Yes, this has to do with trains. The full circle part involves Providence & Worcester trains NR-2 and NR-3, as well as Amtrak Acela train 2159. The afternoon blur, well, you’ll just have to read on to see what I’m talking about with that one – it does involve New England Central train 608. 4 trains on 3 different railroads in a day – not a bad time trackside. And just to be clear, since this is a day late, all of this happened on Friday the 25th.
I had a morning meeting that got canceled last minute, so I figured I’d take advantage of the hole in my schedule to head out for a walk on a beautiful morning. Where would I go? Like usual, the scanner would tell me.
On the way north, P&W train NR-2 got some more track from the dispatcher – from MP12 to Fairview. The dispatcher also asked if he was heading south, or if they had any work in Norwich to do. Rod reported that they did have a couple moves to make at Norwich, so it would be a while before they were ready to head south. So that iced it for me – I decided on going up to Stoddard Cove and making the hike north to Poquetanuck Cove on the Ledyard/Preston town line.
I pulled into the parking area, and collected my gear for the 5 minute hike north. I got to the cove while NR-2 was still working in Norwich, so I started looking around for angles. While scouting around, the P&W frequency locked in, but this time it was the dispatcher reporting that NR-3 had no defects at the Jewett City detector. Interesting – could I maybe catch NR-3?
A few minutes later, NR-2 reported that they were southbound and about 15 minutes from the sub base. That only put them a few minutes from me. So I decided on an angle – one that would get me a nice head on look of the approaching train, of course from a safe spot using the telephoto to give the illusion that I’m standing in the gauge of the tracks.
About 5 minutes later, a trio of headlights poked through the trees to the north, then NR-2 started sounding for the crossing near the old Norwich Hospital. Soon the train was heading right for me.
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Well, not really. Here’s a wider shot, showing the curve in the tracks. Oh, yeah, and as Rod notched up a bit, the 4001 started smoking a bit more
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No power on the tail end of the train, so I started walking back after they cleared. A shot caught my eye as the train came back into view to the south, right around MP7
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Pretty cool. But on the way back to the car, NR-2 reported that they were south of MP4. The dispatcher then checked on the position of NR-3, and asked them if they could wait a few minutes for NR-2 to enter Fairview so he could then give them all the track between 12 and Fairview. OK, if things worked out I could probably catch NR-3 also.
A couple minutes later, NR-2 reported that they were in Fairview, and the dispatcher then gave NR-3 the track to Fairview. I then set my sights on the tidal pool near MP7 – the wind was fairly calm, so there should be a nice reflection.
I got there and was greeted with a nice and calm pool of water to the east of the tracks. A couple minutes passed by, and NR-3’s headlights came into view to the north. I opted for a wide shot as the train rolled along the calm water. So I put the wide zoom on and waited.
As the rumble in the distance grew louder, I got ready. Then the train came into view.
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But they had an odd configuration – locomotive, tank, locomotive, then a cut of Tilcon cars.
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It looked like they were working Dow first, then heading south to bring the stone cars to the Tilcon Groton plant.
OK, with that train in the books, could I get NR-2 again? Being this far north, I wasn’t able to pick up the Amtrak Shore Line frequency, so I’m not sure if NR-2 got out onto the corridor yet. Hell, it was worth a shot – I had a bit more time before I had to head back to the office.
Rolling along Military Highway, I couldn’t see anything in Fairview, except for a cut of empty Tilcon cars that were there when I headed north. Once got off of Military Highway, and onto Fairview Ave, I saw NR-2 sitting down at the signal. Cool, I could catch them crossing the river!
On the way by, a shot I had been wanting struck me. I wanted to get a shot of the US Submarine memorial, with the flags waving in the breeze, with the towers of the new Thames River drawbridge in the background. Today, everything worked, and I got a couple shots at the memorial, as NR-2 waited for their signal.
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Listening to the Shore Line dispatcher, it sounded like he was holding NR-2 for Acela train 2159, and they just hit the Midway detector.
A couple minutes later, the high speed train rolled across the Thames River drawbridge at about 15 MPH.
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Not long after the Acela cleared New London, NR-2 was let onto the Shore Line
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And that was it for the morning session.
Fast forward a few hours to the early afternoon. I had to head home early, and like usual the scanner was on as I passed through Norwich & Franklin to see if the NECR was in town. As I got closer to Franklin, I started to hear NECR train 608 working Kofkoff. So I headed that way.
When I got there it sounded like they were finishing up their work, preparing to head north. So instead of getting a shot I’ve already got, I headed north a bit, and ended up at Pound Hill Road.
I could still hear the train working, but it sounded like they were on their final moves, so I scouted around for an angle. I found one that I liked, but of course, it involved a hike down into the river.
I got to the edge of the river and waited. A couple minutes later the crossing signal activated, then was followed by 608 blowing for the crossing. Seconds later, the train was in my viewfinder.
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But I botched the settings – I forgot that the train would be doing about 30 by this point, so there’s a bit of motion blur on the passing locomotive.
But taking the blur a bit further, I went for a blur shot of the train rolling over the bridge.
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Once the train cleared, I made my way back out of the river, and to the car, and headed home.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
