NH-1, NR-2 and an Acela in the rain

Well, today we were getting the remnants of some tropical depression, so it was quite rainy all day long. I skipped my normal morning walk in favor of a lunchtime jaunt to Old Saybrook to do some walking with a few flights of stairs thrown into the mix. Plus, looking at the radar loop, it seemed that there would be a hole in the rain around OSB sometime around lunchtime.

With a chicken sandwich w/fries in hand, I headed out the gate towards Old Saybrook. When I left the rain was coming down at a pretty good clip, so I wasn’t sure what kind of walking I’d get in – at least the stairway and pedestrain overpass was covered, so at the very least I could do a few flights of stairs. By the time I got to the Gold Star Bridge, and was on my last bite of the sandwich, NR-2 was just crossing the Thames River after finishing up work at Tilcon in Groton. So long as there wasn’t traffic on I-95, I’d be well ahead of the train in Old Saybrook.

Crossing over the Connecticut River a short time later, the scanner started waking up to the sounds of P&W train NH-1 working around what sounded like Tilcon. I got to the Amtrak station parking lot a few minutes later, and overheard NH-1 make a comment that they’d be here a little while before NR-2’s arrival. So I parked the car, and headed trackside to see that NH-1 was tucked away off of Track 3 in Tilcon’s spur. A quick check of the Amtrak schedule showed no trains due for some time, so I took advantage of the downtime in the action to get my walk in. A few laps around the platforms, with a couple up and downs on the stairs. Of course, some sights caught my eye along the way. First, a shot of the safety sign, complete with a toll-free phone number for the Amtrak Police:

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And a pretty cool, if you ask me, abstract shot of a pile of used track clips & joint bars near the east leg of the wye that just screamed to be shot in black & white.

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While taking a short break on the benches on the elevated platform, the scanner broke the silence again – this time it was NR-2 tripping the detector across the river at Sound View in Old Lyme. So that put them a few minutes out, and prompted me to head down to the east end of the station platform to try and get NR-2 and NH-1 together.

But something told me to look over my shoulder to the west. In the distance I saw a pair of headlights on track 1! Wait…pair, not trio of headlights. That meant a track car was heading east towards me. A minute or so later, here came an Amtrak track car on an inspection of the line heading east.

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Hmmm…maybe I can get a 3-way meet – NR-2, NH-1 and the track car. Well, no such luck as the track car was already across the Connecticut River bridge by the time NR-2 got up to NH-1’s position. So I got a shot with the two P&W trains down by the Tilcon lead.

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As they swapped cars, I did a few more detail type shots. First of the lock on the gate to the old platform area.

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And a wider shot of the same lock, the gate and the tracks in the background.

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I dunno, maybe it symbolizes the locks placed on our freedoms in the light of “safety” or “security.” Or maybe I’m just reading too much into my own photos. 😀 Actually, what do you think it symbolizes? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section…

Anyways, here’s a few shots of NH-1. First splitting their train up, preparing to get some cars from NR-2.

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Then finally heading west on track 3 as the rain & wind started to return.

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And a couple shots of the guys in the cab

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And as I swung around to get these shots, one thing caught my eye – a green signal on track 1. All right, something coming in. Maybe an Acela at speed? A moment later the Sound View detector went off, and not more than a couple minutes elapsed before a speeding Acela rounded the bend to the east of the station, blasting through at track speed.

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With a “woosh” it was through the station and nearly out of sight, leaving a fine mist in its wake. I still get a rush every time it passes by at 80+ MPH. What a nice way to end a rainy gloomy lunch break!

Thanks for looking!
Tom