On the day after my birthday, September 10th, I headed out in the morning for a bit to shoot a little, despite the cloudy weather. But as usual, I never let the weather conditions discourage me from shooting, and in fact, I think it helped in one case.
Heading out first thing, I wasn’t sure which direction to go in – south to catch New England Central train NERWNE (AKA 608) and possibly Providence & Worcester train NR-2, or north to see if anything was going on in Willimantic. Well, the scanner answered that for me – NECR train NERWPA (AKA 610) was in Willimantic, preparing to head north back to Palmer.
I got down to Bridge Street just as 610 was getting ready to grab the cars off of the runaround south of the crossing. While waiting for them to come into view, Lifestar took off from Windham Hospital.
| Lifestar takes off from Windham Hospital |
After a bit, 610 came into view, and I got a few shots of them grabbing the cars in the early morning light.
| NECR train NERWPA (aka 610) works Willimantic yard. The panel track in the foreground is for the replacement of the Bridge Street grade crossing |
| NECR train NERWPA (aka 610) works Willimantic yard. |
| NECR train NERWPA (aka 610) works Willimantic yard. The panel track in the foreground is for the replacement of the Bridge Street grade crossing |
With them about ready to head north, I had to make my next decision – do I chase them north towards Palmer, or head south for 608? The deciding factor was 608 still had FEC 417 for power – so south it was.
I’ve been looking for new angles around Norwich Harbor specifically for my upcoming slideshow for the Amherst Railway Society next month (info is here), so I decided to park down by Chelsea Landing and walk around a bit.
While walking around the waterfront and docks, I really wasn’t happy with the angles, so I decided to walk towards the Yantic River, and where it joins the Thames right along the NECR main. Well, what I saw I liked – a pretty good angle looking down the tracks with the marina in the foreground. Now I just needed a train.
After a bit, I started to hear some traffic on the NECR frequency – it sounded like they were working Thamesville siding just to the south. After a little while, the scanner again went quiet, but then I could hear the distinctive whine of a GP40s turbo coming this way. Moments later, FEC 417 appeared to the south, and I got a series of shots as they rolled along the Thames and by the boats moored at the marina.
| NECR train NERWNE (aka 608) heads north along the Thames River in Norwich, CT with a lone FEC GP40 for power |
| NECR train NERWNE (aka 608) heads north along the Thames River in Norwich, CT with a lone FEC GP40 for power |
| NECR train NERWNE (aka 608) heads north along the Thames River in Norwich, CT with a lone FEC GP40 for power |
With the train rolling past me, I decided I could probably make it back to my car, and up to Murphy Road in Franklin ahead of the train.
Well, I didn’t get there ahead of the train, but luckily they were working the runaround. So I got a few shots of them doing their thing.
| NECR train NERWNE works the Yantic runaround in Franklin, CT |
| NERWNE's conductor rides the shove down onto the runaround |
| NECR train NERWNE works the Yantic runaround in Franklin, CT |
| NERWNE pulls a cut of cars out of the runaround |
| NERWNE shoving cars into Kof-koff feeds in Franklin |
At that point, I decided to call it a day and head home to get some stuff done around the house.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
what time of day do you normally see traffic through norwich. south windham, and willimantic?
Can be any time of day. Typically, though, they’re usually northbound in the morning and southbound in the afternoon. Never set times, and can be literally any time of day…