DR 449 is the name of the road where I was parked. I'm not exactly sure what "DR" stands for.

But judging by the roadway, "DR" could possibly stand for "Dirt Road." If that's the case, I was stopped on Dirt Road 449. Makes sense, I guess.

Did I mention that this was a long train ?

Parked along DR 449 near Overton, Nebraska.

Finally, the end of the train approached.

This train had two engines in front and one in the back.

Westbound Union Pacific train near Overton, Nebraska.

Westbound Union Pacific train near Overton, Nebraska.

Westbound Union Pacific train near Overton, Nebraska.

Westbound Union Pacific train near Overton, Nebraska.

I noticed that once the train passed by, I could still hear a lot of noise. That was because a second train was approaching heading east.

Once again, I pointed the camera and started shooting.

Eastbound Union Pacific train near Overton, Nebraska.

Eastbound Union Pacific train near Overton, Nebraska.

Eastbound Union Pacific train near Overton, Nebraska.

Unlike its westbound counterpart, this train had three engines in front.

Eastbound Union Pacific train near Overton, Nebraska.

6858 was the second engine in line.

This train had three engines in front.

Eastbound Union Pacific train near Overton, Nebraska.

And like its westbound counterpart, this was also a pretty long train.

Eastbound Union Pacific train near Overton, Nebraska with some great clouds in the background.

Eastbound Union Pacific train near Overton, Nebraska.

Eastbound Union Pacific train near Overton, Nebraska.

The eastbound train didn't have an engine in back.

I continued on my westbound journey on the Lincoln Highway passing through numerous small communities with names like Darr, Cozad, and Brady. The final stop for this day was at another historical marker in the town of Maxwell, Nebraska.

Fort McPherson was a 19th century Army outpost located along the Oregon Trail near what is now North Platte, Nebraska. It served as an intermediate stop for travelers along the Oregon and California Trails in between Fort Kearney and the Colorado Territory. The fort was established in 1863 and was originally named "Cantonment McKean." It was locally known as "Fort Cottonwood" which is a reference to nearby Cottonwood Canyon. In 1866, the fort was renamed "Fort McPherson" after Major General James B. McPherson.

Fort McPherson offered protection for travelers along the Oregon Trail. But the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869 provided a faster and safer way to make that journey. Use of the trail began to decline and by 1880, Fort McPherson was abandoned. However, Fort McPherson National Cemetery, which was established in 1870 in nearby Maxwell, Nebraska, remains an active military burial site.

With the sun setting, I tried to get a few shots of the colors through the trees before getting back on the road.

Sunset over Maxwell, Nebraska.

Sunset over Maxwell, Nebraska.

Turning the other direction revealed more of the miles and miles of corn and cows mentioned earlier.

Miles and miles of corn, cows, and a combination of the two.

I hit the road again on my way to my second overnight stop in North Platte, Nebraska, which was about 20 miles away at this point. Today's adventure added 502 miles to the odometer bringing the total for the trip to 1,304 miles to this point.

In keeping with tradition, tomorrow's journey would be about 100 miles shorter. Normally, I would say that this would allow me to arrive earlier at my destination of Gillette, Wyoming. But I would quickly realize that the actual outcome was that I now had more time to stop and take pictures, which was fine by me.