Day and Night on the P&W and a Virginia

Well, I’ll be doing things a little out of order here.  I’ve got some shots from the last week or two that I need to process and get online, but in the meantime, I’ve got some stuff from yesterday that’s ready to go.  So that’s what you get to look at today…trust me, it’s worth it…

So yesterday I was able to get out for a bit, and shoot Providence & Worcester train NR-2.  I ended up catching them along Mill Cove in Ledyard and through Fairview Yard in Groton.  They were a short train – two engines bracketed around a trio of cars.  Nothing interesting, except maybe the skies overhead.  There were some high clouds showing peeks of blue, as well as some fast moving lower clouds, making things look a bit interesting.  But that’s not the really cool part.  On my way back to the office, I saw an armed US Coast Guard rigid hull inflatable screaming up the Thames River.  That could only mean one thing – a submarine was returning to the Sub Base in Groton.  After a few moments of waiting, a Virginia class fast attack sub came into view, and of course I rattled off a few shots as it headed north.  So here’s those pictures.

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But that’s not it.  Later on in the evening, after the kids were in bed, I had to run out to Willimantic on a couple errands.  All the while, my radio was on scanning the P&W and NECR frequencies.  Well, on my way back, I caught the NECR dispatcher giving a switcher out of Palmer a track warrant between Palmer and MP27 – which is the south yard limits of Willimantic.  OK, a southbound was heading this way.  But there was an interesting thing the dispatcher mentioned – that the P&W may be in town tonight as well.  That just took the interesting-meter up a few notches.

By the time I got back home, I checked email and someone mentioned on the P&W group that they heard the NECR dispatcher telling the southbound job out of Palmer to expect the P&W in Willimantic around 11:30PM.  OK, that iced it – I decided to grab my camera & Lumedyne and head out at about 10PM to see if I could find NR-4.

I ended up finding them in Versailles where they did a little switching before heading west.  So I too headed west, and set my sights for Baltic.  I figured I’d give my new 50D and its high ISO settings a little run-through.

I set up the Lumedyne on a stand about 6′ off of the ground, and about 25′ to my right and took a couple test shots.  Not too bad…now to wait for the train.

A bit later, NR-4 came into view, crossing Route 97, and I took a shot.

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Not too bad!  I figured my next stop would be where the tracks cross over Merrick Brook in Windham, just downstream from the Scotland Dam.  So off I went.

On the way there, rain drops started hitting the windshield – nothing major, but it was sure to put a damper on my shooting.  By the time I got to the brook, the rain was starting to come down in earnest.  I grabbed a couple towels to shield the Lumedyne pack and head, and set up my gear.  This time, focusing would be a problem – at least in Baltic there were street lights.  Here, not a light for miles – just total darkness.  I did have my Maglite, and it was barely bright enough to light up the ties on the bridge, allowing the camera to lock into a focus.  With that confirmation, I took a test shot.  Sweet!  Now just to wait in the rain.

A couple minutes later, a glow started to emerge above the trees, followed by the distinctive GE locomotive chug-chug.  OK, showtime.

I did another focus lock and waited for NR-4 to cross over the bridge spanning the brook.  When I figured it was in the right spot, I tripped the shutter.  And this is what came up on the camera’s LCD

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They’re not perfect, but it’s a place to start.  I’m sure I’ll be getting out there again to shoot in the dark.  Either way, I think they came out decent.  But now the rain was really coming down.  So instead of planning my next stop (which would have been Pleasant Street in Willimantic, just south of the Frog Bridge) I broke everything down, got in the car, dried off the camera, and headed back home.  Hey, it was also after midnight, and 5:30am would be coming quick…

Thanks for looking!
Tom