Phew, finally caught up completely! Shot these this past Tuesday the 3rd – I ended up catching Providence & Worcester train NR-2 at Mill Cove, and again crossing the Thames River, and sandwiched in between was a westbound Amtrak Acela crossing the Thames. And something I mentioned in the post from Monday, I included some of the blooming flowers more deliberately in a shot. Hey, they’re there, so what the hell…right?
Tuesday was another case of NR-2 clearing MP12 on my way out of the office, so the timing should work out just about right by the time I get up to Erickson Park and Mill Cove in Ledyard.
And did it ever work out. Not more than a minute after pulling into the parking lot of the park did I hear horns to the north. So I headed south and got into position. Moments later, NR-2 pulled past MP4
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And onto the causeway between the cove and the Thames
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Yet another shot with the Harvard Boat House in the background
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Then the shot I was aiming for – one with some nice bright yellow flowers in the foreground
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As the train cleared (another day with all the power on the head end), I headed for the Thames River drawbridge to see if I could catch NR-2 crossing the river.
Listening to the scanner when I got to the parking lot told me that Amtrak Acela train #2159 was about to hit the Midway detector. It also told me that NR-2 would be following them, and that they were again running single track between Groton and Shaw’s Cove interlockings. A quick look out on the bridge showed me that the Catenary Maintenance car was still out on the west side of the moveable span. OK, I’ll include that in a couple shots.
A few minutes after the Acela tripped the Midway detector, they rolled onto the drawbridge.
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Then passed by a track car in the middle of the moveable span
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And the Catenary Maintenance car
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Got a wide shot of the tail end of the train heading for the drawbridge
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And the trailing power car passing the Cat Car
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As soon as 2159 cleared the station, NR-2 began coming down the wye and onto the corridor.
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And as the Acela before it, passed the track car
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And finally the Cat Car
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With time running out, I decided to head back to the office and passed on the across the river shots. Next week things should be getting interesting. The counterweight should be in the progress of being disassembled of the next week, and starting Friday the span swap should start moving. Trust me, I’ll be watching that one, and of course you’ll read about it here!
Thanks for looking!
Tom
