NECR, P&W and Amtrak on the way in

Last day of my odd work schedule, so I was glad to have some sunlight and blue skies to work with this morning. What was even better was that I bagged 3 trains under those blue skies – the New England Central, Providence & Worcester and Amtrak. And something kinda cool about it – the shots were taken along the entire length of the Thames River – From Norwich at the north, to Groton at the south.

Once again, I started my day by heading north on Route 12, listening for the Jewett City detector as my sign of P&W train NR-2s presence. But something else caught my attention as I was going through downtown Norwich – a moving train on the NECR side of the tracks. With some good fortune with the traffic lights, I got to Chelsea Landing in time to catch NECR train 608 rolling along the new condos on Route 32.

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OK, not a bad start to the morning. But still nothing on the scanner about NR-2. So I set my sights on Route 12 northbound.

Just as I’m leaving Norwich, I pick up a broken transmission from what sounds like the Jewett City detector. OK, that must be NR-2 heading my way. Now where could I catch them? I figured I might try to get a bit further north and get them along Route 12. Well, that wasn’t in the cards – just as I pass the area of Taft’s Tunnel, a trio of headlights became visible through the trees ahead of me – here they come!

After a quick (and legal) turnaround, I was headed back south. I figured I’d head to the same spot near the intersection of 12 and 2. That’ll give me enough time to get into position before the trains’ arrival.

With about 3 minutes to spare, I got into position, and decided again on the wide angle lens. Even though I was nearly shooting into the sun, I figured it was worth it to bag this shot. Moments later, NR-2 came rolling into view.

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And a wider shot, again getting the Quinnebaug River in the frame.

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This time, NR-2 was a bit longer, so I didn’t have to run to the mailbox spot. I got there in time to catch the trailing unit passing by, this time with a different framing.

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Not bad. OK, back to the car to check out the scanner – would NR-2 be working the yard again, or highballing south?

Back in the car, and as I passed by NR-2, I got the answer – they were working Norwich again. So that gave me time to head south and catch them at another spot. But where?

As I was getting closer to Stoddard Hill Park in Ledyard, I could see NECR 608 across the river. Stoddard is the spot!

I got there just before 608 came into view across the Thames, which gave me time to walk to the river’s edge. But while I was walking down to the river, NR-2 reported that they were south of MP12 and on the move south. That meant I wouldn’t have much of a wait. So as 608 came into view, I could see NR-2s headlights to the north. OK, the timing would be tight. So I started by getting a series of shots of 608 rolling down the opposite bank.

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As soon as they rolled out of view, NR-2 began sounding for the Norwich Hospital crossing a mile or so to the north. Now to pick my spot for them. I opted for a different angle here at Stoddard, taking advantage of the low tide, getting an angle that would normally require me getting quite wet. Not much later, NR-2 came rolling onto the causeway between the cove and the Thames.

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Then the trailing power

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Not bad. OK, now can I get them crossing the Thames?

Short answer – NO. I ended up catching up to NR-2 at the Nautilus, and soon after that they contacted the Amtrak Shore Line dispatcher to see when they could head west. He said they’d be following 171 – which judging by my previous experiences was a good 20 minutes away. So I made a quick stop at the overlook south of the drawbridge, and got a quick shot of Amtrak train 190 crossing the drawbridge

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Wrapping up the morning’s activities. From there, it was off to the office for the last day of class.

And now, pun intended, I no longer have class…yeah, it’s bad, I know…

Thanks for looking!
Tom