It is a movement that’s gaining strength and seems to be widespread…That is, non blowing of whistles as trains enter and are running through communities. It is strange of people to petition for such an act…Here in Muncie, it has been an ongoing discussion in city government for some time now and I don’t know just where it stands but it is serious. For a while I thought it would become law of no whistle blowing and may yet…It is totally stupid but that seems not to be something that stops the non whistle blower crowd. We have NS and CSX main lines running 4 or 5 directions here in our city and can present much exposure to trains at crossings. Most are signal protected but that doesn’t eliminate all the danger.
If they don’t like to hear train horns. Why would move near a Railroad
So they should. The Kingston Subdivision is the busiest and fastest line in Ontario. CN trains go 60mph and VIAs go up to 100mph.
The only safeway to eliminate train horns is to replace the crossings with over- or under passes. Creating thes bypasses will snarl a lot of traffic during their construction plus add a couple of thousands of dollars to the local tax burden in order to pay off the construction bonds. Ask these petitioners if they are willing to support the tax increase.
I live one block from the NS main thet runs through town. For a while I thought he trains had stopped running. Turns out I just got used to the trains’ whistling and tunned it out. Including “The Mad Whistler” that blows a complete _0 for each and every crossing during the middle of the night. There is a problem, as I heard once, that people most likely to be struck by a train live in proximity to crossings and are used to whistles.
I’m with every one else on this matter. They invented whistles as a warning. They invented choices in purchasing real estate so no one has to live where they don’t want to.
As for tourists being disturbed, I think some of them may feel that the sound of an approaching train is romantic. I know of no toourist area where the frequency of train whistles is at a constant, annoying rate.
Mitch
Isn’t the FRA order on train horns about to go into effect? I think it overrides all local noise laws unless a community has upgraded crossings greater safety by installing such features as 4 quadrant gates.
That won’t impact our town, as the use of train horns has never been blocked. However, two trains a day (maybe) is hardly a major noise problem. Some of the communities along the busier Chicago Metra routes are not going to be very happy when the new rules go into effect. Most community leaders know about the coming rule changes and I am sure they will face major heat from the maybe 90% of their constituents that don’t have a clue as to what is coming. The screaming may be louder than the horns.
Jay
I have no sympathy at all for these people. 99% of the time the tracks were there WAY before they were. If you don’t like horns then you should not have moved in to that location. The whole quiet zone thing is a big mistake and is going to cause a lot of people to get killed. Our society has turned into a bunch of selfish people that care only about themselves. They are willing to sacrifice someone elses life so they don’t have to deal with hearing the noise. I say screw the quiet zone thing. If you want quiet then move, soundproof your house or fork over the money for grade seperation. It’s as simple as that.
Think about this…Does this lady get excited when emergency vechicles go by with sirens on? Or how about a driver who blows their horn to get the attention of another person in order to avoid an accident. Sirens and horns are used for safety - the same reason trains blow their horn.
Maybe this lady’s personal life comes before safety of all other lives.
Seen on a sticker:
“Aw, did my lights and siren wake you up? Well, guess what, Homer, if we gotta be up, you gotta be up.”
We have a crazy situation here in the Tampa area. Subdivisions are built within 50 yards of a high speed CSX line, then the new residents whine about noise! Yet, those mainlines were there since the early 1900s!
To these IDIOTS I would gladly tell them to either sell their house, or ask that a special tax be assesed so that an overpass (which is likely $1million by the time all the red tape and construction is done) can be built so that the trains can zip by quietly.
Allan, I’m right with you. If the lady doesn’t like it, she should move out. She needs to understand that it’s a law that all trains must honk at all grade crossings. Unfortunately, there are grade crossings by my house, where the railroad has some sort of a “Silent Zone” or “Grandfather’s Law”, where trains can’t honk. They have 60 MPH speed limits there. If anything, people should be signing petitions to allow trains to honk through those crossings. [:)] I haven’t seen a wreck there yet, and I don’t want too, but I’m afraid I might if trains don’t honk through there, since some people drive around the gates when they’re down. I just saw this happen yesterday. I was train watching in Lemont, waiting for an Amtrak. They normally blow through there 80 MPH. The gates go down, and some moron drives right around the gates. Lucky for him, the Amtrak was slow. I love it when a train honks. Trains honking is one of the reasons I love trains.
Location! Location! Location!
I have no problem with the No Horn laws with one stipulation…
The govenmental authority that imposes the law thereby assumes all responsibilities and liabilities for ANY train vs. vehicle or train vs. pedestrian incident that occurs at the No Horn crossings. You get what you are willing to pay for.
The Austin Terminal Railroad has a grade crossing on North Lamar Blvd, a four-lane, very busy street, that has signs posted informing drivers that the trains do not whistle at that grade crossing. The only reason that there has not been carnage, in my opinion, is because the rail line has light traffic for industrial switching, I believe. Of course, the stupidity of Austin drivers is, or should be, proverbial. One of these days, some poor soul will get hit by a train on one of those crossings and the city council will go berserk.[banghead]
I guess that, in fairness, I ought to modify the post with two additional pieces of information: First, I am talking about Austin, TX, not the one up north. Second, there are four-quadrant crossing gates on the crossing.
Am I the only one who thinks, that RRs ought to install a few sticks of jointed rail near “quiet zones”. Ofc - sticks with LOOSE tieplates…
Homes here in Florida that are built to the latest hurricane standards and are more than three blocks from the tracks will not have horn noise, unless, of course, a window is left open. I know. I’m a homebuilder.
Oh, but I love the sound of a train horn at night!
One thing that really gets me ped off is because we have a no-horn law down in the Lakeside neigborhood of Duluth and we have had 2 accidents in the last 2 years because of the no horn law and since the railroad is the North Shore Scenic Railroad thy dont have gobs of money and with paint costing about 400 dollars a gallon and about 50 gallons needed just to cover the roof of just ONE car, i really get ped off.
If you are alive to complain about loud locomotive horns or their glaring bright lights, then these devices have done their job. Get real, and keep us all alive.
This lady has no idea what she is doing.[V]
How dare she approach you with a petition. Even if you had the slightest urge to sign it, you are probably not the only one that goes past her crossing at night, if at all.
As far as I’m concerned, this lady is wasting her time. She has no right whatsoever to even appraoch you.