I am getting lots of email from folks who are beside themselves with rage and frustration over the very loud, invasive “holiday” train currently busy lowering property values in the Westside. And all the way downtown.
Interrupting concert performances, waking babies from their naps, causing post-traumatic stress, threats of moving from the area—all of this because some person of influence had a bright idea. Does no one ever consider the consequences of their actions?
This YouTube comes from an irate neighbor Jesse Corona who is determined that whomever perpetrated the unbearable and persistant train horn will put on the brakes.
Train whistle yes. Loud and persistent train whistle no.
I live next to the Soquel Fire Station and with regularity the paramedics roar out of the station with sirens blaring, disturbing the peace and mixing up traffic to confusion levels. But, would I or anyone else even think about quittening their sound while they doing their necessary job? Of course not, there are some things one has to accept for the betterment of society–the Greatest Good Classicsl Liberals have called it. A whilstle baring train is one because it prevents accidents but that train also represente a means. that we are committed to doing our part to ease global warming and reduce traffic in our neighborhoods..
Good point Bob – I think the gist of this brouhaha is the sheer frequency of the blaring whistle. I agree completely that we need to (finally!) get to the transportation point that Europe has been at for over a century.
Perhaps those who have kvetched the longest and loudest about this issue will take comfort in knowing that the whistle stops……on Dec. 23.
best
Christina
If someone had held their ear up to my head last night at around 10:00 pm(like one does with a sea shell to hear the sound of the ocean) they would have heard that damn train whistle. I like trains and I like train whistles and am not opposed to more public transportation. But there are different types of pollution and noise is one of them. That whistle is LOUD. Did you hear me? Can’t wait till Dec. 23rd.
It’s a really bad sounding train whistle!!! The tone is unpleasant and grating. Check out the Amtrak trains on 4th street in Berkeley. A better sounding whistle would not be as grating on the nerves.
We are VERY happy the train trips have stopped. We live about a half block from the tracks and in years past, the sound of the train rolling by several times a week has been a pleasant one. But this! This is horrible. The blasts go on and on within our hearing for 4 to 5 minutes (I have timed it), and the blasting goes on for 34-45 times (I have counted)! Some of the blasts last 6 to 8 seconds or more! Dinner conversation with guests must be suspended for several minutes while the train goes by – the interruptions make it impossible to talk. It goes on during dinner and past 8:30 pm! The train noise interrupted performances of Music for the Feast of Christmas at Holy Cross Mission the first weekend in December – a 30-year tradition in this town. The music was being recorded and the train blasts were quite prominent around 8:20 pm. I attended a holiday fair at New Leaf Market and the train seemed to go by about every half hour, causing many people to plug their ears. The noise is incessant, excessive, and way too loud. Many people on my street are very upset. Can’t they pick a less grating whistle sound, dial down the volume, and perhaps limit the number and length of the blasts?
I enjoy the glowing faces of little children as much as the next person, but must the peace of all the neighborhoods in the train’s path be destroyed? I dread the summer, when we like to work in the garden and eat in the back yard with friends – it will be impossible to be outdoors. I hope they will do something about this horrible intrusion into our lives. When the train is running, we literally have no peace.
We are seriously considering that we may have to move away from our home of over 30 years. The problem is, who would buy our house now?
Get used to it group. The Bike people and the do righters pushed the train path on us for a bike path and a means to get the cars off the road. Well, the county had to buy it, with pushing from bike people, with funds that require train service, there is no way around this one. So, Next time a plan is put forth by bike people, think about the possible unintended consequences