Anyone live close to railroad tracks?

[amorey]

I have search and googled and I can’t figure this out! We’re looking to move, and we’ve seen some houses near train tracks. If there aren’t trains going through very often it might be okay, but I don’t want to live somewhere with obnoxious train noises.

[southerner]

Call the city department of transportation, maybe?

[amorey]

You mean I’d have to talk to a real person? ;) Maybe I’ll email the city. I don’t know that they’re big enough to have a transportation department, but there might be someone there who's in charge of that stuff.

[southerner]

Or who could point you in the right direction at least.

[amorey]

You were on to something with the Department of Transportation! I found the info on the state DOT web site. Looks like 4 trains go by at 40 mph daily. Seems like too many trains for me.

[dal]

I would call the town borough hall. They can probably direct you to the right person to talk to.

Check both commuter trains AND freight (sp?) trains. My friend lives near the tracks but it's not a commuter line. So she has freight trains running near her house all night long (as well as during the day).

[Sandie78]

What an interesting thread. We live about 3 miles from some train tracks and you can easily hear the trains, although it's not intrusive. There doesn't really seem to be rhyme or reason to when they go by although I'm sure there is. I think I'll look it up.

[vancouvergirl]

Knock on the neighbors' door?

[Jenyfer9]

Yeah, I'd say ask the neighbors. And honestly, 4 trains a day seems like NOTHING to me. Having lived quite close to train tracks (within a block), you really get to the point VERY QUICKLY of not even hearing them at all (we had the busiest train line coming out of Chicago near us, so it was commuter and freight trains). Good luck!

[LexyLou]

4 trains a day sounds like nothing to me also. I think it depends on how close to the tracks you are and if there is any intersections close by. If they are just flying by at 40 MPH then I don't think it's a problem but if they are blowing their horns and railroad crossing arms have to go down and you are super close, then that could get annoying.

We're about a mile away from a train track and it does have an intersection. It's a commuter train and probably goes by about 20 times a day. It's not that bad where we are but there are houses that are right on the tracks and I would not be able to handle that.

[Mrsbuw]

We are really close, within a block and after 2 years I still HATE it. It''s not too bad when they just go by but when they shunt it can be pretty horrible Thankfully my DS sleeps right through it, I on the other hand need earplugs.
I will never buy a house near a train track again, no matter how cheap the house is.

[Noniitis]

Amorey,

Something you should also take a look at is are there any future plans in the area to increase the traffic on those lines. I think I am on the other side of town then you are looking. Here there is huge talk in our neighborhood meetings and citywide meetings of St Louis Park with the proposed expansions of the lightrail the railroad is planning on diverting traffic on to other lines. The lines in my neighborhood is said to be getting a huge bump up of the lines about 6 blocks from our house. I never hear them but my son can pick out a train noise a mile away < but he is 2 and obsessed with Thomas> Just a heads up.

[snoopy30]

DH and I are looking into building a house in a subdivision that we love but it does have one drawback...it's built really close to the RR tracks.

The track is elevated but would be maybe 1/4 of a mile (or less, I don't have a good concept of distance!) from our house. Trains go by about 10 times a day I think. It's not near a crossing so the horns won't blow right behind our house but I'm just not sure how much to worry about it.

Any input? Would you buy near tracks?? TIA!

[Standrea]

We bought our house in Feb. 2004, and as we were unloading the moving truck, I heard this hellish noise. Everyone still makes fun of me for the face I made when I realized that we lived 1 BLOCK AWAY from the train! I was so upset!

Now, 3 years later. I never hear a train go buy. They go by all the time, but I guess we are just used to them. The only drawback is I constantly worry that our dog will get loose (She's a runner), and will take off to the train tracks.

Oh, and our house is way more dusty then anyone else that I know!

A 1/4 a mile is a way away. Is there anyway that you can sit on the property while a train goes by? Plus, if you are building, you'll have new windows, so the noise really shouldn't be bad at all, unless they are open! :)

[myshel]

Growing up, we lived about a half mile from some railroad tracks. To be honest, I never really noticed it that much. It sort of becomes one of those sounds that is a part of the neighborhood. That said, though, I have a high tolerance for dealing with weird noises.

