Thinking back over the various places I’ve lived, it seems I’ve never been more than 5 miles from train tracks. Freight trains, commuter trains, I’ve been near both. At one point I was right above the biggest railyard in the country. Listening to trains being humped all night lead me to be able to sleep through anything!
So how far away are you? Can you sleep through the noise? Would you miss the trains if you moved?
About a quarter-mile away. They only come through twice a day, though, in the late morning and early evening, so it’s never a real problem. Yes, I’d miss it if I moved away.
About 700 metres (or 10 minutes walk) from the nearest railway line/station. Far enough so that we don’t hear the trains, but close enough to catch the trains when we want to (as I will in about an hour from now).
There is one line about a quarter mile to the south of me and and under half a mile to the west is the terminus station of another line. (The lines do not connect: not anywhere near here, at any rate.) They are both busy commuter lines. I don’t think either line carries much freight, just passengers, but they are real trains, not light rail. I do not hear the trains from my place.
150 feet. Right across the street from the Green Line El.
Doesn’t bother me one bit. even with the windows open, unless of course a huge freight train comes by at breakneck speed on the adjacent track. that makes a bit of a racket. Luckily that’s a fairly rare (maybe twice a month) occurrence.
3 blocks away there are tracks at the edge of my neighborhood. The nearest crossing is two streets over, we never hear the trains themselves but if we’re in the backyard and it’s very quiet sometimes we can hear the whistle as they cross. Doesn’t bother us in the slightest.
Roughly measuring using Google Maps, I live about 600 ft from a freight line. I enjoy the sound of it in the night, except when I am awakened disoriented and don’t know whether I’m hearing a train or a tornado.
How did people describe the sound of a tornado before their were freight trains?
About 40 metres from the track, and about 400 metres from a station.
Because of the positioning of my villa (there are two other units and a road between me and the railway line) the noise is not an aggravating issue at all. Actually, it can be quite comforting to hear that lonely TOOOOOOOT first thing in the morning…who needs an alarm clock?
About 600’ to the commuter rail tracks - the trains run mostly morning and evening but don’t have any grade crossings so no whistles. I can hear them but it barely registers.
About 3/4 mile to the subway station in Harvard Sq.