Local Residents Meeting and White People Problems

[Trekker4747]

The other day, in technical violation of Federal Laws, a local resident placed a notice in my parents' mail box.

This notice inviting them, and other residents receiving this notice, of a meeting his arranged in a local high-school about a serious problem he thinks is impacting the neighborhood.

What could this be? A string of home invasions? The need for some more police watching the area because of speeders and stop-sign runners putting children's lives in danger?

Oh, you fools, this is suburbia in an area that is mostly white, we've got vastly more petty things to concern ourselves with first.

See, this neighborhood is about a mile or so away from a set of train tracks and in part of this section the trains go through a couple of crossings and, per Federal Law, are required to blow their horns when approaching the crossing and train horns are very, very loud. They're audible at my parents' house and obviously are vastly louder for the homes closer to the tracks.

So this neighbor has arranged a meeting to discuss what he thinks has become a problem as it seems the frequency of trains through the area has increased.

And honestly, this makes me laugh. I plan on going to this meeting just to sit in the back of the room and laugh. The meeting is going to have a representative from some regulatory agency for the railroads there to field questions.

I really, really, wonder how this is going to go and what the man who arranged this is expecting to happen.

It's federal law that trains have to blow their horns when approaching intersections, there's even signs as they approach the intersection to tell them to blow the horn. Now, granted, these crossings aren't "true" crossings. One is a "closed road" that's been "closed" forever as it goes nowhere. Literally. On the other side of the tracks it turns into a muddy road and eventually leads into a creek. So, I can see that that crossing isn't strictly needed. The other crossing is, essentially, a driveway to a single person's home. There's sort-of a third crossing but it's only half a road. The road literally ends at the tracks but still seems to be considered a crossing.

So, maybe, strictly speaking the crossing bells/lights aren't needed (yes, they all have them) and the trains don't strictly "need" to blow their horns as, again, not true crossings. But, apparently they're crossings enough for the Railroads to have the lights and horn signals. (On maps the first crossing is still shown, to this day, to be a full road that leads somewhere.)

But, regardless, it's still federal law to have these crossings there and for trains to blow their horns when approaching a crossing. You cannot expect every train engineer coming through there to be familiar enough with the area to know these aren't true crossings and not blow his horn. Further, probably better to err on the side of caution.

As a teenager my friend and I used to sit down there and chat about our day and stuff and watch the trains pass by and occasionally a train would come through and give a half-hearted blow. Probably because the engineer knew the area enough to know the crossings weren't true ones.

But, the person arranging this meeting feels the frequency of trains has increased making more noise pollution.

So.... he wants the railroads to use alternate routes? Re-arrange their entire industry and shipping methods? To some-how inform the train operators they don't need to blow their horn in the area because of the crossings not being through-streets? I don't get it.

But I'm going to be sitting in the back of the room laughing.

 

[Timby]

But I'm going to be sitting in the back of the room laughing.

A meeting like this could lead to a group of citizens petitioning the city to create quiet zones (which federal law has permitted since 2005) at certain crossings. My city now has seven total miles of quiet zones within its limits, which was a movement started by citizen action.

But, no, go ahead and laugh at "white people problems," even though the desire to sleep through the night and not be awakened by a blasting train horn has nothing whatsoever to do with privilege.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

You cannot expect every train engineer coming through there to be familiar enough with the area to know these aren't true crossings and not blow his horn.

Perhaps someone should organize a meeting to discuss their options and see if it's a possibility to contact the proper authorities and get the train operator's maps updated to reflect that those aren't true crossings so they don't have to blow their horns... Oh, wait.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

They should ask Elwood Blues. He's an expert at dealing with train noise.

"So often, you don't even notice it."

 

[The Master of Tarquin Hill]

What is in the trains is much more important than the noise of some horns. Several towns have been seriously devastated in recent years by trains carrying mainly oil that have hit something and blown up.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

What is in the trains is much more important than the noise of some horns. Several towns have been seriously devastated in recent years by trains carrying mainly oil that have hit something and blown up.

My sisters babysitter's house was destroyed in a train derailment in San Bernardino along with half the neighborhood. And the other half of the neighborhood was destroyed when a damaged oil pipeline burst into flames and ignited the vapor two weeks later, killing more people. My school had to be evacuated. Fortunately my sisters weren't at her house at the time and she survived.

