Saturday brought two things – work around the house (as in installing our new flagpole), and then heading south to catch the Providence & Worcester passenger extra on the Northeast Corridor between Providence, RI and Groton, CT – a section of track rarely used by P&W trains. The extra was put on by the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts and called the Fall Circle Tour because, well, the train’s route was a big circle. The day started out in Worcester, MA, went down to Providence, RI, then west to Groton, CT, where the train headed back north to Worcester. In case you’re curious, POEX is the symbol that the Amtrak Shore Line dispatcher was using for the extra.
I headed south early so I could scout out a few locations before the train was scheduled to arrive. I did have a heads up on the train’s arrival, though. Fellow photographer Doug Scott was on the train and I asked him to call me when they left Davisville, RI. That meant they were about 1.5 to 2 hours away from the Groton/Noank/Mystic area, which is where I wanted to set up shop.
On my way over the Gold Star Bridge between New London and Groton, I noticed something odd sticking up in the air – it looked like radar domes. Oooh, the cruise ship Explorer of the Seas was moored at the State Pier as a port of call. So a quick side trip down Thames Street in Groton was in order to get a couple shots of the mammoth ship.
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Hey, I still had plenty of time. I figured I’ve got a good 2 hours to scout out spots.
First stop was Palmer’s Cove near Groton Long Point. When I got there, an eastbound Amtrak regional hit the Midway detector a mile or so to the west. So I got a quick shot of them skirting along the cove.
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OK, I liked the lighting here, but I had shot it many times before, so I figured I’d head east a bit further.
I made it as far as the outskirts of Mystic, where the tourist traffic was horrendous, so I made a possibly illegal turn, and headed back towards Noank. As I was driving around, Doug Scott called me to inform me that they were leaving Davisville. That meant the clock was now ticking – I needed to find a spot fairly soon.
I pulled into the Noank Village Boatyard, which is on the eastern side of Sixpenny Island where the corridor comes across the island on a curve. A pretty neat spot that Bob LaMay had mentioned before. So I looked around and liked what I saw. So I headed for the office to check in to make sure it was OK to shoot some photos. Well, it being a weekend in the nearly off season, the office was locked up tight. Oh, well..I tried. Just then a westbound Acela came rolling across Sixpenny Island. Oh, well – I didn’t have my gear with me, so I missed that one.
As I was poking around looking for angles, and after I grabbed my gear from the car, the scanner woke up again – another eastbound had hit the Midway detector. So I tried an angle with some of the boats in the foreground
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Not bad – not ideal, but not too bad.
As I kept poking around, my cellphone rang. It was Mr. LaMay asking where I was at. Once I told him, he showed up a few minutes later. We chatted for a while, and shot some of the surroundings. Of course, I took the opportunity to shoot Bob as well.
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And one of my shots of the surrounding area
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Then Bob spotted a westbound regional coming towards us. I threw the fisheye on and got a shot with the dock and a planter as the train rolled along the causeway in the background
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Another shot of the boats
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Then we did what all railfans do – wait. And wait.
Finally, the silence was broken – the Amtrak dispatcher was calling the P&W POEX, and we can hear the head end reply. That meant that they were within 5-10 miles of us. So we picked our spots and got into position. I picked a higher angle closer to shore, and Bob picked one out on the docks themselves. So of course I got a shot of him sizing up the scene.
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Then we waited some more. Of course, as we waited, the clouds kept rolling in and obscuring the sun. Would we be cloud fucked? Time would tell.
A couple seemingly agonizingly long minutes later I caught the marker chirp on the scanner – that narrowed it down to about 2 miles max, which meant they were coming through Mystic. Not long now.
Another minute passed, and then I could see a trio of headlights in the distance – here they come! A quick heads-up yell down to Bob, then I was ready to go. Of course, the clouds weren’t cooperating, but oh, well, I’m not going to give up on it because the clouds screwed us! Soon they rounded the bend on Sixpenny Island
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And a quartet of shots as they traversed the causeway along the marina
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And a shot of the tail end, with the HEP car
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As the train slipped out of sight, Bob & I began our sprint back to the cars and off to our separate spots on the P&W Norwich Branch. I opted for Red Top in Ledyard, and Bob was shooting for the Preston/Ledyard town line.
I got to Red Top about 3 minutes ahead of the train – enough time to get into position and size up my shots. It probably wasn’t the best choice given the sun’s angle at this time of year, but oh, well. Live & learn…
As I was waiting for the train to head north out of Fairview, I heard a dirt bike across the river. Some moron was using the NECR right of way as their private dirt track. So I got a shot of the dirt bag. Too bad I couldn’t identify this moron…
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Then horns to the south – the extra was coming through the Sub Base. First shot is of the train coming across the causeway between Mill Cove and the Thames River, this time from the Thames side
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Then a switch to the wide angle for a pair of shots of the train coming off of the north end of the causeway
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A quick scramble up the rocks, and a switch to the telephoto, got a shot of the train passing the rocks to the north of Red Top, slipping into the shadows and heat waves coming off of the tracks.
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Somebody on the train must see something interesting, as they’re pointing out of the coach window.
I sprinted back to the car (and realized how truly out of shape I am), and raced north, hoping to catch them at Stoddard Hill. As I pulled in, I saw Bob’s car there – I guess he opted for this as it was a bit closer than his previous choice – which would have involved a hike. I saw him walking up the path, so that meant they had already passed. Oh, well. Since they were cruising along at track speed, there was no way to catch them now. So we both headed back for home. Not a bad morning at all!
Thanks for looking!
Tom
