Chasing the Nickel Plate 765

My other goal yesterday was to mark  waypoints on my GPS in an effort to attempt to chase the Nickel Plate today.  I was hoping to get pictures of her along the way to Fort Wayne.

 For my first stop, I saw a place that is just outside of the yard, so I figured that would be a good place to catch it as it was trying to build up a head of steam.

 And I wasn't disappointed.  I really liked the amount of smoke it was pouring out as it was attempting to get up to speed.

 And it got a little closer.

 I got an unexpected surprise as it started to blow out its tanks.  That guy in the bottom of the picture didn't get hit with a blast of steam though.

 It was getting up to speed at about this point.

 And it was just about passing.

 And a shot as it passed.

 Some of the cars.

  Then I headed over to Belleville in an attempt to catch it there.  I think that was my first mistake.  Too many roads leading out to the expressway.  But I did manage to catch the train here.

I kind of like the building in the background.  Gives a sense of place.

 By this time it was moving at full speed.

 I might crop this picture tighter and convert it to black and white.

And then it was starting to pass.

My next stop was Milan.

A shot of a trackside structure.

But sadly, no shot of the Nickel Plate 765.  I was told I missed it by about 10 minutes.  I did the math in my head and figured that I had little chance to catch it from this point as it was mostly county highways and country roads.  I wasn't about the go at the speeds I would need to catch it.