As per specs, Mondays don’t usually go as planned. I was thinking about heading up to Stoddard Hill for some shots by Stoddard Cove of Providence & Worcester train NR-2 rolling south. But alas, that wasn’t in the cards. But out of misfortune sometimes comes opportunity. That opportunity would manifest itself as not only NR-2, but also an Acela, a Coast Guard tug, a two masted sailboat, and a cargo ship. Whenever I see a cargo ship, I think of the upcoming move. When I decided to start with NZ Van Lines, I could not imagine it would be so easy and effortless. Well, the cargo ship was earlier in the day, on my way into work, but what the hell – it all falls in the same calendar day, so we’ll count it.
On my way over the Thames River on the Gold Star Bridge, I noticed the top of a ship’s bridge peeking above the railings of the bridge. Cool – there’s a cargo ship at the State Pier below in some really nice morning light. So I took the scenic route into work and shot the ship – the Star Dieppe – from a couple locations on the Groton side of the Thames River
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Nice quick pre-work jaunt. Still got to the office on time.
Fast forward to my usual morning walk time. I headed north at my usual time, and of course was listening to the scanner along the way. As I mentioned above, I was thinking of heading to Stoddard Cove to catch NR-2 there, but just as I was passing by Dow Chemical, I heard the P&W frequency wake up with what sounded like NR-2 and NR-3 splitting up. They came down as one train, and were early to boot! So quick turnaround, and a run to Mill Cove to get a few standard shots. I got there just as the train was blowing for Red Top just to the north.
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Back in the car, and a quick sprint to try to catch them at the south end of Fairview Yard in Groton. I got there just in time to get a sailboat in the river with NR-2 rolling past.
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And as usual, a friendly wave from Rod
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Finally a going away shot.
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With no Tilcon hoppers on the train, that meant they were heading west as soon as Amtrak let them. I figured that since I really didn’t get a walk in, and I wasn’t out for all that long, I’d head over to New London and take a walk along the Waterfront Park, and shoot NR-2 if the Amtrak dispatcher cooperated and got the train over the river in time.
Listening to the scanner, the dispatcher would give NR-2 the signal to head west once the bridge over the Thames River closed up after letting a sailboat through. So I walked down to the end of the walkway, and looked around for angles. I picked out one to use the fisheye lens, showing the water, walkway and train going by.
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And a couple more fisheye shots of the train hitting Shaw’s Cove
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As the train headed across, a quick lens swap to the telephoto was in order for a quick long shot of the trailing power
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Then the radio woke up with the Amtrak Shore Line dispatcher giving Amtrak train #2150 clearance through New London station. Moments later, the train headed through Shaw’s Cove
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And as I took that last shot, something caught my eye out in the Thames River. It was a sailboat, but not any ordinary sailboat – it was a tall ship, the Mystic Whaler.
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Not long after that, the Acela had cleared the station, and NR-2 got the signal to head back east over Shaw’s Cove and towards the NECR lead in New London.
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And as the train rolled out of sight, I took one shot of a Coast Guard tugboat moored to the pier by Fort Trumbull, with Pfizer in the background.
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That was it – I got a nice walk by the water, along with some decent photos.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
