Western Railroad Discussion > Breaking in my new ride

Last week, I have a run in with a deer and totaled by car.

On the 4th of July, I bought a new 2019 Subaru Impreza 5-door with all the latest safety features (in hope that I don't hit the next deer) I decided to "break in" my car by train-watching

On Saturday afternoon, I headed my way down Highway 59 to the Louisiana Terrace Crossing west of Ottawa.

It took a while for a train to show up, but it gave me time to read my owner's manual and call SiriusXM to cancel the subscription on my Sentra and add the Impreza to my account.

1: It seems appropriate that the first train that I caught at 1226 was one full of cars... BNSF 4640 and CREX 1327 are on the point of an westbound autorack trains.

2: Parting shot of the hired gun.

3: Right after the autoracks departed, an eastbound oil train hit the crossing at 1129

Richie Kennedy
Lawrence, KS
route56.com

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4: Leading the eastbound tankers is post-merger warbonnet 769

5: Behind the warbonnet was Ferromex SD70ACe 4044

6: While the oil train was rolling throught the crossing, I noticed that the gate on the south crossing signal had a burnt-out light bulb. I considered calling it in, but then I saw this hi-rail vehicle. The BNSF worker driving said vehicle was friendly, and I pointed out the bulb to the hi-rail driver, who forwared a report to the signal maintainer.

Richie Kennedy
Lawrence, KS
route56.com

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7: The Hi-rail vehicle sat on the north side of the crossing while an eastbound intermodal train arrived on-site at 1241

8: Closeup of BNSF 7220

9: Rotten Pumpkin 5378

Richie Kennedy
Lawrence, KS
route56.com

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10: Behind three pumpkins, we find a thoroughbred in NS 8113

11: Two more pumpkins take the DPU on this intermodal.

SIDEBAR: after I got home, I turned on the La Plata webcam. I saw the same train roll through La Plata 6 hours later.

12: After the eastbound passed through, the hi-rail set up for track and time on Main 1. Before he betan his patrol, he mentioned that there would be a lull of eastbound, but that there would be a westbound coming through.

Richie Kennedy
Lawrence, KS
route56.com

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13: Here's that westbound the hi-rail driver mentioned, a stack train led by two orange GEs.

14: After the westbound left, I decided to head out. On the way home, I recalled this past week's Toto Tuesday thread by Lance (https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,4821166,4822845#msg-4822845) and was just curious as to when the truss bridge on old US 59 was replaced. The easiest way to find out was to note the bridge plate. The current bridge was built in 1985. "30" refers to Franklin County (It's the 30th county alphabetically among Kansas's 105 counties) and the bridge was 17.3 miles north of where US 59 entered the county, which in this case was at the Anderson/Franklin County Line.

15: While I was on the old 59 bridge, I heard another westbound, so I stuck around to catch this grain train led by a late-model ES44.

Richie Kennedy
Lawrence, KS
route56.com

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16: On DPU for the grain train was early model ES44DC 7636

17: Speaking of replacing truss bridges, BNSF is currently replacing the truss bridge over the Marais Des Cynges river at MP 69. As part of the replacment project, the Arkansas Terrace crossing has been closed. over by the Ottawa station, the old control hut for the crossing has been removed, while the new hut is awaiting installation.

Sunday, I found out that Amtrak 4 was really late, apparantly due to the recent earthquakes. I headed out to Lakeview on the Topeka sub to catch it.

18: Amtrak P42s 204 and 36 pull off a little "ALCO syndrome" as they accelerate through Lakeview with train 4 on its way to Lawrence.

All Photos taken this past weekend, July 6-7, 2019.

Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Richie Kennedy
Lawrence, KS
route56.com

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Thanks for the postings and the commentary.  That's some variety.

Where's the new Subaru?

dwatry Wrote: > Where's the new Subaru?

Here it is with its primary driver. Taken at home on the 4th after I brought it home for the first time.

Richie Kennedy
Lawrence, KS
route56.com

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route56 Wrote:
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> dwatry Wrote: > Where's the new Subaru?
>
> Here it is with its primary driver. Taken at home
> on the 4th after I brought it home for the first
> time.

Subaru's eyesight feature is awesome, you're going to find it extremely useful.

route56 Wrote:
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> Last week, I have a run in with a deer and totaled
> by car.
>
> On the 4th of July, I bought a new 2019 Subaru
> Impreza 5-door with all the latest safety features
> (in hope that I don't hit the next deer) I decided
> to "break in" my car by train-watching
[snip]
I don't know if any technology can stop you in time to avoid hitting a deer that jumps right out in front of you.They just seem to come from nowhere.

Good lookin' ride! And a perfect way to break in a new set of wheels...

:^)

Great vehicle choice! My fiancee has a 2015 Impreza with all of the safety features, and they are a welcome extra set of eyes to have on the road. Sometimes, the automatic braking can be a little too aggressive but better safe than sorry. Overall, a very safe and fun car. Enjoy the ride!

Yah I'm not real happy with the automatic braking. It goes batcrap crazy if a car slows down ahead and changes
lanes to turn right. Also it does similar things on curvy roads with guard rails. I've got everything turned off except
the adaptive cruise control which works extremely well. This will most likely be my last Subie as they've discontinued
the very entertaining six cylinder motor.

Out

In southwestern Oregon the mantra is "There are two kinds of driver in Oregon - those that have hit a deer and those that are going to."