On Friday, I got the go-ahead from my wife to break away and go out on the first day of fishing season. But I wasn’t going fishing, instead I would be shooting photos of trains for a few hours on Saturday morning. Initially I decided to head up to CSX territory on Washington Hill around Chester, MA to photograph the typical Saturday parade of eastbound trains down the eastern slope of the Berkshires in the early morning sunlight. Until I got word that the Providence & Worcester Railroad would be running an extra from Plainfield to Willimantic, CT. Just like always, plans change at the drop of a hat. So I got up at the same time I had planned, and headed out to Plainfield, aiming to be at the P&W diamond at 7am – the time the crew was to report to start their day.
Once I got to the diamond in Plainfield, Gary Abruzzese (of GZB Video Productions fame) was already there with his McD’s soda in hand. As we sat and talked, another car drove up to join us. It was young Adam Twombly and his mom Kathy driving up from the New Haven area to chase the extra. Since I had run the route before, and was the local of the bunch – Gary’s from RI, I volunteered to be “tour guide” for the day.
Not long after Adam’s arrival, the scanner came alive with the extra’s crew starting to get their power together at the engine house to the north of the diamond. Soon after that, a trio of P&W GEs made their way towards the diamond, and onto the Norwich Branch to make up their train. I grabbed a shot of the conductor riding the front of the locomotive heading towards the yard.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2846]
And while they were making up their train, I got a little creative with a couple shots. First is a different look at the Plainfield diamond – taken with the 15mm fisheye lens. Yep, you’ll see more of this lens – what better way for a photographer to celebrate the first day of fishing season than using a fisheye lens?!
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2845]
And one of Gary videotaping the crew making up their train prior to departing.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2844]
Oh, yeah, and here’s a possible Operation Lifesaver poster in the making. Before you ask, the signals were off, and the train was moving backwards.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2843]
Once their train was ready to go – consisting of four cars – they shoved the entire consist back and returned to the Willimantic Branch to head west.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2842]
As they crossed over the diamond, we started heading for our cars to begin our caravan west. The easy thing about this chase is just about the entire length of track is limited to 10MPH. This would give us ample time to get our shots, move out, get ahead of the train, and set up the next shot without too much effort.
Next stop would be Packer’s Pond in the Packerville section of Plainfield. I was hoping some fishermen that I saw earlier in the morning would still be there, but as we arrived the area was vacant. Oh, well, I’ll make do. Minutes later, the familiar rumble of GEs grew closer, followed by the whistle as the train approached the crossing. I grabbed a shot of them crossing over the outfloow from the pond with, you guessed it, the fisheye lens. That’s #2.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2841]
After a run back to the road (thanks Gary for videotaping that little gem of footage), we saddled up and continued west. Next stop would be Versailles Road. There was a nice fog hanging in the air above the trees, which was accentuated by the sunlight, which should make a nice shot. We got there well ahead of the train, so we sat around and did what railfans do best – wait. About 15 minutes later, headlights started twinkling through the barren trees, and those GEs could again be heard.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2840]
Everyone got their shots, and it was back into the car for a quick leapfrog to an overpass about a mile up the road. We got there just ahead of the train, not giving Gary enough time to set up his video equipment. I wasn’t happy with my shot from here, so you ain’t gonna see it! 😉 A quick U-turn, and we were off again – this time for the Route 138 crossing in Baltic.
We got there about 3 minutes ahead of the train, and while we were waiting and setting up, a neighbor came out to talk to us. He asked about the train running – if it was a test or a real revenue train. I filled him in on the details, and he was happy to see the P&W reactivate the line and said “I hope they make a ton of money off of it.” He was all for the reactivation of the line, and glad to see trains running again.
