Two Providences, a Worcester, an Eagle and other stuff

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’ve got no clue whatsoever what the heck I’m talking about. Keep reading and you’ll find out. Yes I did get out for my walk this morning, albeit a bit later than usual, but I still did manage to catch Providence & Worcester train NR-2. Yep, that’s one of the two Providences I alluded to in the title of this post. Read on for the next one. The rest will fall into place and make sense as we move along. Trust me.

So due to some work things I had to take care of this morning, I got out a bit later than normal to head out for my walk. Not a big deal – NR-2s been running a bit later than normal these days, so I figured I’d be able to catch them. As I climbed in the car to head north, I fired up the scanner like usual. Nothing interesting for the first few minutes of my ride north. That is until I got onto Military Highway by Fairview Yard. The P&W frequency woke up with a P&W hyrail trying to contact the dispatcher, letting him know that he was inside of Fairview yard limits. Once that was done, the dispatcher gave NR-2 the track between MP2 and Fairview. Since I could barely make out the head end radio, I figured they were up around MP4 or 5. OK, I guess I was going to shoot NR-2 at the USS Nautilus overlook park. It was a nice day, with blue skies and some white clouds hanging around – can’t complain about that.

As I pulled into the parking lot at the park, the scanner woke up again – this time on the Amtrak bridge frequency, which is also the ship to ship frequency in the Thames River. The tugboat John Paul was indicating that he was southbound in the Thames aiding an outbound US Navy submarine bound for sea. Would NR-2 get there in time to meet up with the submarine? That would be nice. It only happened to me once before.

So I got my gear together, and waited by the chain link fence. And waited. Still nothing at all. Moments later, a US Navy Los Angeles class fast attack submarine made its way away from the protection of the Sub Base, and headed south in the Thames River, of course with the usual multiple armed US Coast Guard escorts. I guess the timing was off today to get the boat and train together – oh, well. I’ll make do.

I took advantage of the stuffed and mounted sub (the Nautilus) and used it in a couple shots. Here’s a half dozen from the overlook.

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OK, not bad – looks like NR-2 is a no-show so far. That’s fine, I’ll snap a few more pictures of the sub on her way south and be happy with that. But things would work out differently. As I was walking back to the car, the crossing at the Sub Force Museum activated – NR-2 was finally here! Obviously this is the Worcester part of the title. Damn, too bad they couldn’t have been a half minute faster. Oh, well. Here’s a shot with the Nautilus

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And a shot in the trees with a nice reflection

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A quick sprint south, and I got ahead of the train at the bottom of Fairview. Maybe here I could get both the train and sub in the frame. Nope…just as I got there, the sub was going past, and NR-2 was a bit too far north. Oh, well. 10 seconds later, I grabbed this shot – the last shot of NR-2 for me today.

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A quick ride around to the south side of the drawbridge got me this shot of the sub emerging from the drawbridge

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And a quick telephoto of the sail, and the crew on the deck

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A quick zoom in on the computer here told me which boat this was – it was clearly visible on the back of the life vests the crew was wearing “PROVIDENCE”. So she is the USS Providence, SSN 719 – Providence #2 in this story.

Back in the car for the next spot – the one right across from the station. On my way there, something else curious came across the scanner. The US Coast Guard cutter Eagle was asking the sub which side they’d prefer to pass on (they elected starboard to starboard, if you’re curious). OK, maybe a meet between the Providence and Eagle. First, though I got a shot of one of the Coast Guard escorts making a hard turn in the river

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Nothing decent for angles here, so I headed down by the lobster company to the south. That’s probably where the Eagle is anyways, as she was moored at the Fort Trumbull pier yesterday.

Once I got there, I snagged a shot of the approaching Providence & tug

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Then a shot of the Eagle preparing for the meet

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And the meet itself. Apparently for safety’s sake, the tug John Paul shoved the bow of the Eagle to the west as the Providence approached.

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And an old and new shot – the Eagle’s stern as a smaller US Coast Guard cutter speeds past, escorting the Providence to sea

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And one of my standard sub shots – the Providence heading south with Fort Trumbull in the background

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Another shot of the Eagle and John Paul, as the tug turns the square rigger around. I would guess they’ve got a load of cadets aboard for a training cruise.

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One last shot from this spot struck my eye – the sub was a bit further south, so I could get the entire boat in the frame. But this one is pretty neat because of what you don’t see too. The Providence is passing by her “birthplace” of the Electric Boat shipyard, where she was first launched on August 4, 1984, just over 23 years ago.

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I figured I had a bit of time left, so I headed for the UConn Avery Point campus at the mouth of the Thames River. I got there well in advance of the boat (about 5 minutes), which gave me enough time to pick an overlook with a nice view up the river, as well as the Ledge Light – both elements I wanted to include in the shots from here. A couple minutes later, the sub made her appearance.

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Then a shot struck me – a pleasure boat came close to shore, giving the sub a wide berth. The two together kinda struck me – pleasure and pain. The pleasure of cruising on a relaxing boat ride, and the pain that a sub can inflict on our enemies.

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Then I had to get a shot of the Providence with the lighthouse across the river in New London

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And with an incoming high-speed ferry

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Then just with a flat horizon in the distance

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And finally a pair of shots on either side of the Ledge Light

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Not bad at all! I guess it was time to head back to work for the remainder of the day.

Thanks for looking!
Tom