Sunday Dad-Daughter Time

This past Sunday, my older daughter Katina had a birthday party to go do for a friend from school.  So that left her younger sister Callie and I with an open afternoon to do what we wanted.  I asked her if she’d like to go with me to photograph a train, and her answer was an enthusiastic “YES!”  But she had to ask her sister if she could use her camera.  Being the nice sister that Katina is, she let Callie borrow her Canon S500 for the day.  So she was armed with her point & shoot, and I with my two SLRs as we headed out the door to catch an extra on the Providence & Worcester – train NR-4X.  The train started earlier in the morning in Worcester, MA and was to go to Willimantic, CT to interchange freight with the New England Central.

After getting a quick bite to eat at the house, we headed out at lunchtime to see if we could come across NR-4X somewhere along the P&W’s Willimantic Branch.  When I got into cellphone range, I placed a call to friend & fellow rail photographer Nick Palazini to check on the train’s progress.  Once I finally got a hold of him, he said that the train had just left Scotland Dam and was nearing South Windham.  So I brought us to the Route 203 crossing in South Windham, where we found a gaggle of photographers waiting for the train.

Once we parked, we got out and talked with a few of the fans there, passing the time while we waited for the train to get here.  Also in that time, I gave my 4 year old a quick refresher on how to use the camera.  After getting a few shots of the tracks, she was ready to go.

Not much longer, NR-4X came into view to the west (well, actually south by the compass, but we’re talking timetable directions here), and a photo line formed along Route 203.  I’m not one for photo lines, so I used them in my shot.

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Then I moved a few steps to my right and got a shot of NR-4X coming towards the crossing.

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While doing that, my daughter was getting into the action, snapping her own shots of NR-4X passing by

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Talk about excited!  She was showing me just about every shot she took!  After our photo review, it was time to head to the next spot – the footbridge over the Willimantic yard.

After parking on Main Street near the footbridge, we made our way out onto the bridge and did what all railfans do – wait.

After a bit, NR-4X came into view, crossing the Willimantic river

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And I wasn’t alone getting my shots – of course Callie got hers – both coming

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And going

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My turn on the going

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Then as the train shoved back into the siding, Callie got another shot

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While waiting for the power to come back down, a shot caught my eye – a reflection of a UP logo on one of the empty autoracks in the WILI building.

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Then the power came down from Bridge Street, passing by the cars they just dropped on their way to grab cars left by the NECR.

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As they rolled out of view, we made our way back to the car to head back to Route 203.

Soon after our arrival, NR-4X came into view and I got my shot

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Then of course a couple shots of my little girl taking her pictures of the passing train

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As the train rolled out of view, Nick told me his next stop was the Scotland Dam.  But Callie & I had different plans.

She had told me that she wanted to do a little hike.  So instead of stopping at Scotland Dam, we continued east into Sprague to a spot near the Mohegan State Forest, which would require a little hike into the woods to reach the tracks.

I parked the car, and we got out to get ready for our little hike – gathering our gear, and more importantly putting on bug spray – prior to heading off into the woods.

After our little hike, and Callie getting some photos of some honeysuckle along the trail, we set up as the train neared.  While waiting an old rusty spike barrel caught my eye.

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In a few, they came into view

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And approached us waiting at the makeshift crossing.

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Keeping up with daddy, Callie got her shots as the train approached us

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And I got my going away shot

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So did she

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Then after the train cleared the crossing, a shot of the entire train

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On our way back to the car, Callie reminded me that we didn’t get a drink yet, and she was getting qutie thirsty.  So we headed to a convenience store in Baltic near the Route 97 grade crossing.

As we left the store with drinks & snacks in hand, we heard the train rolling through the crossing.  So we made our way down Route 138, and ran into them at that crossing

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After watching them roll through the 138 crossing, we headed straight for Versailles.  And a few minutes later, the others made their way to the spot near Amgraph.

NR-4X came into view as they pulled through the yard

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And did some switching.  While they were doing the back & forth, Callie was shooting away at the train, and I was doing the same with her and the train.

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Here’s one of her shots from the switching in Versailles.  This one is exactly as she shot it – the only thing I did was a little contrast & color correction.  Otherwise it’s exactly as she shot it – composition, angle, etc. – not bad for a 4 year old!

During the switching moves, the train paused for Mike to talk with Tom up in the cab

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And I got one shot of NR-4X’s conductor lining the switch during one of the moves

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As the train wrapped up their work and headed out, we went east to our last spot – Packer’s Pond in Plainfield.

While waiting there, I got a shot of smiling Callie at the waterfall

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A little while later, NR-4X appeared and rolled past us

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At that point we called it quits for the day – Callie was getting a bit tired and we had to meet Jill & Katina for dinner.  So we packed our gear away and made our way home.  A very nice day spent with my daughter.  We both had a great time together!

Thanks for looking!
Tom