Happy Birthday To Me – NR-2 I Can See

Yes, that title is a poor attempt at a rhyme.  But anyways, today is my 40th birthday, and I was able to head out for a few minutes this morning and catch Providence & Worcester train NR-2 in Groton and New London.  Despite the cloudy morning, I ended up with a few keepers.

A few things this morning ran over, but I was able to get out for a bit somewhat later than usual.  So I set my sights on Mill Cove north of the Sub Base in Ledyard.  But on my way up there – just as I was passing the base, I heard NR-2 report to the Worcester dispatcher that they were south of MP5.  Damn – no way I could get to Mill Cove ahead of them.  So I turned around and headed for the USS Nautilus overlook park in Groton.

I got there about 20 seconds before the crossing gates activated, so I framed up a shot from the park, while standing on a guardrail.  Moments later, NR-2 came into view – and it was a HUUUUGE train!  Yep, light engines…

[cpg_imagefixthumb:10209] [cpg_imagefixthumb:10208]

With that in the bag, and a wave from Don in the left hand seat, I headed down to the overlook south of the Thames River lift bridge.  While waiting, NR-2 was doing a little work in Fairview picking up a couple wire cars for Stanley-Bostitch in Clinton.  After a bit, they headed west over the river.

[cpg_imagefixthumb:10207] [cpg_imagefixthumb:10206] [cpg_imagefixthumb:10205] [cpg_imagefixthumb:10204]

Not too bad.  At that point I decided to call it a morning and head back to the office.

But on my way down Thames Street, the Amtrak New London dispatcher informed NR-2 that Amtrak 190 was approaching Shaw’s Cove.  Hmmm, might be a meet by the swing bridge?  A stop at Garbo Lobster was in order.

So I got there, and watched NR-2 traverse the western shore of the Thames River, all the while with no sign of 190

[cpg_imagefixthumb:10203]  [cpg_imagefixthumb:10202] [cpg_imagefixthumb:10201] [cpg_imagefixthumb:10200] [cpg_imagefixthumb:10199]

Oh, well, no meet, but a few more shots in the bag.  With 190 still out of sight, I then followed through on my previous thought and went back to the office for the day.  Well, at least for a few hours – then I went to lunch with my parents…overall not a bad birthday at all.

Thanks for looking!
Tom