NR-2 and NR-4 from a couple days ago.

Busy times around the office lately. Still settling in from my recent office move, and things are picking up. So I didn’t get a chance to head out the past couple days and catch Providence & Worcester train NR-2. But I did get out Tuesday to catch NR-2 up in Ledyard. Also I met up with Nick Palazini later that evening in Willimantic to catch NR-4 at the New England Central Railroad’s Willimantic yard under some cold and moonlit skies.

Again, time was limited on Tuesday, so I was only able to catch NR-2 at one spot – Stoddard Cove in Ledyard. I got there as the train was finishing up work in Norwich to the north, giving me a few minutes to set up and pick an angle. I opted for a wide shot, getting some of the icy shore of the cove into the shot. So with the camera in hand, I waited for NR-2s arrival. While waiting, I got a shot of the broken ice over a rock.

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About 5 minutes later, a rumble in the distance began to permeate the still cold air, and NR-2 rolled onto the causeway between the Thames River and Stoddard Cove. The first shot I grabbed was a vertical, getting quite a bit of the icy shore.

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Then flipping the camera 90 degrees to get a horizontal, with the train’s reflection in the thin slice of unfrozen water

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A moment later, the trailing power rolled along the causeway

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And a quick zoom in to get the trailing power heading for the tree line at the south end of Stoddard Cove

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Satisfied with what I got, I headed back to the new office for the remainder of the day.

Fast forward to 10:30pm Tuesday evening. Nick Palazini had asked if I would meet up with him to catch P&W train NR-4 in Willimantic. Since Willimantic yard is a scant 5 minutes from my house, I agreed to meet up with him. We decided to meet at the CERM driveway at about 10:30, well in advance of NR-4s arrival.

After chatting a while, we decided to head to the foot bridge over the middle of the yard for the first shots of the evening. Not long after that, the train rolled into sight under the Frog Bridge, and we got a shot of them at the NECR Willimantic sign

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As they passed under us, we made our way down to ground level. Once down there I got a shot of the train dropping their cars down by Bridge Street

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Soon after that, they headed back towards us, and I got a shot of the light power rolling towards us

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And as they paused in the yard, I got a trio of shots of the power under the moon

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Then the power headed back east to get the cars destined for Plainfield and beyond, which were sitting at the east end of the yard. At that point, Nick & I bid farewell, and headed home.

Thanks for looking!
Tom