Well, a morning meeting of mine was postponed, so it allowed me to get out for a quick run north. With the recent changes to operations in the area – the P&W/NECR interchange was moved from New London to Willimantic – NR-2s times have been in a state of flux. I got out around the normal time, which would normally give me enough time to get to at least Mill Cove to the north of the Sub Base, but today I wouldn’t get that far. In fact, I wouldn’t get that far up Military Highway in Groton.
On my way north on Thames Street, the scanner locked onto the P&W frequency. It kinda sounded like the usual NR-2 guys talking. Jeez, that meant they were quite close – possibly at Fairview. The closer I got to Fairview, the clearer the transmissions became – not only on the scanner, but also the situation. NR-2 was definitely in Fairview. Oh, well, if I get there soon enough, I can probably catch them crossing the Thames River.
Pulling into the parking spot at the south end of Fairview, the conversations continued on the scanner. Since I didn’t see the train at the signal, and they were still talking on the P&W frequency, they weren’t heading for Amtrak yet. Grabbing my gear, I headed up to track level to see what’s going on.
Before I got up there, a sound to the south caught my attention. A US Coast Guard HH60J Jayhawk helicopter was flying north at a pretty low altitude. I got a trio of shots to begin with
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Then a vertical of the chopper heading up the river out of sight
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At that point something else caught my eye – the beginnings of a truss across the river. It looks like they’re starting to put together the new Thames River drawbridge moveable span.
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Pretty neat. But now to check out what’s going on with the train. A look to the north kinda gave me an idea – the locomotive on the tail end of the train was separated and a pair of the crew members were off looking at something.
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And a little different angle with the switch stand
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But with this one, something caught my eye. Notice the little white thing above the tree line
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The Jayhawk was heading back south. I waited a few seconds and got a shot of the chopper flying past the Coast Guard Academy across the river in New London
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Just after that, the head end of NR-2 began rolling south.
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As they passed by me, the light at the south end of the yard struck me as a natural black & white shot.
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As the trio slipped behind the trees, the EMD that was originally left to the north began slowly rolling south, apparently somewhat injured.
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While it was still rolling south, I swapped lenses, and took advantage of the blue sky with the wide angle.
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And back to the telephoto for a couple shots into the haze. The first in color
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And a black & white a bit further along
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It sounded like they were leaving the EMD in Fairview, and taking the solo GE with the pair of boxcars west on the Shore Line. So I headed for the Thames River drawbridge next. I got a trio of shots of the bridge and a reflection of it in the calm river.
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The radio was still silent on the Amtrak frequency, so I broke things off – I had to drop my suit off at the cleaners in town (we’ve got a pair of Christmas parties for work this weekend, and I figured a clean suit would be a good idea).
On my way back to work from the cleaners, I heard a marker chirp. Hmmm, was the Shore Line dispatcher still holding the train at the Groton wye? So I took the scenic route into work. As I approached Thames Street, I heard a flagman on the Thames River drawbridge call “westbound hot rail on 1” – that might be NR-2. So I headed for the overlook across the river from the New London Amtrak station. Just as I got there, NR-2, with the lone GE and pair of boxcars, was heading for the Shaw’s Cove swing bridge.
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And as shot of the train heading off of the Shaw’s Cove swing bridge
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Then to wrap things up, a pair of shots with a channel marker in the foreground, as the short train was heading for shore.
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At that point, the camera hit the bag, and I hit the road for the office – I still had one meeting left on the calendar, and I’d have just enough time to get back for it. Let’s see if the calendar cooperates tomorrow too.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
