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Ban the train whistles

Editor: I am a fairly new resident of Hanford ... 2 1/2 years, prior to that I lived in Selma. Both communities have the dire same problem... the ear-splitting whistles or horns blasting away at all hours of the day and night.

Upon reading the trains Web site, it states they have their trains remit those god-awful sounds to warn people away from the tracks and that six or seven people a year are killed anyway. These few people are by and large either drunk, or trying to beat the train to the crossing, in my opinion.

On further review on my part I have noticed that most, not all, engineers pull that whistle cord to the point it becomes torture especially if you happen to be close to an intersection in Hanford, which many businesses are -- and just walking to your car, the shrill sounds made by the train whistle almost break your eardrums. Now that's sad.

Now, if I were the mayor of Hanford for a day, I would complain to the city council to have the City of Hanford put out-of-bounds for any kind of excessive noise and that includes train whistles or horns -- none allowed within the city limits, nor at the crossing at the Kings Country Golf Club.

Hal Donathan

Hanford

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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the views of the Hanford Sentinel

another idea wrote on May 7, 2008 1:44 PM:

" How about this... how about they should have banned anyone building right up next to the tracks? Hows that??
"

SueB wrote on May 7, 2008 7:48 PM:

" To another idea.............I LOVE IT!!! You are so right. "

Wait a second wrote on May 8, 2008 11:32 AM:

" My daughter and I love the train whistles. Either while on the couch, in the yard or over dinner, when we hear the whistle we stop, smile and listen. Much the same as we do when a plane or jet fly overhead. What a sad world when a child doesn't get to hear the train whistle because someone bought a house next to the tracks and now thinks the noise is too loud. "

Sid wrote on May 10, 2008 4:22 PM:

" You guys think you have problems with your city council and/or "new" residents against long established noisy areas...

The Lemoore City Council this week voted 3-2 to deliberately and intentionally build houses under a known and city documented jet noise pattern used by NAS Lemoore.

We also are in need of "another idea" idea... "

Nomr and Ann wrote on May 11, 2008 9:18 AM:

"
We appreciate your comment about the
ongoing constant impact of the train
whistles as trains lumber through our
community. We agree with you complestely !A law or polcy should be implemented that bars train conductors from
leaning on the horn wistles as they go
through urban communities and especially
at night! It is so unecessary to blast their
way through a community in the wee hours
of the morning. Thanks again for bringing
out this problem as an issue for our community to
look at and do something about. "

kale wrote on May 11, 2008 9:20 AM:

" We appreciate your comment about the
ongoing constant impact of the train
whistles as trains lumber through our
community. We agree with you complestely !A law or polcy should be implemented that bars train conductors from
leaning on the horn wistles as they go
through urban communities and especially
at night! It is so unecessary to blast their
way through a community in the wee hours
of the morning. Thanks again for bringing
out this problem as an issue for our community to
look at and do something about. "

Waaaa wrote on May 12, 2008 4:32 PM:

" All safety devices are written in Blood. Thats right BLOOD! Now all you Whiners want to take the horns away. Let the Blood, Sweat and Tears flow at the first crossing accident. Just don't come whining back that the train wasn't heard or seen. "

ALEJANDRO wrote on May 12, 2008 5:17 PM:

" Some of my family and friends had questions so I did the math:

Using the Federal law whistle standards (at http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/1773)
the total amount of whistle sound per train is from 3.25 to 4.34 minutes at 110 decibels maximum. Try counting out the seconds to yourself or use a timer; it's really a long time, isn't it?

And Between 40 and 50 trains per day run on the San Joaquin Corridor, of which 12
are San Joaquin passenger trains and the balance are BNSF freight trains.

Cumulative horn assault time on our ears: from 2.17 to 3.62 HOURS per day.

Now look at federal sound exposure guidelines for workers:

TABLE G-16 - OSHA PERMISSIBLE NOISE EXPOSURES

Duration per day = ½ hour at 110 Sound level dBA

Prolonged exposure to sounds above 85 dB, called NOISE-INDUCED HEARING LOSS (NIHL) may cause permanent hearing loss.

