NECR 610 in the morning

With the new schedule for the New England Central Railroad trains on the Palmer Subdivision south of Palmer, MA, getting a train working somewhere on the way into work has become more of a possibility. This morning, while heading into Franklin, CT, the scanner came alive with the conversation between the engineer and conductor on NECR train 610, presumably working the Cargill feed plant in town.

I decided my best bet would be to head down Murphy Road and ascertain where the train was and what the lighting looked like. But as I approached the intersection of Murphy Rd. and Route 87, it sounded like the crew was doing a brake check, preparing to get under way southbound. So instead of taking the left onto Murphy, I headed straight and decided the next best shot would be a long telephoto down by the Yantic firehouse.

Well, I got there well ahead of the train, giving me enough time to frame the shot I was looking for – the train crossing over the bridge spanning the Yantic River.

[cpg_imagefixthumb:2794]

Then I spun around 180* to get a going away shot of the train crossing the river again, this time showing the nice golden light of morning filtering through the trees.

[cpg_imagefixthumb:2793]

I figured the train was going slow enough that I could get ahead of it at the Benny’s parking lot in Norwichtown. Of course, I also ran the risk of the train having to switch the Phelps-Dodge plant just to the north of Benny’s, delaying their arrival. But it seemed the chances of that were slim, since there was only one boxcar on the train – a CN, which is typically newsprint for the Norwich Bulletin at the Postscript Warehouse to the south. So why not try to bag ’em at Benny’s?

With no radio traffic, save for the occasional “chirp” from the EOT telemetry, I assumed that they would not be working Phelps-Dodge on this trip. I got to the parking lot on New London Turnpike about 5 minutes before the train, and grabbed this shot, with the nice and wide 15mm fisheye lens, of the train rolling past the retail store.

[cpg_imagefixthumb:2792]

At this point, I figured that the train would be dropping that boxcar at Postscript, and looking at the time, I figured it was time to put the camera in the bag and head south.

Once I got into Groton, I took the road along the Thames into work. I noticed a quite different looking ship moored to the State Pier in New London – a freighter called the Kom. A little Googling revealed that it’s owned by a Bulgarian company, and registered in Malta. Not sure what she was hauling, as I could only find that it’s been used for bulk goods like sugar, but I guess lumber could be on board – that’s primarily what comes into New London via ship. Anyways, here’s a shot of the vessel, and a detail of her bridge, with a pretty neat reflection in the Thames River.

[cpg_imagefixthumb:2791] [cpg_imagefixthumb:2790]

Then it was another mile south and into the parking lot for a day of meetings.

Thanks for looking!
Tom