Anyone live 1/2 mile from train tracks?

[1GirlTwinBoys]

We are interested in a property, but I know there are train tracks 1/2 mile from the property. Just wondered if anyone here has property that close to tracks and if it bothers them.:)

[LittleIzumi]

We're pretty close to some & all we hear is the whistle at night.

[Patches]

Before moving we did. You get used to it and don't really hear it after a while. The biggest problem was when the trains would block the tracks (happened around 3-4 times a year) for long periods of time. Traffic took forever to clear in those cases.

[jewellsmommy]

We are interested in a property, but I know there are train tracks 1/2 mile from the property. Just wondered if anyone here has property that close to tracks and if it bothers them.:)

 

 

Dh says we are about a 1/2 mile from train tracks. They don't bother me at all. I occasionally hear the train horn. I had a napping toddler when we first moved here and she has never noticed either. Ds notices the train sound because he is a train nut!

[Kim in Appalachia]

I got used to it quickly. I only woke up once because of the whistle, after that I slept though it. Even my babies slept through it. I would not buy a house next to tracks (less than 1/4 mile), the house shakes too much. But if you are a good distance it's not bad.

[newbie]

Yes, and I love it, I love hearing the trains at nite, it is comforting.

[Princess Peach]

We are probably about that close to the tracks. I don't even notice it anymore. It doesn't bother anyone else in our house, either.

[TravelingChris]

I have lived further away from train tracks and hear them. In Florida, I lived two rivers and one island in between myself and the train track (probably four or five miles as the crow flies) and could hear them. Over here, I live near the Beltway (8 lanes of traffic) and the train tracks are also about four or five miles away and I still hear them. At this distance, it isn't bothersome. I think I wouldn't like it at 1/2 a mile.

[mazakaal]

The house I grew up in was less than 1/2 miles from tracks, and I never even noticed the sound. I guess since I always heard it, it just became background noise to be ignored by my brain.

[Paintedlady]

We live in close to the town center, probably a half mile from the tracks and it doesn't bother us. Just becomes another noise you become accustomed to. Now the tracks being blocked by trains is the only real annoyance, but again, we're used to it and it's not a big deal.

[angela in ohio]

We are about 1/2 mile from train tracks. There is a field behind us, then a road, then a field, then another field that they cut across.

 

For the first few weeks, the 2:15 a.m. train would wake me up every night. It sounds like very distant thunder. Eventually, I got used to it, and I don't even hear it anymore. There are only a few trains a day.

[sparrow]

We did, when our kids were small. As others have mentioned, I usually didn't even notice any sound and when I did, it was soothing.

 

Our biggest problem was our Thomas the Tank Engine obsessed toddler son wanting to go see every train he heard :001_smile:.

[foxbridgeacademy]

I personally love the sound of the trains at night. We have lived even closer, edge of property line was the tracks! That was to close. The only problem I forsee, is when you go to sell, convincing someone else that it's okay to live near the tracks :tongue_smilie:.

[Jen in PA]

We are close to the tracks and they don't bother us a bit. I have managed to live near train tracks many times throughout my life, and it has never bothered me. Living on a main road near a hospital, with nonstop ambulance sirens, almost drove me bonkers, though.

[Tap]

We are very close to tracks. They didn't really use them and were talking about removing them when we bought our house. Instead they started using them again...:glare:.

 

The trains aren't a problem because we live in a city and they go slow. The problem we have is that they started loading/unloading about 100 feet away from our house. The banging/clanging/noise and dust from that...is bad.

[ondreeuh]

We're one long block from the tracks and I don't hear a thing. In winter, when the trees are bare, I probably hear more. It's amazing what you can learn to tune out. I don't even notice the ambulances until the dogs start howling.

[Krista in LA]

We are probably about that close and I often forget we are. It's not a really busy set of tracks and we only hear the whistle at night occasionally. Of course we had to get used to the sound of B-52's flying over our house, so the trains are nothing in comparison! ;)

[OnTheBrink]

We are interested in a property, but I know there are train tracks 1/2 mile from the property. Just wondered if anyone here has property that close to tracks and if it bothers them.:)

 

I can look out my front door and see tracks that run behind the houses across the street from me, so I'm way closer than 1/2 mile from them. And, the trains don't bother me a bit. After a while, I don't even hear them anymore.

[Hillary in KS]

We live about a half mile from the tracks, and we only hear the whistle.....sometimes. :) Usually at night, but it's not loud. It's kind of a nice sound. Comforting, as someone said.

 

Occasionally the trains stop across the road, and it usually seems to happen when we are late for something. :glare: But it's not a huge inconvenience.

 

I wouldn't want to live any closer to the tracks, but 1/2 mile has been fine for us.

