View Full Version : 2010 and trains still have to blow horns?



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Easy180
10-14-2010, 07:59 PM
One of the few drawbacks to living on the east side of 35 but it just kills me that they still blow the horns thru cities in the 21st century

Surely there has to be a less annoying option that doesn't set cities back a few mil

redrunner
10-14-2010, 08:05 PM
Well as long as trains still cross streets in 2010 I wouldn't see why they wouldn't blow their horn. Train horn = huge ass metal behemoth coming through, do not cross.

skyrick
10-14-2010, 08:22 PM
One of the few drawbacks to living on the east side of 35 but it just kills me that they still blow the horns thru cities in the 21st century

Surely there has to be a less annoying option that doesn't set cities back a few mil

Here in Arlington TX they made all of the crossings in town "horn free". They did this by building a concrete island that extends from the rails to three car lengths behind the rails. You'd have to be pretty determined and be driving a monster truck to go around the crossing arms.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/16/2120344/arlington-railroad-quiet-zones.html

PennyQuilts
10-14-2010, 08:26 PM
I have friends, retired just this last year, who were train people. You would not believe the stupid things people do around train tracks and trains. Dead for no good reason. It is a shame the train whistle is so loud but it is the only thing remotely able to work on the vast majority of rail crossings.

Easy180
10-14-2010, 08:30 PM
Here in Arlington TX they made all of the crossings in town "horn free". They did this by building a concrete island that extends from the rails to three car lengths behind the rails. You'd have to be pretty determined and be driving a monster truck to go around the crossing arms.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/16/2120344/arlington-railroad-quiet-zones.html

Me likey

old okie
10-15-2010, 08:58 PM
When we were living in Madison, WI, they had a "no whistle" policy--and very few crossing arms that could really prevent people from going around; however, the trains were required to go very slowly. But it is a real eye-popper to be stopped at a traffic light [not on the tracks but right at them, think of Britton Rd. & Western] and look up to see a huge train coming right toward pedestrians and on-going cross traffic and NOT blowing a whistle! Yikes.

And while on the subject of noise from whistles, how about sirens, especially in the middle of the night on deserted streches of streets? Really necessary? Madison made all emergency vehicles use some sort of reduced siren decibel levels. I don't know how they did it. Yes, it sounded strange, but at the same time, the sound carried just as well and without the eardrum-splitting, sound-sleep arousing, baby-waking, television-interrupting levels we have here. I realize it is a safety issue, but after watching plenty of people in OKC fail to yield to emergency vehicles during broad daylight when the vehicles are running lights and sirens, I don't know about the true value. The speed of the vehicle is probably the more important criterion for safety. In Madison, there didn't seem to be many collisions reported. Of course, they didn't have protected left-turn lights at most of the intersections either, so driving there was a real adventure!

metro
10-19-2010, 08:06 AM
The official term is called "Quiet Zone". Also just because we have modern technology, doesn't mean people aren't stupid, if not more stupid than before. We have a lazy culture and more technology to distract us. For example, just yesterday I was driving up N. May Ave. TWO morons didn't hear a fire truck blaring it's horns or notice a couple dozen cars pulled over, one of them kept going and almost plowed head on into the fire truck, missed the truck by a few feet, the fire truck was pissed and honked at the guy in addition to the blaring loud horns when they safely passed him, what an idiot. I wish I could have gotten it on video.

OKCisOK4me
10-19-2010, 09:20 AM
I once started a thread on here about the possibility of doing a Quiet Zone through downtown since there's so much more residential construction and people moving down there. But come on folks, it's America. It's a past time like baseball. How do you think this country was built? How do you think people got to the west coast? Yeah, of course they took wagon trains on the Oregon Trail but steam trains were what got them to their destination most efficiently. And now, trains provide the everyday commodities in our lives by shipping the products from the west to the east. Easy, be glad you don't live on a Transcon line. Here, all you have to worry about is one season of grain traffic going south toward Mexico and local freight traffic. Go live in Kansas City or Chicago. Also, try doing a little research on the amount of traffic deaths caused by the moronity (it's not a word, but I'm using it) of folks that try to cross the tracks even when a train is blowing its horn.

metro
10-19-2010, 09:54 AM
FYI we are working on a Quiet Zone downtown. It should hopefully be wrapped up by end of 2011.

