How often do trains (Amtrack, Oil, other?) run along hwy 14 (Evergreen Neighborhood) (Vancouver: real estate, house)

[cyberous]

Hello all,

It's so quiet in there, what's up with that?

I'm wondering how often do the trains, Amtrack, Oil and anything else run in the Evergreen area of Vancouver (see map)

Anyone that lives in this area know? I did a search but could not find anything recent.

[texasdiver]

I can't give you an actual frequency, but it is pretty often since it is the BN mainline. You see oil trains all the time. Not so much Amtrack. That is the Empire Builder that runs from Portland to Chicago but I don't think they run more than one or two trains per day.

My daughter has a friend who lives down there along the Columbia and you have to cross the tracks to get to her house (unguarded crossing) and the trains seem to fly through there with pretty high frequency.

[cyberous]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

I can't give you an actual frequency, but it is pretty often since it is the BN mainline. You see oil trains all the time. Not so much Amtrack. That is the Empire Builder that runs from Portland to Chicago but I don't think they run more than one or two trains per day.

My daughter has a friend who lives down there along the Columbia and you have to cross the tracks to get to her house (unguarded crossing) and the trains seem to fly through there with pretty high frequency.

Thanks td, I was hoping for a number, if twice a day thats not bad. When we go to Beacon Rock it feels like the trains are every hour, but that might not be the actual number. I've been told that they have to slowdown and cant blow horns, vs Felida where its an anything goes situation.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by cyberous

Thanks td, I was hoping for a number, if twice a day thats not bad. When we go to Beacon Rock it feels like the trains are every hour, but that might not be the actual number. I've been told that they have to slowdown and cant blow horns, vs Felida where its an anything goes situation.

This article is a few years old but says 40-45 per day and that was 2018. I think it has increased since then.

https://www.columbian.com/news/2018/...on-systemwide/

[cyberous]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

This article is a few years old but says 40-45 per day and that was 2018. I think it has increased since then.

https://www.columbian.com/news/2018/...on-systemwide/

Wow, that seems like a lot! I actually talked to some residents in the area yesterday and experienced a few trains passing. They thought it was around 20-25 a day. I experienced two trains in the hour and a half I was there. To my surprise it was not bad, the neighbors confirmed that the horn blowing was stopped a few years back. The trains are moving pretty quickly so the real noise is from the engine, once that portion of the train quickly passes the rest is pretty quite.

[StealthRabbit]

Noise and vibration may be the least of your worries, if living near a high volume rail line. I had several friends who lived along evergreen highway and below (adjacent to track). After 40 yrs, only one still remains. They are closer to SR 14 than the tracks, so don't need to cross the tracks, unless going to the river.

The noise and rumble is pretty easy to get used to. Lull you to sleep.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Noise and vibration may be the least of your worries, if living near a high volume rail line. I had several friends who lived along evergreen highway and below (adjacent to track). After 40 yrs, only one still remains. They are closer to SR 14 than the tracks, so don't need to cross the tracks, unless going to the river.

The noise and rumble is pretty easy to get used to. Lull you to sleep.

When I was a kid we lived a couple blocks from the large Southern Pacific switchyard in Eugene. All day and night the railroad was switching cars, slamming them into each other, starting and stopping trains, etc. Which always made clashing sounds. We never once really noticed it growing up but when we had visitors they complained about being kept up all night from the banging.

Same thing happened in Texas. We lived for a while next to a shooting range which was in heavy use, especially on weekends. We quickly stopped hearing it but visitors were freaked out by all the nearby gunfire.

So it is easy to get used to pretty much anything.

My fear of living down along the river is that one of my kids would be inattentive and drive their car into an incoming train because they come through there fast pretty quietly (especially if your kid is listening to music in the car) and all those private drives do not have crossing gates. I'm frankly surprised that more people aren't killed by trains. It does happen every so often though.

[hikernut]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

So it is easy to get used to pretty much anything.

Like this….


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lL3PODLf_A

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

When I was a kid we lived a couple blocks from the large Southern Pacific switchyard in Eugene. All day and night the railroad was switching cars, slamming them into each other, starting and stopping trains, etc. Which always made clashing sounds. We never once really noticed it growing up but when we had visitors they complained about being kept up all night from the banging.

Same thing happened in Texas. We lived for a while next to a shooting range which was in heavy use, especially on weekends. We quickly stopped hearing it but visitors were freaked out by all the nearby gunfire.

So it is easy to get used to pretty much anything.

My fear of living down along the river is that one of my kids would be inattentive and drive their car into an incoming train because they come through there fast pretty quietly (especially if your kid is listening to music in the car) and all those private drives do not have crossing gates. I'm frankly surprised that more people aren't killed by trains. It does happen every so often though.

I recently talked with a guy who lives down there right along the Columbia and next the train. When I asked him if it bothers him, he said it did the first few years until he adjusted to it. Now it doesn't bother him.

I honestly think it varies per person/family depending on how lightly one sleeps, etc... There are somewhat loud noises at night I love after growing up at the beach very close by. Those include big waves crashing on the shore, fog horns and sea lions barking. We heard those things often. However, the train may seem more disruptive. It's just hard to say until experiencing it. I can't stand hearing road noise, for example, and would never want to get used to that. But some of the most expensive real estate is right there along the Columbia with some beautiful homes. I'm thinking they likely have better sound proofing including triple pane windows and better insulation. Even if just the bedroom had more sound proofing it would help.





Derek

[ohio_peasant]

This would be a most unfortunate thing of which to come to be apprised, as I had been considering buying a place in that very area, but one of my main criteria is auditory serenity. Ironically, in sparsely-populated locales, any one particular noise, feels all the louder. Urban cacophony tends to mask blaring horns, loud stereos or police helicopters. Comparatively placid and unpopulated areas are jarred by something like a passing train. It's unfortunate that a railroad goes right through such a scenic and residentially-valuable place!