Amtrak 171 & 190 over the Thames River

Well, today things were different – nothing fell into place. Usually my timing is pretty good trying to tie my walk and Providence & Worcester train NR-2 together. No such luck today, though. But I did get a little walk in, and also caught a pair of Amtrak regionals crossing over the Thames River within minutes of eachother. While I was there, I got some shots of the continuing prep work for the replacement of the moveable span of the bridge, which is still slated for June 2008.

Well, things started out as usual – a nice sunny morning, and I was able to get out at about the normal time. I got into the car, and as per my usual ritual, I fired up the scanner. Things sounded a bit crackly – it probably had to do with the warm humid air having an effect on the radio communications. As I started to head north, something came across the P&W frequency that I couldn’t quite make out. Hmmm, wonder what that was. A minute later I got my answer – the Worcester dispatcher gave a Form D to P&W train NR-3 from TAR (in Plainfield) to MP5. That meant that the garbled stuff I heard earlier was NR-2 reporting that they were south of MP5. Damn. Well, maybe I can catch them at Fairview yard.

I got to Fairview, and parked at the south end. I decided on a view from the road overlooking the curve at the southern end of the yard. I had my scanner with me, and as I was walking up to my spot (about 100 yards from my parking spot), I heard the marker frequency go off. OK, they’re in the area. So I waited…and waited…and waited. Hmmm, still nothing. Maybe they got down here ahead of me. I decided to head down to track level & check to the north – nothing. A peek to the south gave me the answer – a short NR-2 was already at the signal waiting for Amtrak to give them the light to head west. OK, so maybe I’ll head over to the Thames River bridge.

Well, I got there, and again waited…and waited…still nothing. Finally, the Amtrak Shore Line dispatcher came on telling Amtrak train 171 they were OK into New London station, and 190 would get the station after 171 cleared. A minute later, the westbound 171 crossed the river.

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After they cleared, I figured I’d take a couple shots of the ongoing pier work on the bridge. It looks like the concrete work on the eastern pier is just about done, and there is a grid of rebar mounted in the western pier, similar to what they did on the eastern pier prior to pouring the concrete. Of course, the telephoto came in handy for these shots.

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And I got a shot of one of the bridge contractors heading out for the work area

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A couple minutes later, 190 picked up their passengers in New London, and headed east. Got a couple shots of them crossing the bridge.

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Then a fishing vessel leaving the area caught my eye to the south, so of course, I had to get a shot.

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Finally I got an update on NR-2 – the Shore Line dispatcher was holding them for the next Acela through (I think it was 2159, but I’m not positive), and they’d follow them across the river. A quick look at the watch told me I couldn’t stick around for too much longer, so I figured I got a few shots in, and decided to return to the work world for the remainder of the day.

Thanks for looking!
Tom