Let's Play 'Can You Find The Train'
I promise this does count as a train photo, and there really is one in here...in fact if you look close you can see the entire train from lead ACS64 to trailing Amfleet.
Amtrak Region train 173 for Washington is crossing the 1394 ft long double track bridge over the Thames River from Groton to New London at about MP 124.3 on the New Haven Line main. The four Parker thru truss approach spans date from the New Haven's 1919 construction of a new bridge across the river. They are cruising right across the middle of the new 105 ft wide vertical lift span built in 2008 to replace the 1919 era Strauss heel-trunnion Warren through-truss bascule draw span.
It's that lift span that has made this interesting image possible. Dominating the foreground with her gilt figurehead twinkling on her prow is the Barque Eagle, the 295 ft. long flagship of the United States Coast Guard which along with the USS Constitution, is one of only two commissioned sailing vessels in the United States military today.
New London is the home of the US Coast Guard Academy and every cadet who attends the Academy as well candidates from the Officer Candidate School will spend a minimum of six weeks on board Eagle whose primary mission is training. Historically she berthed up River directly in front of the Academy but she now ties up here beside Fort Trumbull State Park while in home port. I suppose this is suitable as this 19th century fortification out of sight behind me served in later life as rhe original site of the US Coast Guard Academy from its founding in 1915 until moving to its current campus in 1932.
But, that history is not why she berths here, rather we have Amtrak to thank for that. Though the new lift bridge was specifically designed to clear the Eagle's masts, they came up short and for her to clear seamen have to climb the masts and remove some some components from the top as the young seaman I spoke with explained. For that reason she rarely travels up past the bridges anymore and now calls this dock home, though I understand she will be moving to city pier downtown directly behind the Amtrak station in the coming years.
As for that Eagle on her prow? Well you might not know but that is actually a Nazi eagle and the medallion in her talons now bearing the Coast Guard crest was originally adorned with a swastika! You see the Eagle is actually a spoil of war having been built at at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany in 1936 as as the flagship of the Kriegsmarine sail training fleet. Originally named Horst Wessell, Rudolf Hess gave the speech at her launch in the presence of Adolf Hitler! At the end of WWII the US acquired her when the allies were apportioning the war materials of the Reich and sailed her across the Atlantic with her German crew now under US command.
I HIGHLY recommend this fascinating read if you are interested in learning more and some great stories: www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33543706.amp
And the USCG's official site is great especially if you'd like to see her with her three masts at full sail as they publish her schedule here: www.uscga.edu/eagle-schedule/
And above the rail bridge is the massive Goldstar Memorial Bridge carrying 11 lanes of Interstate 95 134 ft over the river on twin 6000 ft spans (blt. 1943 and 1973) that make up the largest bridge in the state.
New London, Connecticut
Friday March 4, 2022
Let's Play 'Can You Find The Train'
I promise this does count as a train photo, and there really is one in here...in fact if you look close you can see the entire train from lead ACS64 to trailing Amfleet.
Amtrak Region train 173 for Washington is crossing the 1394 ft long double track bridge over the Thames River from Groton to New London at about MP 124.3 on the New Haven Line main. The four Parker thru truss approach spans date from the New Haven's 1919 construction of a new bridge across the river. They are cruising right across the middle of the new 105 ft wide vertical lift span built in 2008 to replace the 1919 era Strauss heel-trunnion Warren through-truss bascule draw span.
It's that lift span that has made this interesting image possible. Dominating the foreground with her gilt figurehead twinkling on her prow is the Barque Eagle, the 295 ft. long flagship of the United States Coast Guard which along with the USS Constitution, is one of only two commissioned sailing vessels in the United States military today.
New London is the home of the US Coast Guard Academy and every cadet who attends the Academy as well candidates from the Officer Candidate School will spend a minimum of six weeks on board Eagle whose primary mission is training. Historically she berthed up River directly in front of the Academy but she now ties up here beside Fort Trumbull State Park while in home port. I suppose this is suitable as this 19th century fortification out of sight behind me served in later life as rhe original site of the US Coast Guard Academy from its founding in 1915 until moving to its current campus in 1932.
But, that history is not why she berths here, rather we have Amtrak to thank for that. Though the new lift bridge was specifically designed to clear the Eagle's masts, they came up short and for her to clear seamen have to climb the masts and remove some some components from the top as the young seaman I spoke with explained. For that reason she rarely travels up past the bridges anymore and now calls this dock home, though I understand she will be moving to city pier downtown directly behind the Amtrak station in the coming years.
As for that Eagle on her prow? Well you might not know but that is actually a Nazi eagle and the medallion in her talons now bearing the Coast Guard crest was originally adorned with a swastika! You see the Eagle is actually a spoil of war having been built at at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany in 1936 as as the flagship of the Kriegsmarine sail training fleet. Originally named Horst Wessell, Rudolf Hess gave the speech at her launch in the presence of Adolf Hitler! At the end of WWII the US acquired her when the allies were apportioning the war materials of the Reich and sailed her across the Atlantic with her German crew now under US command.
I HIGHLY recommend this fascinating read if you are interested in learning more and some great stories: www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33543706.amp
And the USCG's official site is great especially if you'd like to see her with her three masts at full sail as they publish her schedule here: www.uscga.edu/eagle-schedule/
And above the rail bridge is the massive Goldstar Memorial Bridge carrying 11 lanes of Interstate 95 134 ft over the river on twin 6000 ft spans (blt. 1943 and 1973) that make up the largest bridge in the state.
New London, Connecticut
Friday March 4, 2022