Thunder
10-19-2010, 11:04 AM
The tracks was there first. The trains was there first. People crying about the horns should just move elsewhere. You can not just move in and then demand changes to be done. Live with it or just shush up.

Metro's quote, "we are working on a quiet zone downtown," implies he works for the city. Frightening. Hope that does not actually get passed. Trains should just continue to blow their horns. Its the American way.

MustangGT
10-19-2010, 03:54 PM
The tracks was there first. The trains was there first. People crying about the horns should just move elsewhere. You can not just move in and then demand changes to be done. Live with it or just shush up.

Metro's quote, "we are working on a quiet zone downtown," implies he works for the city. Frightening. Hope that does not actually get passed. Trains should just continue to blow their horns. Its the American way.

I agree with Thunder 100%+. This reminds me of the dolts that move out near an airport then complain and sue about the noise. The noise was there first and you moved close to it, shut up and get over it.

redrunner
10-19-2010, 04:02 PM
Its the American way.

Yes! The Taliban will not win and silence our train horns!

BBatesokc
10-19-2010, 07:16 PM
The tracks was there first. The trains was there first. People crying about the horns should just move elsewhere. You can not just move in and then demand changes to be done. Live with it or just shush up.

Yeah, too bad that didn't work for the Native Americans and the buffalo.

"The buffalo was there first. The Indians was there first. People crying about salvages should just move elsewhere. You can not just move in to Oklahoma and then demand changes to be done. Live with it or just shush up."

diesel
10-26-2010, 11:43 AM
I was at the Shell station north of NW 10th and Broadway last Sunday and heard a train blow his horn consistantly from I would assume around Robert S Kerr all the way north to 23rd.. It was very loud and annoying.. I could not imagine why he had to lay on it like he did.. Also at the same time, I could not imagine living or having a business in that area next to that track.. For instance Iguana or Sara Sara being so close..

TheTravellers
10-26-2010, 03:21 PM
I was at the Shell station north of NW 10th and Broadway last Sunday and heard a train blow his horn consistantly from I would assume around Robert S Kerr all the way north to 23rd.. It was very loud and annoying.. I could not imagine why he had to lay on it like he did.. Also at the same time, I could not imagine living or having a business in that area next to that track.. For instance Iguana or Sara Sara being so close..

IIRC, unless in a quiet zone, trains usually use a pattern of long-short-long-long at crossings (I lived in Chicago and Seattle suburbs for a while where there are a ridiculous amount of grade crossings, so I heard horns day and night for years), and if there are a lot of crossings, the horn might not get a rest between them, so it ends up sounding continuously. And as far as I know, trains are required by law to sound the horn at grade crossings unless super-serious safety measures have been put in place or the crossing is in a quiet zone.

Jethrol
10-31-2010, 11:57 AM
I love the sound of train horns.....seriously. It's one of my favorite sounds in this godforsaken world.

skyrick
10-31-2010, 12:31 PM
I love the sound of train horns.....seriously. It's one of my favorite sounds in this godforsaken world.

I'm with you. Wherever I've lived I've always been able to hear the trains. They make me want to get my travelin' shoes on.

I do remember, however, years ago a friend lived in what was then a run-down little neighborhood not far from the stadium in Norman. His duplex was literally feet from the railroad tracks. One night the revelry went on a bit long so I crashed there for the night. Trains can be really annoying if you're that close.

metro
11-01-2010, 08:13 AM
It's almost 2011 and cars still have to honk horns

bluedogok
11-01-2010, 08:29 PM
It's almost 2011 and cars still have to honk horns
...and some people are still idiots and can't "see" flashing lights and crossing arms.

kevinpate
11-02-2010, 07:18 AM
I'm not a fan of quiet zones. Probably because I like trains and more often than not I've lived close enough to a track that the horns are simply part of life. there goes one now. then again, this is Norman, so another one or two will be along before I get out the door in a bit.