This is noise pollution and needs to be addressed by our local and state legislators to protect all the citizens of Hanford and Kings County. Quiet zones are the way to go to preserve our health. "

CC Watchdog wrote on May 12, 2008 11:12 PM:

" To Hal - newcomers is part of the problem with this entire idea. For sixty one years that I know of the homes along Rodgers Road have existed, the people knew going in there were tracks behind those houses. There was a working arrangement with the railroad for all those years and now a bunch of outsiders come to town and want to reorganize everything spend millions of dollars to quiet a noise the rest of us have gotten use to all in the name of what. So you can prove you can do it, well you don't have that right unless you have a majority vote and from what I've seen and heard you are in the minority not the majority. I think you might have better luck in Selma it's a community of new people with lots of new housing tracks them and Fowler both, good luck, bye bye, don't let the door to the city hit you in the caboose. So tell me Hall have you had a good idea that might make the water in town taste better, now there is room for improvement. You bust that jewel and ????? "

Watchdog wrote on May 13, 2008 2:49 AM:

" Kale, Nomr & Ann maybe that should have been Norm - but the exac t same comment is written right below it a second time. Maybe you clicked post twice, don't know. Anyway, it's nice that you want to contribute to the subject and hopefully when Hanford loses millions in lawsuits do to accidents and Hanford's gross negligence in silencing those train horns you will be willing to pay then also?
As Devils Advocate - what do we do and you know someone will bring a law suit against the city because after all these years of sleeping with the trains running now a person has developed insomnia and can't sleep and has to be treated with expensive sleeping pills and specialists and they can no longer bare the cost so the city must step in and pay for this persons suffering and lack of sleep, plus the treatment for the deep depression he/she is suffering and the lost time from their job because without rest they can't function and continue to do their jobs. I can see it all coming, you think Dowd is busy now just go ahead and be stupid and watch. "

Watchdog wrote on May 13, 2008 2:55 AM:

" To another idea and Sue B, congratulations you get it, you see the real problem. Why would you buy next to a train track if you didn't like trains in the first place? If you see a damn behind your house doesn't it stand to reason it could flood. If I see two shiny rails it pretty much guarantees there is a train or two to go with them. Would you build your house to close to the Ocean or a Cliff, what's the difference. If you didn't build it why would you buy it. I think there is just a bunch of frustrated people here in town because they find themselves upside down in their house payments cause property has crashed and this is their way of getting back at the city for it? Makes more sense to me than they were o.k. with the noise when they bought but now years later they just can't take it any longer. The immature babies of the 21st Century all moved to Hanford over night, or what folks? Go Figure, Who'd a Thunk It, There is a Train Duh! "

Watchdog wrote on May 13, 2008 3:01 AM:

" To Waaa have you heard the news the people in Malibu have declared a Quiet Zone, now the ocean has to move cause it makes too much noise and keeps them awake at night. Go figure water breaking on the beach who would have ever thought that would cause a noise? They figure it will only cost 3 trillion dollars to dredge the ocean and build a noise wall between the residents and the dreaded ocean. Confounded water anyway, and to think some people swim in it. Yuk!!!!! No more ridiculous than our issues no more ridiculous than many people's issues. We all jump off in the sea cause that is what they do in Richmond, San Jose and San Francisco. Say didn't they remove all the cable cars in San Francisco once and do to their popularity for tourist they brought them back. We should be building a railroad museum and make money off of it instead of trying to run it out of our community. Come on use your heads for something besides a hat rack. "

allarelame wrote on May 13, 2008 11:07 AM:

" don't you think that there are more pressing issues in the town then the train noise?? I'm from Sac, been here barely 2 years and i can deal with the trains....its the water I'm more concerned about! "

Yuk wrote on May 13, 2008 11:38 AM:

" I sleep fine with the trains at night. When I wake up and take a shower, why do I need to be assulted with the rotten smelly water. I think the water is a far greater risk than sound of trains. Spend the millions on cleaning up the water first. "

