Thursday the third of June started out with some pretty thick fog here in southeastern Connecticut. And in that fog, a few trains rain – one regular job, and two extras. As luck would have it, I managed to lens each of those – well, in one form or another.
Wednesday evening, I got word that the NECR job out of Palmer had set out a couple locomotives on the Yantic runaround to power an empty ethanol train the following day. So I figured that I’d swing by and check out what power was left there – hey, it was on the way into work, so why not?
When I pulled across Murphy Road in Franklin, which is at the top end of the Yantic runaround, I saw two locomotives sitting there – one NECR blue & gold GP38, which was coupled to a CSO B39-8. I got a quick shot of the pair in the hazy morning air, with the former Cargill silos in the background.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:113639]OK, not a bad start to the morning.
A little further down – as I was on I-395 southbound, NECR train NERWNE – the normal south end switcher – was getting their paper to work between Willimantic and New London. And once they copied their paper, they informed the dispatcher that they were southbound out of Montville. I figured that this just might work out nicely, and I may be able to catch the train crossing Smith Cove in Waterford with the nice moody fog hanging in the air.
I got to my spot, and waited a couple minutes. It didn’t take too long for NERWNE to appear over the trestle spanning Smith Cove
[cpg_imagefixthumb:113638]Happy with the shot – and the start to the day – I headed to the office. But there was supposed to be an empty ethanol extra too…
A bit later on, I got word that the ethanol extra was going to be a bit later than originally planned, and as things ended up playing out, I might be able to catch them over lunch. So instead of doing my usual NR2 shooting, I skipped them, and did the office thing until lunchtime.
At lunchtime, and after getting word from Dave Jodoin that the ethanol extra was past him in Webster, MA about 90 minutes prior, I headed up to Ledyard to pick a spot. I opted for the area around MP7 – I figured it would be a nice spot that would show most of the 80 car train skirting along the Thames River. Plus the hazy skies would help with the shadows that are typically there.
While waiting, the NECR power from Franklin made their way south on the opposite side of the Thames. Did I mention it was foggy?
[cpg_imagefixthumb:113637] [cpg_imagefixthumb:113636]And not long after that, P&W NR3 reported to the dispatcher that they were in the clear at Dow, opening up the track for the extra. Soon after, the extra gave the dispatcher an update on their position – they were only a few miles to the north of me now. Shouldn’t be much longer…
After a little bit, I could see the train to the north in Preston, rolling along the Thames
[cpg_imagefixthumb:113635]Then in both Preston and Ledyard
[cpg_imagefixthumb:113634] [cpg_imagefixthumb:113633]And finally, they came into view at my position.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:113632] [cpg_imagefixthumb:113631] [cpg_imagefixthumb:113630]And rolled by – all 81 cars. After that, I headed back to the office for the rest of the day. Can’t complain at all about how Thursday went…
Thanks for looking!
Tom
