2010 and trains still have to blow horns?

[rcjunkie]

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]

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]

Thankfully I can gripe since I moved here in 1905 before that damn railroad

[Snowman]

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]

Yeah, you go back so far that my parents didn't have electricity or a Hoffman television.

[TheTravellers]

...

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]

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]

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...iet-zones.html

[OKCisOK4me]

Are all the people complaining on here part of NIMBY (Not In My BackYard)???

[torea]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[lake hefner breeze]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[torea]

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]

@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]

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]

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]

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.