Yesterday I spent the day in bed at home with a nasty, but thankfully short-lived, cold.  When I got up, I wasn’t quite feeling up to par this morning, so I opted to head in a little late and get a little more sleep.  As things ended up working out, I was able to catch Providence & Worcester train NR-2 at Mill Cove – well, just barely.

On my way in after my late start, like usual, I had the scanner going.  As I was heading through Franklin, I heard the P&W Worcester Dispatcher give NR-2 more track – between MP12 and MP2.  OK, that put them at the worst case in Norwich and a few miles ahead of me.  I figured it was worth a gamble to try and get ahead of them and shoot them at Stoddard Cove in Ledyard.

With that plan in mind, I headed down I-395, then across Route 2A and over the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge.  As I was crossing the bridge spanning the Thames River, a look south showed me some bad news – NR-2 was rolling past Stoddard Hill.  Damn!  OK, now could I make it down to Mill Cove ahead of them?  Well, with a state trooper in front of me, bending the speed limits was out of the question.

Hoping for the best, I continued south on Route 12, keeping to the speed limit behind the trooper.  As I approached Dow Chemical, the dispatcher asked where NR-2 was currently – he reported that they were south of MP6 – which was right next to me!  OK, maybe I could get ahead of them at Mill Cove.  As I passed by the Dow gate, a peek down the road gave me the answer – I was currently going faster than NR-2, so I figured I could do it.

Once at the light for Military Highway, I parted ways with the trooper – he continued south on 12, and I headed down towards the cove.  As the cove came into view, I was greeted by two welcome sights – well, one was a sound.  First off, there was no train crossing the causeway, and second, NR-2 reported to the dispatcher that they were south of MP5.  So I continued to the south end of the cove.

As soon as I parked, NR-2 began sounding for Red Top, and then came into view, and I rattled off a trio of shots.

Then one of the trailing power passing by the Harvard Boat House

And a closeup of the trailing power.  But something caught my eye after I took the shot – you can see the cars on NECR train NERWNE across the river.  Too bad it wasn’t the power…

Then one final shot of the trailing power slipping behind the treeline

Not bad for a quick minute or so stop.  From there I packed up the gear, and headed to the office for the rest of the day.  Glad I could take advantage of the beautiful weather!

Thanks for looking!
Tom