How heavily is a specific section of railroad track traveled?

[twinrider1]

How often does the train go by? So often you won't even notice.

 

[RockinZ28]

http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/officeofsafety/publicsite/crossing/Xingqryloc.aspx

 

[SKORPI0]

Railroad traffic density map from 2014. Register (free) to see it.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/default.aspx

I live about 300 feet from a busy Metra railroad station and barely notice/hear the noise.

 

[iamwiz82]

Where in SE Michigan? Conrail has at least 20 trains a day in Detroit proper. Norfolk Southern has 20 or so a day as well. My office is about 25 feet from the Conrail track so I can attest to the traffic.

 

[Carson Dyle]

There' a big difference between trains that just pass by and trains that pass by and blow their horns.

We have heavily used tracks that run straight up through town, just one block from and parallel to the main drag. They cross more than a dozen cross streets over a one mile stretch. When a train traveling north or south goes through town it starts blowing it's horn at one end and the horn doesn't stop until the engine gets to the other end. It's required by law. Luckily, I live about three miles from it and for me it's just a pleasant choo-choo train off in the distance, albeit with a horn that blows for more than five minutes. For anyone living near the tracks, it's a nightmare.

 

[iamwiz82]

There' a big difference between trains that just pass by and trains that pass by and blow their horns.

We have heavily used tracks that run straight up through town, just one block from and parallel to the main drag. They cross more than a dozen cross streets over a one mile stretch. When a train traveling north or south goes through town it starts blowing it's horn at one end and the horn doesn't stop until the engine gets to the other end. It's required by law. Luckily, I live about three miles from it and for me it's just a pleasant choo choo train off in the distance, albeit with a horn that blows for more than five minutes. For anyone living near the tracks, it's a nightmare.

Personally, I would be more concerned with what was being hauled rather than the noise.

Scary stuff and it is usually marked

 

[Jeff7181]

My girlfriend did some research and found that it's all freight - no passenger cars. Mostly for the automotive industry and lumber industry.

Also learned that there's no scheduled routes that use the section of track. There's up to 12 trains a day, apparently.

 

[Brainonska511]

My girlfriend did some research and found that it's all freight - no passenger cars. Mostly for the automotive industry and lumber industry.

Also learned that there's no scheduled routes that use the section of track. There's up to 12 trains a day, apparently.

I lived in an apartment complex adjacent to sometracks in college in Chicago, which had both commuter and heavy freight traffic. The nights were the worst - long speeding freight traffic or 4+ diesel engines chugging away. But the days were also annoying whenever the window was open, as the freight trains would drown out the sounds of tv, music, etc...

 

[pete6032]

My girlfriend did some research and found that it's all freight - no passenger cars. Mostly for the automotive industry and lumber industry.

Also learned that there's no scheduled routes that use the section of track. There's up to 12 trains a day, apparently.

Be aware that current traffic is not a predictor of future traffic. 5 years from now there could be 30 trains per day all carrying crude and the railroad wouldn't have to tell you shit about any of it (see: North Dakota). They own the right of way and if you don't like the increased traffic, tough nuts. That is enough reason for me to never buy a house by railroad tracks.

 

[Markbnj]

I think the railroad actually has to tell you if you inquire. For what it's worth we lived with NJ Transit right behind our house for about five years. The truth is you get used to it, but it definitely has a big impact. The tracks were 100 yards behind us, approximately, and a light rail passenger train made the whole place vibrate.

 

[Red Squirrel]

My concern would not be the noise, but foundation problems from the constant vibrations.

Otherwise it would be kinda neat to leave near a train, if it's far enough.

If you're really curious you could walk the rail line far enough into the bush and setup some kind of sensor to record data with time stamp, but make sure it does not have explosed circuit boards like an arduino or people might think it's a bomb.

 

[Imp]

I live close enough to a set of railway tracks that I can hear the horn on quiet mornings with windows open -- couple kilometers or less away. It's not one track either, it's a set of them through an urban area because there's at least one major hub in the city. There's another set a few kilometers in the other direction but fewer sets of tracks. I should be worried considering the shit they carry but... duck and cover?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Ask the people in the neighbourhood.

Question: How often does the train go by?

Answer: So often you won't even notice it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S65lJGs7YC8

 

[Jeff7181]

My concern would not be the noise, but foundation problems from the constant vibrations.

Otherwise it would be kinda neat to leave near a train, if it's far enough.

