NECR Employee Fireworks Extra

On Saturday July 10th, there were a number of Independence Day fireworks displays planned, including New London and my hometown of Lebanon.  Since we usually go to the hometown show, New London was out for us this year.  So that would also mean I’d miss shooting the New England Central Railroad’s fireworks extra, which would be shuttling employees of the railroad and their families from Palmer, MA down to New London for the show.  Oh, well.  But as things worked out, Mother Nature has something up her sleeve…well, not Mother Nature, but rather the weather forecasters, and what effect they’d have on our local fireworks schedule.

As Saturday was approaching, the weather forecasters were calling for severe thunderstorms.  So during the day on Saturday, Lebanon changed their fireworks display to Sunday evening, but New London opted to keep theirs the same.  With the conflict in the schedule resolved, and the kids in bed, I headed down to New London to see what I could shoot.

Well, after getting stuck in traffic, I finally found a spot to park, but it was quite a distance away from the action.  After a hike/run (the show was already going on for a good 15 minutes), I got to the train, and got set up in time for a few shots of the finale.  Once the show wrapped up, I headed back to the car and figured I’d chase the train north for a while.  I ended up getting them at Franklin and Stafford Springs, wrapping up by 1am.  Why only two spots?  Well, simple – it takes a little while to set up the flashes and test everything out before the train gets there – not quite as easy as shooting in the daylight.  Either way, I was happy with what I got, and made my way back home in the early hours of the 11th.  Too bad the entire consist was non-NECR equipment.  GMRC coaches, which is the standard for NECR excursions, and the power was a pair of GP40s – one FEC and one RMPX (ex-CN)

Thanks for looking!
Tom