NECR 610 and is it the P&W, or the N&W?

Well, today started out as a typical Monday – got out of the house a touch late, and didn’t realize until I was walking into my building that I had left my laptop at home – 40 minutes away. So I went in, checked messages – I’ve got a desktop machine also – and headed back out a little while later to retrieve my laptop from the house. Of course, the sun was shining, and there was a nice blue sky, so instead of my normal route to work, I headed across the river at Montville and took Route 12 down the eastern shore of the Thames River (I normally take Route 32 on the western side).

With the New England Central Railroad’s new schedule for 608 and 610, I figured I might run into train 610 them heading south. Well, as I was heading across the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge (Route 2A), I looked to the south and saw a pair of blue & yellow geeps pulling a trio of cars down the banks of the Thames. Great – I should be able to get ahead of them to get a shot somewhere south of Stoddard Hill park in Ledyard. At the same time, the scanner came alive with P&W NR-2 talking with a MoW crew who has the track out of service between MP5 and Fairview Yard. Seems that NR-2 was finishing up work in Norwich, and would be heading their way soon. Talk about timing – two trains within minutes of eachother!

I pulled off of Route 12 at one of the fishing spots about a mile south of Stoddard Hill. Just as I got to the water level, 610 was heading into the woods, but would soon reemerge and cross a wooden trestle almost directly across the Thames from my position. Right on cue, the train appeared, and crossed over the trestle.

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Then I stuck around to grab a shot of them approaching one of the new houses across the river, with a really nice looking lawn.

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Just as the sound of the shutter clicked off, NR-2 started sounding for the crossings at the old Norwich Hospital, only a few miles to the north of me. That meant it was time to head south to Mill Cove. So I ran up the staircase, and into the car, hightailing it down Route 12, and onto Military Highway to my spot by the cove. Not more than a couple minutes later, the train came rolling along. You’ll notice that it looks like the P&W MoW crews had finished cutting the brush around the right of way right around MP4 at the north end of the cove. Thanks guys!! Here’s a couple shots of the train at the north end of the cove, the second one with the Harvard boat house in the background. And as it has been for the past week or so, the lead locomotive of NR-2 has been set up to run long hood forward – a-la the Norfolk & Western.

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And a little bit of a different framing on this one. With the clear day across the river, I think this shot with the AES Thames power plant in the background works as an action type shot. Maybe it’s just me…

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And finally the trailing power heading for the inlet to Mill Cove at the south

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At this point, the train was given permission by the MoW crew to only go as far south as the USS Nautilus crossing, which should give me enough time to get ahead of the train at the Nautilus overlook park. Yep, just as I parked the car the MoW foreman gave NR-2 clearance into Fairview Yard, and a moment later, the train was again southbound past the Nautilus and the US Submarine Force museum in Groton.

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And that was it. Not a real delay in getting back to the office. At least this time it was with my laptop.

Thanks for looking!
Tom