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Looking for a home in west cary/ n apex area, and keep seeing things I like, but am wary of living too close to the rail road...I heard the trains only sound the horn at crossings. Is this true and is there a simple way to determine where those crossings are? (anywhere it crosses ANY road?)
Yes they honk the horn only at RR crossing. CYA for RR crossing safety is always slow down and look and listen for trains before traveling over the tracks. I'm sure Mapquest shows all the RR crossings in the area.
You can hear that horn for a couple of miles. Are you seeking not to hear it, or only not to hear it too closely?
In W Cary, the track from Apex to Durham is your closest concern. It is very lightly used, with a northbound in the morning, and southbound in the evening, Monday through Friday.
In Apex, you will also hear the line along Old US 1, which carries an Amtrak and some freight.
i used to hear them alot when i lived in cary, off hwy 55 & high house. it would sound like it would go on for 5 min (at 2-3AM half the time and wake me up). i have a friend who lived near downtown cary who said she had the same problem.
i asked the RR people, and they said they are required to blow the horn once a certain distance before the crossing, right at the crossing, and after it, and varying lengths of time (shorter vs. longer). i think it is 3-4 altogether.
i used to hear them alot when i lived in cary, off hwy 55 & high house. it would sound like it would go on for 5 min .
That's funny becuase we live near there and hearing the train is an event - I think we've heard it 5 times in the 8 months we've been here, LOL. A couple of weeks ago my kids were like "is that a TRAIN? Where is it?!"
We lived 2 blocks from the commuter rail in NY so maybe we are desensitized.
Train horns are required by both state law and federal law. The Federal Railroad Administration does have a process by which a municipality can eliminate train horns. However, the process requires that virtually every road crossing be protected by enhanced crossing signals. Typically it's half a million dollars per crossing. For the low levels of train activity on the two railroad lines in question -- one from downtown Cary through downtown Apex and then southwestward toward Sanford, the other from downtown Apex parallel to Davis Drive and NC 55 toward Durham -- it's just not worth it.
Why are horns blown repeatedly? Either a slow moving train or, more likely, a train that's switching an industrial siding but has to cross a street repeatedly to access the siding.
On the other hand, train frequency on the line from Durham parallel to NC 54 through Morrisville and Cary into Raleigh is moderate and is increasing. No-horn zones might make sense on some of that line.
Thanks for all the replies, I don't mind the train as long as they are not loud enough to wake me up!!
I'm in Cary now, about 2.5 miles from a crossing, and I hear the train but it's not bad at all. The new house I'm looking to buy is about 1/2 mile from the crossing by Davis Drive Elementary...From previous posters it sounds like that is the twice daily train...so that is good news!
The weird thing about the trains is how much you hear it can greatly depend on houses and topography between you and the train. I run in the morning in Morrisville/Cary in the Downing village, Twin lakes subdivisions and on Town Hall drive. All relatively near the tracks. Some places pretty close you can just barely hear it and others that seem much further there is a low lying area that channels the sound right to you. It's pretty crazy. Luckily there is a small hill between our house in Savannah and the tracks at Morrisville Carpenter which knocks it down from annoying, to quaint background noise.
The best thing you can do is ask the neighbors as it's so dependent on the precise location.
I live near tracks in Orange county. In the winter I can see the tracks and in the summer when the trees are full, I can only catch glimpses of a moving train. Our line has 5+ trains a day, including in the middle of the night.
The noise in our home is minimal, outside is louder, but not enough to interrupt us. We hear the horns, but not enough to disturb us. I agree with the pp about the landscape effecting the noise. The only way you are going to know if this is going to be a problem for you is to be at the location when a train goes by.
I live near the train tracks you are commenting on and it is really not a big deal. The train is on the other side of my property line and most days, we don't hear it come. It is almost 1:30 pm and nothing has come by yet. I guarantee though that you will hear the horn from the other train. It is loud! But if you look at the area, there is no way to avoid it. The other thing about the train that runs parallel to Davis is that it is as slow as molasses. I have had instances where it was passing my house, I got in my car, drove around and still beat it to the crossing in front of the school.
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