May Day 2007 – The Manitou and an EMD on NR-2

Today was a gorgeous day, so I couldn’t pass up my walk. Since the car was on empty, I decided to stay close to the office, and do my walk around Mill Cove in Ledyard, CT. As I pulled into the parking area of Erickson Park, the Providence & Worcester dispatcher was asking where NR-2 was. From what I could tell – I could only hear one side of the conversation – they were south of MP 25 or so. That meant they were a good 25 minutes away from my position. Plenty of time for a nice walk in the warm sunshine.

During my walk, there was a steady drone of a diesel engine coming from the south, that was steadily growing louder. A minute later, the fishing vessel Manitou made its way north on the Thames River. So of course I grabbed a couple shots of it plowing through the blue waters of the Thames.

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As she headed out of sight, NR-2 reported that they were south of MP8 – four miles to the north of me. So it was time to pick my spot. I decided on the shot at the south end of the cove. A couple minutes later, the train rolled through Red Top and past the MP4 mile marker into my field of view. Only two shots of the train today – both at the north end of the bridge. What was unusual was that the train was led by an EMD GP-38-3 – a pleasant change from the usual GE B39-8 or B40-8 leader.

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Once the train cleared, I decided to head back to the office. It sounded like they were going to do some work in Fairview yard before heading out on the Northeast Corridor. Not a bad walk break in the warm springtime air.

Thanks for looking!
Tom