Me too. I’m appealing to Congressman Blumenauer, Mayor Elect Adams, the City of Portland Office of Noise Control, and Metro Commissioner Robert Liberty to help us establish a Residential Quiet Zone as allowed by federal law:
Dear Congressman Blumenauer,
I’m writing as a long time resident of the Brooklyn neighborhood in southeast Portland. Over the last couple of years, the frequency of freight trains using the Union Pacific railroad tracks that run between the Brooklyn train yards and the OMSI area has increased dramatically. In addition, the train horns have been “upgraded” to louder, omni-directional horns over the past couple of years. As such, the Brooklyn and Hosford-Abernethy neighborhoods have become increasingly exposed to this nuisance.
The noise levels generated by the trains violate the spirit and the letter of Portland’s noise ordinance law. The train horns wake up hundreds if not thousands of people several times a night in these neighborhoods, they harm our ears, they impact wildlife, they lower our property value, and they drown out emergency sirens from police, fire trucks, or ambulances.
Federal legislation allows communities to establish residential quiet zones to mitigate this unwanted noise. The quiet zone laws require communities to pay for additional gates or other mitigation efforts in order to obviate the need for train horns at those crossings. I am confident that the residents in these neighborhoods would wholeheartedly endorse whatever crossing improvements may be required.
I’d like to request your personal support and help on this issue. I’m copying Mayor Elect Sam Adams on this letter, as well as Metro Commissioner Robert Liberty. This would be an excellent time to attack the issue, since the new light rail lines proposed for the neighborhoods will run parallel to the railroad tracks between OMSI and the Brooklyn yards, and the area will be undergoing construction over the next couple of years. In addition, the presence of the light rail stations in proximity to the railroad tracks will mean that riders waiting at the station will be exposed to the unhealthful and annoying horns unless the quiet zone is established.
I have already contacted the City of Portland Noise Office, along with Metro. They have indicated that it is politically difficult, but not impossible to establish the quiet zones. I have confidence that with your support and the support of Mayor Elect Adams, we can solve this problem and make our inner southeast Portland neighborhoods as livable as the rest of our city.
Please let me know how you can help us with this effort.
Thanks for your consideration on this issue.Sincerely,
Michael O’Connor
Brooklyn Neighborhood Resident
I’d like to hear from others within earshot of the trains. Do they wake you up at night? Do they interrupt conversations even indoors? Are you ready to join me in writing to our local, state, and federal officials for help on this? Are you ready to form a new neighborhood committee?
27 responses so far ↓
1 Anonymous // Aug 2, 2008 at 1:16 pm
The trains drive me crazy and have definitely gotten worse over the years. They constantly wake me up and are so loud I often have to pause telephone conversations while the trains are going by. I will be happy to send a letter out.
2 indy // Aug 2, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Don’t bother me. They help our economy, the noise keeps us safe. People looking to [complain]* about stuff, much?
* language changed by administrator to keep things rated G
3 Train Lover // Aug 2, 2008 at 6:13 pm
One of the reasons why I bought my home here is specifically the sound of the train whistle. Considering the fact that, with the exception of Amtrak, the possibility of the trains being moved remotely (i.e., no engineer on board) as is posted on the crossings, I would think that there is a tremendous safety issue if declared a Quiet Zone.
Whether you rent or buy in Brooklyn, you could not possibly say you didn’t know the train and the whistle were here before you were.
4 RedFlyer // Aug 2, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Should we move the airpoert too. What else would you pioneers to Oregon like.
5 Adam // Aug 2, 2008 at 9:30 pm
One of the things that has Brooklynites so upset is that both the volume (the equipment has changed) and instances of train horns has grown. This has both long time and new residents upset. Additionally, most people don’t know about the incredibly long blasts that occur at odd hours in the morning.
Not all houses are built the same, not all people sleep as well. I can say from the amount of mcomments I’ve heard, there are enough people who are negatively affected by the crossing at 11th/12th and Clinton that something needs to be done.
