Not Bad For a Monday!

 

               It was right around 1:30 on a humid Monday afternoon. I was standing above the railroad tracks along the Ohio River. The 6 mile marker was only a hundred yards away.

               Below me, an eastbound Norfolk and Southern train was sitting, waiting for permission to continue on. Since it wasn’t moving, it gave me time to set up my camera, mount it on the tripod and frame my shot. I had an hour and a half until I needed to be at work, things were looking rather good!

               A short time earlier I had arrived at the Emsworth Dam where I had planned on watching trains for a while. If I was lucky I might see one or two and maybe even get a couple shots of them in the process.

               Coming down to the tracks I saw railcars moving through the trees. Getting closer, I saw flat cars with John Deere tractors loaded on them. Their distinct green color gave them away. I saw a line of large black tractor tires rounding the bend, moving away from me.

               I had always thought this would be a great shot. I’ve seen these tractor moves before but was never in a good spot to shot them. I’ve been on highways with no place to pull over or else, the train had passed by the time I got the camera out.

               They were already past my viewing area and the way the tracks curved here, I wouldn’t have been able to get them anyway. I figured it was another opportunity missed. “Oh well, no big deal.”

               I turned the car around and then stopped. Where could I get another shot of these cars? Maybe as they crossed the Ohio Connecting Bridge. I knew a spot that looks right into the bridges as they cross the Ohio River and Brunot’s Island. BUT, what if the train continued on to go up the Alleghany River? I’d miss it if I was waiting at the bridge.

               It was worth a try! I headed towards the bridge and Pittsburgh. The train was going slow when I left, hopefully I’d beat it there. As I drove along rt.65 towards Pittsburgh, different spots were running through my mind. I was thinking of the advantages and disadvantages of each as I went.

               The road going down to milepost 6 might give me a good view. It would be above the train and I might get a bit of the river in the shot also. The question was, would I be able to get there before the train passed? It was real close, chances are the train engines had already passed it. The road was coming up, I made a quick decision and turned.

               The road is paved with orange bricks and knotweed was desperately trying to hide the road. The bricks were outlined with moss; the weeds covered all but a car sized path down the hill. I crept down the road, the weeds scraping the underneath and sides of the car as I passed. I pulled over and parked where the road turns and drops down beside a cliff to the tracks below.

               I pulled onto what used to be a sidewalk. Now, potions of it are missing and the handrail, which comprised of wire rope going through cemented pipes, only existed in spots. The other spots were open to the tracks below. The road is steep and it is a long way down!

               There it was, below me, the train, sitting motionless. Things looked promising.

               After setting up the camera, while waiting for the train to start moving again, I ate my lunch and wrote a couple notes. The wind was blowing hard, showing the underneath’s of the leaves. It felt like rain was coming, thunderstorms were predicted.

               I heard a couple toots and another train passed on a track behind the stopped train. Going in the opposite direction, three engines pulled a combination of cars with a helper situated in the middle.

               A couple minutes after it passed, I heard two more toots and then the clanking as the couplers pulled against each other. I put down my drink and re-checked the settings on the camera. Slowly the train gained speed. I kept a watch where the railcars came into view, about a quarter mile away. “Nope, not a tractor…nope, not a tractor…”

               Finally, as I was starting to wonder if this was the same train, I saw that tell tale green appear. One by one they appeared making a long chain that slinked around the curve. All the details blended together forming a snake that followed the lay of the tracks.

Nearing, the details became obvious. Large wheeled tractors, most of them the same, an occasional box of equipment or tires strapped to the flatbed, every so often one that was a bit smaller than the rest. There were at least forty of them, maybe more. One after another, they were a study in similarities.

               Bringing up the end was a couple of red and blue International Harvester tractors. They just didn’t match the nice consistency of the John Deere tractors, at least in my eyes.

               I watched the rest of the train pass by as I tore down my set-up. I took a quick glance at the shots on the screen of the camera and was pleased with what I saw. With the train gone and my gear back in the car, I slowly backed up the weed choked road. The rain finally came as I was driving in to work.

               I was happy! I had gotten my John Deere train picture, the rain had held off until I was back on the road and I had stayed “fairly” dry. I did mention it was very humid! All in all, it had turned into a great experience. My rail adventure had proven fruitful. Not bad considering it was a Monday!

A Few Photos from the past Two Months

 

               

                I was looking through some of my recent pictures and came across a few I’d like to share. Many of my shots have stories connected to them. Sometimes it is just some useless facts and other times it is the adventure or journeys I took to get them. I seem to have a pretty good recollection of where and when I took most of my pictures. It is too bad I can’t remember faces and names as well! So here they are, I hope you like them!

