Richie Kennedy | route56.com

Welcome to route56.com

Welcome to my anchor point on the web. For over 20 years, I have shared various subjects regarding highway, railways, local radio, and more.

I chose the name “route56” in honor of the green and white variant of the US Highway shield that the Kansas Department of Transportation and its predecessor agency used specifically to mark US 56 from its creation until the mid 1980s.

Click on the links above to access the pages devoted to the history of local radio and Kansas Highways, along with other creative outlets.

You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Flickr.

Latest Blog Posts

  • An evening with Cyrus

    Today was the first time I had gone “solo” with my cousin Cyrus First, we went to my cousin (his aunt) Emily so that he can play with her dog and I could work on her computer.  After that, we went to my place where he could view the trains.  We than went over to…

  • Birthday note….

    This past Thursday was my friend Allison Carson‘s birthday.  I left a message on her cell phone’s voicemail last Saturday where I started out with the first verse to Dan Seals’ “One Friend,” and followed it up with a quick email Thursday morning. By the time I got off of work Thursday afternoon, Allison wrote…

  • New engine

    A while back, Athearn announced a new series of their GP60M locomotive models.  One of the locomotives was of the prototype Santa Fe engine #156.  156 was one of the engines that was used for the 1995 Topeka Railroad Days special that I had “photoshoped” with a picture of my friend Allison.  Because of the connection to…

  • US 103 flip… Radio Rich and Louann begin TODAY

    I figured that this would be what would happen… Radio Rich and Louann (who officially left a competing station a month ago) began at US 103 at 7:30. They also debut a new slogan “The Capital City’s Best Country,” and basically drop the “classic” from their format. The Website has now been updated as well:…

  • BNSF Lawrence yard goat taken for a joyride

    Somebody decided to take the BNSF Lawrence Yard goat (2467) for a Joyride, per a radio story. It apparantly struck the Derail at about 14 MPH. It was rerailed Monday morning and moved to Topeka. I have an alibi… so don’t blame me :).

  • Three songs playing over and over…

    I’m sure you’ve heard the joke about stations with tight playlists being derided as “playing the same three songs over and over.” Right now, KQTP (“US 103”), licenced to St. Marys but serving the Topeka market, is doing just that, specifically “Gone” by Montgomery Gentry, “Kiss This” by Aaron Tippin, and “Gone Country” by Alan…

  • Dang, It’s Cold

    While refilling my supposedly empty washer fluid basin, I found that it wasn’t quite as empty. I had the bug-cleaning formula of Prestone, and the recent cold snap caused the mixture to freeze solid!!! Meanwhile, I’m stupid enough to go train watching after over half a foot of snow fell on Wendsday. I did wait…

  • Huskers in Kansas

    While out and about last night, I saw two seperate vehicles (a Lexus SUV and a minivan) both carrying Kansas vanity tags reading “HUSKERS” In addition to the fact that we clearly have Nebraska fans in northeast Kansas along side the K-Staters, It also demonstrated the fact that vanity plates are issued by county, and…

  • Unsportsmanlike Conduct

    At the end of the KU-Nevada game, KU made a last-second attempt to tie the score with Nevada. There was some physicality in the lane as time expired, but no foul call. Coach Self was very animated toward one of the officials. The Crowd also had their say with an very audible call of “bull$hit.”…

  • The future of elections….

    Over at the fairgrounds this afternoon, the county brought in vendors to demonstrate their voting systems. One Vendor used a exclusive touch screen system, the others featured touch screen and optical ballot options. One even had the ability to transfer from a touch screen to a optical ballot. Being in the IT realm, I know…