OKCisOK4me
11-02-2010, 12:37 PM
Luckily, there's not enough money to make all the grade crossings everywhere a quiet zone, unless you build the roads over/under all the tracks and even then if there's a yard in a city, chances are you're going to hear the horns anyway cause they have their own grade crossings and safety concerns.

I've discussed it in many threads but what OKC has is not what LA had. LA alleviated 300+ at grade crossings by building the Alameda Corridor, which is a triple tracked race course roughly 8 miles long, 30 feet below grade, and 50 feet wide hosting several container trains per day going to and from the West Coast ports of LA. Traffic tie ups and accidents were their main concern but I'm sure horns had a bit to do with it as well. This project was paid for by BNSF, the ports, and the city of LA (which has a larger tax base than OKC as you could guess) and I'm sure federal grants were applied as well. OKC will never get anything like that so if the quiet zone does succeed, I'll be happy it's only along that stretch of track through downtown cause I like the horns too (and I'm sure you guys knew I am a fan of trains judging by my avatar).

muzique808
11-03-2010, 02:07 AM
...(and I'm sure you guys knew I am a fan of trains judging by my avatar).

I thought so, it's a great shot.

I'm a fan of the train horns as well, and agree with Thunder that the trains were there first, so don't move there if you don't like the noise.

jmarkross
11-03-2010, 02:10 AM
Trains are marvelous...I have touched--with my very hands...the Big Boy Locomotive in Omaha...

torea
01-22-2011, 07:28 PM
Trains in the US are extremely noisy compared to the rest of the world:
Thousands of people living near railroads are kept awake during the night by extremely loud train horn blowing. And this should be justified because some rare idiots don't respect the signals at railroad crossings??

Shame on you railroad companies ... there is even no standard for the strength and for the duration of the honking so some train drivers honk in the middle of the night minutes without interruption...

Stop this noise pollution. Let the hard working people sleep at night an find another way to protect your railroad crossings!

MikeOKC
01-23-2011, 04:06 PM
I'm with jethrol way upthread - I love train whistles. Though, I will admit, the night train whistle at a distance is preferred.

rcjunkie
01-23-2011, 04:58 PM
I find it somewhat humorous how people move to an area near to train tracks, and for that matter, airports, then complain about the noise.

skyrick
01-23-2011, 06:18 PM
I find it somewhat humorous how people move to an area near to train tracks, and for that matter, airports, then complain about the noise.

I know. In most cases the train tracks or airport were there long before the neighborhood was.

Easy180
01-23-2011, 06:23 PM
Thankfully I can gripe since I moved here in 1905 before that damn railroad

Snowman
01-23-2011, 07:49 PM
The issue with me is the do it at all hours of the night, between midnight and 6 am pisses me off. Their are directional sound emitters, yes it would then suck to be the people in from of the train on curves but at least it is not waking everyone up for miles in all directions.

Bunty
01-23-2011, 10:33 PM
Yeah, you go back so far that my parents didn't have electricity or a Hoffman television.

TheTravellers
01-24-2011, 09:06 AM
...

Shame on you railroad companies ... there is even no standard for the strength and for the duration of the honking so some train drivers honk in the middle of the night minutes without interruption...

You're wrong. This is from http://www.fra.dot.gov/Pages/1773.shtml:

Sounding the Locomotive Horn: Under the Train Horn Rule, locomotive engineers must sound train horns for a minimum of 15 seconds, and a maximum of 20 seconds, in advance of all public grade crossings, except:

* If a train is traveling faster than 45mph, engineers will not sound the horn until it is within ¼ mile of the crossing, even if the advance warning is less than 15 seconds.
* If a train stops in close proximity to a crossing, the horn does not have to be sounded when the train begins to move again.
* There is a "good faith" exception for locations where engineers can’t precisely estimate their arrival at a crossing.

Wherever feasible, train horns must be sounded in a standardized pattern of 2 long, 1 short and 1 long. The horn must continue to sound until the lead locomotive or train car occupies the grade crossing.

For the first time, a maximum volume level for the train horn has been established at 110 decibels. The minimum sound level remains 96 decibels. Railroads have until 2010 to fully comply with the maximum volume level requirement.