We had a huge fireworks factory explosion a couple years before that where I felt the shockwave and saw the mushroom cloud while I was playing baseball.

A lot of shit exploded there when I was growing up. Gotta love the Inland Empire.

 

[Trekker4747]

But I'm going to be sitting in the back of the room laughing.

A meeting like this could lead to a group of citizens petitioning the city to create quiet zones (which federal law has permitted since 2005) at certain crossings. My city now has seven total miles of quiet zones within its limits, which was a movement started by citizen action.

But, no, go ahead and laugh at "white people problems," even though the desire to sleep through the night and not be awakened by a blasting train horn has nothing whatsoever to do with privilege.

Well, I would first of all ask how in these "quiet zones" that the trains warn people at crossings of the coming train (the point of them blowing the horn.)

I would also say that if one doesn't want to be awakened in the middle of the night by train horns maybe one shouldn't buy a home that's within a few hundred feet of a railroad crossing.

Perhaps someone should organize a meeting to discuss their options and see if it's a possibility to contact the proper authorities and get the train operator's maps updated to reflect that those aren't true crossings so they don't have to blow their horns.

It's been like that for at least 25 years, the length of time my parents have lived in that home, and I suspect it's been like that for a whole lot longer. If the maps were to be updated I would think they've done so by now. And one could argue that at least one of those crossings is somewhat of a valid one since it's someone's driveway (and it doesn't have the flashing lights, gate or bell. Just the crossbuck) but I'm not sure what we'd call a crossing. The other two are certainly not crossings since they're not thru-streets.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Seems to me that an enterprising contractor would want to set up shop in an area like this...make a lot of money having people's homes soundproofed.

 

[Mr Awe]

I don't know. It seems like a good thing to discuss if you ask me. I value my peace and quiet. You'd have to consider the risks, but if there are none as you say. Sure, go for it!

Mr Awe

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I would also say that if one doesn't want to be awakened in the middle of the night by train horns maybe one shouldn't buy a home that's within a few hundred feet of a railroad crossing.

People who live next to or nearby train tracks tend to be poor. In other words: not a lot of options when looking for a place to live.

 

[Trekker4747]

I would also say that if one doesn't want to be awakened in the middle of the night by train horns maybe one shouldn't buy a home that's within a few hundred feet of a railroad crossing.

People who live next to or nearby train tracks tend to be poor. In other words: not a lot of options when looking for a place to live.

Not in this area, the houses near the tracks there are well within the averages for the county, perhaps a touch on the lowside, and we live in the richest county in the state. There's no meaningful rental properties or areas there (like duplexes, apartment complexes, or rental property developments) aside from maybe the occasional private home being rented out to another party.

Heck, that driveway? Goes to a home that probably costs north of a quarter million, discounting the value of large property it has. So this isn't an area where poor people have no other choice to live. These are pricey, pricey, nice, new homes that were built within the last 10 years.

 

[Timby]

But I'm going to be sitting in the back of the room laughing.

A meeting like this could lead to a group of citizens petitioning the city to create quiet zones (which federal law has permitted since 2005) at certain crossings. My city now has seven total miles of quiet zones within its limits, which was a movement started by citizen action.

But, no, go ahead and laugh at "white people problems," even though the desire to sleep through the night and not be awakened by a blasting train horn has nothing whatsoever to do with privilege.

Well, I would first of all ask how in these "quiet zones" that the trains warn people at crossings of the coming train (the point of them blowing the horn.)

 

[Trekker4747]

..

So with the gate and lights why do the trains have horns and why do they blow them when coming up on a crossing that has them?

Researching the area more, that home with the driveway over the tracks is actually the cheaper one along that road that runs parallel to the tracks. Across the street the homes are around $300,000.

So, again, we're not talking about cheap homes with poor people in them.

 

[Timby]

So with the gate and lights why do the trains have horns and why do they blow them when coming up on a crossing that has them?

Because of antiquated federal law that was changed for the better in 2005. A city simply has to request approval for the creation of a quiet zone at a railroad crossing.

Researching the area more, that home with the driveway over the tracks is actually the cheaper one along that road that runs parallel to the tracks. Across the street the homes are around $300,000.

So, again, we're not talking about cheap homes with poor people in them.

