PW NR2, Amtrak Acela and the Saga Monal

Another hazy, hot & humid day today. But a gap in the schedule gave me a chance to head out and hopefully catch some rail action, and possibly some blue skies peeking through the clouds. Well, I ended up with both, along with a lumber ship at the New London State Pier – something that hasn’t happened in quite some time. So that made for a nice change of pace this morning, and more than made up for the hazy skies. OK, it really wasn’t that hazy…

On my way north this morning, something big and orange caught my eye in the Thames River, so I pulled into the parking lot near Garbo Lobster. When I parked, I saw the ship Saga Monal being aided to the State Pier by a pair of tugboats.

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OK, not a bad start. Still no sign of the P&W on the scanner, so I headed north, setting my sights on the tidal pool at MP7. I figured it was a bit clearer today than it was yesterday, so hopefully I could get a couple more good shots there.

I got there, parked, grabbed my gear and headed down by the river. As I got there, I heard NR-2 switching up in Norwich, so I had a bit of time before they were on the scene.

A few minutes later, Rod made the call to the dispatcher and reported that NR-2 was south of MP12, putting them a couple minutes from me. So I got into position along the tidal pool – again calm and glass-like.

While waiting, I saw the headlights to the north pull through the old Norwich Hospital, and then something else caught my eye. A boat was coming south as well. I thought I might be able to get both the boat & train in the same frame. So I went back to the shore of the Thames, and switched to the telephoto. Moments later I got a shot of the boat coming at me as NR-2 was pulling over the Preston/Ledyard town line a bit further north.

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OK, pretty good catch there, but now I had to get back to the other side of the tidal pool (which involves walking through some muck) and switch back to the wide angle lens.

I got there just as NR-2 was pulling onto the causeway.

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Then the shot I was looking for – a wider reflection shot, with some blue sky and clouds in the frame

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Then the unusual thing – what looked like a mid-train helper.

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But it really wasn’t. NR-2 was just bringing a cut of Tilcon cars south for NR-3. They’d drop the cars in Fairview yard, where NR-3 would later come along and bring them to the Tilcon Groton plant.

Next stop would be a quick visit to the Thames River drawbridge, as my time was getting short.

When I got there, I got a shot of the Saga Monal now tied to the pier.

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Listening to the scanner, it sounded like NR-2 would be waiting for Amtrak Acela trains 2150 and 2159 before heading west. A few seconds later, 2150 crossed Shaw’s Cove, so I figured I’d get a couple shots of them before heading back to the office.

A minute or so later, 2150 made their way over the new drawbridge towards Groton.

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And then called it a day. Not a bad take for the morning.

Thanks for looking!
Tom