As the rest of the state was getting their first snowfall of the season, down on the shore we got stuck with a mix of rain & sleet – well, honestly, it was mostly rain. One of the downfalls of being on the shoreline. But that didn’t keep me from heading out for a bit this morning.
I got out a touch later than normal, but I did catch NR-2s status update when they were south of MP12 and about 20 minutes from the sub base on my way north to Erickson Park. I got there about 10 minutes prior to their arrival, so that gave me enough time to get out, stretch my legs a bit and check the angles. There’s a pair of trees that just recently changed color and were already dropping their leaves. So I figured this was my best bet, since they’ll probably have next to no leaves left in the next few days.
Since I wanted to get both trees in the shot framing the passing train, I only had one choice for a lens – the 15mm fisheye. With the wide field of view, I also had to be conscious of the position of my umbrella – remember it’s raining. A couple minutes later, a rumbling from the north grew louder, and was punctuated by the sound of horns at Red Top. In a couple moments, NR-2 came down along the cove with a single B40-8 in the lead. As soon as the lead power got about halfway through the frame, I grabbed the shot.
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Then something caught my eye – or more accurately the absence of something. Typically, NR-2 runs with locomotives on each end of the train. Today the train was powered by a single locomotive. So I got a shot, very similar to the last one, that included the entire train.
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Not bad. So it was back to the car and time to head south, where I eventually caught up with NR-2 at the south end of Fairview yard in Groton. I headed for the overlook south of the bridge for another hopeful shot.
Well, scanner chatter told me that NR-2 crossing the bridge in time for me to catch it wouldn’t be in the cards. So I grabbed a couple shots of the Saga Sky, a freighter moored at the State Pier in New London. She was loaded with lumber and was preparing to offload it at the pier. Here’s a shot of the workers getting ready to start the offload process.
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And a wider shot of the entire ship.
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After that, a quick wave of the towel and the equipment was dry, and I was on my way back to the office for the rest of the cold & raw day.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
