Coal barge – and a nearly missed NR-2

I actually got out to catch Providence & Worcester train NR-2 yesterday, but it was a close call for sure. And the delay in getting this posting online is because of that little celestial event last night – the total lunar eclipse. Yep, I got some shots of that too…more on that later, though. First things first…

On the way into work, as I was crossing over the Gold Star bridge spanning the Thames River, I noticed that the Amtrak drawbridge was open to river traffic. Curious as to what was passing beneath – this time of year, it’s typically closed since the only things that require it to be open are commercial or military traffic – I headed down Thames Street in Groton.

As I pulled into the parking lot overlooking the Thames, I saw an empty coal barge heading south. So I got a few shots of the barge Somerset, her tug East Coast, the New London Harbor pilot, and an escort tug – the Thameship.

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Not a bad start to the day. Nice light and some shipping. On to work, though.

Fast forward a few hours. I decided to duck out for a bit and take advantage of the nice sunny skies, and a hole in my schedule. So I began my usual trek north to catch P&W train NR-2 somewhere.

As I was heading north towards Military Highway, the scanner woke up with the Amtrak Shore Line dispatcher wanting to talk to NR-2. Damn…that meant they were in Groton already. And I was a little while away from the river bank. So I figured I’d try to make it to the lobster company parking lot and catch NR-2 in New London. From the sounds of things, it seemed that NR-2 was already on the move…

As soon as I got into the parking lot, I could see NR-2 pulling through the station across the river. Just enough time to catch them heading for Shaw’s Cove. And boy was it a short train – one locomotive and two cars!

First shot was of the train rolling past the waterfront walkway in New London

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Then a boat from Electric Boat pulled past me – so I couldn’t pass up getting it into the frame with the really short train

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And crossing the swing bridge

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Finally, the train rolling towards the south end of the bridge

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And that was it for the morning. A really quick jaunt out, netting some passable photos…

Thanks for looking!
Tom