OKCisOK4me
01-24-2011, 10:58 AM
Thankfully I can gripe since I moved here in 1905 before that damn railroad

You're 105+ years old??? You have amazing internet skills for an old saggy raisin!

skyrick
01-24-2011, 01:27 PM
You're wrong. This is from http://www.fra.dot.gov/Pages/1773.shtml:

Sounding the Locomotive Horn: Under the Train Horn Rule, locomotive engineers must sound train horns for a minimum of 15 seconds, and a maximum of 20 seconds, in advance of all public grade crossings, except:

* If a train is traveling faster than 45mph, engineers will not sound the horn until it is within ¼ mile of the crossing, even if the advance warning is less than 15 seconds.
* If a train stops in close proximity to a crossing, the horn does not have to be sounded when the train begins to move again.
* There is a "good faith" exception for locations where engineers can’t precisely estimate their arrival at a crossing.

Wherever feasible, train horns must be sounded in a standardized pattern of 2 long, 1 short and 1 long. The horn must continue to sound until the lead locomotive or train car occupies the grade crossing.

For the first time, a maximum volume level for the train horn has been established at 110 decibels. The minimum sound level remains 96 decibels. Railroads have until 2010 to fully comply with the maximum volume level requirement.

I re-iterate, from post # 3 on this thread:http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/16/2120344/arlington-railroad-quiet-zones.html

OKCisOK4me
01-24-2011, 01:54 PM
Are all the people complaining on here part of NIMBY (Not In My BackYard)???

torea
02-06-2011, 10:42 AM
I love train whistles too , it's said to be romantic in movies.
But every 5 minutes, day and night a collection of noise, horns, honking without rules or limits goes to far in 2011.
Train company management does nothing to train and impose standards to their honking drivers.

Trains are an absolute necessity for obvious economic reasons but it's time to think also about the disturbance and the noise reduction for people living even miles away from the railroads.

kevinpate
02-06-2011, 11:24 AM
That sound is noise to some, music to others, and ain't nuttin' but a train thang to the rest. I'm in the second group, except when I'm really ill, and even then I fall in the latter group.

torea
02-07-2011, 08:26 AM
Comparing railroads with airports makes no sense:
Planes became much more silent and cannot fly without making noise but trains could stop that stupid and enervating honking.
Some research to reduce this noise and finding another warning system for railroad crossings would be welcome.
Contrary to the rest of the world, the US likes to pollute its own nest and disturb the quality of life of its own people!

torea
03-12-2011, 03:05 PM
Trains are creating a lot of noise pollution in the US. I would like to inform you about what happens in Europe where population and train traffic is a lot denser than here in the US:
Trains in Europe don't honk. Period.
Drivers are assumed to respect the red lights, barriers and bell signals at the railroad crossings. Offenders are caught by cameras just as they are caught while not-respecting a red light at other traffic crossings.
Penalties are severe and can even include drivers license suspension and jail time (just as for drunk driving).
If I understand it well, some 1990’s bureaucratic Federal rule forces the trains to honk always, several times at every railroad crossing in the US.
Instead of solving the real problem (hunt and fine the offenders) this law is punishing everyone living miles around railroads.
Instead of repealing that idiot federal honking law, we are forcing each and every city to pay expensive changes to install "quiet zones".
I live about 1 mile from 3 small railroad crossings in Mission, Kansas. 75 trains honking 4 times "warn" me 900 times every night, interrupting my sleep!
Some people think that the sound of train horns is "romantic". I agree but only in Western movies....

ljbab728
03-12-2011, 09:48 PM
I live about 1 mile from 3 small railroad crossings in Mission, Kansas. 75 trains honking 4 times "warn" me 900 times every night, interrupting my sleep!
Some people think that the sound of train horns is "romantic". I agree but only in Western movies....

