Noisy Trains how close is too close? (Sagle, Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry) (Rathdrum: houses, roofing)

[JJ.Johnson]

I'm looking at properties in North Idaho. Some are 1 or 2 miles from the main lines. Some only 1/2 mile.

How far away do I need to be so that the train rumble and horns would be faint compared to normal conversation when outside?


.

[elousv]

You need to UP your scale considerably

[JJ.Johnson]

Originally Posted by elousv

You need to UP your scale considerably

It won't let me edit the poll. How far from tracks are you?

[elousv]

I lived 2 miles or so in Hauser and it was like they were coming through the living room. Now in CDA at 7 miles it is still audible but not annoying, still not what I consider faint. Way louder as it gets colder of course. I have seen posts before of million dollar homes in Sandpoint where the whole building shakes from those things. The entire thing is run by feds so as you would suspect, it is moronic.

[elnina]

Depends on the house. Good insulation/soundproofing is a key.
Also some areas are no horn (quiet) areas. Check the nearby crossings.
https://metrolinktrains.com/community-main/quiet-zones/

[Seguinite]

I've lived three blocks or so from very busy tracks twice now. I don't know that I've ever FELT anything. I'll hear them, but only really notice them if I'm awake (already) in the middle of the night with a window open.

I do see houses that are 100 feet away. That might be a problem.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

We're a bit more than1/2 mile from the tracks in Clark Fork, but the tracks run along the river, and we're on a ledge 200 ft above the river. We can certainly hear the whistle, but not much rumbling. It seems louder at night, but our house is incredibly well insulated, so it doesn't bother us at all, with the windows closed. On hot nights with the windows open--well, sometimes it does sound as if they've moved the tracks closer to the house! But in the morning they're back where they belong.

The volume depends greatly on the surroundings. We looked at a property across the border in Montana, in Heron, way up on the mountain, with a view that was out of this world. Peaceful and quiet--until the train rolled by, way down in the valley on the other side of the river--and it sounded like the tracks were next door. The sound, rumble as well as whistle, was being amplified by the tall rocks on either side of the river. So we gave up on that property. Just as well, we'd rather be in Clark Fork!

[volosong]

Rathdrum is a quiet zone, created by some curbing in the middle of the street to inhibit cars trying to go around the gates. We only have one crossing in town. Very rarely do I hear a horn here. I'm only about a quarter/half mile away, (as the crow flies), and with plenty of tall trees between. If it is quiet outside at night, I'll hear them going down the tracks every so often. Not frequently. Daytime, not at all. Never hear them if inside. My house was built five years ago and has pretty good insulation.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I'm three miles from road crossings, in three different directions. Only one of them still has horns blowing.

I can hear the clackety clack of the wheels when I am outside but not inside the house. It is not loud or annoying. In the dead of night, I can hear the clackety clack while I am inside the house, but it is not loud.

I have some thick forest between my house and the train tracks and that absorbs a lot of the noise. At one time my son had a house five miles from train tracks with nothing but prairie and farmland in between and the trains could be easily heard.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I am going to add this: it depends a lot upon the exact rail that you are looking at. I own one house that has tracks just one house away and there is no annoying noise, because it is a utility track and it only has one very short train go by once a week.

There is also a lightly used track just across a hay field behind it and there is no train noise inside the house and the noise from the wheels is not loud or annoying when outside in the yard. The house is nowhere near any crossing that requires the train whistle.