Misty morning P&W NR-2

Well, this morning was a pretty stark contrast to yesterday’s blue skies and warm temperatures – a rather chilly start to the day, on and off showers, and a misty drizzle hanging in the air. But that didn’t keep me from my walk! With the weather the way it was, I figured my best bet for a walk and catching Providence & Worcester train NR-2 would be around Red Top in Ledyard. So I climbed in the car and headed north on my usual route, which brings me by the Sub Base in Groton.

As I headed north on Military Highway south of the Sub Base, I noticed traffic was stopped at the light – an unusual amount of traffic. As I pulled into line I noticed one other thing – the gates to the base were closed up tight. Hmmm, wonder what happened? Well, I did what most other people in line were doing – a U-turn. So I took some back roads to get out to Route 12, and headed north to Long Cove Road just over the Ledyard town line.

While I was making my U-turn on Military Highway, the scanner came alive with a report that NR-2 was south of MP12 and about 15 minutes from the base. A quick thought of the roundabout scenic route I was now taking led me to figure I’d get there a couple minutes before the train. Not a huge deal, but I’d have to figure out a shot fairly soon after I got there.

About 10 minutes later, I pulled into the cul-de-sac that is right at Red Top, grabbed my gear and started my little hike to figure out the potential angles. I figured that since it was cloudy, I’d be able to shoot from the western side of the tracks and still get some decent lighting. While looking at the angles, a horn sounded in the distance – NR-2 was sounding for the crossings at Dow Chemical a mile or so north of me. Not much time now!

So I decided on an angle down by the MP4 milepost marker, but on the western (Thames River) side of the tracks. Just as I got there, the headlights crested the grade a half mile or so up the tracks, and moments later, they were hitting Red Top

[cpg_imagefixthumb:2901]

Right after that, Rod leaned out the engineer’s window and gave a hearty wave (hint, look at the fullsized version)

[cpg_imagefixthumb:2900]

Next up was to swing around and get the train going away, with a pair of CN cylindrical hoppers on the piont, lending some nice color contrast with the locomotives

[cpg_imagefixthumb:2899]

And a wider shot of the train hitting the curve

[cpg_imagefixthumb:2898]

And finally an even wider shot of the entire train rolling along the Thames River

[cpg_imagefixthumb:2897]

Then it was time to head back to the car. While driving, I was thinking if the road to the Sub Base was open yet, and if it was, I might be able to get a shot at Fairview. When I got to the light, it seemed normal – no traffic backed up as it was earlier, so I took a right and headed for Military Highway.

I did end up catching up to the train, but they were already cleared to enter the Shore Line by the Amtrak dispatcher. I did get south enough to get a shot of the train crossing the bridge. The first one shows the lead locomotive passing the ongoing work on the bridge, and the second is a wider shot with a sailboat in the foreground.

[cpg_imagefixthumb:2896] [cpg_imagefixthumb:2895]

And as the train rolled off the western side of the bridge, I headed south to the parking lot, and my office for the rest of the day. Of course, it got nice and sunny around lunchtime. Oh, well…can’t have sunny days every day!

Thanks for looking!
Tom Nanos