Move next to the tracks, complain about the noise

[zardoz]

BRANDON, FL -

County officials plan to meet Wednesday night with a vocal grass-roots contingent of eastern Hillsborough County residents who say they are sick of the nightly blare of train horns disrupting their sleep.

The two sides will discuss an exemption to a new federal law requiring trains to sound their horns at every public railroad crossing. The new law goes into effect in December, but allows local governments to apply for ``quiet zones'' at railroad crossings with low accident rates and a string of high-tech safety devices.

Quiet zones are meant to reduce train-horn noise in residential communities without compromising safety. They can be expensive to implement. It is up to the government jurisdiction that maintains the road on which a crossing is located to apply for the quiet zones.

http://brandon.tbo.com/brandon/MGB94I3RNXD.html

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I know we've discussed this subject before; it just amazes me each time I hear about it.

[JoeKoh]

Have have a quiet zone and a motorist sue because they didnt hear the train.
stop look listen and live
stay safe
Joe

[Anonymous]

(rolls eyes)

No matter how much I blow the horn, I still get poeple on the tracks.......

[Junctionfan]

CSX and NS should respond by installing louder horns.[}:)][}:)][(-D]

[wcfan4ever]

Our city want to have a no-horn policy in place. The train comes in between 10pm and 1am every night. Then leaves anywhere from 2am to 6am. We have way to many road crossing in our city. The are so close together. Even I sometimes get tired of being waken up and odd hours just to hear the passing train.

There was an article in the newspaper not too long ago stating that the city recieved a petition regaurding the horns. I guess 2,000 or so people signed it saying its too loud and make it so that horns can't be used after dark or before the sun comes up.

Well, it ain't happening. I read somewhere else that the state of Wisconsin will not create any horn-bans. If anything, they will be taking some away in the bigger cities where the trains go faster. To me, thats good for railfans cause now we will be able to hear that train coming. If you don't like it, move, your not going to get anywhere complaining to the railroad about the horns.

[Anonymous]

I agree with Dave Howarth, If you dont like living next to the train tracks,then move.I cant wait for the whistles to start blowing again.Here in Fond Du Lac,Wi,I live about 100 yards away from the CN/WC mainline at the South entrance to the shops yard. For the past 3 weeks,the engineers have been blowing the horns due to ignoramous fools who dont want to,or beat the train at the crossing.If this isnt enough,I've got these same yahoos turning around in my driveway because they are too impatient to wait for the train to pass. If this isnt enough yet,CN has had to replace the westside crossing gate at Scott St.,'cause three vehicles have gone through the crossing at different times.I wi***hat there was a barrier at that crossing so that no incident like that can happen again.Whats it going to take for people to stop for these trains?........someone to get killed. Granted it is the main line to Chicago,and yes there are alot of trains coming though here 24/7,but still........It makes you wonder.

[tree68]

Some years ago a fighter went in short of the runway at Tinker AFB, OK (SE of OKC). The plane ended up not far from a school. There were cries of "Move the Runway!".

When Tinker was built, it was out in the country. Now OKC, and some 'burbs, have grown to surround it. Nobody told them to build that school near the glidepath of the field...

This is another example of people not understanding how things work. The stereo they will be buying at the local LoudMusic store is probably in one of the containers in that stack train they're complaining about... It's also an example of our "right now" mindset these days.

And it does sound like they need some of those billboards that CSX is putting up around Gulfport. Maybe if they were set up so they came down in the road, like the gates. Not only would people get a reminder of why they should think safety around crossings, but they wouldn't be able to drive around them......

[Randy Stahl]

I've been confronted with irate people many times while I was sitting in a company vehicle waiting for a train, as if it's MY fault they can't sleep at night. I had one guy threaten to kick my ***.. I told him he could certainly try!!!!
Randy

[dharmon]

I say, let them do it.

In fact ban the use of horns all together. And then place a sign at crossings that says proceed at on risk, RR takes no responsibilty for injury / death.

Or even better, just remove the horns and crossing gates altogether and use the money to put big plows on the locos. A person will look both ways before crossing a street, now they'll have to do it crossing the RR tracks.....Plus it will help thin out the gene pool of stupid people.

Here is CA, alot of complaining going on.....Folks want trains to relieve traffic congestion, but want someone else to pay for it. They want the RRs to do something about teenagers that lie down on the RR tracks and get run over, but want a horn ban in the city. They want something done about RR vs auto collisions (notice I don't call them accidents), but complain when the streets get closed to build a freakin' overpass instead of a grade crossing.....

take the horns off......remove the gates......the strong will survive and the weak (of mind and attention span) will return to food chain at the beginning of the cycle...[:(!]