I'm not understanding how one's financial status has anything to do with their right to be aggrieved at a loud-ass train horn at 3 a.m.

 

[Trekker4747]

I'm not understanding how one's financial status has anything to do with their right to be aggrieved at a loud-ass train horn at 3 a.m.

Goes to what I said earlier about people just not buying homes near train crossings. Locutus countered that poor people don't always have a choice on the homes they live in. I then re-countered that the homes here are expensive homes so the people living there are at the very least middle-class, with homes there going for over $300,000 they're in upper-middle class.

So these are people who did choose to either build or buy a home near a train crossing. They had a choice, and now they want to complain about a loud train rocketing through the neighborhood at all hours of the night? Boo-hoo.

 

[Amaris]

Where we live, you can see the train tracks and crossing right outside the window. We're about 75-100 feet away, and you can hear the trains coming through all of the time. It's normal, and I don't have too much of an issue with it, though the engineers like to get a little horn happy between the hours of 2 and 5 AM, where we'll get an average of 2-3 trains per hour. That can get annoying, so I do sympathize with this petitioner.

I'm not understanding how one's financial status has anything to do with their right to be aggrieved at a loud-ass train horn at 3 a.m.

Goes to what I said earlier about people just not buying homes near train crossings. Locutus countered that poor people don't always have a choice on the homes they live in. I then re-countered that the homes here are expensive homes so the people living there are at the very least middle-class, with homes there going for over $300,000 they're in upper-middle class.

So these are people who did choose to either build or buy a home near a train crossing. They had a choice, and now they want to complain about a loud train rocketing through the neighborhood at all hours of the night? Boo-hoo.

To be fair, train routes can change. For years, the trains here were fast and short, and only came through about once a day. A quick blow of the horn, and 20 seconds later, all was quiet. Now, though, we get dozens of trains a day, and they're getting increasingly longer, and louder, and we're starting to get more of them during the midnight hours. So it may not have been so bad when they first started building/moving in.

 

[T'Girl]

There are multiple rail tracks immediately next to the sports field where the Seattle Mariners play home games, and there's used to be a fair sized street crossing there too.

The trains would alway sound their horns during games, turns out it was so the engineer could hear his own horn on the time delay broadcast. They were told to knock it off.

Sounding your horn isn't required at every single rail crossing, the engineer has that as a option. If he feels there is a safety concern he blows it. But I've seen plenty of trains not blow at every crossing.

The meeting might be productive for the home owners, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

 

[Nick086]

How is this white people problems?

 

[Timby]

I'm not understanding how one's financial status has anything to do with their right to be aggrieved at a loud-ass train horn at 3 a.m.

Goes to what I said earlier about people just not buying homes near train crossings. Locutus countered that poor people don't always have a choice on the homes they live in. I then re-countered that the homes here are expensive homes so the people living there are at the very least middle-class, with homes there going for over $300,000 they're in upper-middle class.

So these are people who did choose to either build or buy a home near a train crossing. They had a choice, and now they want to complain about a loud train rocketing through the neighborhood at all hours of the night? Boo-hoo.

Yeah, man, fuck those people for possibly wanting to take advantage of a law that lets them have peace and quiet just because they're upper-middle-class. I didn't realize that just because someone isn't poor means they can't explore the possibility of shushing a train.

 

[Trekker4747]

When my family first moved here, again they're about a mile as-the-crow-flies away from the tracks, the sound of the horn was kind of annoying and is quite loud but we eventually adapted to it.

Again, having spent time along these tracks as a teenager I know how loud it is being right next to it but I suspect in the homes it's likely a little quieter and while annoying I would also suspect that before too long one would get used to it. But that's pure guessing.

But I find it hard to be sympathetic. You bought a house near train crossings, you should have expected trains to, you know, be driving by and as they do at intersections they blow their horn and are just loud in general.

Annoying? I suppose; but, again, I don't have sympathy for it.

This meeting should be interesting to view and, maybe, it'll sway my opinions as I hear the concerns of the residents. But, as I said, my parents live a mile away from the tracks and the train isn't all that terrible up there. Since they got the notice I sort of wonder exactly where this guy lives. If he's in one of the houses near the tracks or further out where my parents are? If the former yeah, the noise is annoying. Where my parents are? Come on, man.