A Pere Marquette Sort of Day

 So on Saturday, I was heading over to my cousin's for an early Christmas, it wasn't until later in the afternoon, so I decided to go catch the Pere Marquette as it did the North Pole Express.

I didn't get a chance to catch it last year because they didn't run it last year due to COVID.  Since I didn't really get a chance to catch the Nickel Plate, I had to go catch this one.

It was pretty nice to catch a steam engine at full speed, even though I was kind of shooting into the sun for this one.

There is something magical about catching a steam engine.  They almost sound like a living, breathing creature.

Anyway, they have train rides from Owosso to Ashley and it is about a 45 minute ride.

I lost my bearings and this was the first place I caught it.  I actually thought I passed the place where I wanted to catch it.

but it was pretty cool catching it here.

I managed to get an angle not quite into the sun.

I love this shot.

I caught this shot barely in time.

I love the trail of steam behind it.

As it turns out, I wasn't close to this spot but I was able to make it in time.

I kind of like the angle I got the pictures from even though I'm not too happy about people in the picture.

I love the look of the train as it passes this point.  It seems like it has a full head of steam.

The elevator makes for a nice backdrop.

The signal helps too.

This might be my favorite of the day.

One more.

A shot of the diesel engine that is used to pull it back to Owosso.

This guy was making sure that people stayed clear of the tracks.

And then it approached Ashley.

The angle of the light was just about right.

And I am fairly happy with my pictures from here.

One more shot of the engine.

One of the two Ann Arbor Railroad cabooses on the train.  You can pay for a ride on them.

One more shot of the diesel.

I think I'm going to have to come back in a couple of weeks if the weather cooperates.

Chasing the "Polar Express"

So on Saturday,  I decided that I was going to chase the Pere Marquette 1225.

 Although they don't call it the Polar Express, I will.  It is the train they used as the model for the movie.

 I will have to admit, it is pretty cool to catch a steam engine and I think it was cool enough that day that I got a good amount of steam.

 I started my day in Owosso because I kind of like the pictures from this particular spot.

 The train is still moving slow enough that I get a few different angles.

 You can see a few people in the background.

 One more shot before moving on.

 I headed over to Carland next.  That is my favorite spot to catch the train.  It is also many other people's favorite spot.

 There was an incident here a couple weeks ago where a person had the pocket of her coat ripped off by the train.  They had a sheriff here this weekend.  He was keeping people away from the tracks.

 You really shouldn't need a sheriff to keep you away from the tracks.  They are dangerous and I'm sure the folks who run the Pere Marquette don't want to kill someone.

 Anyway, I was pretty happy that the Pere Marquette was there this weekend.

 It gave me an opportunity to get some decent pictures.

 And I think I really like this one.

 I couldn't pass up the diesel engine.

 Next I went over to Ashley.  That is the town they have set up to be their Christmas Village.

 but I was mainly interested in the steam engine.

 I kind of like the angles here too except for the fact that I was piratically shooting into the sun.

One more shot of the engine.

And a shot of the engineer.

 As the train passed, I had the chance to get a couple of shots of the diesel engine.

and one more before leaving.

Catching the "Polar Express"

So I went up to Owosso yesterday in the hopes of catching the Pere Marquette 1225 as it does the North Pole Express.  Apparently, they can't call it the Polar Express anymore (even though it's the train the movie train is based on).  Anyway, it was a nice enough day.

 Unfortunately, when I got there I found out that the Pere Marquette 1225 wouldn't be pulling the train.  They had an issue with the boiler.  I'm glad I just drove up there to get pictures and not pay to ride the train.

 Oh well.  I figured it still be a good chance to practice when I go back to catch the Pere Marquette.

 I found a pretty nice spot where I could catch it as it pulled out of the yard.  I just wish there was more in the background.

 Another angle of the train.

 Unfortunately, shortly after this picture, I was shooting into the sun.

 One of two cabooses that used to belong to the Ann Arbor Railroad.  I think it costs $1000 to ride on one of these but apparently, it is first class service.

 The trailing engine.  I stuck around to catch the whole train because I was hoping that the Pere Marquette may have been trailing.

 Despite not catching the Pere Marquette, I still headed over to Carland because I wanted the practice.  I was able to get a spot that I don't normally get.  It wasn't too long before the train appeared.

 Not  quite as cool as a train puffing a cloud of steam but still not too bad.  I think yesterday would have been a good day for steam as it was pretty cold.

 And the train passing the grain elevator.

 Kind of a shot I like.

One more shot of the train before moving on.  I will definitely got back up to get pictures of the steam engine.  Those shots are too cool pass up on.