Freight Trains
 

Back in the Villages for the 3rd year.
Of course have noticed the freight trains running pretty much day and night here in the Calumet Grove area.
Seems like traffic is down from previous years, hard to tell-seems to go in streaks..you won't hear one for quite a while and then four in a row.
Curious if anyone knows what sort of freight they would be hauling this time of year, fruit? Produce?...and does that affect number of runs and time of day?

Freight
 

Saw the freight train yesterdat. about 20 cars marked Tropicana, I hope it was oranges.

Trains.........What trains?? Where??

Train
 

They run thru Wildwood. If you live on the southside you can hear the whistle.

You can hear it pretty well on the northern side too around county road 42.
I thought they only needed to sound horns on un-gated crossings. Looks like the crossing at 42 and 301 is gated....course I could be hearing it from further down the line.
Just curious if this is a seasonal thing due to fruit crop.

We live in Tall Trees and can hear the trains. They are faint and I kinda like 'em.:throwtomatoes:

I would trade my traffic noise for the train noise any day. We live in Lazamora (very beautiful village) right on 466. Ever since 466 was widened, we can no longer enjoy our patio or yard. The noise is really loud. Now there is to be new commercial developement across 466, which means construction noise for at least a year. We have an enclosed lanai but it does not limit the noise. Is there any such thing as soundproofing windows?

Trains are required by law to sound their horn at every crossing, gated or ungated, 24 hours a day. In some cities around the country, there are "quiet zones." No horns during the night hours, but the city, town or district has agreed to shoulder the liability.

This is a brief description of a very complicated law.

We live 2/10ths of a mile from rail road tracks and about 10 yards from the main north/south highway route through our village here in NY and I find neither to be a problem when it comes from traffic noise. Unless it's a poorly tuned truck or car, or a hot dog driver, I hardly even notice the sound of the passing vehicles.

I can also barely hear the sound of the train whistles as the freight trains go by and sometimes wish it was louder. But that's me! In TV I will be just about as far from the tracks near 301 as I can be and will probably miss the sounds of the whistles as the trains pass through.

Now, if anyone that can hear the sounds of the trains and want's to say "Hey, you like the sounds of the train so much, why don't you switch houses with us?" my answer would be... "If your house is worth at least double of what ours is worth, then I'm game for it!" :1rotfl:

Did they do an environmental impact study on the road widening before it was authorized for construction? Maybe a sound wall would help your issue?



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You are right. This is a federal law and it is complicated but there are ways to stop mandated train whistles. About ten years ago the six am to midnight commuter trains in our north of boston suburb were forced to inact the existing horn laws due to a fatal accident on another suburb's commuter train. Someone weaved around the barriers on a bike while listening I pod headphones.... The FTC (I think this is the fed agency) surveyed every train crossing up here and listed all the ones that would require the very loud horn. (three long and three short, I think)((which depending on the train engineer long and short were a relative term)).
Anyway all homeowners within a couple of miles of these crossings were, to say the least, extreamely annoyed resulting constant complaints to our local, state and federal ELECTED officials. At first we were all told "sorry it is the law".
Guess what. after about six months of whistles and tens of thousands VOTERS complaining... It turns out they do not have to blow their horns at every crossing if the crossing meets their approval. Our town submitted engineered plans and specifications to upgrade the FTC identified crossings. Once the FTC plans were approved all HORNS stopped even though it took atleast two years to complete all the renovations. (obviously at the train's engineer's discreation he could and would sound the horn). My understanding was The FTC granted a temporary hold on the whistles but if the renovations were not completed on schedule the horns would resume. THe upgrades did not seem to be that extensive. In most cases the crossing arms were extended left and right on both sides and also raised curbed islands were installed on both sides in the middle to stop vehicles from weaving.
My house in TV is about two miles from 301 and we can hear the whistles especially around 4:00 AM. It is no big deal cause we are far enough away but around amberwood, belmont and others wow the whistles not the actual train noise would drive me crazy and that is in the daytime. I can't imagine how bad it is at 4:00 AM.

Sorry for this long post but wanted to let TV know there are solutions. The VOTERS got it done up here.

Unfortunately, there are many many ungated crossings along 301 near The Villages west boundary. Additionally, part of it is in Marion County and part is in Sumter County.

I am fairly certain that the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is not the governing agency. I believe its the FRA (Federal Railroad Administration).

Again, the owners of the railroad will not just stop sounding horns until a local government agency or body agrees to shoulder the liability for accidents or death.

It's just like if The Villages said to you, "you don't need homeowners insurance." You would say, "okay, then who is gonna pay if my house burns down."

I feel for the engineers. They are mothers and fathers just like us. They don't want to kill anybody at a crossing. Can you imagine piloting a locomotive through a crossing in the middle of the night without being allowed to warn people that you are coming. Can you imagine the horror if they slammed into a car or truck in the crossing because they had not been permitted to sounded their horn.

634 people were killed last year at rail crossings.

Good point, hadn't thought about it in that light.
Seems to me there was some previous discussion about the horns being more directional, so the sound was more focused on the crossing rather than "sprayed" out over a wide area.

If distant train whistles awake you from your sleep, you may be getting too much sleep. Those of us who have lived in large cities put up with much more noise than that. Try sleeping less and you will sleep better. I only get 6 hrs per night and I do not wake up at all. I'm sure I could sleep next to the tracks and never wake up from the noise. Also, no naps during the day and no late night snacks. That is a sure way to keep you tossing and turning all night.

