Rail Yard near Reed College? (hair salon, real estate, 2015)

[ukiyo-e]

Hoping someone (probably OTT) can tell me a little about all the train tracks just NW of Reed College that I see on the Google maps when I'm checking out real estate. Looks like Holgate travels across/over them. Is there an active rail yard there? I see a single track going north and south from there, so it doesn't seem like it could be TOO busy. Just wondering about the noise factor. I'm a very light sleeper and sometimes in the summer when my windows are open at night, I'm awakened by trains that are over a half-mile away from my house.

[oldtintype]

Yes, it's an active railyard, with many of the trains operating on remote control! BUT, I don't recall that there's very much noise by Reed. I think closer to SE Powell, where the lanes cross traffic, is where you'd hear noise. Someone else might know better. I lived up the road from Reed, in the Woodstock area, at one point and never heard trains. I do hear them now that I live downtown--but I think it's the Amtrak trains from the Pearl.

[ukiyo-e]

Thanks, OTT...I knew you would know. That area isn't one I'm particularly looking in, but it's in the general enough close-in SE area that if something interesting came up there, I just wanted to know. The realtors in my town tell people to sit in their cars with the windows down in front of houses they're considering buying to see if the train noise is bothersome in that area. So I could try that if I was concerned.

What is the Woodstock area like? I get the impression it's a little mixed. There are some cute places there, but the prices seem lower than Hawthorne-Belmont.

[oldtintype]

Woodstock used to be really working class but with the cost of Sellwood/West Moreland so high now people started buying in Woodstock over the last five years or so. It's full of nice bungalows and the Woodstock "strip" has some nice restaurants on it, two cafes, a library, grocery store, hardwood store, pet store, hair salons, etc. It's not as "cool" as Hawthorne and not as yuppie as Sellwood/WM has gotten but I'm sure it's heading that way. There's a really nice park there too, aptly named Woodstock Park. If you go further out you get into Brentwood-Darlington and Lents, which are still some problem areas in terms of drugs. But anything in the Woodstock area west of 52nd is really nice at this point--other pockets too.

[ukiyo-e]

Thanks...I'll check that area out next time I'm visiting. It helps knowing which street to stay west of - I've never really been much east of Mt Tabor, and am more familiar with Hawthorne-Belmont, Sellwood, East Moreland, Ladds Addition, and Irvington than the other areas in SE. So I have some investigating to do on my next trip.

[oldtintype]

SE 39th divides East Moreland from Woodstock. Once you cross SE 39th you're in the opposite neighborhood. People who would like to live in East Moreland but can't afford it also have purchased in Woodstock, on the edges closer to EM. In some parts of Woodstock you wouldn't know it wasn't East Moreland, particularly around Berkeley Park.

[ukiyo-e]

Ok, I've been down SE 39th (my friends live on Taylor near 37th) to go to Reed, but just didn't cross over to the other side (that sounds ominous...). Next trip I'll check it out.

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by angelbug

Hoping someone (probably OTT) can tell me a little about all the train tracks just NW of Reed College that I see on the Google maps when I'm checking out real estate. Looks like Holgate travels across/over them. Is there an active rail yard there? I see a single track going north and south from there, so it doesn't seem like it could be TOO busy. Just wondering about the noise factor. I'm a very light sleeper and sometimes in the summer when my windows are open at night, I'm awakened by trains that are over a half-mile away from my house.

I lived in Westmoreland for 8 years (recently this summer moved out of state). Pockets of both Westmoreland & Eastmoreland are affected by noise from the Train yards. It depends on the proximty and elevation of the home. You will hear trains traveling down the tracks at night... but I dont' recall whistle blows. But the noise of the trains traveling is minor. The most noise is from them coupling of the train cars together... diesel engine noise and then loud clanging when they attach. I miss my old neighborhood but I definately do not miss that!!

If you are interested in finding out more about the train noise I would recommend contacting SMILE (this is the neighborhood association for Westmoreland & Sellwood).
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

Also the monthly neighborhood newspaper covers the train yards and the noise. You can find this source at www.readthebee.com.

I'm not sure if they have old issues archived on their site. But the editor has been very active in covering the noise issue. You can find his email address on the site.

My main advice is before you buy or rent a place check it out at night. That is when the yards are the busiest and loudest. I found that Sunday night between about 11 pm & 12 am to be the loudest. I think that was there Monday morning and they were catching up on trains that needed to go out.

[ukiyo-e]

Thanks, P-Mom, I will definitely do that. I'm sure the clanging from the coupling would definitely bother me if I were close to it. Thanks for those links!