6 mike@aaiconsulting.com // Aug 3, 2008 at 12:17 am
To those who would trivialize my original complaint, the train horns really have become much louder in recent years. I’m 1/4 mile away, and you have to hit pause when you’re watching a movie and wait for the train to honk for another 40 seconds as it lumbers through. It’s about the equivalent of a truck horn honking in your driveway for a minute or two every 15 or 20 minutes. From a quarter mile away! They were nowhere near as loud or frequent when I moved here twenty years ago. As far as safety goes, all the crossings through the OMSI to Brooklyn Yards stretch are gated. You have to intentionally go drive around the gate or walk on the tracks to get hit by a train. There’s a certain darwin-awards aspect to the logic of making all this noise to protect someone doing something that gets people killed every day on our highways, where otherwise we seem to get along pretty well without blaring our horns in a unanimous craze. There are also other less disruptive signaling systems available, which use pole-mounted focussed speakers to alert motorist of the train without blasting the whole neighborhood. I like to view the soundshed as a health resource to be protected and improved, just as our watersheds and airsheds. And using the latest technology to minimize unnecessary noise is a great thing for the city to spend money on. With the light rail going in on that alignment, it would be crazy not to upgrade these crossings during construction. It really should have been discussed in the early stages of light rail planning as a health and well-being issue for riders. If the light rail platform is within a hundred feet or so of the freight tracks, those riders at least on the platforms will probably be subject to noise at volumes deemed unhealthful and injurious by OSHA.
7 RedFlyer // Aug 3, 2008 at 9:13 am
Train horns are no louder or longer than they ever been.*
*portions of this comment have been deleted due to restricted content.
8 Administrator // Aug 3, 2008 at 9:46 am
Hi Everyone,
Thank you for your interest in the post and the continued dialogue.
I’ve had to modify language or drop a phrase from two comments so far due to content that we just don’t need on a neighborhood site.
We don’t want to discourage people from posting at all but if there is even a hint of slightly blue language or any sort of comment that could be perceived as a personal affront we’ll drop the comment entirely.
Thanks again for the dialogue. -BAC
9 Jodi // Aug 3, 2008 at 10:41 am
I live in the Hosford Abernethy neighborhood and I will agree with Michael, the train horns are LOUD, long, frequent and disruptive. I’ve often wondered why it was necessary for the horns to blare so loudly and for such long intervals. The crossings are adequately marked and safety features are in place. For someone to be caught off guard by a train would mean they intentionally went around the crossing barriers. I support his efforts to establish a quiet zone.
10 Lance // Aug 3, 2008 at 11:23 am
This has been a delicate issue for me as chair of the Brooklyn Action Corps Board. Train noise, and other operational procedures of the railroad, have changed dramatically during the eight years that I have lived here in Brooklyn. In my opinion, the noise has gotten louder, the delays to car traffic at the railroad crossing at SE 11th and 12th have gotten longer, and it is time to do something about this before the issue gets worse.
One of the things that makes this such a sensitive issue is that there are many people out there that are quick to categorize the train noise issue as one of yuppie elitist “Pearl resident types” wanting complete silence near train tracks.
I couldn’t disagree with this feeling any more strongly. I have heard from a wide variety of people over the past couple of years that have expressed outrage with the increasing noise from the trains. Many of the most upset people are long time residents of the neighborhood that have lived near rail lines their whole lives.
The good news here is that there is a lot that can be done to limit train noise. All we need to do is to mobilize as a larger community and to let both the City and the railroad know that we want a quiet zone.
The other bit of good news is that this HAS been a topic of concern in the planning process for the Milwaukie light rail line. It is my understanding that most of the existing rail crossings will have to be upgraded anyway, and these improvements could easily be modified to meet “Quiet Zone” standards.
11 Darin // Aug 3, 2008 at 11:36 am
Maybe I don’t live close enough to fully experience the noise problem. I leave my windows open at night just so that I can hear the train horns as I fall asleep. I find them soothing and feel that it adds to the charm of the neighborhood. I won’t say that I chose to live in Brooklyn for 7 years because of the trains but I certainly feel fortunate to live here and the trains only add to that.
12 Joe Perigeni // Aug 3, 2008 at 8:51 pm
I remember as a young boy playing ball at Brooklyn Field and when the train whistle went off the game would stop, everyone would rise and salute the flag. As legal Italian immigrants we were thankful. Whats wrong with people today?
