Anyone live near railroad?

**JonB** · 12-08-2011, 09:11 PM

Anyone ever live near railroad tracks? Looking at a house that is perfect but it is about 50-75yards from the railroad. It is just one set of tracks that goes threw town so the train is going slow(don't know what the speed limit is threw town maybe 30mph?). The house is in a subdivision in which there is a a large earth berm with a fence and a bunch of trees/shrubbery that run the length of the tracks to block sound. To my knowledge and research this line is mostly csx running freight with an occasional Amtrak passenger train. I have tried looking up online to see if I can get a schedule from csx of when trains pass by so I can be at the house when they do but could not find a thing. Tried goggling everything about trains passing threw my town and can't find much at all.

Tomorrow I think I am going to talk to some local business and anyone out and about in the neighborhood to see if they can shed some light on the noise level and frequency of trains. This house is very very nice and has absolutely everything I want(Which even in this market is hard to find in my price range) I would have already put my offer in if it was not for the railroad. Anyone got any advice or insight to living near railroad tracks?

**Smittro** · 12-08-2011, 09:35 PM

I would'nt..

My younger brother used to live 100 yrds from train tracks and it was crazy.

Whole house would shake, and if this place is near a rail crossing OMG..

**tommyJ** · 12-09-2011, 05:19 AM

30 mph seems slow, but it's not when were talking about a train. i guarantee you they go faster than 30. who's going to pull them over if they do? no one. also when you try to resell it everyone is going to have there doubt just like you right now.

**jrbonds** · 12-09-2011, 05:52 AM

It wasn't so bad. It becomes routine and you really don't notice the train after awhile. But I would go talk to the neighbors.

**98BlackMambaWS6** · 12-09-2011, 06:30 AM

I live about 50ft from the railroad. Its definately loud and shakes my apartment a bit, but you get used to it and dont hear it pass by all the time....@ 50-75yds away I dont think it wouls be to bad...i would get the schedule and stake the place out...the sound and the horn can be annoying especially early on the weekends..but you would get used to it

**krese** · 12-09-2011, 06:43 AM

i have tracks about 50 yards behind my house. the train goes by 2 times a day and it really isn't bad at all... the only time it is bad is in spring/fall when we have the windows open. my house does not shake and when the windows are closed we hardly even know it is there. the really good thing about it is that i will NEVER have neighbors behind my house! i have planted a row of evergreens along the back of my property so that when they grow up the train and tracks won't even be visible and hopefully block even more of the sound.

i didn't want the property at first because of it but the 2nd time we looked at the house the train went by and we were shocked at the fact it was so quiet. i'm VERY happy with the house and glad i didn't let the train tracks deter me. all i can tell you is to try and be in the home at the time the train goes by so you can get the idea of what it's like. for me a little extra noise 2 times a day for less than 5 mins is a great trade off to have nobody behind me!

A=my house

**JonB** · 12-09-2011, 06:50 AM

Originally Posted by tommyJ

30 mph seems slow, but it's not when were talking about a train. i guarantee you they go faster than 30. who's going to pull them over if they do? no one. also when you try to resell it everyone is going to have there doubt just like you right now.

I really don't know what the speed limit is but these particular train tracks run all the way thru town all down residential areas which I know is generally a slower speed. I realize its still fast with hundreds of tons of train but it was just to point out that its not a full speed 70+mph train blasting by the house. Resale is a slight concern but not a major one as this one is a foreclosure and list price is a great deal and I will probably offer lower than list price. Even with the tracks I don't think I will have much of a problem at the minimum getting my money back on the house even in this shitty economy. For what it is this house is dirt cheap.

**024mula** · 12-09-2011, 07:01 AM

Talk to the neighbors.

**JonB** · 12-09-2011, 07:05 AM

Originally Posted by krese

i have tracks about 50 yards behind my house. the train goes by 2 times a day and it really isn't bad at all... the only time it is bad is in spring/fall when we have the windows open. my house does not shake and when the windows are closed we hardly even know it is there. the really good thing about it is that i will NEVER have neighbors behind my house! i have planted a row of evergreens along the back of my property so that when they grow up the train and tracks won't even be visible and hopefully block even more of the sound.

i didn't want the property at first because of it but the 2nd time we looked at the house the train went by and we were shocked at the fact it was so quiet. i'm VERY happy with the house and glad i didn't let the train tracks deter me. all i can tell you is to try and be in the home at the time the train goes by so you can get the idea of what it's like. for me a little extra noise 2 times a day for less than 5 mins is a great trade off to have nobody behind me!

