I had to go into work late today for a doctor’s appointment, so I swung by to check out the Thames River drawbridge, and of course play with the new 40D. Then after I got home, I had to go into Willimantic to get something at the hardware store, and happened to catch New England Central Railroad train NERWPA heading north from South Windham to Willimantic. Not a bad first full day with the new camera.
First up was a quick check of the Thames River drawbridge on the way into work. Not much different at first glance.
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Then a bird went whizzing on by
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With no trains in the picture, I took a closer look at the counterweight area. At first look, nothing remarkable is going on.
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But there was a constant banging – almost like a jack hammer. Looking closer at the counterweight area I saw something odd – a smaller tracked excavator banging away at the concrete!
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Just then, a New London Police boat came tearing down the river past me
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And a bit south of me, they passed by a Jetski heading north
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And a final shot of the Jetski passing in front of me
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Then it was time to head to the office and get some stuff done.
Fast forward to this evening. I had to go to the hardware store in Willimantic, and had the scanner on during the trip. As I was approaching the Willimantic line, the NECR frequency locked in with train NERWPA getting their track warrant to head out from South Windham. But tonight, it was different – they were heading north! So I figured I could catch them down along Route 32 near Apollo Pizza.
I got there just as the train was hitting the Route 203 crossing to the south. A few seconds later, the train appeared in the heat of the late afternoon.
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As it got closer to me, the picture cleared up on the 20 car train
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OK, pretty good. Now could I get ahead of them at Willimantic? It was worth a try.
I figured the next best spot would be south of the Frog Bridge, so I headed that way. As I pulled into the driveway there, I saw headlights through the trees. So I reached into my bag and grabbed what I thought was my wide angle lens. But when I got into position, I noticed it wasn’t the 18-50mm, but rather the 28-135mm that came with the new camera. Oh, well, I guess I’ll have to make do. So I got a quick grab shot over the fence of the train approaching.
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On the way back to the car, the train started slowing down. That meant they were working the yard, but more importantly, I could get ahead of them at Bridge Street.
I got there just as the train was pulling under the footbridge
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This time I grabbed the real wide angle, and got a shot of them crossing Bridge Street while switching
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And as the train came to a stop, Joe stuck his head out and invited me aboard for a couple minutes. Of course, I took him up on it. While up there, I grabbed a quick shot out the front door, with my shadow following along
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A little while later, I stepped off of the train and got a couple shots of them shoving back into the yard
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And finally, while back in traffic, got a shot looking out my window
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As soon as the train cleared, I headed for the hardware store to get my errand done. Not a bad full day with the new camera in the bag.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
