Local trains blowing horns more frequently

we live about 1.5 - 2 miles from the tracks.  nothing between us and the tracks but a few trees and fields.  at night you can hear/feel the rumble as they move along.  no horns.  the older I get, the more Id like to live closer to the tracks (but not in town).  I lived in a small town in the 70's and 80's where you could hear the whistle from the town 4 miles north and then thru our town.  a friend's family had about 15 coon dogs and they'd start up when the train was blowing in the other town.  I guess as we get older we complain more.  I've noticed as I've gotten older, my horn blows more too.  once again, another useless thread that needed somebody to ramble on for a while.

One really cool thing was a gal who's lived in the neighborhood for 75 years posted on the tattler that she can remember when it was a steam whistle and thinks more horns is a good thing - it means products are moving to market, except she wishes it wasn't all shipping containers with goods from china.

My wife is uber sensitive to sound. We have to watch the TV in almost 'whisper' mode and it drives me nuts. But even she doesn't gripe about it because we built the house there almost a century after they first laid tracks there.

We live about 1/4 mile from a short line with plenty of run through UP and BNSF power to the port and the local crews sometimes will blow a little extra for where a pal lives near. One guy we know used to be a hogger on that line and knowing my wife is easily irritated by noise, he blew extra for the crossing nearest us (I almost cried from laughing when he finally admitted to this). He'd also sound more at the next crossing, which is near a mutual friend's place.

We live to the north of that line and the breezes usually blow from that direction. So depending on the wind, it can sound like the train is with a few feet of our South-facing wall. Or you might not hear it at all. Sometimes, it'll echo off each side of the glacial valley we live in. I love it when that happens. When I let my pup out to do his thing in our fenced back yard at night, he'll sometimes look around, wondering where the noise is coming from.

Like most of you who live near RR tracks, I'm fine with it all.

My engineer's promotion was on the Santa Fe. I still remember how I had to write out the answer to one of the horn rules in place at the time. "Clear, loud, and long, with intensity and duration proportionate to the distance the signal is conveyed"  And, "unnecessary use of the horn is prohibited".  A now for a story:  A few years before I retired, I got caught up in this scenario. I was following another train on it's block.  We were eastbound on main #2 (south track), and the train ahead passed over a crossing without using the whistle. The engineer did not blow for the crossing, because another train was on the crossing traveling the opposite direction, and of course the gates were down, and there was no automobile traffic stopped at the gate anyway. I approached the same crossing ten minutes later, and blew the correct sequence (two longs, an short, and a long) starting at the whistle sign, and continuing until I had cleared the crossing (my contention). Anyway, when I, and the crew ahead of us got into Kansas City, we had to see the Trainmaster before we tied up, who was there waiting for us. The engineer & conductor ahead of me got **** tested and pulled out of service, and were out nearly a year, for not blowing, even though the crossing was occupied by another train. And, they accused me of not blowing completely through the crossing, instead, stopping somewhere in the middle of the crossing. (All this at 55 mph, at night) Anyway, a formal investigation was scheduled, but it was quietly dropped later when they discovered that the video and event recorder information was pulled from the trailing unit in my consist, instead of the lead unit, and didn't record any useful data. In our case, the TM was in the weeds at the whistle board with a radar gun, and a signal maintainer was near the crossing to witness horn use at the crossing.

Does anyone recall the DM&E?  This was a RR Co. trying to get funding to cross Minnesota and S. Dakota.  The idea was to upgrade the tracks to provide another access to the Wyoming mines.  But, city governments such as Rochester and Brookings if I recall raised objections, and ultimately the government agency that they needed to ok the funding said no.  Would have brought in lots of jobs but no, not in my back yard.

   On another note, most counties in Nebraska have zoning nowadays and they have rules about how close one can build to feedlots and livestock facilities, as well as density of homes in agricultural areas.

   I do support the quiet zone approach however. Like it or not, we cannot stay stuck in the past.  Creative solutions exist.  At my age, the kids, like it or not, are taking over running this here world.  

I live near a major airport.  All of the home owners in our area have to sign a statement that the house that they are purchasing is near the airport and that noise is frequent and loud.  It doesn't stop people from complaining after they move in.  It is just the world that we live in.

 

As for deaths at crossing, Cal-Train that provides commuter service between San Francisco and San Jose has reported hitting 10 people since January 1.  Nine of the ten were ruled suicide.  The 10th person ignored the gates.

 

Joe 

Have there been any recent studies done as to whether horns do much good in this day and age?  Surely when driving a horse and  buggy it did.  Now, with quiet cars and stereos and such?  I am not sure. It doesn't seem to deter the gate jumpers or the suicide folks.

The sound of the Air Horns or Air Chimes travels farther in COLD weather.

 

How many grade crossings are there where you live.

 

There are new Air Chimes or Air Horns that are louder than the older models.

 

People can hear the new Air Horns or Air Chimes from a greater distance.

 

Andrew

Being from a railroad family, I enjoy the the horns. I lived with my grandparents every summer. Their house was 150 yards from the SP tracks. I remember the trains passing every 30 minutes. Sometimes the spacing was closer. Yes, I loved the horns, the rumble and shaking of my bedsprings. Most of all I miss the shadows cast by the rotating Mars light through our open widows.

 

I live very close to two lines, CSX and NS.  CSX is closest and can always tell if it's a CSX or NS.  For both railroads, their horn application differ with the crews.  I've heard trains go through in the early AM and they don't blow their horns.  Others, during the same AM period do.  Being a rail fan I really enjoy it and have gotten used to it.  We had the circus train come through earlier this year. It was in the early morning, still dark out and I saw cars with lights on - very unusual as only freight passes through.  I thought it was an Executive special until the saw the circus markings on the side of a couple of cars. That was pretty cool to see.  It was on the CSX track heading south.

Wind, clouds, temps all aspects of the weather affect how sounds travels.

But kinda agree there has been a lot of national news coverage of class one railroads and safety so hopefully it's more that folks are taking notice of trains. 

"The odd thing is that since the FEC got their new ES44C4's, there have been several complaints about the loudness of the horns!"

I was having this conversation with one FEC's sub contractors recently. Living about 1/4 from the FEC tracks. I suggested rail traffic had increased and was likely the reason for increased noise complaints. He told me while that might be part of the reason, two other reasons are because the new ES44C4's turbines are louder with higher sound frequencies. But more than that people are angered about the All Aboard Florida passenger service which will increase traffic on the line by adding 28 more trains daily.

 

I'm guessing he meant to say "turbochargers", though I don't notice much of a difference with NS's ES44 units.  They certainly have a less-noticeable turbo whine than EMD units do, and FEC has plenty of those.

Interesting to note that several of the diesel emergency stand-by power supplies, that I have installed, had exceptional silencing equipment. Containment housing and mufflers, all designed for a hospital/nursing home setting.  Maybe those high horsepower on steel wheel units could be a bit more quiet.

For what it's worth, EMD locomotives have had exhaust silencers since about 1972, plus redesign of cooling fans, all to reduce noise per AAR/FRA mandates. Pretty sure that GE has had to go through the same redesigns for reduction of noise.

Everything behind the locos is loud on its own: brake squeal, flange squeal on sharp curves, the occasional car that makes a loud clacking noise as it rolls along (flat spot?).  I've heard a loud crashing sound that rapidly sweeps through the train from front to back on start up (is that the drawbar slack being removed?).

Trains are loud... period.  If the horn is silenced, the next loudest component will most likely be addressed.  (I do think the locomotive bell volume needs to be increased.  They're barely audible in my opinion.)