Today I had a busy morning, so I couldn’t head out to catch Providence & Worcester train NR-2 like I usually do. But I did have to leave early to get to a doctor’s appointment – and the way to the doctor’s office takes me right through New London. I figured I might get lucky and run into New England Central train NERWNE working down on the south end somewhere.
On my way north up Route 32 I heard a chirp on my scanner after I passed by Connecticut College. Hmmm, the P&W frequency has been silent, so I know NR-2 or NR-3 isn’t across the river. That only meant one thing – NECR NERWNE was in the area. A quick overview of photo locations in my head led me to the spot by UBS Lumber, south of Smith Cove (actually in Waterford). So I pulled in there, and headed down the hill towards the tracks.
Well, just as I got down to the fence by the tracks, a big red GP38 went rolling by me southbound – but as light engines. So I grabbed the telephoto and got off one shot before they dissapeared around the corner to the south.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:10128]OK, not bad. A quick check of the clock told me I had enough time to backtrack a couple miles to the New London yard and get a couple shots off there before I had to leave for my appointment.
I got down there just ahead of the engine, and looked at a few angles. Nothing struck my eye, so I headed for State Pier Road – which goes over the south end of the yard.
While down there, the crew picked up 3 loaded lumber flats in the yard and started heading down to Sherwood Lumber by the end of the pier. A quick look to the south showed me that there were 4 empty cars waiting there – I guess NERWNE will be picking those up, then spotting the three loads.
As the train shoved down the lumber company’s spur, I got a shot as they passed under Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor
[cpg_imagefixthumb:10127]A couple minutes later, they picked the empties out and set them out on one of the yard tracks. After that, they shoved the three loads in, and I got a shot of that, with some of the various fishing boats and ferries in the background.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:10126]At that point, I called it quits and headed north to my doctor’s appointment. As things turned out, I was actually early for my appointment – not too bad!
Thanks for looking!
Tom