If you're really curious you could walk the rail line far enough into the bush and setup some kind of sensor to record data with time stamp, but make sure it does not have explosed circuit boards like an arduino or people might think it's a bomb.

Exactly. I really don't care about the noise. Even if it's every other hour, every day, for 10 minutes or however long it takes a train to pass. What I'm concerned about is the vibrations. I kind of doubt the builder would build something that couldn't handle it and still offer a 10 year warranty on the structure, but it's something I'd like to avoid if possible.

I wouldn't even consider putting something like that out there. That's just asking for homeland security to put their fingers in my butt.

 

[Paratus]

Only when you are on the tracks

 

[bbhaag]

I dated a girl in high school who lived next to a track. I spent a lot of time at her house. The rumbling bugged me at first but after awhile I got used to it.

You will too.

 

[John Connor]

So here's what you wanna do. Get a VOX operated time stamp digital voice recorder and a scanner that tunes 457.9375 MHz and 452.937 MHz5 for the End-of-train device. Now hide the scanner and VOX recorder within 3-5 miles of the tacks in a tree. Maybe down in a man-hole. Run an antenna up the latter near the top of the hole.

Next day retrieve the scanner and VOX recorder and take note at when you hear the
End-of-train device telemetry. Problem solved.

Joking aside. What state and town and what railroad company?

 

[Ruptga]

There' a big difference between trains that just pass by and trains that pass by and blow their horns.

We have heavily used tracks that run straight up through town, just one block from and parallel to the main drag. They cross more than a dozen cross streets over a one mile stretch. When a train traveling north or south goes through town it starts blowing it's horn at one end and the horn doesn't stop until the engine gets to the other end. It's required by law. Luckily, I live about three miles from it and for me it's just a pleasant choo-choo train off in the distance, albeit with a horn that blows for more than five minutes. For anyone living near the tracks, it's a nightmare.

That's basically my current situation. I don't know how often a train comes through town but when it does it crosses several roads over about a mile. I'm about half a mile from most of the intersections and it still irritates me from time to time.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Oh, and if it's CN, I would stay the hell away, it's a matter of time till there's a derailment, as is tradition.

 

[John Connor]

I've heard it's cheaper to clean up an accident than to put in safe guards.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I've heard it's cheaper to clean up an accident than to put in safe guards.

That's the sad part, it's true. It's one of the reasons I am mostly against pipe lines. They're cheaper to run than rail once installed and "feel" safer, they're buried, out of sight, out of mind. Then boom, unlimited amounts of oil everywhere until the amount of oil being lost is more expensive than the cost of shutting down the line. Corporations will not spend money on maintenance or inspections. It's cheaper to just deal with disasters as they happen. At a key moment the media is then manipulated to cover some stupid trivial thing, like some celebrity that had an affair, then next thing you know everyone forgets about the disaster. You don't hear media talking about the gulf oil spill anymore, or Lac Megantic and most people don't even think about it, but the damage is far from done.

Statisticly pipelines are probably safer so far, but they instill a false sense of confidence.

 

[Imp]

It's cheaper to just deal with disasters as they happen. At a key moment the media is then manipulated to cover some stupid trivial thing, like some celebrity that had an affair, then next thing you know everyone forgets about the disaster. You don't hear media talking about the gulf oil spill anymore, or Lac Megantic and most people don't even think about it, but the damage is far from done.

I ended up boycotting the CBC for everything but one show because of obvious shilling.

 

[Sukhoi]

I did some Googling, but couldn't find a source for this type of information.

I'm considering buying a house near a railroad track and I'm trying to figure out how often a train will pass. If it's many times a day, I might at the very least select a different lot. But if it's once a day or less, that probably won't affect my decision.

Anyone know where I could find this kind of information (aside from asking current homeowners in the area)?

Even if you could find current information, it doesn't matter. If it's an active track the railroad can pretty much do whatever the hell they want. Out here a bunch of people bought new houses next to a disused sub line. Now Union Pacific is hinting they're going to bring it back for significant traffic, and people are freaking out.

 

[pete6032]

I think the railroad actually has to tell you if you inquire. For what it's worth we lived with NJ Transit right behind our house for about five years. The truth is you get used to it, but it definitely has a big impact. The tracks were 100 yards behind us, approximately, and a light rail passenger train made the whole place vibrate.

That's public transportation use of a rail line. The government has to give out passenger train counts if it's a service run by a government agency. I think the OP is referring here to a private rail line.

 

[sdifox]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac-Mégantic_rail_disaster