Living close to the RR tracks in the I80 towns... (Casper: house, buyer)

[KamFong]

Cities and towns having RR tracks run through them is often more of a rule, than an exception. Same goes for the I80 corridor. Just wondering how they impact everyday life, especially sleeping. Big difference in the hum of a train and the thunderous crash of an 80 car frieght train hooking up with another forty cars. How close is too close? Do any of them create bad smells for the town? Cattle, fertilizer, feed, etc? What do they do to home values? Thoughts and opinions welcome?

[Ltdumbear]

Everything you said, rings true.

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by KamFong

Cities and towns having RR tracks run through them is often more of a rule, than an exception. Same goes for the I80 corridor. Just wondering how they impact everyday life, especially sleeping. Big difference in the hum of a train and the thunderous crash of an 80 car frieght train hooking up with another forty cars. How close is too close? Do any of them create bad smells for the town? Cattle, fertilizer, feed, etc? What do they do to home values? Thoughts and opinions welcome?

I grew up in a railroad town and I like the sound of a train in the distance. I find it calming. Hearing trains hooking up at a distance is also a neat sound. I don't recall any strong smells.

[2nd trick op]

Livestock hasn't moved by rail in any appreciable quantities in the United States since the early 1980's; the movement of live hogs from Council Bluffs, IA to Farmer John's packing plant in L. A. (along the I-80 / Union Pacific corridor) was the last gasp of a dying activity.

[sipes23]

Originally Posted by NDak15

I grew up in a railroad town and I like the sound of a train in the distance. I find it calming. Hearing trains hooking up at a distance is also a neat sound. I don't recall any strong smells.

Same. I'm a bit more than a mile from the Casper yard. I can hear them when I sleep outside at night in the summer. It's homey, but that could be me.

[KamFong]

Anyone care to guestimate how many trains per day coming through Evanston, Rawlins, or Rock Springs? How about the coal trains? Is that a big part of the I80 route, or does that stay more north?

[2nd trick op]

Originally Posted by KamFong

Anyone care to guestimate how many trains per day coming through Evanston, Rawlins, or Rock Springs? How about the coal trains? Is that a big part of the I80 route, or does that stay more north?

There is an enterprise known as Virtual Railfan, which maintains trackside streaming-video cameras at trackside locations which see a lot of rail traffic; Laramie,WY is one of them.

https://virtualrailfan.com/laramie-wy-hd/

Coal traffic via Scottsbluff, NE is slowly declining, and actual figures of train movements are hard to come by, and traffic varies from day to day, with Tuesday as the usual low point due to less traffic originating in both Chicago and California over the weekend -- but a ballpark figure would be 50-60 trains daily. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe mainline across Northern Arizona and New Mexico probably sees somewhat heavier traffic.

[jody_wy]

RR haven't hauled cattle for almost 50 years, in the 70s they were tearing out livestock sidings, last load of steers we sent to Illinois (late 70s) about 1/8 of them didn't make it and took the buyer a few years to get all his money from the RR. Know thru lot of towns they have longer rails so not all the click clack.

[recycled]

In WY, the same issue with living near a main RR line would apply to anywhere else. At grade level street crossings (including those with drop down traffic gates), the trains are required to blast their air horns multiple times. If you live within a mile of that grade level crossing, pretty sure thing that you will hear the air horn blast inside the house, maybe even with the windows closed. At night, when all other daytime noise is not present and you are trying to sleep, it might be even more of an issue.

If there is no rail yard in a town, most trains won't stop there to couple / uncouple cars. If there is no grade level crossing and the tracks simply pass through an area, the trains would normally not blast the air horns. In that case, there would be just the heavy, low-rumble noise of the locomotive and freight cars rolling by. If you were a mile away, chances are a well insulated house would not pick up much of that rumble noise.