[carrie9142]

I lived about that far away from the RR tracks in college. You really do tune it out! I heard it for the first few weeks, and you can def. hear it if you are outside. But, after a few weeks I didn't notice them at all-didn't wake me up or anything.

[LexyLou]

I live about 1/2 mile from the train track and train station. At first it drove me nuts because I"m super sensitive to noise but now I barely hear it.

In college I lived right by the train tracks and it was the place the train would hover when they switched tracks in the middle of the night. I learned to sleep through it very quickly, and again, I'm very sensitive to noise.

[Hello Kitty]

In college I lived in an apartment that was literally on a train track, which shared commuter and freight trains - but honestly, it never phased me. You really get used to it. I am also really sensitive to noise, but the trains don't bother me.

Now I live about 1/2 mi away from tracks/crossing, and I just don't notice them at all. The only time it's annoying is when it's a summer eveneing, and we have all of our windows open and are watching TV. We just pause it and wait for the train to finish.

[cari2]

I also live fairly close to elevated tracks. You don't see the tracks from our house nor do you hear the train itself. You can hear the train's horn because we live fairly close to the train station. So I think the amount of noise might vary if you don't live near the stop. I don't mind it at all as it is not an obnoxiously loud noise - - in fact I kind of like it because I hear my dh's train coming in.

[lil_geek]

We have the train tracks through our property... on our driveway actually!

http://images.snapfish.com/346489245%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D3256%3E345%3E258%3EWSNRCG %3D32335736%3A2%3B%3A4nu0mrj

That white house is our house....

and turned around... you can just see a train

http://images.snapfish.com/346489245%7Ffp339%3Enu%3D3256%3E345%3E258%3EWSNRCG %3D32335736%3A2%3B%3A7nu0mrj

We are on the main line from Toronto to Montreal... so we get about 80 trains aday (24 high speed passenger and the rest LONG freights)

DH grew up here but I've only been here since May when we bought the place. After the first 2 weeks... I don't even hear them anymore. They don't let off any sort of smell. The only bad thing for us is if a train happens to be going by when we want to get out of the driveway!

[c'est la vie]

Growing up, we had elevated tracks right behind our backyard ( we had a very high wall separating our property from the tracks) and it was close to a crossing. Sometimes we'd wake up in the middle of the night w/ the noise of the horn, but not so much with the noise of the train passing by. We got used to it, like everyone here did as well. My only concern on buying a house close to the tracks today is that it might be a drawback when you decide to sell the place later on.

[kari]

I live 'near' train tracks, but we have no trains! I would love trains to come by, but I'm weird like that. We are also near a small airport and live on the side of the runway that planes land. I love to watch the planes! Pretty soon, they will start the commuter planes again and I can't wait.

[ladyjg]

We live 1/4-1/2 mile away from tracks both in front of and behind us. We can see the one in front, and we definitely hear trains on both throughout the day/night--lots of horns. We've lived here almost two years, and the sound has never bothered me. In fact, I find the noise comforting. :)

I wouldn't let the tracks stop you if you really love the subdivision.

[LDS Angel 19]

We live really close to the tracks, they're right at the edge of our complex, pretty much across the street. Most of the trains come by at night. I agree with everyone else, you get used to it pretty quick.

[Oakley]

We built a house pretty close to a RR track and like others have said, at first we noticed it and then we got used to it.

[AHammer]

our old apt was, oh, 20 yards from a railroad track. we did get used to it for the most part, but every now and then I thought the world was ending. then I remembered it was just a train.

[BTB]

I'm not sure how far away we are as the crow flies - maybe just under a mile? I wouldn't live closer than that. We've been here nearly a year, so I'm about as used to it as I'm going to be. It lowers property value vs a similar home further away, and, if you have kids (or a future potential buyer has kids) there's safety issues too.

OTOH, DH's old apartment was under a flight path to O'Hare, with planes streaking straight overhead every three minutes like clockwork. After 9/11, when there was no air traffic for a few days, I really missed it. That noise, which was way louder than the trains here are, somehow did come to be comforting.