A=my house

That is pretty much what I am looking at with this house. Only difference is there is a big ass earth berm behind the house so the train is not visible at all and hopefully not very loud at all. The berm and trees also happen to make for a very nice back yard. I found a schedule for amtrak this morning so I am going to go by the house around the time the train should be passing by to get a first hand listen.

Heres the sat view of the house, I'm a tard and could not figure out how to post a pic of it so you get a link.
2334 Casablanca Ct Middleburg, FL 32068 - Google Maps

**mike171562** · 12-09-2011, 07:22 AM

We lived about 100 yards from the tracks when we lived closed to downtown, The noise of the Train wasn't bad at all , what sucked was the guy would blow the horn as he was passing by at all hours of the night over and over, not just quick blows, but slow deliberate blows over and over, I swear he was just trying to be an ahole. If your train doesn't blow the horn as it passes, you probably wont notice it much, ask your neighbors.

**024mula** · 12-09-2011, 07:22 AM

That looks like a beautiful house, with a very large back yard with a pool? The only bad thing I noticed is that you share your driveway with your neighbors. Other than that, you don't have a problem.

**JonB** · 12-09-2011, 07:50 AM

Originally Posted by 024mula

That looks like a beautiful house, with a very large back yard with a pool? The only bad thing I noticed is that you share your driveway with your neighbors. Other than that, you don't have a problem.

I know I love it and so does my old lady. In fl I find it to be a must to have a pool. A few years ago there would be no way I would have been able to find a pool home in this price range. The front yard/driveway is kinda a negative but the back yard more than makes up for it. The house is on 1/2 acre which is huge for a subdivision around here its usually less than a 1/4 acre. That back yard is a huge plus for me not only is it big but because of the way it is angled you don't even see the neighbors houses. The driveway from older satellite views shows that the driveway was not always like that it use to have grass between the two. At some point they poured concrete and connected them. I personally never would have done that but I assume it was for parking for a car/boat or trailer. That extra driveway space will be a parking spot for my jet ski so no worries.

**Zinergy** · 12-09-2011, 08:27 AM

Originally Posted by mike171562

We lived about 100 yards from the tracks when we lived closed to downtown, The noise of the Train wasn't bad at all , what sucked was the guy would blow the horn as he was passing by at all hours of the night over and over, not just quick blows, but slow deliberate blows over and over, I swear he was just trying to be an ahole. If your train doesn't blow the horn as it passes, you probably wont notice it much, ask your neighbors.

If the train tracks cross roads then they have to blow the horn multiple times and usually it is a long horn. My moms house is probably 200-300 yards from the train track and the horn has woke me up multiple times when its warm and I had my bedroom window open.

**JonB** · 12-09-2011, 08:48 AM

Originally Posted by Zinergy

If the train tracks cross roads then they have to blow the horn multiple times and usually it is a long horn. My moms hous is probably 200-300 yards from the train track and the horn has work me up multipel times when its warm and I had my bedroom window open.

Rough estimate is were 1 mile from the nearest crossing from my research the Horns must be sounded 15-20 seconds before the train reaches a crossing, but not beyond a quarter of a mile away. So the horn will be sounded almost 3/4 mile away and essentially inside a valley(berms on both sides of the tracks) so the sound should mostly shoot out towards the crossing we will without a doubt hear it but it won't be getting blown right next to the house.

**Zinergy** · 12-09-2011, 09:39 AM

You will hear it, it will most likely be a faint background noise. As we were 200-300 yards away I never felt any vibrations.

**Spikito** · 12-09-2011, 01:31 PM

you don't want to live near a slow train.....they blow their horn based on distance, not time.....so if he comes creeping by, hes gonna be letting it rip for ever...you'd rather them come flying though.

the train itself really doesn't make THAT much noise relative to the horn.

