This past Monday I had another small hole open up in my morning schedule. So like usual when that happens, I headed out to catch Providence & Worcester train NR-2. The question would be this – since I had only a small window of time to work with, will the timing be right to catch them somewhere? Or will I miss them in the short amount of time I had before I needed to get back? Well, since you see a picture to the left, it’s pretty obvious that I did catch them. But only at one spot this time.
So I got out a touch later than usual, so I wasn’t exactly sure if I’d catch NR-2 or not. To try and figure out what was going on, the scanner was monitoring both the P&W and Amtrak frequencies. While heading north on Route 12 in Ledyard, near Stoddard Hill, NR-2 reported that they were south of MP12 and 15-20 minutes from the sub base. OK, now where should I shoot them?
I pulled into Stoddard Hill and surveyed the scene – nothing special, and with a steady breeze, the tidal pool just to the south at MP7 probably wouldn’t have its typical glass-like appearance (that, and it was high tide, and I didn’t wear my boots…yeah, I’m an idiot…), so I decided to go for the run-of-the-Mill Cove shot.
On Monday I had my pickup truck, so I pulled into Erickson Park, shut the truck down (it is a diesel), and waited to hear horns to the north. A couple minutes later, NR-2 started sounding for the crossings at Dow Chemical a mile to the north. So I fired up the beast, and headed to the south end of the cove.
This time, I parked on the side of the road, and used the bed of the truck as my platform. Not long after setting up, NR-2 started sounding for the crossing at Red Top, and came into view amongst the greenery.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:7769]Then a tighter crop of the train, seemingly rolling over the brush
[cpg_imagefixthumb:7768]Then a trio of standard shots, as NR-2 rolled along the causeway.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:7767] [cpg_imagefixthumb:7766] [cpg_imagefixthumb:7765]A quick look at the watch told me it was time to get back to the office. So I wasn’t able to catch them at Fairview, or crossing over the Thames. Oh, well, such is life…at least I got something on this beautiful morning.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
