an ever tightening circle of annoyance for me, and I desperately needed a break from the inter species dynamic for an afternoon.
Great care was exercised, in terms of moving about the world, given that Our Lady was on another continent and recent experience with the broken ankle revealed that your whole life can be turned upside down unexpectedly. Moe’s life was literally in my hands.
A ‘deadman’s switch’ was instituted with one of my neighbors. If she did not receive a daily text from me, her husband would then be instructed to break into my house after work and save Moe. I told them to just leave my body lying wherever they found it for the coroner to deal with.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now! I was hoping a train or two might appear.
That’s CSX #7225, heading away from Ohio along the outfit’s Pittsburgh Subdivision (aka Keystone Subdivision) tracks along the Monongahela River. Tankers, that what it was hauling. Could have been fuel, or chemicals, can’t tell you what was inside. I also fundamentally do not care.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I still had a few days of solo service to the dog ahead of me. Our Lady is British, and she had headed home to visit her Dad and Brother as well as her passel of old friends. A hellish interval for me.
I hate the loneliness. I’ve become ‘institutionalized.’ Moe the Dog ain’t a great conversationalist.
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.
Castling the Rook
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve mentioned my current obsession with Wheeling & Lake Erie’s Rook Street Yard (found on the border of Pittsburgh’s Carnegie and Greentree) last week. Recently discovered, the point of view for today’s post looks down at the yard, and the tracks leading out of it.
This location is just a 15 minute drive from HQ, so I’ve been haunting it during my comings and goings, hoping to catch a bunch of shots of the sort displayed in today’s post.
Saying all that, I’m not saying these are ‘the’ shots for this location, just rather happy that I actually managed the ‘right time/right place’ variable correctly. Looking forward to ‘working’ this location again in the future.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was literally 95 degrees out, with what felt like a thousand percent humidity level, while I was standing in the sun on a steel and concrete bridge spanning the tracks. The little scanner radio thingamabob was with me too, so I was listening in on their radio chatter.
Wheeling & Lake Erie #3073 was at the head of this steel snake. Funnily enough, they never left the yard, and were instead just repositioning the lines of tanker cars that were being held on the yard’s spurs.
Going to have to come back to get a shot or two of them heading off into that trench, that leads to the tunnel, which leads to a trestle, which then connects through Seldom Seen Greenway on its way towards… Bethel Park, actually… and then… and then…
Yeah, I think that I’m starting to figure this place out.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Saying that, still have lots to learn. This particular point of view includes a fairly safe spot to park the car, but it’s also a location that definitively requires an automobile to get to. Recent endeavor saw me buzzing all around the zone one recent day, starting at this POV over the Rook Yard. You’ll see all that over the next few days.
Tomorrow – 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.
The Newtown Pentacle 