I'm not disagreeing with your points, but I have to wonder. Did the honking start after you moved there or did you know about it when you moved? If it's the latter you have little reason to complain.

lake hefner breeze
03-13-2011, 04:24 AM
Train horns are annoying. At the very least they should not be allowed to blow them during overnight hours.

lake hefner breeze
03-13-2011, 04:27 AM
Trains are creating a lot of noise pollution in the US. I would like to inform you about what happens in Europe where population and train traffic is a lot denser than here in the US:
Trains in Europe don't honk. Period.
Drivers are assumed to respect the red lights, barriers and bell signals at the railroad crossings. Offenders are caught by cameras just as they are caught while not-respecting a red light at other traffic crossings.
Penalties are severe and can even include drivers license suspension and jail time (just as for drunk driving).
If I understand it well, some 1990’s bureaucratic Federal rule forces the trains to honk always, several times at every railroad crossing in the US.
Instead of solving the real problem (hunt and fine the offenders) this law is punishing everyone living miles around railroads.
Instead of repealing that idiot federal honking law, we are forcing each and every city to pay expensive changes to install "quiet zones".
I live about 1 mile from 3 small railroad crossings in Mission, Kansas. 75 trains honking 4 times "warn" me 900 times every night, interrupting my sleep!
Some people think that the sound of train horns is "romantic". I agree but only in Western movies....

I agree with all of this.

Train horns are annoying.

At the very least they should not be allowed to blow them during overnight hours.

torea
03-13-2011, 10:50 AM
I respectfully disagree with the ever returning argument that trains were here first, long before most people came to live around the railroads.

My main point is a recently imposed federal law forcing all trains to honk 4 times before they arrive at every railroad crossing. Also the honking sound level has been recently increased to 110 decibel.
These new rules were invented by Bureaucrats at the DOT (Federal Railroad Administration). Instead of correcting this mistake they invented new rules imposing every city to create “quiet zones” if they want trains to be silent.
These new “quiet zone” rules are extremely expensive to implement: The whole state of Kansas has 2 “quiet zones”. You can read this whole story on the DOT website:
http://www.fra.dot.gov/rpd/freight/1318.shtml

I propose to stop disturbing the increasing number of people living around our railroads.
Car drivers who break the red light and barrier rules have to be corrected by serious penalties.
Let’s all be happy for the ever increasing number of trains indicating a healthy economic growth. We lack healthy federal (noise regulating) laws adapted to this growth.

betts
03-13-2011, 10:56 AM
I love train whistles and despite living a block from railroad tracks rarely notice the noise. If I'm listening, however, I've noticed a lot of variation in whistling. I even hear some trains in the middle of the night that don't blow their horn. I don't know if they forget, or they're trying to be thoughtful. Then, there are others who lay on the horn and I hear everything in between. One night when I was up it sounded like two trains were imitating "Dueling Banjos". I know Steve Mason is working hard to institute a quiet zone downtown. I suspect that there are fewer lawsuits in Europe where they seem to expect people to act like adults. Here, there is the everpresent fear of litigation, which probably leads to overregulation or overreaction.

drinner-okc
03-13-2011, 10:58 AM
I've been told by a railroader, if an engineer is really laying on the horn for every crossing it's probably because he was already in a collision with someone who was trying to beat a train at a crossing. He carries that with him every day and does not want to experience it again.
I work 50 yards from the BNSF tracks & several times a day have to ask someone on the phone to wait a minute for the engine to pass.
That's why I asked about the excessive blasting.

oneforone
03-13-2011, 12:43 PM
I have never really had a problem with the sound of train horns. My grandparents lived two blocks away from the tracks. The sounds of the horns in the distance always lulled me to sleep.

My question is:

Why would one be dumb enough to own a business or home on or near train tracks if they did not like the noise of the horns? It is like moving to the rain forest and griping about the rain. or Moving to the beach and griping out the sand and smell of the sea air (It can be downright stomach churning at times).

It amazes me how demanding we are today in American Society. Everybody and everything has to agree with us. We seem to have abandon the idea of adapting to our surroundings and making the best of every situation. There are millions of people in this world would give anything to have the life we do.

It could be worse you could be living in the Jungle in a cloth tent worrying about rather or not one of these guys will stop in and make a meal out of you.

http://www.candy95.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/african-lion-pictures_6.jpg

torea
03-13-2011, 12:49 PM
Europeans certainly don't act more like adults than American people. On top of that in the US people are much more respecting the laws than he Europeans.
I don't understand your remark about lawsuits but we should allow railroad companies to claim all train damage created by idiots breaking the red light and barriers at crossings.