[rrnut282]

Isn't amazing how many centrepoints this universe has![#wstupid]

[Anonymous]

thinking about the title of this thread. Also, in NJ, we have people who....

Build thier big house next to a farm, and then complain to the township
about the odor of manure, the farm machinery working at
sun rise, etc

Build their big house next to state game land, and then complain about all
the gunfire

And now, for all of my fellow gear heads out there, New Jersey's famous drag
strip, Raceway Park, home of many Nationals every year, is facing pressure
to shut down because the owners of all the new half million dollar homes
don't like it.

http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-7/109195436527900.xml?starledger?nnj

if your interested.

Jim

[locomutt]

We've been having that discussion around here for 'several' years.
It would seem like some people don't want to hear the train horns,but THEY
are the most vocal if someone gets hit.
I agree with Dan,and Randy;let them take their 'lumps' and forget
how much the railroads have done for them,wheather or not they realize it!

[locomutt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Junctionfan

CSX and NS should respond by installing louder horns.[}:)][}:)][(-D]

You got MY vote on that one. But with the way some of the idiots around here
drive with their stereos cranked up,I doubt it would do much good.[:)]

The city council in Louisville,passed a law several years ago,about the
noise coming from car stereos,but really have yet to enforce it.
Some of these cars that come past the house,if they ran out of gas,
could make it to a service station,on the radio noise alone. They just
jump.(so long as the battery is still up)[:)]

[Anonymous]

stuff plugs in their ears, and a boot in their ***, and if they still can't sleep, I'll gladly come knock em over the head. Seriously, horn bans? people these
days are dumber than hell and twice as ignorant. I say the more these people complain, the louder the horns should blow. There isn't a day that goes by that we don't come at least a couple car lengths from nailing someone. The morons of this world never cease to amaze.

[Anonymous]

The post about Tinker AFB has a twin with Luke AFB in Glendale, Arizona. The standard reply to jet noise of F-16's to the idiots below was that they were listening to the sound of freedom.

There's a reason why trains have bells and whistles. It's the sound of safety.

I'm not sure how I would write a ticket on a train blowing his whistle in the middle of the night. Those critters seem to be moving on tracks going places my patrol car can't go. As for pulling them over with lights and sirens... I'm not even going there.

Erik

[tree68]

QUOTE: Originally posted by erikthered

As for pulling them over with lights and sirens... I'm not even going there.
Erik

Reminds me of the scene from "Groundhog Day"[:D]

[garr]

Think this is bad---see what happens when a rail-banked line comes back to life!

New homeowners along the revived line will be claiming they never knew a railroad was right in their backyard or within earshot. This arguement would have at least a little more merit than the current batch of complainers who don't have a leg on which to stand. Any active railroad could easily be seen if the neighborhood was checked out before buying.

What is the old saying--"caveat empor".

And if one wants to really see complaining, wait until the first rail-banked line that is currently a walking/biking trail comes up for revival.

Jay

[Junctionfan]

How about rigging up all the locomotives up so you make them all whistle at the same time.

[UPTRAIN]

I had some son of a female dog come up to me in Dupo, Illinois after I got off a train at a crossing just outside of town. He thought it was my fault that all the trains blow their horns loud, I told him I have no control over how the manufacturer makes the horn valve and/or button and that that crossing just happens to always be used by stupid morons that always seem to pull out in front of you, all you can do then is be whistle happy and dump the air before you hit them in the side. What do they expect of us, if they can do better, UP is going to hire 1,000 more employees before the year end, go apply you bastards.

[Anonymous]

Eminem's title of a song goes like this:

I just don't give a Fudge.. ok well not fudge..

I usually tune the horn to seasonal classics.. Blue christmas, Jingle bells.. mary Had a little lamb...

Generates so many complaints, but it's fun----> let me tell you!

then to end it all, when question period comes:

Simply deny responsibility!

I didn't honk the horn, Abraham Lincoln's ghost did!
I didn't hear a horn, I thought it was broken so I tried to get maximum sound out!
Horn, this thing has a horn?.. I thought That was the speed lever!


So if they ban horns, I'll jsut stick my head out the window and yell things-

that works too!

all these solutions, were running out of a problem!

[UPTRAIN]

all these solutions, were running out of a problem! Thats about what it comes to.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by zardoz

BRANDON, FL -

County officials plan to meet Wednesday night with a vocal grass-roots contingent of eastern Hillsborough County residents who say they are sick of the nightly blare of train horns disrupting their sleep.

