After spending the morning of December 7, 2014, at Iona Island, I went to Waterford, CT to railfan on the NEC --- with a mission to see at least one AEM-7 now that they were starting to be seriously displaced by ACS-64s. The crossing at Miner's Lane provided a great place to get horn action. As I arrived at the crossing, I found that the gates were already down, and I heard a hybrid K5LA starting a crossing sequence. As soon as the car was stopped, I ran out with camera in hand and hit record. I managed to just catch my first train with a few seconds to spare.
Train 1: Amtrak Acela Express - 12/7/14
- Amtrak Acela Power Car #2021
- Amtrak Acela Power Car #2024
Soon after that train passed, the gates came down again and another Acela rounded the corner at me. The engineer let that awesome hybrid K5LA blare right past me, creating a great doppler effect.
Train 2: Amtrak Acela Express - 12/7/14
- Amtrak Acela Power Car #2027
- Amtrak Acela Power Car #2033
A few minutes later, the gates came down once again --- and I was surprised to see a Geep in New Haven paint come into view! I had no idea Shore Line East ran past Miner's Lane. In any case, the GP40 had a nice K5LA and looked great in its New Haven paint.
Train 3: Shore Line East - 12/7/14
- CDOT GP40-2H #6698
After this, a slightly longer pause ensued before the crossing activated again, and an ACS-64 swung around the corner with its 3rd generation K5LA.
Train 4: Amtrak Northeast Regional - 12/7/14
- Amtrak ACS-64 #610
Here the parade of trains stopped. After a much longer wait, I caught an Acela, but still no AEM-7. My tracking app showed a northbound Northeast Regional not too far away, but time would only tell if it would beat the sunset, or if it would even have an AEM-7 in the first place.
Train 6: Amtrak Acela Express - 12/7/14
- Amtrak Acela Power Car #2034
- Amtrak Acela Power Car #2032
Not too long after this, the signal finally changed to show an approaching northbound. I got set up, and waited as the gates came down. It was only when I heard a hybrid K5LA, but saw no train, that I realized the crossing had activated not for the Regional, but for a southbound Acela! I managed to whip around in time to get a reasonable shot of the train. If he saw me, that engineer must have had a good laugh.
Train 7: Amtrak Acela Express - 12/7/14
- Amtrak Acela Power Car #2023
- Amtrak Acela Power Car #2025
Finally, with the last rays of sunlight rapidly fading away, the gates activated one last time, and just as I had hoped, an AEM-7 rounded the corner. 948 provided a spectacular light show at dusk with its strobe lights and flashing ditchlights, and it had a great K5LA!
Train 8: Amtrak Northeast Regional - 12/7/14
- Amtrak AEM-7AC #948
This wrapped up a nice, albeit frigid, day of railfanning. It was nice to get back in the warm car! Check out my Iona Island video from the same day here:
• CSX Trains at Iona Isl...
RRPictureArchives links coming soon.
6 сен 2024
