The real question is: Since you’re buying a house and you are on the Trains forum, do you hope to see more or less trains than what the realtor said?
Enquiring minds want to know.
Jeff (I’d be hoping for more myself.)
Well, I’d be happy with more, but have to consider how my wife and kids would feel about trains barreling through our backyard in the middle of the night! When I need my train fix, I can make the mile or two trek up to the UP tracks through Elmhurst that have ~100 trains a day going by.
bradidas wrote the following post[in part]:
“…The realtor has said that 2-4 trains per day pass. Can any of you either confirm or refute that estimate? …”
Word of Caution! Unless that Real Estate agent is your wife, or a close ,trusted relative. I’d suggest that you do your own physical research**; and count the trains over that line yourself…[Unless you have access to a railroad employee, who can be definitive with their information.] Bear in mind, that most freight traffic moves on its own schedules, for the most part. Commuter rail, should be determined with a schedule…
** Note: We used to have a poster around here who purchased a home, next to a railline; I believe he said the real estate agent had indicated that particular line was ‘abandoned?’. After he moved in he found that information was baloney. [ I suspect that Shadow the Cat’s Owner, might have the rest of that story?[:-^]
P.S. for what it is worth, I live on a BNSF ‘feeder main’ for Southern T-Con, that line is in a deep cut, on my property’s side; the cut pushes most of the sounds up. Lived here for a couple of years, plenty of trains to watch, and the disruptions are a minimal.
Dad once told me similar stories about real estate agents selling new houses that backed up against the SC&S line (PRR) through Hegewisch, although they claimed that the line was about to be abandoned. Last time I looked, the tracks were still in place, although with very light traffic.
Trust me–if there are good houses by the tracks, it won’t make a bit of difference. Pat and I (daughter Linda, too) have stayed at B&Bs at Cresson and Gallitzin, Pennsylvania, and near Galesburg on the ex-ATSF main line–the trains go right by (at speed in Galesburg, with no intervening street; and climbing grades in Gallitzin with a tunnel amplifying the sound), and when it comes time to sleep, it’s situation normal…she’s out like a light, and I would have no clue as to how many trains I missed. It probably depends on the individual(s) involved, but one gets used to it.
And hotels–I’d forgotten about the ones that have trains going by them regularly–we ask for the rooms with the best view, and the noise is no bother (we’ve had a couple where the approaching trains would shine their ever-lovin’ lights on us…not a problem unless one sleeps with one’s eyes open).
At long last the folks in Milford, MI are discussing the possibility of putting a hotel on the site of the old Ford carburetor plant (one of Henry’s "village industries - a fascinating topic itself). It is right next to the CSX Saginaw Sub. Not just close, directly next to. There’s no public lodging in town right now, so I’d imagine it will get used.
Traffic on the Saginaw Sub isn’t what it once was, so I doubt it’ll be a major issue. I do wonder if they’ll put in a pedestrian crossing as a direct link to downtown…
One thing that long held such a project up was the brownfield status of the site.
The factory was never rail-served despite PM/C&O/CSX going right by.