Hi John!
Yeah, I can't explain it either, but I know what I heard.
Ghost trains maybe? Nah, ghost trains would have steam whistles.
Wayne
As I'm running our Polar Express trains to the North Pole and back each night, I have to wonder if the residents near the crossings are cringing or realize who's on the trains.
Normally, the line sees one or two freight trains a week, plus two or three of our trains during our operating season.
Polar means two trips per night on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, as well as one trip on some Thursdays. I try not to get too carried away with the horn, but rules are rules, and with eleven cars (450 passengers) and another locomotive behind me, if I'm running at track speed, well...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Wayne,
If you heard horns from trains in Ridgewood they has to be an explanation but I don't know what it is. I lived ion the same line in Waldwick for many years on Hopper Avenue. Never once did I hear a horn as NJT trains passed over the Hopper Avenue grade crossing. If I was out in my yard I could hear the warning bell and I could hear the diesel engines as NJT parked engines in the Waldwick yard and kept them running over night but I cannot recall ever hearing a horn.
So I cannot explain the horns you heard in Paramus.
John
A well-designed quiet zone can work without causing a loss of safety. A good example might be the CSX Blue Island Sub in Chicago between 95th and 119th Streets. However, it requires that the railroad, municipalities and regulatory bodies work together to come up with a reasonable plan and appropriate engineering to make it work.
So far, at least, the quiet zones are for the account of the municipal buyers, with some states -- like my N.D. -- helping out. Don't look for the railroads to volunteer their stockholders' money. And why should they? The louder horns that are annoying the neighbors are at the insistence of Washington.
Being a "good neighbor" is reciprocal. In many places, highways have noise barriers on both sides to reduce the ambient sound level. Perhaps the rails need to consider installing more hornless crossings or face requirements for sound barriers, too?
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
John, NJT doesn't use horns? That's odd, last time I was home in Paramus, NJ I could hear the NJT horns from Ridgewood, the next town over. Is your area a designated quiet zone?
henry6If you move into a town or neighborhood where the railroad has grade crossing or just is there before you buy, then you have a gripe with your realtor not the railroad.
Actually, Henry, I have no gripe with my railroad. NJT's station is just over a mile from my house but I never hear a thing because NJT does not use horns. And it doesn't use horns on the Port Jervis line either, at least not on the New Jersey section. The diesel engines are so quiet that it is possible to stand in the station and not even know the train is coming until it rolls by you.
I envy you gents who got to hear those steam whistles in the night. A far away diesel horn ( I refuse to call it a whistle) can sound pretty good as well, but it's just not the same.
ACY On the old B&O (now CSX) through Akron, Ohio, the ruling grade in both directions rose out of the Little Cuyahoga River Valley. The mainline ran a little less than a mile from my boyhood home. It was too far away to see, but I could hear. Back in the early- and mid-1950's, I'd lie in my bed and listen for an eastbound heading up the grade to Cuyahoga Falls. The road engine, likely a 4-8-2, would pass, and then I'd hear another engine, the pusher, following along. I couldn't go to sleep until I heard the pusher coming back down the grade and whistling for the crossing at Bettes' Corners, on the way back to Akron Jct. Once the helper had gone back, I knew all was well in the world & I could sleep.
On the old B&O (now CSX) through Akron, Ohio, the ruling grade in both directions rose out of the Little Cuyahoga River Valley. The mainline ran a little less than a mile from my boyhood home. It was too far away to see, but I could hear. Back in the early- and mid-1950's, I'd lie in my bed and listen for an eastbound heading up the grade to Cuyahoga Falls. The road engine, likely a 4-8-2, would pass, and then I'd hear another engine, the pusher, following along. I couldn't go to sleep until I heard the pusher coming back down the grade and whistling for the crossing at Bettes' Corners, on the way back to Akron Jct. Once the helper had gone back, I knew all was well in the world & I could sleep.
A nice story well-told, ACY. Lucky you, with those memories. I can imagine you falling to sleep with their help to this day.