12.31.20

                This was taken on the last day of the year no one wants to remember. Frank and I had gone out early in the morning to take some pictures. It was a beautiful morning, it had snowed the night before and everything was covered in white. The snow was about 3-4 inches deep. We did a couple geocaches and then ended up at this site in Fox Chapel. Supposedly this huge house is currently for sale.  The buyers aren’t lining up at the door! As you can see, the building is in pretty bad shape. Our visit here was short lived, we never made it to the house. One of us stepped into an ice covered pond and got drenched. It’s not fun taking pictures in the winter when wet!

1.9.21

                This shot was taken on a Sunday morning after Mass. I was on the Ivory Avenue Bridge that crosses over McKnight Road. I liked the way the hills were shaded as they progressed in towards the city. I took a few shots and then this flock of birds was nice enough to fly into my field of view. It definitely added to the shot!

1.13.21

                The Mayview State Hospital was located a mile or two away from where I work. I have spent a lot of time on the property where it once stood. While it was still in operation AMB and I were chased away from the site. I was taking some pictures of the Victorian looking architecture.  After the buildings were abandoned, I took advantage of broken fences and explored some of the buildings and tunnels that were still standing. Now a nice community of houses, duplexes and businesses stand on the property. The railroad tracks loop around the site. Every so often a train passes by around 3 in the afternoon. If I hear the whistle, I’ll attempt to find a spot to catch a picture of it as it passes by. On this day, the sun was shining in just the right direction, a nice clean engine was approaching and I happened to be at just the right place, right by mile marker #6.

1.25.21

                I pass a few different railroads and rail yards on my way in to work. Which ones depend on how I decide to go in. On this day I was driving on rt. 65 towards the Mckees Rocks Bridge when I saw this train crossing the Ohio River. It was heading in the same direction I was going so decided to stop at the Emsworth Dam and wait for it. There is a parking spot between the tracks where I often stop to watch the trains go by. I got there about four or five minutes before the train showed up. The sky was grey and it just seemed like a B&W type of day. Watching the trains puts me in a good mood, just what I need before I go in to work!

1.27.21

                This is not one of Pittsburgh’s tourist sites.  Pittsburgh is filled with stairs climbing the hillsides, many with street names. This one is called Hyena Way.  It climbs a hill in the North Side section of the city. A few of the houses below are abandoned and more than a few people have used the area to dump their construction debris and trash. Another long set of steps goes up a hill to the left at the bottom of these stairs. There once were houses beside these stairs, people’s homes, now they are just brick and weed filled lots.  Why was I here? A geocache of course… Off in the distance you can see the West End Bridge and Mount Washington.

1.30.21

                Ann Marie and I were taking one of our country side drives and came across this diner in Apollo. It had a muddy parking lot with cars scattered around it. It was definitely showing its age. We drove past it and turned around to take a couple pictures of it. I like the faces in the window. We didn’t stop in to try their food, that will be for a future adventure!

2.6.21

                Below the Conemaugh Dam, north of Blairsville are these railroad bridges. When they built the dam, the rising water behind it would end up flooding sections of the railroad, so they moved it to a higher plane. The viaduct on the bottom, now a road, crosses the river to a tunnel and a power station. The lower bridge was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1907, the upper bridge was constructed in the 1950’s. When they moved the railroad and constructed the new bridge it ended up costing more than it did to build the entire dam! The Pennsylvania canal once paralleled the river, its path was right about where I was standing when I took this picture. Almost all the canals in Pennsylvania had disappeared by 1900, the railroads had taken their business.

2.17.21

                I had just left City Books and was walking back to the car when I passed this alley. It is behind the houses on Beech Street.  I had been looking at a bunch of old photos by various photographers, most of them were cityscapes.  Passing this alley reminded me of some of their shots. I took a few pictures here and further down but this B&W one was my favorite.

2.18.21

                This shot was taken on my way home from work. The Roberto Clemente Bridge can be seen in the background. It was snowing and as I crossed Federal Street I saw the tracks in the snow and pulled over. Luckily there were hardly any other cars on the road. A Sheriffs van passed by and slowed down a bit but he didn’t stop. The shot was handheld; I put my elbows on the Jersey barrier and held my breath as I clicked the shutter. Not bad for a shot taken eleven minutes past midnight!

One last picture, one day while I was sitting near the tracks by the Emsworth Dam, a car pulled up and sat at the crossing. When a train came by I looked over and saw that the moon roof of the car had opened and a young boy had popped his head out. He had a camera and was filming the train as it passed by. They stayed for a couple trains before leaving. He would pop his head out, wave to the engineers and shoot pictures as the train went by. Now there’s a kid after my own heart! Hopefully I’ll get to do that with my grandson Mateo!! It made my day to see it!

Now, once again it is time for me to head to work. My lunch is packed and my camera bag is sitting by the door, ready to go. I’ll be ready in case anything interesting should pop into view. It is amazing how often they do!