What a glorious day it was today – crystal clear blue skies, next to no humidity, and a gentle breeze. Of course I headed out for my walk as usual today, but of course things wouldn’t go as planned.
I got a call on my cellphone from Bob LaMay as I was leaving for my walk – he was wondering if I had heard about NR-2s position yet. Of course, my reply was nope – I was on the way to my car as we spoke, so I didn’t listen to the scanner yet. He was at Mill Cove waiting for the train’s arrival. I figured I’d head for his position and meet up with him there.
Just as I got onto Military Highway, the scanner woke up and Rod reported that NR-2 was south of MP-5. A quick phone call to Bob confirmed that NR-2 was about to hit the causeway in Ledyard. My only chance to catch NR-2 was at the USS Nautilus overlook just to my north in Groton.
I got there a couple minutes in advance of the train – enough time to determine my shot, and pick a lens – I opted for the wide angle zoom (18-50mm) – the cove in front of the Nautilus was giving a decent reflection, despite the gentle breeze, but it was too tight for a telephoto shot.
As I was waiting, I noticed a barge & tug heading north in the Thames. Of course I grabbed a shot through the trees.
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Moments later, the pedestrian crossing at the Nautilus activated and NR-2 soon followed through the grade crossing.
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And I figured I’d work the barge into the shot too
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Then mid-train, an odd looking car appeared – a depressed flatcar. Interesting load!
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Then a final shot through the trees of the trailing power
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A quick race south got me ahead of NR-2, and I got a few shots at the bottom of Fairview yard. First of the train
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Then a couple of the depressed flatcar
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A quick look to the river showed an interesting sight – the Carolyn Chouest was heading north. So I got a shot of her with the Coast Guard Academy’s boat house in the background
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I figured a quick ride over to my vantage point east of the Groton Tower would be in order – I had a feeling that the flatcar would be heading for track 4 and the Old Groton Main (if you get my drift…). Right as I got there, the Shore Line dispatcher gave the train clearance to pass the stop signal at the wye and proceed to track 4 in Groton.
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And another view of the flatcar
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And finally the trailing power heading for the curve on track 4
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A quick mental view of the map of the area told me I could probably make it over to Tower Road by the airport before they got on the Old Groton Main. Well, I was close – they were on the main by the time I got there, and I snapped a couple shots of them around the crossing. First a wide shot heading for the crossing.
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And a telephoto of the power as they’re shoving past the airport
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Not a bad catch. No other decent angles between Tower Rd. and their destination, so I figured it was time to head back to work.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