If you move into a town or neighborhood where the railroad has grade crossing or just is there before you buy, then you have a gripe with your realtor not the railroad. If you were told or knew it before hand moved in, it is your fault, your problem...admit your error in judgement and move out. Most anywhere in the US a rail line was probably in place from 80 to 160 some odd years before you arrived, they staked their property and their rights and newbies have virtually no rights or abilities to fight it. We have city folk arriving in sylvan farm communities and want farmers to get rid of the cows because of the stench. Too bad.
RIDEWITHMEHENRY is the name for our almost monthly day of riding trains and transit in either the NYCity or Philadelphia areas including all commuter lines, Amtrak, subways, light rail and trolleys, bus and ferries when warranted. No fees, just let us know you want to join the ride and pay your fares. Ask to be on our email list or find us on FB as RIDEWITHMEHENRY (all caps) to get descriptions of each outing.
Boydif you can't handle the [train] noise then sell your house.
Boyd,
If you were the public relations man for the local railroad and I were running for political office you would make me really happy with your remark.
I can just see my campaign literature. "The railroad does not own our homes! Tax paying citizens must get relief from oppressive profit making corporations! Vote for me and vote against the terrible, awful, no good, very bad railroad!"
As you read the ridiculous but vote getting attack you may be inclined to say "But this guy is running for dog catcher. What does that have to do with railroads?
No matter. I have my issue and my cause.
Lost in the argument would be the fact that those loud horns are sounding because the law requires them for safety reasons. So we might begin by asking if the law is really needed and we could modify it to provide for safety without out the horns in sensitive areas.
But I would be having none of it. I have an election to win. I want to be dog catcher and now I have a good way to get the job.
None of this is to say your argument is wrong. Quite the opposite. This is America and blunt truth is often forbidden.
zardoz Of course. if some corporation wants to finance my move....The Kepler telescope has recently found a potentially habitable planet "only" 12 light-years away; I wonder if they have something similar to trains there....
Of course. if some corporation wants to finance my move....The Kepler telescope has recently found a potentially habitable planet "only" 12 light-years away; I wonder if they have something similar to trains there....
Trains? Possibly. NIMBYs? Certainly. (Blankety-blank humans, ruinin' our nice neighborhood...)
Chuck (occasional science fiction author)
The horn blows far off, and gradually draws closer, blowing the familiar four blasts.
Soon, the rails begin to sing, a high pitched but not annoying hiss, and you know it is close.
The next sound is the prime movers, faint at first, but increasingly loud, chanting into the night with a determined cadence, pulling with all their might, yet casting an air of confidence.
The ground begins to shake, and the sound echoes off the surrounding hills.
The headlight sweeps around the curve through the fog, a blinding streak of light.
All too soon, the locomotives pass you by, and the cars follow, with their shrieks, clunks, and imposing sense of dark mass outlined against the night sky.
The shrieks begin to fade, and the last car curves around the bend, flashing its red light proclaiming that this is the end of the train.
You become aware of the grin on your face, and tramp off through the darkness, headed for bed once again.
NorthWest: I know well the mechanical music of which you speak, especially in the middle of the night. CSX's former B&O main line makes a huge S curve running alongside the Cuyahoga as it passes through my Ohio town, with trains blowing their horns for a crossing some blocks away. There are nights one can guess whether the approaching train is east or west bound, what the likely consist is (empty auto racks or a heavy coal train), the probable model number of the Nathan Chime Horn, and almost who is working the third trick out of New Castle or Willard. Some nights in the summer, with our windows open, it almost seems as if the engine and train are about to enter the house! Then comes the long fade into the distance of the sound as the train hurries on its way and I quickly fall back to sleep.
My family lived in the 1950's next door, and I mean next door, to the NKP double-track mainline in East Cleveland, where the Berkshires and diesels pulled long, heavy trains at speed past our house day and night. We were awaked only on our first night in that house. After that, we never heard 'em. Rather like my experience these days.
Music indeed.
Can you imagine how hotels and motels must like guests who thank them for railroad sounds instead of complaining about them?
herdebu Their are some of us that just enjoy trains remembering staying in Rawlins WY and asking the motel clerk for a room track side all he said another rail fan enjoy the trains and I got my room track side.
