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Just this morning I had to wait 20 minutes crossing from the parking garage to the office, while the long train went by, then just before it ended, another came the other direction for 10 minutes. That is bad enough, but my first apartment years ago was about 600' from the tracks. When the train went by at night, the vibration always set off the alarm at the gas station nearby and woke me up.
I'm too old for that now. Even a passenger train can be noisy, besides the engine, the wheels squeal.
It seems like 10 minutes but I bet it was actually 2 or 3. I've counted freight trains with 180 cars and it took less than 1 a second to pass by.
In our area, a town near Raleigh NC, the trains that run on diesel need to leave the engines running all night when they are 'parked' at the station during the cold months (but they actually tend to do it all year long). If this is the case for you it might add some additional background noise that you won't like.
We once spent three months in the KOA campground near Spokane, Washington. It is located right next (as in within 100 feet) from the Burlington Northern main line, and 500 feet or so from a crossing.
There was no "commuter train", but there were a LOT of freight trains and the Empire Builder twice a day. It is, after all, the main line between Seattle and Chicago!
By the end of the first month, we didn't notice the trains. If we woke up at all, it was to think "Oh, yeah, train..." and go back to sleep. My wife worked nights, and slept during the day, and the trains did not bother her.
When my son lived in California, his house was about two hundred yards from the main North-South rail line. LOTS of AMTRAK trains, and lots of freight. He got used to it to the point where he barely noticed it. So did we, when we visited.
If the house was what we wanted, the presence of a rail line or airport would not be a deal breaker, IMO.
I would avoid it. Most people don't want to be woken up at night by the midnight train. The low frequency rumble will rattle your teeth.
My old boss had a tiny house next to train tracks in a neighborhood of million dollar homes he claimed to not notice the noise after a while but the increased dust from the diesel train as well as the low frequency vibration is more than likely not good for your health in the long term.
I would not buy it unless it was at a huge markdown and I intended to use it as a rental property where I could lower the rent enough to get people in. Then I'd consider doing it and soundproofing the house as well as possible.
Zero chance I would agree to live there. I sleep with windows open in the blissfully cool mountains.
If it is close to the station, you'll also hear the starts and stops which you really, really, need to hear before deciding. I have lived by the tracks like this and hated it. The first time I heard it stop, I thought someone had hit the house with their truck. Noise leads to tension that you don't realize you are experiencing also.
If you plan to use the train, I still don't think it would be worth it.
If it's close to the station, what's the parking situation? Are commuters parking their cars on your street? Is it posted no parking? If so, can you and your guests live with no parking on the street?
i got a track three miles away, I can hear the train on the track, no horns, inside my house. it will wake me up at night. Its not a big deal but when it quiet at night, sound travels.
If it's close to the station, what's the parking situation? Are commuters parking their cars on your street? Is it posted no parking? If so, can you and your guests live with no parking on the street?
It's a really interesting set up.... Don't know why I didn't think to put up a pic before but here it is. You actually have to drive through the parking lot to get to a driveway that leads you to this house and a few other houses. Commuters wouldn't be parking their cars on my lot, and there is definitely enough space on the lot for guests. It seemed like a big plus because at most stations in this area, a parking pass will cost a few hundred up to $1k a year and is only available to residents of the town the station is in.
So long as the noise of the train, coming and going, the cars coming and going with doors slamming and people you know trying to get you to let them park on your lot, it might work. You will have a lot more dust in the area but maybe that isn't a problem. You sort of see that there are just a lot of things that only you can decide.
I would probably try to see how many times this house has been bought and sold to get an idea if the location was a problem for previous owners and also how long it sat on the market before being purchased to give you an idea of what others were feeling about the house.
For me, I would be concerned about who might come up to my house from the parking lot but maybe crime isn't a problem in that area.
Only you can make a decision and an informed one will make it the right one. Do your research.
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