[Jenyfer9]

We live about a mile from some very busy rr tracks, and about 1/4 mile from some freightline tracks. It's something that you get used to... and my kids love trains so it's quite nice. :)

[cari2]

It lowers property value vs a similar home further away,
On the flip side, sometimes being near the train is a positive for resale. My town is a commuter town and being able to walk to the train station is often a positive when selling.

[Jenyfer9]

On the flip side, sometimes being near the train is a positive for resale. My town is a commuter town and being able to walk to the train station is often a positive when selling.
Indeed.

[rachrich]

We live in a very active railroad community, and the closest tracks are about a half mile from our house. BUT, we live in a housing development and we're on the farthest side from the tracks. Even though we are fairly close to tracks, and one would think that we could hear the trains loud and clear, we rarely hear them because there are a lot of houses in between ours and the tracks to help buffer the sound. The only time I hear the train is if I wake in the middle of the night (not woken by the train, mind you) when all is calm and quiet I can faintly hear the whistle and train moving.
so keep that in mind- where you are wanting to build, are there plenty of buildings, trees, or other objects that could serve as a buffer to the sound of the train??? I agree w/ others in that even if you're close and it seems loud, you'll get used to it real quick and after a quick while you won't even know a train goes by.

[QueenDillyDally]

I rented a condo right near (about 1/4 mile) a very busy railroad (mostly freight but some amtrak rails). During the day, it didn't bother me. But, at night, it sucked. They would idle right in the vicinity of our condo in the middle of the night. It woke me up every night. I would definately NOT have bought one of those condos due to the RR noise. Just my 2 cents.

If I were in the market for another house, I would NOT buy near a railroad.

P.S. They didn't just idle there, the freights would join/lock together making a huge bang in the middle of the night and early in the morning.

[BTB]

On the flip side, sometimes being near the train is a positive for resale.

That's true, look how quickly I forget what life is like in the big city! I'm now in an area without any trains that carry people; every train that goes by is freight and that has much less utility (and much different impact on property value).

[Foley42]

I lived an apartment that had RR tracks about 1/4 to 1/2 mile away. I got used to noise after a few months. I heard it, but didn't get annoyed with it like when we first moved in. However in the spring/fall I would open my windows at night (we were on the 2nd floor) then the train would come blasting through and wake me up. I personally wouldn't want to build near RR tracks, but I would if we were out of options.

[Foley42]

We are on the main line from Toronto to Montreal... so we get about 80 trains aday (24 high speed passenger and the rest LONG freights)
holy cow that's a lot of trains everyday! :eek:

[Niobe]

My dad's house had railroad tracks a couple blocks down his street, with a crossing and everything. I don't think I noticed the trains after a couple weeks. Same with a house we rented a while back. The noise was never really an issue. The only problem I ever had was getting stuck waiting on the train to pass to get home. You might want to consider if the train tracks cross a main road, because that gets really old, really fast.

[karlatta]

I lived about that far away from the RR tracks in college. You really do tune it out! I heard it for the first few weeks, and you can def. hear it if you are outside. But, after a few weeks I didn't notice them at all-didn't wake me up or anything.

I agree! (I lived with Carrie in college.) The only time I would even notice is if I was on the phone and suddenly couldn't hear the other person because the train was blaring its horn. But honestly, other than that, I never even realized they were going by.

[framboise]

There's an Amtrak & local commuter train track less than 100 feet from our living room window. We REALLY noticed it when we first moved in, but the noise blends in now. The biggest "problems" are that we can't sleep with our windows open or we'd be waking up about 4:30 when the commuting begins and if we have the windows open in the evening, we have to stop our conversations or whatever we're watching (yay TiVo!!) for a few seconds while it goes by.

Even though we've gotten used to it, we always say that we're glad we're just renters & will be keeping train track proximity in mind whenever we are able to buy. So it is something that we would really have to think about if we were in your shoes.

[snoopy30]

Thanks so much for all the input ladies!

The track is just a freight line and about 9-10 trains go by per day. There isn't a major crossing nearby so that's good. We've been in the development when a train has gone by and the engine is certainly the loudest part. Since the homes are new the windows and insulation would be good but still it's just one of those things that I worry about not liking down the road.