Their are some of us that just enjoy trains remembering staying in Rawlins WY and asking the motel clerk for a room track side all he said another rail fan enjoy the trains and I got my room track side.
Ulrich When I was a student I lived in an apartment that was directly under final approach at Montreal airport. You get used to jets flying 700 feet over your head every 10 minutes...But its a funny thing...if a neighbour played his music a bit too loud I'd get severely *** off. Go figure..
When I was a student I lived in an apartment that was directly under final approach at Montreal airport. You get used to jets flying 700 feet over your head every 10 minutes...But its a funny thing...if a neighbour played his music a bit too loud I'd get severely *** off. Go figure..
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
I've camped at a state park next to the tracks a few times, and I always wake up when a train goes by. I can tell (within a category of prime mover and unit train or not) what the power and cargo are. I don't get out of my sleeping bag, so I stay warm, and listen to the mechanical music...
Ah Norm - the average age on this forum is "old"....
I have a house picked out - 100 years old and in very good condition. Very small - but we are used to small. It sits right at the bottom of the elevation for the lead in and out of the yard. 6 tracks on the lead. Carl and Houston Ed would know where it is since they have both been right across the street from it.
Only problem is - the lady living there doesn't look like she is interested in moving. Maybe she would rent, at least me, one room? Driver can visit!
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
"As an aside, the lot was once home to one of Henry Ford's "Village Industries," which is why old-timers still refer to it as the "carburetor plant."
You just made me feel old.
Norm
Ulrich There's a nice hotel in Grand Falls, New Brunswick (Canada) called the Pres du Lac (French for near the lake). Over the years some people have called it the Pres du Tracks (near the tracks). No kidding. Really nice place, but if you stay the night and are unaware of the tracks then at around 2:00 am you'd be in for quite a surprise.
There's a nice hotel in Grand Falls, New Brunswick (Canada) called the Pres du Lac (French for near the lake). Over the years some people have called it the Pres du Tracks (near the tracks). No kidding. Really nice place, but if you stay the night and are unaware of the tracks then at around 2:00 am you'd be in for quite a surprise.
There's a nice empty lot next to a couple of old mill ponds in my old hometown. Shopping center within walking distance and downtown, now full of "boutique" shops and restaurants, is just a short walk away as well. The only catch is that it's hard by the CSX Saginaw sub, and not far from a crossing, so northbounds would be lettin' 'er rip as they passed the hotel that would otherwise be perfectly located there.
I'd be asking for a room with a view of the tracks...
As an aside, the lot was once home to one of Henry Ford's "Village Industries," which is why old-timers still refer to it as the "carburetor plant." Younger folks remember it as a Kelsey-Hayes facility.
In my experience, if a house in the US meets federally mandated standards for insulation it blocks most noise. (One well-known architect suggested interior walls should have burlap surfaces and fiberglass bats between studs, separate studs each side,offset from each other.)
The automotive industry has figured out how to make virtually soundproof vehicles. When will the housing industry catch up?
Of course, we could move all rail and road traffic into underground tunnels - and then be faced with complaints from worms, moles and prairie dogs...
Chuck
BoydI know, we need maglev freight trains with rubber knuckle couplers. No more click clack,, no more banging when switching cars.
Or deaf and mute neighbours.
Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.
Maybe the railroads should give these people cab rides. Might alter the peoples' perspectives.
For three years, I lived in Wesson, Mississippi, across the street from the IC's main line, and a little more than a block south of the station. Some people complained about the engineer on #25 blowing the horn about 3:30 in the morning after the mail had been worked, but I never noticed it. There was a crossover right in front of my house, but the passage of cars over the frogs did not wake me (I could count the cars on #1, as it went south about ten at night, though).
I do not know what my wife would have said about the trains at night (I was not married then), but she did complain about the noise on the through street which was one house west of where we lived for almost thirty-eight years, especially in the summer and we would have the bedroom window open..
Where I live now has little traffic, day or night, and the only thing I hear is my alarm clock as it tells me that I really should get up and get going.
Johnny
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