"Wouldn't the train passing by tend to scare off any predators?"

You would think so, wouldn't you? But my crews are always telling me about the animals the trains kill. Most of them don't like it, but there isn't anything they can do about it.

Sometimes I take the utility guy out to a switch, and it's quiet there as we wait for the train. A train that is approaching a spur switch is moving at a slow walk. Creeping. Not quiet, but it isn't making the noise that a highballing one does.

"What part of the country is this taking place in?"

Central (N-S) western WA.

Sue