In reading this thread, something came to mind that occurred years ago when our son was just 3 years of age.

We were on our way to Florida and stopped to stay overnight in a West Virginia motel. I haden't realized that the motel was right next to a set of RR tracks, and I mean right next to them, when we suddely heard the distant sound of a train approaching. It proceeded to get closer and closer and along with it's horn louder and louder. It sounded like the train was heading straight toward the motel. Without thinking I said to my 3 year old son... "Quick, you open the front door and I'll open the back door so the train can get through our room OK!"

Well I'm sure you can just imagine the blood curdling scream of fear that came out of his little mouth and how bad I felt as I held and assured him that the train wasn't really coming through the room! Fortunately we can laugh about it today, but back then... ???
:sing: OK! Go ahead! Call me a mean daddy! http://freeemoticonsandsmileys.com/a...il%20dance.gif

I have noticed a wide range of signalling. Some pass through with a minimum of horn blasts and those are short "toots". The other extreme are those that seem to just keep blasting away. I wonder if the "blasters" are those who have had accidents. It must be a terrible feeling to see some one or something on the track and not being able to avoid a collision. Any engineer who has experienced this is probably going to be heavy handed on the horn.

As a young adult, I had an apartment that was several blocks from a railroad track. It might be annoying to live too close, but from that distance, oh how I loved the sound of that train! For a long time after I moved, I was homesick for that darn train.

Fellow Villagers....the trains, the trains, the trains.

As a St Charles resident....yup....you can hear um...at times...and....yup...i heard them up in NY before i moved to TV....and also heard the 4 lane inter-state highway up there also, some nights

SO WHAT

anyone that moved to TV with the idea that this was heaven on earth, with no crime, no problems, no inconsiderate people, and o yes...no train noise.....you were wrong.

and o by the way....after at least 55 years on this earth, do you really think the train noise will just disappear because u want it to

come on folks....no place on this earth is perfect...while TV is close....it will not eliminate everything that everyone possiblly would not like

bottom line.....at 55+....stop complaining....enjoy the time you have left in this wonderful place....and....GET OVER IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes they did an impact study. Of course they didn't pay any attention to local feedback. I will ask about a sound wall, but we are against the wall on466 so I doubt they will listen. We also had meetings about the proposed idea for traffic light at the Lazamora gate. I voted with closing the gate forever, but the powers that be are going to put the light there. I believe the reason a commercial development is ok'd across 466 is that they will have to share the cost of the light. I'm looking for a courtyard villa in the middle of the Villages as we speak.

Where can I buy some of those rose colored glasses?

I like your sense of humor.

Mostly oranges going north and coal coming south (electric plants) this time of the year.

Thanks for the answer, that makes sense.
As far as the noise, I guess that why they invented ear plugs.
(seriously, if the noise bothers you, they do work, I recommend Flents Wax and cotton)

We live on the west side, just to the west of Buena Vista, and a bit north of 466A. Just as I came in and sat down to the computer I heard a train headed north. A very pleasant sound, indeed. Made me want to play a CD with the Orange Blossom Special. That was the route for the Orange Blossom Special you know, by the way.

I enjoy the distant train osunds.

I am with you on that. We live in Hemingway and this morning I could hear a train out in the distance. Quite pleasant!

If you play Amberwood at certain times, the trains and the train whistles are quite loud. Not something I would want to "enjoy" all day and night.

I stayed in a home on Coddington Rd near 301 on a LSV several years ago.

I heard the train whistle one morning in the early AM and decided this was not a location I would buy in. IMHO.

Someone told me that I would tune it out over time but I think it is something I would rather not deal with. It would be annoying to me. IMHO

To each his own.

You got that right!:eclipsee_gold_cup:

Bump, what train?

I'm a retired railroader so that's the lovely sound of my pension check being made. But seriously, I used to live near a hospital and at first the siren of the ambulance woke me up all hours of the night, but then after a while I got used to the noise and slept right through them.

I doubt that any salepeople pointed out the trains before people bought their homes.

That is why you should check out the neighborhood without the sales person by your side.

I almost made that mistake in NJ. I decided to go back and park in the area I was looking at after I left the sales person and the noise and traffic was terrible. Got my deposit back and never looked back.

Train Traffic
 

Rail traffic is on the rise and so are railroad stocks.

:agree:

Keep them trains a rollin'.

The trains were there a long time before any houses here. Hopefully, someone has the smarts to look around to see what is close by before signing on the line.

Personally, a train whistle in the distance (like where I live) is a neat sound during the night.

However, I have played golf at Chatham and would not like the loud train noise in my backyard like some have. Well, they should have looked before buying.

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About four years ago we rented a place in Chatham next to an open field where horses grazed. So wonderful, so bucolic, until the evening trains ran constantly blowing their loud whistles! The back of the house vibrated a little bit with each passing train.

The next day we hopped into the car to check out where the tracks were and were very surprised to see how close they were. They say some people get used to the loud whistle noise in the middle of the night, but my husband and I said we'll look elsewhere in TV for a home in a quiet area. Stay away from 301. That's where the trains run to and fro, if you can't take the whistles in the middle of the night!

I love the sound of a train. I liveon the south side and hear the trains running just love to hear them run on the tracks.

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Our salesperson said to us "What trains???" when we told her we didn't want to live near them. We couldn't quite believe anything she said after that!

Rhymes with “What IRS”???