RR tracks: How close is too close?

I grew up in a home that was probably a mile away and could hear the train everyday and night. You do get used to it.

One thing I could not get used to because it is 24/7 is living next to a interstate highway. No fricken way.
I have fuel customers that do and I think to myself how loud it is non stop in their yards.
Same with campgrounds, ever notice how many campgrounds are next to highways?
When traveling out west we made notes of which rest areas were quiet and away from the highway so we could boondock overnight in quiet.

Blows my mind that people go on vacations to stay in campgrounds and listen to semi trucks for a week.

This thread reminds of "My Cousin Vinny" the movie.
 
Gary Ward said:
One thing I could not get used to because it is 24/7 is living next to a interstate highway. No fricken way.
Click to expand...

I spent 6 months living about 100 yards from a busy interstate. In an Rv park, no less. And yes, it was the same constant noise 24/7. Weekends, holidays, night or day it never changed. I sleep with a white noise machine which helped a bit.

Early one morning something unusual sounding woke me up. Absolute silence. Apparently a very big, bad accident stopped traffic going both ways.

I never would have believed it but I guess I did get used to the noise...
 
Zeldman said:
I spent 6 months living about 100 yards from a busy interstate. In an Rv park, no less. And yes, it was the same constant noise 24/7. Weekends, holidays, night or day it never changed. I sleep with a white noise machine which helped a bit.

Early one morning something unusual sounding woke me up. Absolute silence. Apparently a very big, bad accident stopped traffic going both ways.

I never would have believed it but I guess I did get used to the noise...
Click to expand...
Yep. I really notice when I can't hear it. Heavy snow or atmospheric conditions will give us maybe a dozen quiet days a year. Of course most of those are in the winter when we're inside anyway. Usually at least one accident bad enough to shut it down, but again I'm usually working those. I pretty much wear headphones any time im outside.

Guys who have windmill farms go up near them have similar complaints. I can't imagine it's as loud, but Im told there's a whomp-whomp pulsating quality to it that makes it more irritating.
 
I have lived 200ft from a track in a 'quiet zone' and you barely knew it was there. The trains were restricted to 40mph and as it was a straight section on even ground there wasn't much of the shrieking from the flanges. All you heard was the low rumble of the engines for a few seconds.

Then I lived 2 miles from the BNSF mainline for a few years. 40-50 coal trains a day and 16 consecutive road crossings through town. At any given time there was at least one horn being blown. Eventually, someone ponied up the money to convert it to a quiet zone, eliminate 1/2 the crossings and the line stopped being such a noise source.

So it all depends. How much traffic, proximity to a crossing etc. Can be anything from a seldom used short line to non-stop horns.

I wouldn't want a major railroad as my next door neighbor. They don't play well with others it seems.
 
I’m about 900 ft from UP main line, 30-40 trains a day, It’s uphill traveling west, lots of power and full throttle locomotives, they can get a little loud, if we have the windows open at night, When they are eastbound, they are practically silent.
Sometimes, you can feel the rumble in the ground.
There is a house closer than we are for sale, it’s just way too close to the tracks, 350 ft ish They are taking a hit because of that
 
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