Norfolk residents frustrated with train horn noise in neighborhood
wavy.com/2016/03/24/norfolk-residents-frustra...
wavy.comPosted Mar 24, 2016, 11:15 PM UTC
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wavy.comI use to live 2 miles from that area... it never bothered me .. and it still doesn't...
I would not live directly next to a train track though..
But maybe they can be a little easy on the horn for those people who are right there...
My major problem with the trains is the faulty train crossing gates going down when there is no train in that area.. it has happened 3 times to me in the past year
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I live right next to the tracks. We don't mind it much at all. If I were to stand at my fence and reach out with a 20 foot pole, I could touch the tracks.
The only gripe I have are the conductors that feel they need to lay on the horn for their entire...fucking...trip. I get that before crossings they have to sound the horn an X number of times, no problem. But every now and again and at 0300 in the goddamn morning I will hear that horn blasting through and on and on for miles. That dude needs to be punched in the damn throat.
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Annnnnd NS is defending that as "Oh but they have to do that and since there's 6 crossings chained back to back it's not our fault because federal law". Just seems weak their only solution is to leave crossings closed overnight and then the conductors don't have to use their horn, but no one will be able to use the roads they're crossing.
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...but it is federal law
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Who is complaining about this? It's atmosphere guys... Norfolk Southern brings it in and out like the tides and the wind. I still like to lie awake at night and hear it from my window on warm nights. Calming. The clacking following as their hybridized motors slowly churn and sooth my weary worried mind to sleep.
20+ years here now, you miss it when you're gone.
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Interesting part to me, is I live 2.4 miles east of the Va Beach Blvd overpass between Ingleside and Ballentine, and I even I can hear the trains and train horns sounding all through the night.
I thought there was a lost tug boat creeping down the Elizabeth River heading toward the bridges on Military Highway the first time I heard it.
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I like a distant train horn noise I find it soothing.
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I don't live that close to the train, I can hear it but it's usually not enough to disturb my sleep or anything. But I do feel like I've been hearing a LOT more train horns than usual for the last week or two, so I have some sympathy for the people who live closer to it. Can anyone confirm whether there has been more activity or something?
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N&S said that train traffic has increased by 11%, but I think the larger issue is that they're chaining them closer together at late night. Over the course of an hour I've heard 3-5 different trains blowing horns between 4-5 AM from my 2.4 miles away.
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I love next to the tracks....woopdeedooo
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Hah, one thing I didn't realize until the end of my stay in downtown Norfolk was how much air-born coal dust there is from Lamberts Point. I noticed the carpet slowly turned this dark grey color over the years and couldn't figure out what I had done to cause it. It was all the coal dust coming in. I hope there are no long lasting effects!
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It's only increased rates of respiratory health issues in children. What's breathing compared to burning more fossil fuels?
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I live on the water and on foggy nights ships blow the fog horns in the bay and it keeps me up, I'd like to place everyone's safety after my comfort as I feel I'm a special little snowflake that needs his sleep.
/s
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Of course, all of the "they should just shut up and enjoy it" in the middle of the night while they're being woken up abruptly is an entirely different response to the people who complained about the noise of tractor trailer traffic down Hampton Blvd.... which was banned between certain hours "because of traffic concerns" and to appease the locals that complained. :)
Amazing how it's okay for people to be startled awake by trains in the middle of the night 7 days a week, but tractor trailers were an entirely different response. :) "The sound of tractor trailers moving freight is economic growth!"
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Implying location not a factor, lol
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I hear the train all the time and I'm near Lafayette Blvd, I can hear the train right now actually. I've always considered it a sign of economic prosperity as lame as that may sound . I've only found it annoying after a really long day. Plenty of cities have trains that pass through them. That said, this is kind of like saying the jet noise is annoying near the air base or airport. You should kinda know what you're getting into beforehand and I would take train noise over jet noise any day.
You live here long enough, and you don't hear the jets. They just become natural breaks in the conversation that you don't really think about. Same for the fog horns, though I find them oddly relaxing.
I am born and raised and the jets are still the most annoying thing ever. Always loved the trains and foghorns though :)
Same for the train. I enjoy sitting out near a campfire on a cool night and just hearing the horn.
We lived right near the Cape Henry lighthouse. It was so relaxing to hear the foghorn at night with the rolling fog.
Not gonna lie, the fog horns have scared the shit out of me when they go off at 3am. Only noise issue that's really bothered me in Norfolk is when I lived right by a church. Those bells going off for several minutes at a time, a few times a day drove me crazy the day after a night of heavy drinking