Why So Heavy On The Horns at 4am - Jack London Square

[neroden]

There are specific federal rules about blowing horns. (They have to hit the horn four times for each crossing, unless it's a "quiet zone"). Since the freight trains are running down the middle of the street in Jack London Square, there are serious worries about hitting pedestrians -- even at 4 AM -- and that's why the trains are blowing their horns so much.

Your local city council could close the street off, put gates around the remaining crossings, and then they could create a "quiet zone" (bells but no horns).

 

[zephyr17]

So I don't know what is going on But we're getting that train horn noise too. Where the heck do I complain. I don't mind if it was ONE long 10 second blare through the intersection but it sounds like an angry person driving after getting cut off and being a baby. they honk that 6-7 times at two three and four second intervals I've had enough, they are going to have to build a sound wall. BTW I live 4 blocks away from the tracks.

FRA regulations. They have to sound the horn for every crossing and there are a lot of crossings there.

Did you see the tracks before you decided to move there?

 

[BCL]

So I don't know what is going on But we're getting that train horn noise too. Where the heck do I complain. I don't mind if it was ONE long 10 second blare through the intersection but it sounds like an angry person driving after getting cut off and being a baby. they honk that 6-7 times at two three and four second intervals I've had enough, they are going to have to build a sound wall. BTW I live 4 blocks away from the tracks.

FRA regulations. They have to sound the horn for every crossing and there are a lot of crossings there.

Did you see the tracks before you decided to move there?

There was a fatality last night on the Capitol Corridor route. My train was behind this one and had to be routed around the area (had to back up from Fremont and then take the UP tracks that the CS takes) while the investigation occurred. So for those asking why they need to blow the horn - it's to try an reduce the chances of some idiot getting struck by a train.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/local/capitol-corridor-train-strikes-person-san-lorenzo-/nhbR2/

I'm guessing the time is incorrect for when the train was released.

 

[VentureForth]

I really like George's answer.

 

[seat38a]

I recently moved to the Jack London Waterfront District in Oakland. Of course the apartment management company neglected to tell me and my girlfriend exactly how bad the train noise was in this area and at our apartment in particular before we moved in. Upon sleeping here the first night i was woken up multiple times from 4am-8am by the incessant blaring of the Amtrak train's horn. Is that really necessary? Holding down the horn for 10-15 seconds straight seems like overkill and complete disregard for the residence who live in this area. Anyone else dealing or troubled by this?

So frustrated! And of course moving is a pain and i just signed a 1 year lease. Thank you Amtrak conductors for unwanted and from my point of view unncessary horn honking!!

-Pissed off and Tired

Really??? Did you really think your landlord was going to tell you "Oh BTW, this place sucks balls because of the train horn. And let me just throw in the homicide and the drug deals that goes on two blocks down." Your point of view its unnecessary but the law says the engineer NOT the conductor "MUST DISCLOSE" by blowing the horn, that the train is coming so someone like yourself can't hypothetically get hit by and and then later say "I DIDN'T HEAR IT."

The law says the train MUST disclose itself by blowing the horn, but no law says your landlord has to. I really hope you don't plan on buying a used car.

 

[NorthShore]

Long long short long is the usual horn blow for a crossing. There are others (like to try and scare cows off the tracks) but this is often what you'll hear, if you're wondering why the several blows at varying lengths.

 

[the Other Mike]

Because you didn't book Apartment E ?

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Long long short long is the usual horn blow for a crossing. There are others (like to try and scare cows off the tracks) but this is often what you'll hear, if you're wondering why the several blows at varying lengths.

Why would a train worry about crows on the tracks?

 

[leemell]

Long long short long is the usual horn blow for a crossing. There are others (like to try and scare cows off the tracks) but this is often what you'll hear, if you're wondering why the several blows at varying lengths.

Why would a train worry about crows on the tracks?

???

 

[NorthShore]

Birds in black may be robbers.

 

[George Harris]

I recently moved to the Jack London Waterfront District in Oakland. Of course the apartment management company neglected to tell me and my girlfriend exactly how bad the train noise was in this area and at our apartment in particular before we moved in. Upon sleeping here the first night i was woken up multiple times from 4am-8am by the incessant blaring of the Amtrak train's horn. Is that really necessary? Holding down the horn for 10-15 seconds straight seems like overkill and complete disregard for the residence who live in this area. Anyone else dealing or troubled by this?

So frustrated! And of course moving is a pain and i just signed a 1 year lease. Thank you Amtrak conductors for unwanted and from my point of view unncessary horn honking!!

I said it once before, but will say it again:

G-E-T---O-V-E-R---I-T. Do you want some cheese with that whine?

The railroad was there long before you were born, much less before you moved near it. Did you wonder why the rent was cheaper than the norm for the area?