[melmichigan]

We live close to the tracks, about 10 houses. We are in a small town so the trains have to go very slow and are restricted with how long they can block traffic. Once in a while the traffic will back up in front of the house but it hasn't been a problem, we are all used to the sounds. It's a little hard when the boys are on the train kick, they always want to go to the end of the drive to watch the trains go by, or when I'm trying to go pick up a pizza and the train comes. I've learned the schedule. :lol: I wouldn't want to live on the street the trains goes through, it actually divides some of the driveways. I also wouldn't want to live this close if the trains were going faster.

[Mommy22alyns]

There are train tracks just across the road from us. It honestly doesn't bother me one bit. We're completely used to train noises.

[Koerarmoca]

We lived close to them one we where about 1/4 of a mile i could hear the whistle at night but it never woke any of us up. it never bothered me. Another house we lived REALLY close not close enough for the house to shake or anything but close enough that if I was standing outside I would have to wait for it to pass before I could finish a conversation or something. It never really bothered us when we where inside the house. plus the kids LOVED watching the train go by.

[fhjmom]

We live about a block from the train tracks and I don't really notice the trains at all (of course I have a pretty bad hearing loss) LOL! It doesn't bother DH or DS who have typical hearing though. The depot is close and we have a historic steam engine that runs out of our town to Fort Worth. The kids love to walk down to the depot and see the historic trains! Also, Thomas comes every year so we get to see him every time we drive by for those 2 weeks. Traffic isn't a problem b/c there is one under pass if we really needed to get across the tracks and freight trains rarely come through except late night/early morning, but we generally don't hear them.

 

We also live very near one of the largest airports in the United States, so the train traffic is much less noticeable than the airplanes. :D

[The Girls' Mom]

We live that close, and it doesn't bother us at all. In fact they are getting ready to build a passenger train station just a few blocks from our house and I'm positively giddy about that..lol.

 

We also live just a few blocks from the interstate highway...that makes more noise than the train track.

[LostSurprise]

We live across the street (street, neighbor, bike trail, tracks) from railroad tracks and I grew up 2 blocks from tracks. Trains run all night for the paper mills in the next towns.

 

When we moved here I had a sleep-wary toddler and was pregnant, so I worried about it. It's never bothered anyone in the family, even my son who has trouble sleeping. I actually like to lie in bed and listen to the whistle late, late at night.

 

However, we live in a small town so the loudest thing is the whistle. They go through slowly. There is no shaking.

[Renee in NC]

We used to live a couple hundred yards from tracks and we didn't notice after the first few times a train went by.

[raceNzanesmom]

We lived about 1/2 block from train tracks for over 10 years. It never bothered me, and oldest ds loved it.

[Rosie_0801]

Our last house was probably 20 metres from the train tracks. They didn't bother me at all. There was only one night train, and I only heard it if I was already awake.

 

Rosie

[Cinder]

We lived about 1/4 mile from the train tracks where it crossed a road. We were also just a couple miles from town center where the train crossed another road and occasionally stopped. (Made us late to church a couple times as we'd have to drive all the way around the town to get to the bridge that went over the tracks just to get to the other side of town.) So all hours of the day we could hear the train whistle blowing. Ds1 was 3 at the time--it took him about a week to get used to the whistle, where it didn't wake him up at night. Ds2 was born there--the whistle never bothered him. And his room on the front side of the house, so the whistle was loudest in his room. It was about a month for dh and me. We lived there 2.5 years. Proximity to the train wasn't a big deal in that town.

[mommymilkies]

We're about 1/2 mile or less and it's no problem for us. We hear it sometimes, but not enough to even wake the baby.

[woolybear]

I used to live about fifty feet away from railroad tracks. It didn't bother me. I kind of liked the sound of the train passing. Strangely, though, on occasion they would just stop there. No station nearby. When the train slowed and then stopped like that, it sounded like it was parking in my living room. I didn't have kids then, but if I did I think I would be concerned for safety reasons.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I am married to a railroader so the railyard and train tracks are a part of life.

 

When we were first married we lived about 100 feet from the back half of the railyard. The trains were restricted to about 10mph so speed wasn't a problem but the diesel fumes were. We didn't live there very long.

 

When we oved to our current location we lived exactly 3.1 miles from the hub. We could hear the trains being formed. The cars would go over the hump and slam into each other witha loud bang.

 

Now we live in town and have about 4 tracks within a mile. It's not the speed of the trains on the tracks that is bothersome nor is it the sound of the train engines, it's the way the engineers blow the whistles through the crossings. Although the railroad has a designated signal pattern for the crossings (2 longs and 2 shorts, for example) each engineer has his own style and personality and it can drive a person crazy, especially when there are three or four crossings within a relatively short distance.

[Orthodox6]

We live within 1/2 mile of train tracks, smack in suburban jungle. [ :glare: ] The "glare" refers to living in a city, NOT to the trains! People speak of "comfort foods"; I'll now refer to "comfort sounds". I have many memories of waking during the night as a child and hearing the train horns from wherever they were in reference to our house. I would hear the sound and, in the manner by which children process their familiar environment, know that "all is well" . . . then return happily to sleep.

