4 Trains in 90 Minutes

This past Monday I had to take the day off for a midday doctor’s appointment.  So I had a few hours to kill in the morning – why sleep when you can be out taking pictures!  My intentions were to catch Providence & Worcester train NR-2 somewhere between Plainfield and Groton, then head to the doctor’s appointment in Bolton.  Well, things didn’t exactly go as planned – I did catch NR-2, along with P&W NR-3, New England Central NERWNE and Amtrak 190, all within a span of less than an hour and a half.  Hey, not all botched plans are bad.

So my intention was to head out of the house at my normal time, and set my sights on Plainfield.  Hopefully I could catch NR-2 getting ready to pull out of town, and chase them south.  As usual, I ended up getting out a little later than I wanted, but still decided to head for Plainfield.

By the time I got there, NR-2 was pulling across Railroad Avenue onto the Norwich Branch, and into the yard south of the grade crossing.  OK, timing wasn’t bad, but are they highballing south, or do they need to do a bit of switching?

As they cleared the crossing, I got my answer on the scanner – the conductor hopped off and was preparing to pick up some cars from the yard.  OK, that gave me a bit of time to get ahead of them.  But as I looked down at the dash a little yellow light in the shape of a gas pump reminded me of something – “E” doesn’t stand for Enough gas in the tank.

After a quick stop at the gas station – all the while listening to the switching on the scanner – I was now set to head south.  Well, almost.  I never got breakfast either.  And being diabetic, I really couldn’t go without food for my entire intended trip.  So a quick stop at McD’s on Route 12 was in order.

With sandwich in hand, I got back into the car and was greeted by NR-2 getting their Form D from the Worcester dispatcher, and reporting that they were southbound out of TAR.  Great…now where can I catch them first?

I figured with the track speeds, and what I can do on Route 12, my best bet would be down near the Lisbon/Norwich line.  Once I got there, however, that wouldn’t work – as I pulled off of the road near the town line, I noticed something new – big “NO TRESPASSING – STATE PROPERTY” signs at the paths leading down to the tracks.  Crap!  Not wanting to tempt fate, I gave up on the shots here and continued into Norwich.

With the extra time ahead of the train I had, I figured on checking out the side streets off of Route 12 through downtown Norwich for any new angles.  Well, as I was on my 3rd street, I heard NR-2 talking to the brushcutting crew just to the north that they were clear of their work area – then suddenly, they came into view.  Crap!

Back onto Route 12 heading south to find my spot.  I decided that where the tracks skirt the Shetucket River and run along 12 would be a good spot.  I’d have time since they’d have to slow down to roll through downtown Norwich.

And I did have time – enough to park, get my gear, and walk to my spot.  When I got there, NR-2 was sounding for the crossings to the north, and after a few, came into view.

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Then a wider shot as they rolled past me

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Then something unusual – a locomotive in the middle.

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Looks like they were going to drop the Tilcon cars in Fairview, then head west on Amtrak.  Speaking of Tilcon cars, I got a shot of them streaking past a mailbox in Norwich.

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From there, I figured my best bet would be to get down to either Stoddard Cove or MP7.  With the calm wind, a nice reflection shot was in order – even though it was cloudy as hell.

I ended up at MP7, and walked out to the tidal pool.  The tide was low enough for me to get out and do a near broadside shot of the train as they rolled past.  But first, I got a long shot of them rolling along the Thames up in Preston.

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A couple minutes later, the rumbling of the train grew louder, and they appeared behind a swan’s nest

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Then a couple wide shots of them rolling along the water – one of the lead power, and one of the mid-train GE

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Back up at track level, I got a shot that’s only possible now that the brushcutters have come through

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With plenty of time until my doctor’s appointment, I headed down to Groton to see what I could catch there.  Soon after parking the car south of the drawbridge, Amtrak train 190 crossed the Thames River

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As that happened, NR-2 was still switching in Fairview, so I opted to head north.  I still had time, but wanted to see if I could catch NECR train NERWNE somewhere.  So I crossed the Thames, and headed up Route 32.

As I continued north through Norwich, I heard what sounded like P&W train NR-3 on the scanner.  As I got close to the head of the Thames River, it was clear that NR-3 was working in Norwich yard across the water.  So I headed back south a bit to catch them across the river from the NECR’s Thamesview siding.

It wasn’t much of a wait before NR-3 came into view.

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Then the end of the train came into view rather quickly.

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And one final shot as they rolled along the river

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As they headed out of sight, I was thinking that this was a nice surprise.  And just as I was getting into the car, something to the north caught my eye – a trio of headlights on the NECR main!  Here comes NERWNE.

Looking at my watch, I had a little time, so I got a few shots of WNE switching the south end of Thamesville.

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Then it was time to hit the road for the doctor’s.  I got there with 5 minutes to spare.

Thanks for looking!
Tom