Yesterday I spent the day in bed at home with a nasty, but thankfully short-lived, cold. When I got up, I wasn’t quite feeling up to par this morning, so I opted to head in a little late and get a little more sleep. As things ended up working out, I was able to catch Providence & Worcester train NR-2 at Mill Cove – well, just barely.
On my way in after my late start, like usual, I had the scanner going. As I was heading through Franklin, I heard the P&W Worcester Dispatcher give NR-2 more track – between MP12 and MP2. OK, that put them at the worst case in Norwich and a few miles ahead of me. I figured it was worth a gamble to try and get ahead of them and shoot them at Stoddard Cove in Ledyard.
With that plan in mind, I headed down I-395, then across Route 2A and over the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge. As I was crossing the bridge spanning the Thames River, a look south showed me some bad news – NR-2 was rolling past Stoddard Hill. Damn! OK, now could I make it down to Mill Cove ahead of them? Well, with a state trooper in front of me, bending the speed limits was out of the question.
Hoping for the best, I continued south on Route 12, keeping to the speed limit behind the trooper. As I approached Dow Chemical, the dispatcher asked where NR-2 was currently – he reported that they were south of MP6 – which was right next to me! OK, maybe I could get ahead of them at Mill Cove. As I passed by the Dow gate, a peek down the road gave me the answer – I was currently going faster than NR-2, so I figured I could do it.
Once at the light for Military Highway, I parted ways with the trooper – he continued south on 12, and I headed down towards the cove. As the cove came into view, I was greeted by two welcome sights – well, one was a sound. First off, there was no train crossing the causeway, and second, NR-2 reported to the dispatcher that they were south of MP5. So I continued to the south end of the cove.
As soon as I parked, NR-2 began sounding for Red Top, and then came into view, and I rattled off a trio of shots.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:9729] [cpg_imagefixthumb:9728] [cpg_imagefixthumb:9727]Then one of the trailing power passing by the Harvard Boat House
[cpg_imagefixthumb:9726]And a closeup of the trailing power. But something caught my eye after I took the shot – you can see the cars on NECR train NERWNE across the river. Too bad it wasn’t the power…
[cpg_imagefixthumb:9725]Then one final shot of the trailing power slipping behind the treeline
[cpg_imagefixthumb:9724]Not bad for a quick minute or so stop. From there I packed up the gear, and headed to the office for the rest of the day. Glad I could take advantage of the beautiful weather!
Thanks for looking!
Tom