We just need to do some thinking. We really love the house and the general location and we think it's a great opportunity BUT I'd hate to build and move in and then be annoyed by the train :rolleyes:

Any more advice is welcome!

[Kingdono]

I grew up a few hundred feet from a train track. It has a train passing about every 30 minutes or so. We also live near crossings where the train blows it's whistle. I didn't ever realize the train was going by. you get used ot it. It never woke me up or interfeared with our daily lives. I'm sure it will take some time to get used to it. However if that is the only thing between you and a great house go for it. Good luck .

[Ericka_Jarett]

I grew up right across the street from railroad tracks. Honestly never even heard them go by, you get use to the sound quicky. At my brother's I lived 5 blocks from a major hughway, I didn't hear the noise after a week.

[Kimberland30]

Not trains here, but we have a major Air Station here and we used to hear planes all the time when I live closer to the beach. Honestly after a couple weeks, I didn't even notice it unless I was on the phone. I lived and worked in the fly zone so I saw/heard planes all day but it never bothered me.

I used to also work next to the airport and every now and then I'd hear a plane. Most of them never "registered" with my brain because I was so used to hearing them.

[BeakersTrio]

I'm probably about a 1/4 mile from train tracks. Trains rarely go by (perhaps only twice a day?) so I almost never hear them. In summer, however, I usually can hear them early in the morning and I absolutely love the sound.

DH's aunt has the train tracks in her back yard. She barely notices it any more, but does admit that her house shakes a bit when the trains go by. Her house use to be the place the people on the train would stay to sleep back in the 1800's or so.

[isign]

Growing up we lived on an Air Force base, maybe 2 miles from the flight line. When we moved I couldn't sleep - too quiet.

We live about 1/2 mile from the tracks. There are quite a few houses/trees between here and there and I rarely notice them. DH works on the otherside of the tracks (litterally, I could go to the end of the road, and if he hopped the tracks he'd be at work) and we rarely hear them. I do live about 2 miles from the airport & Nat'l Guard base. I hear more noise from them then I do the trains.

[justHB]

Our old loft was 1.5 blocks from the train tracks and the Amtrak station. It was miserable. Because we lived in an urban area, there was a law that the train conductor had to blow the orn at every intersection, ie every freaking block. It started at 5am and went until midnight. Awful, awful, awful. I don't miss it at all.

[sublime311]

In the past I've lived close enough to tracks to periodically hear trains go by (horns, mostly), but nothing major. I actually love the "katunk katunk katunk" sound they make.

My classroom is actually about 50 yards from a VERY busy set of tracks. The whooshing noise is bad (they don't slow down as we're pretty rural), but it's the horns that drive us nuts! I don't know if they blow the horns an extra long time because they're passing a school, but it's really annoying especially in the middle of a lesson!

[clammyinsf]

yup, we do. here's a pic taken last year from one of the upstairs bedrooms. you can see the tracks at the bottom of the pic which tells you how close we are:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/clammyinsf/DSC_0764.jpg

the first night we slept in the house was awful bc one of the windows was ajar and we heard every train come by loud and clear. luckily, we knew the windows were double-paned and they do an excellent job of drowning about 75% of the noise out. occassionally (maybe once a month), i still get woken up by a noisy freight train that causes the house to shake a little, but for the most part, we're able to sleep right through it. amtraks just sound like cars driving by so they're no big deal.

[SiValleySteph]

What a view clammyinsf! Just breathtaking. Worth the train tracks, I'm sure. :)

[mindy75]

What a view clammyinsf! Just breathtaking. Worth the train tracks, I'm sure. :)

Ditto! That's gorgeous!

We live a few miles from a set of train tracks. It's freight trains. Here, it's not too bad. At night, we can hear the trains rumble through if the windows are open. We can also hear the whistles any time of day, but that's it. My BIL, OTOH...he lives across the street from a set of tracks. Less than 100 yards, I think. I find it very disturbing when I'm there. Conversations have to stop when the trains go by, the house shakes, etc...But they say they've gotten used to it.