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Old 07-05-2007, 01:59 PM
 
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Just came back from a trip to SA, looking for a house. Can anyone comment on the level of noise by trains in the northwest part of Olmos Park? How would that compare to the airplane noise in the Northwood area (off of Nacogdoches)? I would appreciate any input. Thanks!
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Old 07-05-2007, 06:20 PM
 
Location: San Antonio, Texas
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I live near the trains. After a few days, they become white noise. Half the time I don't hear the train.
I have friends in Northwoods and the plane noise is fierce!!!!
It's so loud and worse if the planes are taking off instead of the lower noise of landing.
It never becomes white noise becasue it is so loud and and close. The bigger the plane, the louder.
Conversation has to cease when the planes are taking off.
I guess my point is, I'll take the trains anyday over a 747 in my bed.
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Old 07-05-2007, 07:44 PM
 
Location: San Antonio. Tx 78209
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Most planes are diverted away from Northwood now, to the north. You really don't notice it. There is no noise during the night, like there would be from trains. You can also get federal money to noise proof your house apparently.
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Old 07-05-2007, 08:31 PM
Rockin' The TriCities
 
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The people I know who live on the parts of Paloma and Paseo Encinal and Mandalay closest to the trains claim to never notice them after the first few weeks. To be honest, they can be heard all the way through Olmos Park, though obviously not at the sound level on those blocks closest to the tracks.. I never really notice them any more. I did have a house guest who commented on the one that passes by around 6 every morning, but even she said she had stopped waking up because of it by the third day.

I know a guy who lives out south of town right on the tracks where the trains have really picked up speed and are zooming by very loudly. If you say, "hey, that train is loud" they will look at you blankly and say "didn't notice". Amazing what your body can adjust to and block out.
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Old 07-06-2007, 02:20 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by torero View Post
Just came back from a trip to SA, looking for a house. Can anyone comment on the level of noise by trains in the northwest part of Olmos Park? How would that compare to the airplane noise in the Northwood area (off of Nacogdoches)? I would appreciate any input. Thanks!
I was asked to consult on a house in Northwoods that was up for sale. Outside the planes were loud.....but the inside had been upgraded with more soundproof windows. I was told by the agent that the homeowners were offered funding to improve sound proofing, but I don't know that everyone HAD to use the money for that purpose. It was sort of a compensation for being in the new flight path.

RE: That runway is very much in use. The control tower adjusts take off/landings according to the traffic and weather conditions.
Keep in mind, when it's overcast or cloudy, there is a "ceiling" above that actually causes the noise to be louder. The lower the ceiling, the louder the noise. (Can you tell I used to live in a flight path?)

.....that being said....I've lived near both trains and planes, within a mile or so....and both were less annoying the longer I lived there. It might depend more on the condition of the house and if there is any sound proofing.

Olmos Park not only has the train VERY close, but also the gun club! I've never heard of anyone that lives there being overly annoyed by it. One of my friends actually said he loves to hear the train because he was so used to it as a kid!
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Old 07-06-2007, 02:38 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
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I lived directly adjacent to a train track for ~5 years. By directly, I mean I could sit on my back porch and hit it with a rock if I wanted to (and my arm is not that good). Anyway, it was an active track with probably 10 or more trains a day going by (a stretch of the MoPac in North Austin). Probably 95% of the trains that went by I did not even notice after a fairly short while. A couple of comments on trains:
  • The noise tends to be more bass than airplanes, whish seems to make it less annoying (even 'pleasant' if you grew up with the noise) than planes, but much more difficult to insulate against.
  • Train 'noise' also can travel through the ground, so if you live very close (like I did) you will sometimes feel the vibration.
  • Faster trains seem to create less noise/vibration.
  • Medium speed trains full of rock/coal seem to create more noise/vibration.
  • Where the train blows its horn is critical. Where I lived, southbound trains would blow their horn for a nearby crossing after they passed my house. Northbound were pretty far away when they blew the horn, and around a curve in the track. On the rare occasion it was blown right before my house (southbound train) it was deafening! This happened rarely, and I suspect it was a new engineer or something, not sure, since they have set distances they should blow the horn.

Not sure any of this helps....
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Old 07-06-2007, 03:25 PM
Rockin' The TriCities
 
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I don't find the noise of the Gun Club particularly annoying. It probably helps that its hours are pretty much limited to between sunrise and sunset. The people who live on Contour directly across from the club have had a series of issues with it. Periodically the Gun Club has huge meets, and they rent out RV hookups in the front. This does not make the people living across from them very happy. They must have come to some sort of arrangement, though, because I haven't heard much complaining about it lately, and it used to be a real hot button issue in Olmos Park.
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