What we need to ban wrote on May 13, 2008 2:09 PM:

" is people that need to write 500 - 900 words on every topic on these blogs. If you need more that 200 words to express your opinion then you need to be a politcian or may write books. "

CC Watchdog wrote on May 13, 2008 2:30 PM:

" Allejandro my brother from another mother. I never would have thought you and I would find a point to disagree on, but I guess we have found it. The problem with your study is it takes continued noise at that level for thirty minutes or more. Although your time frame may be correct this is in bursts that you admit only last a few seconds, the damage isn't possible in that short of time unless you are hugging the engineer while he is blowing the whistle. How would you like to be that poor Engineer who blows it all day long and can't help hear it not through four or five crossings but through hundreds of them throughout the state? Now if OSHA the God of safety isn't worried about him wouldn't give much criedance to your argument, not this time.
Even soldiers, sailors and marines are all exposed to tear gas in boot but not long enough to do permanent damage to them. You have to equate the time of exposure over a total period of time, not the accumulative effect as if someone was standing there for two hours blowing the horn. "

CC Watchdog wrote on May 13, 2008 2:38 PM:

" To Alejandro - I can hear the cars running around the track at the Fair Grounds louder than a train whistle should we silence that entertainment in the community too? Noise is going to be a part of our everyday life, some we request and call music others we don't and call annoyance but the same fact remains it will be in our worlds in one way or another, invited or intruding it will be there. What about the noise in all the tire shops in town, the Sentinel presses, the Bells ringing at all the schools at the same time every day school is in session? Some day time sleepers, sleep to close to those noises but I don't hear them being silenced, why not, why doesn't this intruding burst of sound be included in all we do not just the annoying train running up and down the tracks. What about all that noise coming from the live bands playing in the community that far exceed your 110 deicbel rule, not to mention the stereo's blasting through town with that bass thud that sounds like a bomb just landed next to you. "

ALEJANDRO wrote on May 13, 2008 3:15 PM:

" Hey CC:

All I did was to print a few facts from the best official sites I could find. Facts and numbers for the folks.

California loves to ban all sorts of things - imagined or real - as that is the liberal heaven we live in.

Might my last comment be a bit cynical if you between the lines?

Dang, I guess I should play poker more often!

Personally, I love all sorts of sounds even though I am deaf in one ear. "

CC Watchdog wrote on May 13, 2008 4:05 PM:

" Alejandro - Amigo don't take offense I was just merely pointing out the difficulty in reading level that might be encountered by all us uneducated red kneck cowboys as we were referred to by another blogger on another cite. Some women just see a good looking cowboy everywhere they look, I'm telling you Amigo. They just can't help theirselves, they call us uneducated and they are the one's chasing after us, go figure. Yee Haw!!!!
Buck Owens grew up 86 miles south of here and they call us hicks. Buck was possibly the most political influence Nashville ever saw and they didn't even see it coming. Tace Adkins admitted to carrying Buck's phone number in his pocket just in case the politics got to him, Buck guaranteed Trace he'd handle any of those kinds of problems. That Redneck ended up owning all the radio stations and 80% of the property in his home town, so it isn't always a bad thing to be uneducated, redneck or a hick, whataya say Amigo? I love those personal insults that can be turned around on them, don't you? Buck Owens could have owned Hanford. "

Kreia wrote on May 13, 2008 8:24 PM:

" Imagine you are a conductor, and someone is on the track in front of you. I would suspect pulling the whistle sounds much better than the crunch of bone.

And, who will clean up that mess? A tortured soul who has assigned himself a murderer in his heart, though none would fault him, as they would have slept through the night, unaware of the events until a newspaper has the headline the next afteroon.

But, what does that matter to us or our city council? A loud noise not heard is so much more important than safety. "

Boyce Duprey wrote on May 14, 2008 12:12 AM:

" Hmmm. Been here almost 5 years and I still haven't gotten used to the train horns at night. Can't sleep with the windows open, the trains are way too loud. Even with the glass shut, I still hear them tootin' and a whistlin'. I don't live next to the track, I'm over a mile away from the nearest crossing and these horns are still disturbing me.

