Noisy Trains how close is too close? (Sagle, Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry)

[JJ.Johnson]

Thanks for the info. One property I'm looking at is in Sagle. Around a mile from the tracks by HWY 95.


I read there are constant trains going by there.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

I started looking at 95/Sagle on Google Maps. I know the area fairly well; nice hills, some small lakes, and the Pend Oreille River flowing into the big lake. The train tracks run along 95, then veer off to the east in Sagle just about where the old swap meet used to be (storage units now, I think). It's really hard to tell how far the noise from the train carries right there. With all the trees there should be some muffling of the sound. Since you're in CO, will you have the opportunity to go visit the area/properties yourself? Highly recommended. On one of my property-scouting trips I checked out a great piece of land near Elmira, and we might have bought the property if a train hadn't happened to come barreling down through the valley, right at the property line. I almost jumped out of my boots. You won't really know until you're there in person.


Anyway, your post inspired me to travel around the Sagle area in Google Street View. They took the pictures on a nice, cloudy fall day. Beautiful!

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I'm going to second the suggestion to stand around and wait until a train goes by and you can hear it for yourself.

My house that is close to tracks, I was there when a train went by and I could hear that it was no problem. The house I am in right now, I parked in the street and spent an evening listening to neighborhood noise before making an offer. I heard the trains and the planes and could tell that they were not going to be a bother.

Generalization, wheel noise won't be a nuisance unless you are really close. It is fine as background noise. No worse than cars driving around the area. The train whistles at the road crossings can be obnoxious if you live too close to a track that gets a lot of use. So myself, I am a lot more concerned about the road crossings than the actual tracks.

[drinkthekoolaid]

I'm about a mile as the crow flies from triple main line tracks. It's nothing I would spend 2 seconds thinking about. It's not annoying or obnoxious at all. It's just subtle background noise that you barely notice unless you're listening for it.

However I wouldn't want to be 1/4 mile away. That's different. Also most don't realize trains derail more frequently than you realize and they carry some really nasty chemicals and hazmat

[nowhereman427]

The movement of the trains and vibration can cause cracks in the house.

[DvrGrl]

I live a mile from a pretty significant crossing--Dufort Rd and 95 in Sagle. At times it sounds like the train is pretty close, other times very muffled. As CFF mentioned, the terrain makes a big impact--we have sound channeled up the valley by some hills. I see the house right there between the road intersection and the RR crossing and wonder how they can stand it. For us it is generally something in the background and we actually find the sound of the engines chugging and the whistle blowing soothing, especially when we happen to be awake at 2 or 3 in the morning. I had friends who were renting in the Seasons right near the Amtrak station in Sandpoint and they said they could not continue conversations when the train went by. My recommendation is to spend some time on whatever property you are interested in to see how the sound carries. Road sounds also carry far in this area and we find that more bothersome than the train.