Well, there was some sun & blue skies today. But contrary to what the weather geeks predicted, it didn’t last long. Oh, well, such is life. At least I was able to get out and catch Providence & Worcester train NR-2, along with Amtrak train 171 around the Thames River in some of the sun. Also there was some new steel erected on the west tower of the Thames River drawbridge that made it into a few frames.
Today I was able to head out at my normal time for the brief trip north into the hunting grounds of Ledyard. On my trek out of Groton, the scanner was of course doing its job and monitoring the NECR, Amtrak and P&W frequencies. As I was heading towards Military Highway, it locked onto the NECR frequency. Train 608 getting their paper to head south out of Willimantic – a couple hours later than usual. So since they were completely out of the picture, I blocked those channels.
Passing the Sub Base and getting onto Route 12 the scanner locked on the P&W frequency – the Worcester dispatcher was requesting the location of NR-2. Luckily the dispatcher typically repeats what the crew reports, so it’s not a big deal only hearing one side of the conversation. Right now they were south of MP 17, and continuing south to Fairview. That gave me enough time to head a bit further north than my usual spot at Mill Cove. So I set my sights on the milepost 7 area. The winds were calm, as was the water of the Thames River, so I figured the little tidal pool a couple tenths of a mile north of 7 was worth checking out.
I parked the car in the small lot above the tracks, gathered my gear, and made the hike downhill to the tracks. A quick look to my right told me what I wanted to hear. The water in the tidal pool was like glass, there was still color on the trees surrounding the water, and it was low tide. Low tide? Yep – that enables me to walk around the perimeter of the water to get a more broadside angle on the passing train. And also is a perfect fisheye shot.
Just as I finished scouting out my spot, NR-2 reported that they were south of MP12 and about 15 minutes from the base. That put them about 10 minutes from my position. I figured I should have enough time to get a couple really long shots of the train to the north in Preston, then get into position, switch to the fisheye lens, and bag my reflection shot. Let’s see if I’m right.
A couple minutes later I’d find out if I’m right or not – NR-2 was blowing for the crossing to the north at the old Norwich Hospital in Preston. The camera came up to my eye as the train came out from behind the trees near the Preston/Ledyard town line. First shot is of the head end of the train rolling along the Thames.
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And next up a shot of the train crossing the inlet to Poquetanuck Cove on the Preston/Ledyard town line
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It looked like they were doing close to track speed, so that gave me only a minute or so to get into position and get my gear ready.
A quick walk through some soft earth, while gingerly swapping lenses, taking care not to drop anything, including the nearly $1,200 in glass in my hands, into the muck below. I got into position, and had the cap off of the fisheye just as the sounds of the lead GE’s prime mover began to reverberate through the air. A moment later, NR-2 came rolling across the causeway between the tidal pool and the Thames.
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A quick wave to the head end crew, and I sat back and watched the train roll past. As the trailing power came into view, I snapped a shot with my Rolleiflex TLR, loaded with Kodak T-MAX 100 film. Dropping that and quickly picking the digital back up, I grabbed a shot of the tail end heading for the trees
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Another friendly wave from the tail end this time (I think it was Rod, but couldn’t be sure from the distance), and I was off to the car, and hopefully another meeting with NR-2 before heading back to the office.
I got into the car, completely out of breath by the way (yep, I’m way out of shape still…but that’s another story), and made my way south. I finally caught up to NR-2 as they were nearing the signal at the Groton wye. No chance of getting them in Fairview, so the only other spot would be over the Thames.
The scanner again locked into a frequency, but this time it was the Amtrak Shore Line’s freq. The dispatcher informed NR-2 that they’d be following 171, who was approaching Midway. Perfect – I should have enough time to get into position, get a shot of 171 crossing the bridge, then a shot of NR-2 hot on their heels.
Not more than a minute later, here comes 171 rattling onto the drawbridge. I got a single shot of them passing by the new steel that was erected on the west tower last night.
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Once they cleared the block, NR-2 was given the green to head onto the Shore Line. The first two shots I opted for were wider ones, incorporating some of the houses and docks on the Groton side of the river, and having the train, quite literally, in the background.
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Then I slapped the telephoto back onto the camera for the final five shots.
First one was of the lead locomotives – one GE and one EMD – passing the new steel.
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Then the trailing power getting onto the bridge alongside some moored sailboats
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Then a trio of shots across the moveable span, and the new towers.
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As you can see, the clouds were starting to move in already. So I passed on the shots across the river at Shaw’s Cove, and packed it in for the morning. I still had a ton of paperwork to tend to at work, so I headed back to the office for the remainder of the day.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