The whistle hasnt changed in the 55 years I have lived here. Dont tell me it has.
Move out by PIR if you dont like it. Wait till the voted down light rail moves in along with the crime it brings with it. Low cost cheap housing for illegals.
13 Dick // Aug 4, 2008 at 8:00 am
Unfortunately, the operations at Brooklyn yard have changed in the last 4-5 years in that unmanned power units are being used. The loudness and duration of the horn use is quite possibly linked to the use of unmanned power units.
Also, in years past, the railroads were limited to a 15 minute blockage of crossings in the city of Portland.
14 K // Aug 4, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I have lived in the neighborhood for almost 2 years now and agree whole-heartedly that the train noise has become much worse. As a full-time student with a full-time job, almost nothing is as important to me as a good night’s sleep, and often times I am woken up by the train; sometimes even multiple times a night.
15 Administrator // Aug 4, 2008 at 4:47 pm
True to our word, I’ve had to delete two comments that were specifically targeting posters in a demeaning manner. This won’t be tolerated.
Post all you want, leave factually incorrect information if it pleases you, speculate wildly, have fun with our varied and sometimes wacky neighborhood, but please do not demean your neighbors who have come to this space to discuss issues that they feel are important to them.
16 Adam // Aug 4, 2008 at 6:57 pm
I’m somewhat surprised by the vigorous response in favor of train noise. I know there are plenty of people who love the trains. I think most Brooklyn residents like the general idea of our history and importance to the local economy.
However I was caught off guard because the Brooklyn Action Corps (keepers of this site) searched with the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation (ORHF) for over a year to find one volunteer from Brooklyn to serve the ORHF board. One, that’s right, just one Brooklynite stepped forward to volunteer his time. I was worried that maybe the neighbors were falling out of love with both our history and some of the glorious machines in the roundhouse.
Flash forward to this post and suddenly there are scores of hard core train fans who scorn anyone who dares worry about the effects of trains on some of our families. Where were they when we posted article after article in the newsletter (delivered by hand to every Brooklyn business and resident)?
On this very site we have a permanent link to the ORHF (on the left hand column under “useful links”), they are always open to volunteer help. Even an hour a month… just click on their link or email to find out how you can make good on your comments on this site:
questions@orhf.org
17 Lance // Aug 5, 2008 at 9:11 am
For the record, the chair of the Brooklyn Action Corps is neither new to the neighborhood, nor looking to change everything about the area. My famly has worked in this neighborhood for four generations, and my great grandfather moved to Portland in the 1920s specifically to work in the Brooklyn Rail Yards.
Regular train noise is to be expected when living in an urban area. A 45 second long whistle blast at 4:00 AM in the morning, like the one that awoke my household early this morning, is not acceptable. And I’m more conditioned to noise than just about anybody since McLoughlin is just 60 feet or so from my front door.
No body here is saying that this needs to be a silent neighborhood with no train or truck noise. That is never going to happen. What I do hear time and again, from people that do actually live and work in this neighborhood, is that we should work to reduce train noise when possible.
18 Jenny // Aug 5, 2008 at 11:31 am
I have lived in the neighborhood for 6 years. I have also noticed an increase in volume and frequencey of the train horns. I understand the need for freight trains and in no way would I want to impede any rail travel. But, it seems when I first moved to Brooklyn the horns would toot in short spurts but now the horn is laid on for close to a minute. I would be very interested in trying to make our neighborhood a quiet zone or arrive at some sort of compromise.
19 Administrator // Aug 6, 2008 at 12:28 pm
After some minimal investigating it’s clear that several of the people posting comments were spamming. Their comments have been deleted and they are now being watched.
If you feel that you’ve had a comment wrongly deleted please email admin@brooklyn-neighborhood.org.
20 1 block S of Powell // Aug 8, 2008 at 7:47 am
I live a block S of Powell, and I agree the train horns are a bit much. It is one of the reasons I would not like to stay in this neighborhood, and I LOOOOVE the neighborhood! Anyone who dismisses this obviously lives farther from the tracks than I do.
On the other hand, does anyone know why the train whistles last for minutes at a time? Was there some incident, someone/something got hit in a populated area and now the trains are forced to do this?
I want the whistles to tone down, and will sign a letter requesting such at the next ice cream social.