Minutes later, the train arrived, rolling along at it’s blistering pace of 10 MPH, so I grabbed a shot of it crossing Route 138, as the neighbor and Adam watch it roll past.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2839]
The next stop was the center of Baltic and the grade crossing with Route 97. Another spot where I wasn’t happy with my results, so you’re not going to see them. Trust me, they’re not good… 🙂
Following that was a bit longer ride – we headed up 97, and took Waldo Road across to our next spot – Merrick Brook just downstream of the Scotland Dam. I decided to get a different angle – one from the eastern side of the bridge instead of my normal western overlook. I was pretty happy with the low angle, depsite the fact that the train was in the shadow.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2838]
Fisheye shot #3.
And as the train cleared, I made my way back through the pricker bushes to the road, and over to the cars where the caravan once again leapfrogged the train and made our next stop at Scotland Dam.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2837]
Fourth fisheye shot there.
Then from there, we headed a bit further uphill to the perch overlooking the Shetucket River above the dam. Today with the calm winds, the water was like glass. And the bright colors of the locomotives contrasted against the dark reflection of the trees in the water. If I only had a 400mm lens… 🙂
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2836]
Now that the train was in the wilderness, and no convenient access from the roadway, I decided to lead the caravan to the Route 203 crossing in South Windham. But while we were travelling down Jeruselem Road in South Windham, I decided to change plans – maybe a shot of the train crossing the Shetucket River just outside fo the NECR yard limits would be better. So we headed for Plains Road and go there about 5 minutes before the train arrived.
With the familiar GE rumble growing louder, the scanner came alive, this time on the NECR frequencies. The P&W extra was getting their track warrant from the NECR St. Albans dispatcher to work between MP27 and 32. As the crew was repeating the warrant to the dispatcher, they crossed over the Shetucket.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2835]
As they rolled along, we got back into our cars, and headed for Pleasant Street in Willimantic. I was hoping to get a shot of the complete train with the mills in the background. While we were waiting on the sidewalk, it sounded like they were switching cars down by the crossovers, which incidentially are located right by the park on Plains Road. So I advised, or ill-advised as we would later find out, that we head back over there & catch them there. But when we got there, the train was nowhere in sight. So a quick reversal, we were back on Route 32 heading for the Willimantic yard. We parked on Pleasant Street, and walked across the footbridge spanning the yard. there we found the GEs just dropping their train in the yard, and getting ready to head back east.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2834]
Yes, that’s my shadow in the picture at the bottom right. I intentionally left the shadows in there – figured it was something different. Yep, another fisheye shot. If you’re keeping score, that would be #5.
At that point, Adam and his mom had to head back home, so we bid farewell and they continued west on Route 66. Gary & I headed back east to the Route 203 crossing we skipped earlier and set up our shots. After some initial debate as to whether or not we missed the train, we got our confirmation. The crew radioed St. Albans that they were clear of the NECR and left with 10 loads and 3 empties. Cool, we’ll have a bigger train heading back!
While waiting, of course, I shot some odd stuff laying around. Here’s a greasy old chain that was draped across a rock in front of me. Why not? 😉
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2833]
Moments later, the train rounded the bend and headed for the crossing. Nope, not a fisheye shot, but rather a telephoto.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2832]
But here’s a fisheye – the sixth in the series. 🙂
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2831]
And I decided to grab a shot of the train crossing over Route 203, with some cars waiting, and the lights blinking.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2830]
Then it was back on the reverse of our trip out – next stop Scotland Dam. Of course, first up was the overlook. Unfortunatley, the wind picked up and took away the nice reflections. But to make up for some of it, the water was nice and blue by now, reflecting the blue sky.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2829]
Then we made a quick exit, and parked at the dam. This time around, I wanted to get a shot from a different angle. The only problem is it required an all-out sprint downhill to the tracks, then about 60 yards down the tracks, and finally up a rock cut. Well, I got there seconds before the train came out of the trees just above the dam, and got these shots.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:2828 ] [cpg_imagefixthumb:2827]
Yep, that last one was with the fisheye also. That brings the count to 7 fisheye shots in the bunch. Glad there’s no limit on the number of shots. 🙂
By that time, I had to head back home and return to the family activities for the day. But it was good to get out for a few hours. Gary continued on and chased the train back to Plainfield. I turned back and headed for Lebanon.
And that’s it – thanks for looking!
Tom
