Despite the crappy weather, I headed out for a bit today to try and catch some rail action along the Thames River. I did end up catching Providence & Worcester train NR-2 in Ledyard, but I also caught a couple other different things. First was, as you can see to the left, a P&W track car making an inspection run on the Norwich Branch, but also some new concrete. Read on to see what I’m talking about there…
Like usual, I was listening to the scanner on my way north to Ledyard. As I was passing by the Sub Base, I heard the dispatcher acknowledge NR-2 passed the Jewett City detector with no defects. OK, cool, I could catch them at some point. I figured I’d check out Mill Cove – despite the misty weather, the winds were quite calm, so there might be a nice reflection on the cove like yesterday.
As I was heading down Long Cove Road, the dispatchers gave NR-2 the track between MP12 and MP5. So that meant there was a track car in the area – maybe I could catch them crossing the causeway.
As I got to the stop sign at the bottom of Long Cove Road, I saw the track car passing by MP4. So I got into position, and got a shot of the hyrail coming onto the causeway
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And a shot with the Harvard Boat House in the background
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Then a couple shots right at the south end of the cove
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Yep, I was right about the calm water – there were some decent reflections, in my eyes, more than making up for the misty, foggy atmosphere. Actually, I think it all worked together rather well today.
Now to wait for NR-2. After a little while, NR-2 reported that they were south of MP12, and about 25 minutes from the sub base. 25 minutes? Must be a good sized train if it’s going to take an extra 10 minutes to get down here.
Instead of the usual shots at the south end of the cove, I went for one closer to Erickson Park – mostly because there was a boat moored in the cove that I think would work well with the train passing behind it.
Once I heard the horns to the north, I got into position awaiting the train’s arrival. A couple minutes later, NR-2 sounded for the crossing at Red Top, and came into view.
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Then the shot I was looking for – with the boat.
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And the lead locomotive began throwing a little smoke
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A switch to the wide angle to get the front few cars rolling along the cove
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Back to the telephoto for the tail end of the train
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And one final shot here of the tail end heading for the treeline
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Happy with what I had, I headed out. Well, I wasn’t quite done yet.
On my way back, something caught my eye on the top of the east tower of the Thames River drawbridge – some workers.
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So I stopped to take a look. A few moments later, one of the cranes began lifting something – it was a concrete skip heading up to the top.
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It looks like they’re filling the counterweight on the east tower.
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I guess it is getting close to the bridge swap, scheduled for the beginning of June. Judging by the size of the skip versus the size of the counterweight, it’ll take a month to fill up!
With no time left, I couldn’t wait for NR-2 to head across the river, so I headed back to the office. Not a bad morning, despite the gloomy weather.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
