Would you live near the tracks?

[blownout cylinder]

BNSFwatcher

I still enjoy driving the route and tracing the line.

Have you taken any photos of the old ROW up that way? We're trying to catalogue a lot of the old CN/CP ROWs that went through and around Palmerston ON--

[wwhitby]

I lived about 60 yards from the AT&SF main in Merced, California when I was a little boy.  I can still remember running outside to watch the trains when I heard them blowing for the crossings.

I wouldn't have a problem living by a mainline.  I have two friends who do, and after a while, they can "tune out" trains.  Me, i'd probably live on the front porch :)

[NKP guy]

 BNSFwatcher/Hays:

   You made my day!  Thanks for your kind words.

[OldArmy94]

My grandma lived about 200 feet off the KCS main close to Bloomburg,TX, just a shade over the Arkansas state line. The nights were so quiet out there, and being used to ambient noise most of the time while sleeping, it was unnerving. One summer night, I woke up to the sounds of a freight rolling through at speed, and I tried to climb out the window into her backyard, convinced that the train was coming right through the house. Thankfully, my head cleared, and I realized all was well. Grandma died a few years back, and her house burned not too long after that. I miss those days and am sorry that my boys won't have that experience of visiting Grandma's house on the KCS main.

[Cricketer]

I live about 5 yards from the nearest track, though at a slightly higher level. Two bonuses here - the first is that I'm very close to the station, the second is that I can see if the trains are running by looking out of the window. For example a diesel train from Uckfield (UK) has just headed past which tells me it's time to get washed and dressed.

Sleep through the trains right now, though easier with a mostly passenger line and thus virtually no trains overnight.