 

[VentureForth]

George: he's only made the one post.

When I first moved to Savannah, I may have stayed in the safest motel ever. Not only did cops stay in the parking lot, but they seemed to always have their lights flashing, too!

 

[George K]

I live not too far from a town that has established such "quiet zones."

The quiet zone will cover nine rail crossings. While the Federal Railroad Administration requires locomotives to sound their horns at public highway-rail grade crossings, communities that meet specific safety criteria can establish quiet zones that ban the use of train horns at crossings except in emergencies. In this case, safety upgrades necessary to establish the zone included reconstructed barrier medians, new signage, and the addition of constant warning time circuitry.

The question becomes whether your location qualifies with regard to safety criteria.

 

[Anderson]

An offending post has been disposed of, as were two posts referring to it so as to not leave any visible trace of the conduct (which was in rather bad taste). I'm going to leave it to someone with more skills than myself to figure out if we can do anything to avoid a repeat visit.

 

[Acela150]

Thank you Anderson! It is greatly appreciated!!

 

[TinCan782]

I live not too far from a town that has established such "quiet zones."

The quiet zone will cover nine rail crossings. While the Federal Railroad Administration requires locomotives to sound their horns at public highway-rail grade crossings, communities that meet specific safety criteria can establish quiet zones that ban the use of train horns at crossings except in emergencies. In this case, safety upgrades necessary to establish the zone included reconstructed barrier medians, new signage, and the addition of constant warning time circuitry.

The question becomes whether your location qualifies with regard to safety criteria.

The community/municipality has to go through the "hoops" and PAY for the required improvements to qualify for a quiet zone. Its not the railroad's responsibility.

 

[George K]

Interesting, John. The "quiet zones" have been in place for a long time in the suburb north of where I live - probably more than a decade. Can you point me to what hoops have to be traversed and what improvements have to be made?

That said, that town has a very lucrative tax-base (large mall) that would fund improvements. My town could probably not afford that. I live near the BNSF, whereas the other town is on the Illinois Central.

Driving through the other town, I see nothing unusual in the crossings, gates, etc. That's not to say that there's nothing there; it's to say that I can't see them!

 

[TinCan782]

Here ...

http://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0104

or here...

http://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/details/L03055

 

[firstcultural]

As a Bay Area local I'd never live in the Jack London Square area (and it baffles me why it's a high-rent area). It has the worst air pollution in the region, courtesy of multiple freeways and the container ships in the port.

 

[JoeBas]

Would you rather have the horns, or what happened on Metro North in Valhalla NY last night?...

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Would you rather have the horns, or what happened on Metro North in Valhalla NY last night?...

Are you claiming Metro North doesn't have horns? Or are you claiming more and/or louder horns can prevent ignorant drivers from getting stuck on the tracks? At this point I think it's pretty clear that if we really don't want any more vehicular impacts we probably need to remove our grade crossings or replace them with over/under passes. If that's too boring of a solution maybe we can design some sort of vehicle deflector on the front of our trains and upgrade our crossing gates to have cameras that can record all the action and automatically post it on youtube?

 

[JoeBas]

That crossing in Valhalla had been converted into a Quiet Zone, IIRC (lived in the area).

 

[Devil's Advocate]

That crossing in Valhalla had been converted into a Quiet Zone, IIRC (lived in the area).

Quiet zones in no way prevent a train from sounding the horn in situations that appear unsafe or even questionable. The engineer is still required to sound the horn if a vehicle or other obstruction is visible on or near the tracks. I live near a half dozen quiet zones and some of the engineers still sound the horn at every crossing regardless if anything is in or near their path.

 

[SarahZ]

That crossing in Valhalla had been converted into a Quiet Zone, IIRC (lived in the area).

Quiet zones in no way prevent a train from sounding the horn in situations that are obviously unsafe or even questionable. The engineer is still required to sound the horn if a vehicle or other obstruction is visible on the tracks. I live near a half dozen quiet zones and some of the engineers still sound the horn at every crossing regardless if anything is in their path or not.

That, and the gates and bells still operate in quiet zones.

 

[MattW]

That crossing in Valhalla had been converted into a Quiet Zone, IIRC (lived in the area).

Quiet zones in no way prevent a train from sounding the horn in situations that appear unsafe or even questionable. The engineer is still required to sound the horn if a vehicle or other obstruction is visible on or near the tracks. I live near a half dozen quiet zones and some of the engineers still sound the horn at every crossing regardless if anything is in or near their path.

But in a non-quiet zone, the train is likely sounding its horn before the engineer can see that there's definitely a problem. The latest information I have shows a speed of 65 around the grade crossing, with the lowest speed being 40 in a curve about a mile away.