P&W NR-2, Mohegan Sun & New London

Well, today’s walk brought me back up to near the Preston line for another go at a shot with the Thames River and Mohegan Sun all sharing the same frame as Providence & Worcester train NR-2. What a walk that would turn out to be…

I had a bit of time today, so I figured I’d head north to Preston to see if I could get a shot of NR-2 around where I shot this. So I parked the car in the nearby commuter lot, and started hiking. The walk there wasn’t bad – only took about 7 minutes – it was the hike down to the tracks that was the killer. Well, the walk down wasn’t horrible because gravity was working with my 240lbs – it was the hike out that quite literally took the wind out of my sails!

Anyways, as I drove towards the commuter lot, I heard NR-2 trip the Jewett City detector, which as I figured it, gave me just enough time to park, walk out trackside and have a couple minutes to figure things out. Once I got down to track level, I surveyed the scene for potential angles – I had a couple shots in mind, but never having been down at track level I had to make sure that they’d work out. I found a couple that looked promising and picked the one that was closest to what I had envisioned. Just as I did that, the scanner came alive with the familiar chirp of the marker – that meant they were a couple miles from me at most.

Not more than a minute later, a rumble came rolling down the Thames River, and soon after that the horns of NR-2 blowing for the Norwich Hospital crossings just to the north of me came blaring through. Seconds later, NR-2 came around the bend.

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But that wasn’t the shot I came for. This one was.

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As you can see from the above shot, Rod was leaning out of the window. He gave his usual cheerful smile & wave as the train passed by. I tried a going away shot that quite honestly didn’t work out the way I had intended.

So now for the trek out of the valley and back up onto the roadway. The only thing that stood between me and my car was not only the 7 minute walk on level ground, but the climb up the nearly 45 degree sand & gravel embankment. A few minutes, and about a quart of sweat, later I was at the top and heading for the car.

On the way back, I stopped for a much needed ice-cold soda to cool me down – the AC wasn’t cutting it. Climbing back in the car the scanner crackled something, but I couldn’t tell – maybe it was NR-2 talking to the Shore Line dispatcher about heading west (they had no Tilcon loads, so they’d either be going out to Old Saybrook or the NECR in New London). Figuring my shooting was done, I headed back to work. But I decided to head down Thames St. for a nice view of the river.

As I started south, the P&W frequency came alive with what sounded like a reverse move. Maybe they were at Shaw’s Cove in New London heading for the NECR?

As I rounded the bend by the Waterfront Restaurant, I got my answer. NR-2 was just crossing Shaw’s Cove and heading back east towards the NECR lead. So out came the camera again for a few more shots from across the river.

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FYI, the two masted sailboat (schooner, I think) is a floating classroom called The Spirit of Massachusetts.

Camera back in the bag, and most of the sweat dried from my shirt, I headed the last couple minutes south to the parking lot.

Thanks!
Tom