Other ideas would be installing camera's at every railroad crossing to fine these lawbreakers comparable to drunk drivers: hefty penalties, increased insurance premiums, and if repetitive: car forfeiture and jail-time.

torea
03-13-2011, 01:02 PM
@Oneforone: You are talking about things in nature nobody can control such as rain and sea.
The lions and the forests are already mostly gone chased away by us, King Humans.
Just as the bison's here in the US (as well as the native Indians if I may say).

I'm talking about human created honking noise, recently increased by Federal regulations.

Easy180
03-13-2011, 02:07 PM
Oneforone....Just asking a question why they haven't come up with a quieter way to avoid accidents at crossings is all...You can get down of your Irish Spring box now

Thunder
03-13-2011, 03:56 PM
Its a double standard or whatever the correct term is when someone wanting the horns to stop at night, but have no problem with the horns during the day. Where is the consideration for the day sleepers?! A lot of people work during the night.

I have not seen new tracks put in during my lifetime. People moving into the areas near the tracks should never, ever complain

Cities might as well rezone all along the tracks, the Deaf Zone. :-O

torea
03-13-2011, 04:46 PM
Mr. Thunder, if you read all the messages, you will see also that Business people are frustrated because they have to ask their customers during the day to stop talking on the phone for every honking train in their neighborhood.
Maybe you want also all businesses to relocate far away from railroads, forcing them to find other ways to transport their products and their raw materials?

You can become the champion of "positive discrimination": only deaf people allowed to live around our railroads.

torea
04-22-2011, 02:12 AM
The train engineers just do their job and have the Federal Railroad Administration who created a police to force them to honk loud and clear at least 4 times per crossing, day and night.

These FRA bureaucrats are punishing with their noise pollution rules millions of hard working citizens instead of sentencing the few idiots who trespass and don't respect the railroad crossing stop signs.

You could better propose to force all FRA bureaucrats to sleep in tents next to a busy railroad crossing ...

Oh by the way, why don't we create another administration creating rules to force every car to honk 4 times before crossing a (green) traffic light? Life would be so much safer!

betts
04-22-2011, 06:37 AM
I know the quiet zone is projected to be a year or two away, at least for south of 13th St. So it's going to happen, just not immediately.

torea
05-05-2011, 08:51 PM
Are you talking about the Oklahoma City quiet area? Good luck and hope you will be quiet in one year!

I am living in the Kansas City area.
The noise pollution imposed by the bureaucratic Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is not only present in your OKC and my KC area, but also everywhere in the US.
Millions of hard working people are punished day and night by stupid train honking rules and regulations invented by the FRA.

The drunk and/or drugged trespassers, violators of the railroad crossing trafic rules can go on. These criminals cross railroads while bells are sounding and multiple red lights are flashing.

And what does our Federal Railroad Administration to correct this situation?
Punish millions of US citizens by loud train horn honking day and night!

OKCisOK4me
05-06-2011, 01:19 AM
OK, first off, compared to OKC, Kansas City has a lot more volume when it comes to railroading. Its probably the largest confluence of railroads in the Midwest besides Chicago. It is now primarily Union Pacific, BNSF, and Norfolk Southern. Canadian National also has its presence felt. That's 4 major railroad companies. Plus if you add all the mileage from tracks in the yards, there's probably enough track in KC to encircle OKC 100 times or more! People have lived with this in Kansas City for years. Deal with it or move, LOL..

torea
05-06-2011, 05:51 PM
OKCisOK4me:
Your last mail illustrates your typical egoistic point of view!
Nowhere in the US people used to live with this kind of honking noise.
The rules forcing trains to honk were recently (during the last years) introduced by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

Kansas City is not an exception but gets all the noise pollution invented by these new FRA rules.
The same noise is polluting you and your neighbors in OKC as well as in the rest of the US.
With your LOL you suggest that millions of US people have to move to sleep in peace.