The two sides will discuss an exemption to a new federal law requiring trains to sound their horns at every public railroad crossing. The new law goes into effect in December, but allows local governments to apply for ``quiet zones'' at railroad crossings with low accident rates and a string of high-tech safety devices.

Quiet zones are meant to reduce train-horn noise in residential communities without compromising safety. They can be expensive to implement. It is up to the government jurisdiction that maintains the road on which a crossing is located to apply for the quiet zones.

http://brandon.tbo.com/brandon/MGB94I3RNXD.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I know we've discussed this subject before; it just amazes me each time I hear about it.

who cares about them?!?!!?! they can soundproof their walls[:p][:p][:p]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

I say, let them do it.

In fact ban the use of horns all together. And then place a sign at crossings that says proceed at on risk, RR takes no responsibilty for injury / death.

Or even better, just remove the horns and crossing gates altogether and use the money to put big plows on the locos. A person will look both ways before crossing a street, now they'll have to do it crossing the RR tracks.....Plus it will help thin out the gene pool of stupid people.

Here is CA, alot of complaining going on.....Folks want trains to relieve traffic congestion, but want someone else to pay for it. They want the RRs to do something about teenagers that lie down on the RR tracks and get run over, but want a horn ban in the city. They want something done about RR vs auto collisions (notice I don't call them accidents), but complain when the streets get closed to build a freakin' overpass instead of a grade crossing.....

take the horns off......remove the gates......the strong will survive and the weak (of mind and attention span) will return to food chain at the beginning of the cycle...[:(!]

why have large plows when you can get death spikes[}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)]

[UPTRAIN]

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainman2244

QUOTE: Originally posted by zardoz

BRANDON, FL -

County officials plan to meet Wednesday night with a vocal grass-roots contingent of eastern Hillsborough County residents who say they are sick of the nightly blare of train horns disrupting their sleep.

The two sides will discuss an exemption to a new federal law requiring trains to sound their horns at every public railroad crossing. The new law goes into effect in December, but allows local governments to apply for ``quiet zones'' at railroad crossings with low accident rates and a string of high-tech safety devices.

Quiet zones are meant to reduce train-horn noise in residential communities without compromising safety. They can be expensive to implement. It is up to the government jurisdiction that maintains the road on which a crossing is located to apply for the quiet zones.

http://brandon.tbo.com/brandon/MGB94I3RNXD.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I know we've discussed this subject before; it just amazes me each time I hear about it.

who cares about them?!?!!?! they can soundproof their walls[:p][:p][:p]

Soundproof the walls, not the horns, non-railfans always screw it up for the rest of us.[:(!][V][:(]

[Junctionfan]

Maybe they should get a horn that sounds like the screaming of ringwraiths from the Lord of the Rings. That will the get the attentions of those S.O.Bs plus any dog with in a 5 mile radius. "You fool; no man can kill me" Witchking of Agamar (Return of the King)

[}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)]

[Anonymous]

These are the same people who will knowingly build in a floodplain and then go begging to the government (read: the rest of us) for relief the first time it rains.

Whatever happened to responsibility?[banghead]

Junctionfan--that's about what the original diesel horns are supposed to have sounded like. They were reputedly replaced because they scared livestock and wildlife!

[Train Guy 3]

Well the tracks were there first....so KEEP ON BLOWING. Louder and longer.

[Anonymous]

If I where an Engineer,I woulden't care any more, my actions would be..........
Come on stupid "do" it,"do" it COME ON CHICKEN make my day!
______,______,O________________ !
______,______,O________________ !

[darth9x9]

Hey Ironmine,

We have the same problem here in Maryland. People from the city build houses out in the rural areas and then pertition the local government to ban the local farms from using manure because they don't like the smell!!! Go figure.

BC

[wcfan4ever]

More towns should go with the AHS. The Automated Horn System. I don't know how many of you are familiar with it. Basically is is a large box mounted on a pole with a speaker. When the crossing go on, the Automated Horn begins to sound.

The horn is not quite as loud as a regualar train horn however. This reason being that the speaker is facing traffic both ways. Try standing next to one when it goes of...LOUD!

Plus on top of four surrounding poles, there are cameras. So you attempt to go around the gate, most likely, you will be notified by the police. I have seen these AHS's in use in Ames, IA. I was there for two days watching trains at different locations in the city with crossing that have the AHS and not once did I see a vehicle go around the gates. I also never heard the train blow its horn either. Well, the only time he did was to greet me once in the early morning hours.

I have heard that Ames, IA is not the only city to have them. They were the first but other may have followed. I heard a suburb of Chicago to the north on the former WC now CN line had them, but they had too many malfunctions with them. I know Ames didn't seem to have any problems.