I'd pay the millions and more to shut them up at night. I'd go farther than the suggested remedies. I'd have the trains or road running over/under each other so both run without hinderence to each other. A nice over/underpass on Lacey and Grangeville would be great.

The next thing I would happily pay for would be the silencing of the neighbours dogs. They are only on (very small)step behind the trains. In fact the windows of my home are never open at night due to the combined noise of trains and howling dogs!

The water I'll live with. I've actually gotten used to it. Filtler on my fridge,and faucets. I've spent money to get rid of the problem.

"

Watchdog wrote on May 14, 2008 11:36 AM:

" To Boyce - You don't like train horns and you hate dogs that bark. What about those screaming unattended children running losely up and down the aisles in Wal~mart does that one bother you too? it drives me nuts but I'm not wanting to rip their vocal chords out to cure it. Not all people can afford the millions you want to spend Boyce and many can't even afford the filters you've wisely installed. But there is Arsenic in our water, that can kill ya, hearing those trains at night is not likely to take lives but rather save them. So your comparison pardon the pun doesn/t hold water. You've been here exactly one twelth as long as I have, don't worry you eventually do get use to the trains. It's the ignorant people you never quite get use to dealing with who hold public offices. That's the real problem in this city, it isn't planes, trains, automobiles, dogs and tree huggers. You moved once perhaps you might consider it again, real soon. "

Hmmmmmm wrote on May 14, 2008 12:46 PM:

" All you that want to silence the trains, go down to the Amtrak Station and talk to the railroad employees about the kids that like to play chicken with the trains. Now if they are down there doing that and ones gets hit because no whistle blew which parent is going to sue first. At least if they have the whistles blowing you can't say they weren't warned. Alejandro, unless you are sitting under the actual horn you are not getting the full decibles. My advice is don't sit above or under the train whistle. You go WatchDog you have great suggestions! "

ALEJANDRO wrote on May 14, 2008 3:10 PM:

" OK, Sorry I posted some obviously meaningless scientific numbers and made a cynical comment which apparently no one 'got.'

I believe 100% what the Blue Falcon said when he commented about this issue in one of these columns recently.

Other than that, well, earplugs for my friends it is.

Why didn't I think of that? "

Watchdog wrote on May 14, 2008 3:23 PM:

" To hummmmmmmm - thanks for the vote of confidence, it's good to know that some people are literate enough to read beteen the lines and can hear something besides a loud train horn in this community. If hearing that train saves one person drunk or sober on a foggy foggy night then they are worth their weight in gold and should be continued as a safety precaution. That's it period end of comment, I am All For Saving Lives..
To Boyce - when you move I don't suggest it be Bagdad they have noisy choppers, planes, guns, tanks and bombs, they are the worst. Just in case the Realtor didn't disclose that to you. "

Boyce Duprey wrote on May 14, 2008 11:47 PM:

" watchdog: Yep them kids in Walmart hollerin' and the like do annoy the hell outta me. I've got 3 kids, 5 and under, and believe me they behave themselves when they r in places like that. Why? Because I INVEST in making my kids not be a nuisance to others.

As for saving a drunk driver on a foggy night from being hit by a train. I'd rather the train take them, than have them hit me! No sympathy from here on that one. Only for the engineer driving the loco.

Hmmmmmm :Kids playing chicken with the trains don't heed horns. It's all visual. How close you can get with out gettin' hit. Usually it takes eyes and a very good depth of field on the vision.
Watchdog: The realtor never mentioned the trains when we purchased. Why should they being over a mile away? Right now it's 80ºF, and my windows are closed. I hear the trains though.
I'm tempted to run the AC, but have the ceiling fans spinning. The neighbors don't hear the fans that way.
"

Ashley wrote on May 19, 2008 11:30 AM:

" If people are bent on spending tons money silencing train whistles to benefit the few ill-prepared who bought homes on top of the tracks, why don't they spend the money to build overpasses or ways that will help everyone stuck in their cars waiting during lunch hours. "

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