Yep, more night stuff, and like Saturday night, it was a last-minute decision to do. At the CERM meeting on Sunday night, one of the members mentioned that there was an NECR train tied down in the Willimantic yard. Well, I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera & Lumedyne. But home is a scant 5 minutes away. The question was this, though, would I make it back in time before the new NECR crew went on duty to take the train south?
Yep, I did make it back in time, but looking at my watch as I parked the car one thing stood out in my mind – Providence & Worcester train NR-4 hadn’t been into town yet, and should be around at any time. Maybe I could get a two-fer? To be safe, I took my scanner with me while I was prowling around in the dark.
I started out with a standard shot of the train’s power sitting next to the rest of the train – it looks like they split it up to keep the main & runaround clear for NR-4s arrival.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:8589]Then one using the Willimantic station sign to frame the lead GP38
[cpg_imagefixthumb:8588]And one looking down between the two rows of track. This one was fun to light – if you notice I stood between two cars to pop the flash on the second unit.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:8587]For the last shot, I also got the old Hurley’s building in the frame.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:8586]As I was shooting this one, I heard some crackled communications over the radio on the P&W channel. Sounded like NR-4 was in town. So I made my way back to the car. Just as I got there, I heard the unmistakable chug-chug of a GE B39-8 in the distance. Moments later, a trio of headlights appeared in the darkness from under the Frog Bridge. As they began to cross the Willimantic River, the lights started to reflect off of the railheads.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:8585]Then as they got closer, ribbons of light appeared out of the darkness.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:8584]As they rolled past me, I switched to the telephoto to get a couple shots as they headed for Bridge Street. First, you can see the power heading over the switch, and towards the Bridge Street crossing
[cpg_imagefixthumb:8583]Then the markers as the train continues to snake along the NECR main.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:8582]And finally, with the train at rest, the conductor pulls the marker off of the rear of the train, prior to backing the cars into the runaround.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:8581]At that point I decided to call it a night. Not bad for a quick run back into Willi.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