However, I would choose the NUISANCE of the whistle if it means a single life could be saved.
21 Jeff // Aug 8, 2008 at 9:08 am
Hello,
Im very interested in your article as I am preparing to do what you are doing, except for the Kenton Neighborhood. The train noise here is unbelievable and at all hours of the day and night. I dont know yet which railroad company owns the line that parallels Columbia Blvd (both East and West of I-5), but I am hoping to find out soon.
Like one of your readers said, I dont mind an occasional horn, but, there are times where they blast the horn for nearly a minute at a time on a regular basis.
Thanks for any direction you can give me…
22 Jim // Aug 12, 2008 at 7:11 am
I have lived in the Brooklyn neighborhood since 1980 and I can guarantee that the trains have gotten a lot louder in the last few years. Given that I live about 1/4 mile away from the nearest track, these things are *incredibly* loud in the middle of the night. Like many others I used to enjoy the atmosphere of the trains and I never heard them at night unless I was already awake, but now they wake me up all the time.
As for the illegal extended closures of the intersection at 12th and Clinton, you can call 866-628-8867 to complain. You need to get the engine number(s). What I do is any time I’m stopped by a train, I get the engine numbers right away and then if the gate is closed for more than the allowed 10 minutes I call. You need to be persistent, they don’t seem to be all that interested in enforcing this.
23 Debbie // Aug 13, 2008 at 11:31 am
I’ve been very interested in all the different opinions on this issue. If you count the fact that I was conceived in the Brooklyn Neighborhood, then I’ve lived here over 57 years. Technically, I’ve lived here 56 years. Seen and heard a lot of changes here.
Many know me, and there is charm in our neighborhood that we have the train roundabout and that we have business dependent upon the railroad.
Last year, my parents moved in with me for about a year while their home was rebuilt after a house fire. They loved how the community stands together and is much more friendly than when they lived here. They wished their neighborhood was as good a place to live as mine.
The fact that the trains have changed how loud and how often they use their horns was a challenge. They would be trying to talk to their doctor or their contractor and have to stop the conversation because the train horns were so loud and continued for such a long time. Yes, as a child we had the trains and they used their horns. The style or type of horn was different - certainly not as annoying as we have today. We couldn’t remember them being as loud or as persistent, especially during the nighttime.
Being a business person in the neighborhood who has to talk to people on the East Coast, I am often teased that during conference calls, we have to stop talking because, even with the doors and windows closed, the train horns are so loud and so long. I’m often fumbling to try to find the mute so I don’t bother clients or business associates during a call.
The fact that they do this at 3:00 am as well as during the day is part of the problem. It seems reasonable to ask that the volume and length of the horn be adjusted.
I have to admit that one of my neighbors is just as concerned with all the dogs barking and people fighting in the middle of the night as they are the trains. Add all these noises together and it causes problems.
I love my neighborhood, my friends in the neighborhood, and the sense of community that we have here. Again, it seems reasonable to ask for a change in the volume and length of the train horns so that we continue to have one of the most livable neighborhoods in Portland.
24 Tony Columbo // Aug 16, 2008 at 8:22 pm
We need traim whistles
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1218939909101780.xml&coll=7
25 Tony Columbo // Aug 22, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Need those train whistles bad. Dont tell me we dont.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/train_kills_woman_near_lacey.html
26 Adam // Aug 23, 2008 at 10:26 am
Both examples that “Tony Columbo” point to are suburban or rural areas where there are often no gates and the trains travel at much higher speeds than they do on their approach or departure from Brooklyn Yards. If we’re going to have an honest debate it is best to compare apples to apples. You don’t hear about a lot of fatal accidents in urban quiet zones.
27 allan pike // Dec 12, 2008 at 11:45 pm
The excessive noise is not limited to the Brooklyn neighborhood. Our home is in the west hills above Portland State. Every night train horns wake me up. The sound is very loud all the way over here. I often wear foam ear plugs just to get a good night sleep. Some engineers seem to be more considerate than others, they just give a short toot at each crossing, while others pull that cord in long loud continuous blasts. Maybe its a matter of money to pay for signals. Who pays, the railroad or the city? Our city fathers need to address this noise polution problem
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