OK, still chipping away at the backlog. Three more posts including this one before the Thames River drawbridge swap. So without further adieu, here’s one from June 19th – I was able to catch New England Central train NERWNE, Providence & Worcester train NR-2, Amtrak trains 171 (regional) and 2150 (Acela), and something different floating over the Thames River drawbridge. Over? Yep…read on for the details.
Heading north from the office, I noticed something odd on the north side of the Thames River drawbridge. So I pulled into the Streeter boat launch to check things out. What I saw there was a shelter used by Electric Boat in the production of submarines sitting just north of the Thames River drawbridge, but with one of the cranes working on the bridge connected to it.
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Obviously it was too tall to fit under the bridge, so it looked like they will be lifting it over the drawbridge, which is now fixed in the down position in preparation for the span swap. Interesting. Just then, I heard horns across the river – NECR train NERWNE was pulling into New London yard.
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And past the new drawbridge span
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Then a familiar sound started coming towards me. Hmm, it sounded like a Huey. A second later, a US Army UH-1 came thumping overhead
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That was odd – last I knew, the Guard units around Connecticut moved to Blackhawks. But I digress…
I couldn’t stick around to see the lift of the shelter over the bridge, ’cause I was aiming to catch P&W train NR-2 this morning. So I set my sights on Mill Cove.
Once I got there, I looked around, and nothing really struck me. So I went over to Red Top instead. Just as I pulled up to Red Top, NR-2 reported that they were south of MP5. Well, I guess this is where I’m shooting them!
Moments later, NR-2 rolled past me at Red Top
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And with a longer train, I was able to swap to the telephoto and get a shot of the trailing power rounding the bend at MP4
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Thames was back in the picture. So I set my sights on the drawbridge.
I got to the parking lot just south of the bridge to see that the shelter was now suspended over the drawbridge span!
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Then the tugboat Swift moved the barge to the south side of the bridge, so the crane can set it back in place.
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While that was going on, the chipping of the concrete counterweight continues.
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And not long after that, Amtrak train 171 rolled under the action
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A quick shot of the EB boat monitoring the move
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And a couple more of the shelter suspended in mid-air
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With the train clear, they start moving the shelter towards the barge
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And a worker on the barge guides the shelter towards the blocks on the deck
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Finally, it’s placed onto the barge
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With that done, I moved to the next parking lot to the south, and got a shot of the John Deere chipping away at the concrete
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Just then, Amtrak Acela train 2150 came through New London and onto the drawbridge. First shot I got was with the head end passing under the Deere
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Then a wider shot crossing the span
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And the trailing power car passing under the big-ass jackhammer
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The last shot I got was of another shelter heading from the Mohawk yard under the Gold Star Bridge, to the north side of the drawbridge. Looks like they’re going to do it again!
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But of course, time was out for me, and I had to get back to the office.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