[Soror]

We're a lot closer than that, the back edge of our property butts up with the train tracks. We are in a rural area though. I love it, reminds me of Grandma's old house.

[Tarreymere]

We are about 100 feet from some train tracks. The trains come once or twice a day and maybe once at night. We don't even notice them anymore.

[kalanamak]

I love hearing the trains at nite, it is comforting.

 

I have in the past, and I love it. Just love it. I loved waking for a moment for the 3 a.m freight and thinking: 2 more hours of sleep.

 

Also, a good time to read:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Railway_Bazaar

Edited July 5, 2011 by kalanamak

[Caitilin]

We live 100 feet from the tracks.:tongue_smilie: it is fine in the winter, because it's the quarry train and it is so cold here, they don't run much in the winter. But summer, well, summer's a whole different story. We have gotten used to it, and don't mind it much, but it can get annoying when the train is blowing its whistle at midnight or 5am.

[Ellyndria]

I grew up less than 1/2 a BLOCK next to train tracks. There was one house between us and the tracks.

 

Sometimes we heard the whistle, other times we were so used to it that we blocked it out, and we would have to wonder... has the train not come by lately, or did we just not hear it? However, they were not busy train tracks; a train would come by maybe once a day or so.

 

I remember looking out my front window and waving to the engineer, and he would wave back.

 

However, I won't tell stories about how we used to walk on the tracks to the grocery store and back. I certainly won't mention how I always loved taking that walk on the tracks.

[ocelotmom]

I've lived much closer than that to train tracks (and near a crossing/station, so there were horns involved). You get used to it quickly.

 

I've also lived about a half mile away on more than one occasion, and it was barely noticeable.

[Orthodox6]

We were friends with a family who, for quite a number of years, lived directly underneath active train tracks. I thought that was, perhaps, just a tad too close for perfection; however, theirs was a happy family !

 

If you are wondering, they lived in a real house, albeit small.

[gardening momma]

We used to live within 1/2 mile of RR tracks (maybe 1/4 mile). It wasn't loud. We got used to the whistle pretty quickly so we didn't really hear it anymore. I think it was a little bit down a valley with trees in between, so that probably helped cut down on the noise.

[give_me_a_latte]

I just asked my DH and he says we live about 500 feet from the tracks. So pretty close ;-) Our train route is pretty busy too...upwards of 60 trains a day sometimes. The first few weeks we lived here were an adjustment! But you truly do get used to it. If I have windows open, I can't hear the TV while a train goes by...and sometimes you have to pause during a conversation. Every once in awhile an engineer gets a little crazy with the horn in the middle of the night and wakes me (but DH and kids sleep through it!). And sometimes I have to walk around and push knickknacks further back on their shelves. Our house does shake when an especially heavy train goes by, but it's really no big deal (and kind of amusing when we have a visitor and the oven rack starts clanging around in the oven!). Our house is about fifty years old and the shaking hasn't done any damage. Overall, I'd move here again. We're actually trying to sell our house and I know I'll miss these silly trains!

[1GirlTwinBoys]

Thank you so much for the replies!:) These are no where near being able to see and they actually veer away from the house at a far distance away, and don't run behind so I really think it will be fine. There's no crossing close to us either so that makes it even better.

 

We are putting an offer on a home and I wanted to just ask first.

[joannqn]

In high school, we had train tracks about one block behind our house. At first you hear every single train. After a while, you never hear it.

 

We have train tracks not far from us now. I have no idea how far they are but for the first month, we heard them all night long. They always ran at the same time. I can't remember the last time I've noticed the train though.

[zaichiki]

Just walk right in

It's around the back

Just a half a mile from the railroad track

 

You can get anything you want

at Alice's Restaurant!

 

 

 

(I'll be hearing this all night now.)

[Kirch]

We're a little over 1/2 mile and hardly hear them at all--only when the wind is blowing the right way. When I was growing up, we lived right next to some tracks (well, the fire department was right next to the tracks and we were on the other side of the FD) and it never bothered us once we got used to it. The fire trucks, on the other hand . . .

[ktgrok]

I did, for years. The first night I woke up thinking the train was coming right through my bedroom. Scared the crap out of me. The second night I woke up, but it didn't scare me. After that I just slept through it. If we were in the backyard when it went by it was loud enough that we had to stop talking for a minute, or raise our voices. But inside you didn't really notice it unless it was night and the house was silent. Even then, you really just tuned it out.

[Margo out of lurking]

We're about 1000 feet from tracks, but they are across a two lane road, past a few houses, and down a hill. We can hear a train sometimes at night, but there is no whistle so we never really think about it.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I don't anymore, but all my life up until this house, I've lived near train tracks. One apartment building was literally 15 feet away from the tracks. The trains never bothered me. You get used to it very quickly.

[kolamum]

We use to. I never heard any of it at night. My kids never woke to it. Dh swears he woke up to it every single time. Not sure cause I never did. :lol: That said, dh can have weird sleep patterns.