P&W Day & Night

Normally I post to my blog in the evening about what I did that day. But yesterday was different – I headed into Willimantic at the time I’d normally be writing this to photograph Providence & Worcester train NR-4. And as usual, I managed to catch P&W train NR-2 in Ledyard & Groton earlier in the day during my walk. And as a little bonus, the Thames River was quite calm on my way into work in the morning, so I got a couple nice reflection shots in Groton. A day chock full of diesel smelling goodness.

The photographic day started out over the Gold Star Bridge spanning the Thames River. As I was reaching the crest of the arched bridge, I noticed that the bulk freighter Persenk was still unloading copper plates at the State Pier in New London, but that’s not what prompted me to take the Thames Street exit off of I-95, rather it was the unusually calm water in the Thames. So I headed to my normal spot south of the Amtrak Thames River drawbridge and got a shot of the Persenk, along with a pretty nice reflection in the water

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And a vertical shot of the Thames River drawbridge, again with a nearly complete reflection in the water

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Not too bad to start off the day. A check of the watch told me that I wouldn’t even be late to work.

Fast forward a couple hours. With the sun shining and quite warm temperatures, I figured a walk was in order. So I headed north for Erickson Park as I usually do, but I wasn’t sure about catching NR-2 at all. At least I’d get a walk in.

I pulled into the parking lot at the park with nary a peep on the scanner. Oh, well, it’s a nice day, and the walk will do me good. So I grabbed my scanner and started my walk by the water. A few minutes in I got some encouraging news – NR-2 was reporting to the Worcester dispatcher that they were south of MP12 and about 15 minutes from the sub base. So that gave me a good 12 minutes left before they’d be in the picture.

As I was climbing back into the car, I heard horns in the distance, but they sounded awful close to be up at Dow Chemical. So I rushed south along the cove, and as I looked over my shoulder I saw a P&W EMD rolling onto the causeway! So I pulled over at the intersection of Military Highway and Long Cove Road, grabbed my gear and went to the waters edge. The first shot I caught was of the train scaring off some ducks.

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Then it looked like the duck wanted to race…and was winning!

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Flipping back to the rear of the train, I got the trailing GE with the NRG Montville power plant in the background

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As the train continued to roll south, I switched lenses to the wide angle zoom, and got the first shot of the train rolling for the south end of the cove

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And a tighter shot, again with some ducks flying by close to the water’s surface

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Then it was back to the car heading south to try to catch them over the Thames.

Once I caught up to them near the USS Nautilus, the train was contacting the Amtrak Shore Line dispatcher. The dispatcher informed them that they’d have a green signal when they arrived at the wye in Groton to follow 171 west. So my next stop was the same spot I shot the Persenk earlier.

I got there about a minute before the train made their way across the river. This time I opted for the higher angle with the wide lens, and got a pair of shots with the surrounding houses & docks as the train headed for New London

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And that was it for my morning foray.

Fast forward about 13 hours. P&W train NR-4 was headed for Willimantic, and I decided to try and intercept them at the Scotland Dam for a night shot. I got to the dam and heard my first inkling that they were on their way – a faint marker chirp. Since the scanner was silent the entire trip out, that meant they were to the east of me. So I grabbed my gear and set up. I went with an angle above the dam with an old telegraph pole in the foreground, that I figured would end up getting silhouetted by the passing train. A few minutes later, an eerie glow accompanied by a low rumble began to permeate the Shetucket River valley. NR-4 was slowly approaching the dam. So I opened the shutter, and left it open as the train slowly lumbered through the frame.

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Not too bad!

Next stop was Bridge Street in Willimantic, where I got a shot of the approaching train lighting up the rails

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Then the train came across Bridge Street, getting ready to drop their car on the lead. As the lead locomotive pulled up next to where I was standing, a friendly face popped out of the cab window. We chatted for a bit as the conductor lined the switch, then headed back into the yard. There, the crew set up the power for a few shots down on the ground. The first two included the car that they just dropped in the yard.

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Then for the next two, I went to the other side of the tracks, and got the Town Hall’s clock tower in the frame

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Once done there, the guys offered a ride back to my car, which was on the other side of Bridge Street in the Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum’s driveway. While waiting to make the reverse move, I got a shot out the cab door, looking into Willimantic yard

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Then we started to move

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And one final shot onboard NR-4 as we crossed Bridge Street and the grade crossing gates returned to their upright positions.

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I thanked the guys, then headed off of the power, and got a shot of them sitting by the CERM sign

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And one shot as they started to head back east to pick up the cars they’d be returning to Plainfield with.

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At that point, it was getting close to midnight, so I had to head home. 5:30am comes really quick…

Thanks for looking!
Tom