indyfabz

Maybe a decade or so ago the federal government preempted the field of train horns at crossing because local government were creating a patchwork of rules that were not practical to follow. For example, a township might ban the use during certain hours, but a rail line could pass through that township, leave it then reenter it again a mere mile or two away. Way too confusing to comply with the patchwork. (Pennsylvania to a similar preemption approach to the use of phones while driving after more and more local governmental bodies started adopting their own rules.) Now, trains are required to sound their horns at public crossings unless what is known as a Quiet Zone has been established. I won't bore you with what it takes to establish one, but I will say that it is usually an expensive undertaking involving a traffic study and physical improvements to the crossing. And the municipality requesting the QZ has to pay for it all. I worked on a couple many years ago that required hundreds of thousands of dollars in improvements and payments for future maintenance for the railroad-related improvements. Things like signs and concrete median to dissuade people from driving around the gates were not included in the amounts. That is why you usually find them in well-off areas.

Not sure if I ever posted this video in this thread. I shot it when I heard a train approaching Rockwood, PA, which has a few crossings in town. I was camping across the river along the GAP trail during the second day of a cross-PA tour. Turn up the volume to simulate the effect. Turned out to be Amtrak's Capitol Limited from D.C. to Chicago, but there are a lot of freights that use that line.



I shot this one from my campsite after the first day of my 2019 tour in MT and ID.