OKCisOK4me
05-07-2011, 08:56 AM
Torea:
Egotistical? LOL
Ok, the horns have been that way since these diesel engines have been around. Maybe they haven't blown as much or as long and they're louder than the old steam engine whistles, but the rules by the FRA were created for safety. Surely, one would know that crossing tracks anywhere other than a public crossing is trespassing but guess what? People still do it. They tend to be "urban campers" (term learned from another thread, lol) BUT it still happens. Therefore, they wail those whistles. So yeah, they are a lot louder, and you could definitely move somewhere where they're not so annoying to you. How far away do you live from the tracks?

I don't know if you've noticed my avatar, but I love trains--which is why I'm so knowledgeable about them. Are you a member of NIMBY. You should check it out! I think it's right up your alley.

My LOL has nothing to do with millions of people. Maybe thousands of whiners but that's about it. There's nowhere in Kansas City or OKC that you can move and not hear a horn off in the distance, but man oh man, this is like NYC telling all the cab drivers that they can't honk for no reason anymore. Its part of the urban landscape.

When you make your millions, you can buy a private island and enjoy peace and quiet. But unless you want your new TV, your new refrigerator, your new microwave, your new (electronics) anything, it's gonna keep on happening, because we as a country are going to keep on importing technology from outside the United States & it has to get across the country some how.

Easy180
05-07-2011, 09:11 AM
Any other countries out there have a better quieter cost effective solution to cave dwelling period whistles?

I'm just wondering if say Japan does this like us

UnclePete
05-07-2011, 10:30 AM
The FRA has made whistling less obnoxious by changing the rules for blowing the horn about 1999. Please Google FRA whistles to find the details. An inherant problem in Oklahoma City is that the grade crossings are so close together and if the engineer follows the rules, it sounds like the whistling is excessive. Many of the fancy schmanzy suburbs around Chicago have no-whistling laws in place. A story goes that a fellow ran for Mayor of one of suburbs on a platform of getting rid of train whistling. He was elected and the no-whistling law was passed in quick time. A week later his son was killed in the same suburb after a collision with a train.




OKCisOK4me:
Your last mail illustrates your typical egoistic point of view!
Nowhere in the US people used to live with this kind of honking noise.
The rules forcing trains to honk were recently (during the last years) introduced by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

Kansas City is not an exception but gets all the noise pollution invented by these new FRA rules.
The same noise is polluting you and your neighbors in OKC as well as in the rest of the US.
With your LOL you suggest that millions of US people have to move to sleep in peace.

torea
05-07-2011, 01:59 PM
OKCisOK4me:
I never said trains are not necessary! With the increasing number of people living in the US and with the improving economy more and more trains are absolutely necessary for transportation of all kind of goods and using less fuel than trucks.
What we don't need is huge amounts of honking noise (110 DBA) imposed by the FRA.

What would you think if another administration finds out a new safety rule to force all cars in the US to honk 3 times before crossing a green traffic light? Sure way to save a few lives!

Easy180:
You pose an interesting question: What happens in the rest of the world?
I'm not sure about Japan but in Europe trains are only allowed to honk in emergency situations. And that is how it should be in a civilized society where people are assumed to respect the red lights and the warning bells at the railroad crossings.

The heroic and romantic trains blowing their horns are now only nice to see in old Western movies.
In the US we are happy to see a rapidly expanding bulk and also public transportation offered by powerful (and fuel economic) trains.
The FRA should look at the future where we will all need ever increasing train traffic in highly populated areas.

Uncle Slayton
05-08-2011, 10:03 AM
They don't bother me, but then again, I have fourteen antique clocks in my house, seven within 10 feet of me as I type. Midnight and noon here are sort of startling to people not expecting it, but I never even wake up.

However, a case in point as to why they may want to keep blowing those whistles: I was driving westbound on Gray in Norman yesterday. I heard the train whistle, so I slowed down as I approached the tracks. Other motorists did not, some had headphones in.

I was somewhat concerned to see that the crossing arms were not going down or the lights flashing as the engine approached, and motorists kept driving right across the tracks, oblivious to it, apparently conditioned that if those lights aren't flashing and the arms aren't down, it's all clear. A few of them finally added up what that loud blaring noise was and slammed on the brakes.

One guy came (what I can only guess was) pants-soilingly close to getting smashed, and that's nothing to the idiocy that used to happen on Boyd, when people would weave through the arms or go under them as they were descending, even with the whistle being blown.