I didn'y live near the track, (approx 3/4mile) but our whole town was centered on one, so our business was only about 75 yards away, and we had 22-26 trains a day

**krese** · 12-09-2011, 02:28 PM

yeah, every now and then some ass hat engineer blows the damn horn behind my house... i KNOW they are just being dicks because they don't do it every time. one of these times i am going to answer that horn with a 12 gauge slug or maybe some .00

**JonB** · 12-09-2011, 05:26 PM

Went by the house this afternoon around 4pm as there was an amtrak train suppose to be going by around 430-5p. We got their a bit early but had a chance to catch a couple of the neighbors that were coming home. The all said you will definitly hear it but you will eventually not even notice it. 2 of the 3 neighbors we talked to actually said they actually like the sound now. They also said there is only about half dozen trains a day in which I know 4 are amtrak commuter trains. About 5pm we got a chance to hear an amtrak train go by and it honestly was not bad at all, Its no worse than standing on a corner of a major road but this only last about a minute or two then it is quite as can be again. I do think a csx cargo train is going to be somewhat louder and longer but it was not bad at all. After today's visit we decided to put our offer in.

Here's a video I took to capture the sound. First 30 second or so is the train then you can skip to 53sec and you can hear the horn down by the crossing.

**johnd** · 12-09-2011, 06:01 PM

Been married a long time and the only time we didn't live where we could hear a train was when I was in the Navy in Key West. About a mile from the track now, a train basically every hour 24/7 and it seems pretty normal to us at this point. A lot of it has to do with the grade, if you are on a down grade, it is faster and not as noisy-which is the case here for most traffic.

Interestingly, the only time a train has actually rattled the pictures on the walls was the night of 9/11/2001. Always wondered what the load was that night?....

**camaross0002** · 12-10-2011, 12:12 AM

Originally Posted by mike171562

We lived about 100 yards from the tracks when we lived closed to downtown, The noise of the Train wasn't bad at all , what sucked was the guy would blow the horn as he was passing by at all hours of the night over and over, not just quick blows, but slow deliberate blows over and over, I swear he was just trying to be an ahole. If your train doesn't blow the horn as it passes, you probably wont notice it much, ask your neighbors.

Not by choice do we blow it is by fra and company guidelines there are multiple forms of horn sounding if there is multiple crossing in a short distance that is why he is sounding the horn. No we don't try to be assholes but it is again due to fra and company guidelines do you think we really like sounding the horn like we have to no we don't thank all the dumbasses that go around the gates and get hit and sue.

Originally Posted by Zinergy

If the train tracks cross roads then they have to blow the horn multiple times and usually it is a long horn. My moms house is probably 200-300 yards from the train track and the horn has woke me up multiple times when its warm and I had my bedroom window open.

Originally Posted by JonB

Rough estimate is were 1 mile from the nearest crossing from my research the Horns must be sounded 15-20 seconds before the train reaches a crossing, but not beyond a quarter of a mile away. So the horn will be sounded almost 3/4 mile away and essentially inside a valley(berms on both sides of the tracks) so the sound should mostly shoot out towards the crossing we will without a doubt hear it but it won't be getting blown right next to the house.

Actually a train must sound where they feel the need to complete there required horn sounding before passing the crossing most engineers have a whistle board they have to start whistling at but if the nearest crossing that is 1 miles away quarentee most engineers will be able to sound the full whistle just shy of 1/4 miles but you do have the newbies. Where you say you have the berm that is a huge plus due to cutting down passing train noise but will amplify the bass given off by the engines but after a while you will not even notice it.

Originally Posted by krese

yeah, every now and then some ass hat engineer blows the damn horn behind my house... i KNOW they are just being dicks because they don't do it every time. one of these times i am going to answer that horn with a 12 gauge slug or maybe some .00

Most likely not an asshat engineer it is a dumb fuck crossing the track when we are barreling down on them or some asshole going around a gates and we have to sound every way we can regardless of restrictions of blowing the horns. That is to protect ourselves when we hit some fuck that decides to go around the gates or cross a track not at a crossing from sueing the actual crew yes the crew can be sued by these dumbasses families and yes I have had more than one close call and a actually hit. Also not a threat to you just a heads up fire a gun at a train and we see it and you will get meet the police and the feds due to we are a government controlled entity.