This morning I had a bit of time in my schedule to get out for a bit. But it wasn’t the usual time – it had to be a bit later. So catching Providence & Worcester train NR-2 at some of the usual spots along the Thames River wasn’t in the cards. Instead, I was able to catch them a bit further west in their journey to New Haven. And along the way I ran into a couple friends.
I figured I’d have time to get out a bit later than usual and catch NR-2 crossing Shaw’s Cove in New London. So I headed out, and as I was crossing the Gold Star Bridge, I looked to the north and saw NR-2 rounding the bend just to the north of the Fairview Yard board. Cool, timing should work out nicely.
I took the usual exit off of the western side of the bridge, and made my way towards Downtown New London. Well, as I got down to the stop light, traffic was backed up and not moving. OK, I guess Shaw’s was out of the question (I learned later on that there was a power outage in town caused by a squirrel trying to be an electrical conductor…bzzzzzzzzt). So I turned around and got back onto I-95 southbound.
As I was getting onto the highway, NR-2 was approaching the signal at Groton and contacted the Amtrak New London dispatcher. They told him they were ready to head west to East Lyme before continuing on to New Haven. Well that iced it – Niantic was my next stop.
I decided to head straight for the switch into Rings End Lumber by Main Street first. Not long after I got there, a car pulled up – it was Mark Shenking. He was stopping by to get some video of NR-2 working the area. After chatting for a couple minutes – he also mentioned he saw someone on the bridge down by NAN taking photos – we could hear NR-2 approaching the NAN drawbridge. So we got into position.
A few moments later, NR-2 came into view on the Waterford side of the Niantic River, and I got a really long shot of them stretched out over the bridge
[cpg_imagefixthumb:10869]Then another long shot of the entire train rolling past the Niantic Bay Boardwalk
[cpg_imagefixthumb:10868]As they approached, they began slowing down. I got a tele shot of the pulling through the curve just to the east
[cpg_imagefixthumb:10867]Then a couple more teles of them approaching, with two crew members on the front
[cpg_imagefixthumb:10866] [cpg_imagefixthumb:10865]As they got closer, I switched to the wide angle, and Don gave me a nice big cheezy smile
[cpg_imagefixthumb:10864] [cpg_imagefixthumb:10863]As they were opening the gate, and making their move, I headed down towards Main Street where Mark was. We talked a bit again while waiting for the train, and he pointed out the guy that he saw down by NAN – it turned out to be Bob LaMay. Also, while talking Mark mentioned a spot down on Black Point that he was going to show me after NR-2 was done here. Hey, I’m all for a new spot!
Soon after that, Don walked towards us to flag the crossing, and the power soon followed
[cpg_imagefixthumb:10862]And a quick shot of the power shoving back to Rings End
[cpg_imagefixthumb:10861]And after grabbing the one empty boxcar, they were on their way back out. This time, I worked Mark into the shot
[cpg_imagefixthumb:10860]Then as NR-2 was pulling back down the spur towards the main, I got a shot of Bob, with NR-2s reflection behind him
[cpg_imagefixthumb:10859]Satisfied with what I got, I headed for the car and followed Mark down towards Black Point.
The spot was on the shore of the Pataguanset River – a spot that I’d looked at while traveling to NJ on Amtrak before. Now I know where it is and how to get there. Anyways, we didn’t have to wait long for NR-2 to come into view.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:10858]Then a couple wide shots
[cpg_imagefixthumb:10857] [cpg_imagefixthumb:10856]And finally a shot of the power disappearing into the trees
[cpg_imagefixthumb:10855]Turned out to be a very nice little trip to Niantic, even though it wasn’t what I originally set out to do. Sometimes the spur of the moment things work out better than the pre-laid plans.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
