Well, we’re back from Florida, and today I went back to work, ending my week & a half of vacation. But I couldn’t pass up the mostly blue skies on this Earth Day, so I headed out in hope of catching at least the Providence & Worcester rolling through Ledyard. Well, I ended up getting a couple more trains in addition to the P&W, but as you can see from the sample image to the left, the P&W celebrated Earth Day with a smoke show. Of course, I’m kidding…I’m sure the smoke wasn’t intentional.
As luck had it, I had a hole in my schedule this morning, despite the pile of email from the past 10 days I had to wade through, so I headed out of the office to try and catch a little P&W action after a week photographing the Florida East Coast railway. I got out at my normal time, and of course the scanner went on to try and figure out what was going on.
While heading north, the scanner was silent, so I figured on heading for milepost 7 on the P&W – there was barely any wind, so the tidal pool there should be pretty calm, yielding a nice reflection. The question is – did NR-2 already blast through, or were they still to the north?
I got there, parked, and hiked down the hillside to the tracks and Thames River. A quick walk to the north, and I was at the tidal pool – smooth as glass. Perfect, now I just need a train. A quick look at the track told me that NR-2 hadn’t been through yet. OK, now where are they – the scanner was still silent, so for all I know they’re still in Plainfield.
About 5 minutes went by, then the silence was broken by a chirp on the scanner – somebody was in the area. With the continued silence of the P&W frequencies, that meant it was most likely New England Central train 608 rolling south. Well, at least I’d be sure to catch one train…not the one I wanted, but it’s better than nothing. The waiting game continues…
A bit later, a trio of headlights appeared in the trees across the river, and just then the P&W frequency lit up – NR-2 was south of MP12 and 15 minutes from the sub base. OK, here goes – things are falling into place.
As 608 rolled south, I got a series of shots as they passed in front of me, with only the Thames River separating me from the train.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:6740] [cpg_imagefixthumb:6739] [cpg_imagefixthumb:6738] [cpg_imagefixthumb:6737] [cpg_imagefixthumb:6736] [cpg_imagefixthumb:6735]
While 608 slipped out of sight, another trio of headlights appeared to the north – NR-2 was heading towards me. So I switched from the telephoto to the wide angle zoom and got into position at the shores of the tidal pool on the east side of the P&W tracks. More waiting – this time, though, I knew the train was coming soon.
A couple minutes later, the rumble grew louder, and NR-2 came into view at the north end of the water, with the Preston trash-to-energy plant visible in the background, doing what it does – burning trash
[cpg_imagefixthumb:6734]
Then the shot I sized up prior – a vertical of NR-2 rolling along the calm water, and under nice blue skies.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:6733]
Something mid-train caught my eye – a string of nice newly painted (possibly rebuilt) gondolas, all sporting ATW reporting marks (Atlantic & Western Railway in North Carolina – looks like shortline).
[cpg_imagefixthumb:6732]
Interesting. Then the tail end came into view, so the first shot I got was the trailing unit with the trash-to-energy plant still churning away
[cpg_imagefixthumb:6731]
And a broadside shot of the final CN gondola, along with the trailing locomotive
[cpg_imagefixthumb:6730]
Not too bad at all! Now to head south and try to catch NR-2 at Fairview. But as usual, that would depend on the other drivers on Route 12, as well as the traffic lights between me and the south end of the yard.
Well, I did catch up to NR-2 along Military Highway south of the Nautilus, giving me enough time to get down to the bottom of Fairview and into position for a couple shots of the train rolling through the yard.
First up is the train pulling into the yard
[cpg_imagefixthumb:6729]
Then a bit of a smoke show, as the train notches up, bringing the tail end of the train into the yard limits
[cpg_imagefixthumb:6728]
And a wide wedgie shot of the entire train
[cpg_imagefixthumb:6727]
As the cars rolled by, some graffiti caught my eye. Hmmm, I wonder why…heh…
[cpg_imagefixthumb:6726]
Nice use of the bolt as part of the picture… But I digress.
One final going away shot of the head end pulling around the curve
[cpg_imagefixthumb:6725]
That would be it for me and NR-2 – they were told by the Amtrak Shore Line dispatcher that they’d be waiting to follow 2159, a southbound Acela. I really didn’t have time to hang around for that. So first up I got a couple shots of the bridge progress – the workers are starting to string cables that will support the new lift span
[cpg_imagefixthumb:6724] [cpg_imagefixthumb:6723] [cpg_imagefixthumb:6722]
After that, on my way in, I heard horns across the river in New London. It was a northbound Acela – train 2150 – coming through New London station. So I hung around to get a shot of the train crossing the bridge.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:6721]
Still hearing nothing from 2159, NR-2 would still remain at the Groton wye, so I called it a morning. Not too bad – 3 trains around the Thames.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
