i live in south eastern CT, and there arent many spots to find trains that i can find. any good places and scedules to see trains would be appreciated.
GEARHEAD426
a 14 yearold model railroader/train fanatic.
You can’t be looking very hard then.
not to sound like a whiner, but i need to work around my parents scedule and skool, so i cant just go out and chase trains. i dont know anyone else whos a railfan, so this is really the only place i can find out where to get good train watching spots. im really in a bad position to go rail fanning, my mother doesnt seem interested and my dad works unpredictable hours. i unfourtanaly rely on them for transportation, but only because its illegal to ride an 80cc dirtbike on the street. and im not walking accross the thames river bridge and through certan types of neighborhoods between me and the trains with only a 3 inch jacknife for protection.
BTW, i dont care about amtrak, im more interested in the frieght railroads.
GEARHEAD426
Sort of figured that…
What I meant by not looking hard, I meant mostly ONLINE - I suggest you join the P&W and NECR YAHOO groups.
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/ProvidenceandWorcesterRR/
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/NECR/
Also, look around photo sites:
www.railpictures.net
http://photos.nerail.org/
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/
Where, exactly, in SE Connecticut? There is some interesting freight action around New London (New England Central and Providence & Worcester), and also on those two railroad’s lines going north – NEC through Willimantic and over the hill to Palmer, MA, and P&W up the Thames River).
There is some switching in New London, as well, and P&W also has trackage rights on the shoreline – but they aren’t used that often.
Neither line, however, is a scheduled operation. Although there will be a couple of trains a day, it is very very hard to predict when they will happen!
WHAT???
P&W uses the Shoreline 5 days a week. They have 2 weekday trains that leave Plainfield between 9-11 each day - reporting time is 0830 each day - they go southbound on the Norwich Branch Monday-Friday.
New England Central runs 1 train south from Palmer Monday-Saturday and sometimes Sunday - it goes on duty around 0500 this one switches many places so it gets to NL different times.
All this could be learned from the groups I linked to - they ARE scheduled and regular daily trains. If you want more detailed info, like I said, I suggest you join the groups.
i live right near the versailes (spelling) line in gales ferry, (christey hill area if that helps anyone) but ive only seen trains on that line once or twice. i can sometimes hear trains going to dow, but there alwayse gone by the time i get there. i used to spend hours waiting on that little bridge over the tracks near the post office.
i have seen some action on the newlondon side of the river, some “RMPX” locos switching near the docks.
GEARHEAD426
Gales Ferry is north of the Naval Base right in Groton - am I right? If thats the case…
You’re no where near the Versailles line - you are on the Norwich branch and should see 2-4 trains a day. NR-2 south, NR-3 south (As far as Dow), NR-3 north, NR-2 north.
I live near Jewett City and hear the hot box detector report all the time.
The Versailles line goes from Plainfield (way north of you) to Willimantic. This line actually will get busy as the P&W/NECR interchange in New London will be moved to Willimantic for autorack and coal trains via this branch.
You may want to save up and get a radio scanner - ask on the P&W list and I’ll give you the frequency there. I suggest the Radio Shack PRO-95 as thats what I’ve used with great success.
The RMPX locomotive is leased by the New England Central.
Dave – you’re closer to them than I am! (northwest CT these days) – thanks for the info and update. I hadn’t realised that P&W had that much traffic – that’s good news.
Not a railfan location but you should visit the show to see what’s happening in the railroad world in this part of New England.
http://www.amherstrail.org/show/show.htm