What a day today – warm, bright sun and nice blue skies. So I had to take advantage of it, and I did end up catching a few trains. Caught two this morning – Providence & Worcester train NR-2, and Amtrak train 171 – and one this afternoon – New England Central train 608. The Amtrak even had a little surprise on the tail end, something I didn’t really notice until the train was across the Thames in New London. But I did catch it. Read on…
I made a hole in my schedule this morning to head out and catch the P&W somewhere along the Thames River in Ledyard. As I was heading north, and passing the Sub Base, NR-2 called in that they were south of MP12 and about 15 minutes from the base. I figured my best bet was to head back to MP7 like I did on Tuesday.
I got there just as NR-2 was sounding for the crossings north of the old Norwich Hospital – perfect timing! So I moved to the side of the tidal pool and waited for NR-2 to come into view.
A couple minutes later, the rumble grew louder, and NR-2 came onto the causeway along the Thames, with the 4001 leading.
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Going a bit wider, I got the train crossing the bridge
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Then the trailing unit came into view – it was the newly painted 2006, so of course I grabbed a shot of it passing by in the bright sunlight.
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Not a bad start to the day. Now could I catch them at Fairview?
Yep, I did – I caught up to them as they were entering the yard limits, and was able to get ahead of them at the bottom end of the yard.
First up was a tele shot as they got closer, with the 4001 smoking it up a bit
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Then a swap to the wide angle to get more sky and the Thames in the frame
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Then the still shiny 2006 passing by
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As the tail end passed by, a wave and greeting from Rod came from the back porch
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As they continued to roll south, I got the telephoto back on, and got a shot of Rod, and his reflection in the newly painted short hood
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OK, next stop was the Thames River draw to check things out, and perhaps catch a train. Time was running out for me, so I may only have to settle for one train. Would it be NR-2, or an Amtrak?
A couple minutes later, the Amtrak Shore Line dispatcher told 171 that they were OK into New London. I guess it would be an Amtrak.
171 rolled over the Thames a couple moments later, with an HHP8 for power
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As the train cleared the bridge, I switched to the telephoto to get a few shots of some workers on the top of the west tower, and the crane delivering some supplies to the top
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After that I took a quick ride south to the next overlook – maybe I could catch NR-2 before having to head back to the office. As I pulled in, something on 171 caught my eye as they pulled out of New London station. The last car of the train looks like an observation car!
As they rolled across Shaw’s Cove, I got a couple shots to confirm my suspicions. Yep, 171 had the Amtrak observation car tacked on the tail end. Not sure where it’s coming from, or where it’s going, but it was a pretty cool catch.
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With nothing about NR-2 coming out onto the corridor, I had to head back to the office.
Fast forward to this afternoon. On the way home, I came across NECR train 608 working Kofkoff in Franklin. So of course I had to take a quick stop and photograph them doing their thing.
First off, I got a couple standard shots up by Murphy Road
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And while they were down in Kofkoff, I took a little walk for a couple different angles of the train down by the silos.
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Running out of time, I packed up and hit the road again. Hey, at least I got something!
Thanks for looking!
Tom
