Should trains blow their whistles at crossings? (Missoula, Belgrade: house, subdivision)

[bigtrees]

Whitefish is moving closer to quieting train horns at two of its three at-grade railway crossings. Dealing with the third one is not in the cards, at least for now. Whitefish Pilot News Page

So good ole Whitefish has decided enough of the train whistles and is trying to eliminate them! That was one of my favorite sounds in Whitefish growing up - but I was miles from the tracks so it wasn't loud for me.

What do you guys think? Should trains be required to blow their whistles or should it be optional?

I don't have enough data to comment. I'd like to see some studies that show whether more or fewer accidents occur at crossings where trains don't blow their whistles. At a first glance, though, it seems like the whistle is a nice safety precaution.

[Rickers]

Let them eat cake !

[ElkHunter]

The train whistles are a left over from the time that crossings were just crossings. Then lights were added. Then bells were added. Then crossing arms were added. And yet, the whistles are still there.

If the crossing is set up properly with lights, bells, and crossing arms. There's no reason for a whistle. But if it's still an old crossing, then yes, the whistles are important.

[SeaDreams]

Unfortunately so many intersections in more rural areas don't have lights and arms, so whistles are really required. I live in a relatively small town, and live in a subdivision that is within a mile of four railroad crossings. One of which has lights and arms, one has a stop sign and nothing else, one has not even a stop sign and one that has just lights and nothing else (which is at an intersection and has had train/car accidents).

I feel that the whistles (and you get used to them, and even start to know the time by when you hear them) are something that is a necessary evil for those people who need looking out for because they can't watch out for things as well as they should. (Read... idiots!)

[SeaDreams]

Addition to last post... I probably feel this way because my dad worked for the Milwaukee Railroad out of Missoula for many years when I was a kid and taught me to totally respect trains. Hmm... guess who has the right of way and who you need to watch for and be completely aware of?

[bigtrees]

I think it's a really interesting question. On one hand, whistles are a wonderful safety improvement as long as you don't live near the tracks.

Here in Seattle, though, we have had two fatalities of people that lived right near the tracks and learned to ignore the sound of the whistle. One was a 17 old girl that was walking down the tracks while talking on her cell phone. The conductor blew the whistle, but since she lived near the tracks and heard it all the time, she ignored it and kept talking. We can debate whether or not this was very smart, but it's very sad since 16 and 17 years old is a really young age to die.

For her, the tracks would have been safer because the whistle wouldn't have blown all the time, only to warn her to get off the tracks and she might have tuned in. But on the other hand, people do stupid things and sounding the horn is a definite way of realizing how big trains are and how important it is to stay away. We actually have to have security guard the tracks to prevent pedestrians from crossing when the guards go down. (They usually don't try to cross before the train, but after it has come and is stopped on the tracks letting passengers out. The problem is there is a second set of tracks right behind and frequently trains go at high rates of speed in the opposite direction - and you wouldn't see them coming because the stopped train is blocking the view).

Anyways, it's interesting....I think Whitefish is doing it to be more classy and upscale, and sure don't like to see that happening.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by SeaDreams

I feel that the whistles (and you get used to them, and even start to know the time by when you hear them) are something that is a necessary evil for those people who need looking out for because they can't watch out for things as well as they should. (Read... idiots!)

Isn't that called Natural Selection? Or, the strong (read.. smarter than a potato) will survive?

I think if there's lights,arms and bells that should be enough for a "normal" person to realize a train's coming. I also think if they want to kill off the horn then pony up the $$$ for the arms etc.

[mtdave2]

well having worked on the rail road for 16 years i have seen this come up many times, people and cities having a fit over noise and delays. the horn thing will never go away, it can be done but it requires all kinds of wavers and equipment to satisfy the GOVERNMENTS regulations. it is because of these same federal regulations that they MUST blow the horn at crossings, not only blow the horn, but do it in a set pattern, and in a set way...its crazy!

the other side of this is, as always, the court room. if some drunk, or dumass ignores the lights and horns, drives around the arms and gets killed; there is a procedure that must be followed per federal regulations. one part of this is a decibel test of the horn! if it doesn’t make enough noise, guess what? or if the engineer caves under the public out cry and doesn’t blow the horn properly, guess what again? the rail road gets sued every way you can think of. it always seems to boil down to lawsuits and money doesn’t it.

[rangerider]

Gotta agree with mtdave2; I am out on the road every day and I see a pile of people who ignore/violate crossing arms and lights. I think the only way you could safely do away with train horns would be to have an impassable barrier come into place when the train was approaching. And even then, you'd have to worry about pedestrians and the possibility of motorcycles and bicycles dodging the crossing and going across down the tracks somewhere.

My bride and I had a trailer house in Belgrade for quite a few years and it didn't take long to get used to the trains; the tracks were about three blocks south of us. The only one that ever bothered me much was a switch engine they used in the middle of the night - it had a horn that sounded so sick and out of whack that it woke me for whatever reason. Kinda like a bull elk with a sinus problem...

[jimj]

Originally Posted by rangerider

Gotta agree with mtdave2; I am out on the road every day and I see a pile of people who ignore/violate crossing arms and lights. I think the only way you could safely do away with train horns would be to have an impassable barrier come into place when the train was approaching. And even then, you'd have to worry about pedestrians and the possibility of motorcycles and bicycles dodging the crossing and going across down the tracks somewhere.

My bride and I had a trailer house in Belgrade for quite a few years and it didn't take long to get used to the trains; the tracks were about three blocks south of us. The only one that ever bothered me much was a switch engine they used in the middle of the night - it had a horn that sounded so sick and out of whack that it woke me for whatever reason. Kinda like a bull elk with a sinus problem...

I don't think you need to add an imapssable barrier just enact a "no fault" barrier to lawsuits.
If the normal barriers are in place and functioning to standards and the train is being operated normally and someone is hit due to avoiding them in some way then a "I'm too stupid to live" statute kicks in and the person HIT (or estate at that point) has to pay for any damage to the train, therapy for the engineer (I'm sure hitting someone sticks with them for ever) and their own expenses. Seriously, this is like Evil Knevil suing Cesars Palace after he crashed jumping the fountain.

Talk about people too dumb to live, I've seen people who've hit the SIDE of trains! How in gods name do BROADSIDE a train??? Is it not big enough? Does it not have enough graffitti on it to notice that it's NOT a mirage?
I can think of only one or two situations where the "hittee" is not at fault for being hit by a train and past that "you're too dumb to live" kicks in.
Am I missing something????