I want to buy a house by a busy mainline

does anyone know if there is a website that lists such an item? my wife and i are looking.

I don't think so..............

dummy wrote:does anyone know if there is a website that lists such an item? my wife and i are looking.

There's one. Someone posted a message in Rochester railfan yahoo group a while back ago. U would need to go over to there and check out the message.

dummy wrote:does anyone know if there is a website that lists such an item? my wife and i are looking.

Where? What mainline?

Most real estate listings avoid mentioning such details, because more often than not it is a deterrent to sale.

-otto-

sd80mac wrote:

dummy wrote:does anyone know if there is a website that lists such an item? my wife and i are looking.

There's one. Someone posted a message in Rochester railfan yahoo group a while back ago. U would need to go over to there and check out the message.

here's the link


http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/r ... ssage/9175

in case u cant acces to the message - here's snip out messages, posted by LV2RR@.....

Looked up the listing - 1225 Hinchey Rd is the address -
http://www.nothnagle.com/properties/det ... num=916377

1225 Hinchey Rd
Rochester(Actually Gates),NY

14624

On the CSX(ex CR, ex PC, exNYC)main between both ends of the West Shore

I would suggest you think twice about this one. Yes it can be fun to live along an active railroad line but it can also be a
disadvantage sometimes. Think back to that big derailment in Oneida, NY not too many years ago which cause a huge
problem for people living in the area with closures, evacuations and injuries. Especially with CSX's level of track
maintenance I would not want to live too close to the line. You could do a lot by being a mile or so back and in the event of
another big one maybe you would not be as affected. I don't think noise would be a big issue as once you have lived there
for a while you will be fully accustomed to it but you might have to deal with considerable inconvience from time to time
and for me even though I have loved the railroad for all of my life it would not be worth while.
A railroad can be a good neighbor but there is NO gurantee that it will be.
Noel Weaver

Resale would also be rather difficult, unless you happened upon another railfan.

umtrr-author wrote:Resale would also be rather difficult, unless you happened upon another railfan.

There are 2 or 3 home development along the line in chili near chili jct. There may be trees and bushes between line and development but its stone throw distance. There are 3 grade crossings in that area. If Ryan and other home development companies can sell 200k houses.... Im sure that home owner can sell... Also the roads there is very busy too...

However. Its not the location that would drop seller's price. Its economey and bad house markets that kill the house value.

It;s location first, then economy. Say If there's only one last person holding on to 200k for a house, and wants a home sweet home. Where do you suppose they're going to buy ? A prime location.

1. The economy isn't going to be bad forever, and if it is we're all doomed anyhow so may as well live by the tracks.

2. Big wrecks like the Onieda one are not that common, I know it's CSX and all but trains don't crash on a weekly basis, and if you buy one far enough from the tracks the worst case is you have to evacuate for a while while they clean one up or let it burn out. How many wrecks have caused a gas leak that killed people in the entire country in the last 50 years? Do you need more than two hands to count them on?

No train's wrecked out behind this house I'm in since it was built in 1955. I think one time I got stuck when one broke down, I just had to go the long way around to get back here.


3. Resale value - chances are if you buy a house you plan to stay there for 10 or 25 or 50 years - it will be worth more then even if it is hard to sell. Meanwhile, because most people don't want the trains going by, it should be possible to get a better deal on it in this market which will make a difference.

Not sure you'll like the noise? Find a hotel with long stay rooms next to the tracks and stay there for a week or two and see how it is.

I lived on a dead end road near Port Byron and had to cross the tracks to get to the house which was a mile down the road. Trouble was CSX took the crossing completeley out for reconstruction on a Friday and did not complete it till the following Tuesday. You can sure bet a number of calls went to the county Fire Control Office about this issue. I went as far as a threat to sue CSX for lost time and wages from work in which they settled out of court.

Point of the story don't move on to a dead end back country road with a RR crossing at one end of it.

lvrr325 wrote:1. The economy isn't going to be bad forever, and if it is we're all doomed anyhow so may as well live by the tracks.

2. Big wrecks like the Onieda one are not that common, I know it's CSX and all but trains don't crash on a weekly basis, and if you buy one far enough from the tracks the worst case is you have to evacuate for a while while they clean one up or let it burn out. How many wrecks have caused a gas leak that killed people in the entire country in the last 50 years? Do you need more than two hands to count them on?

No train's wrecked out behind this house I'm in since it was built in 1955. I think one time I got stuck when one broke down, I just had to go the long way around to get back here.

Yes, as a matter of fact, you do need more than just two hands to count them on, plus some of your toes. Just in the past thirty years alone, there has been at least a dozen fatal incidents involving derailed chemical tanks and flammable/poisonous releases. I don't have time to look them all up again and point them out here. But off the top of my head, just a couple weeks ago, was 14 ethanol tanker cars slamming into waiting vehicles at a crossing near Rockford, IL. Google "Rockford derailment" for that one.
Then you have these chlorine and propane wrecks;
Graniteville, S.C., January 2005, NS through freight rams a light engine tied up over night on a siding
Minot, North Dakota, 1/18/2002, Ammonia and propane "whale-belly" tanker cars derail and stack up early in the dead of the morning
San Antonio, TX, 6/28/2004, BNSF /UP collision on a siding===> http://www.dailytexanonline.com/state-l ... d-1.990000
Texarkana, Arkansas, 10/15/2005, UP wreck seven train cars and a tankcar containing flammable gas derailed in a rail yard. Cop car dash cam Video of explosions ===> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw_bnS-qcds&NR=1
Alberton, Montana, 4/11/96, Montana Rail Link
Youngstown, Florida, 1978, Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay train derailed chlorine cars creating huge cloud killing 8.
Rockford, IL, 6/20/2009, CN train derails 18 tank cars of ethanol all over grade crossing ===> http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=7887004

scarnhorst wrote: I lived on a dead end road near Port Byron and had to cross the tracks to get to the house which was a mile down the road. Trouble was CSX took the crossing completeley out for reconstruction on a Friday and did not complete it till the following Tuesday. You can sure bet a number of calls went to the county Fire Control Office about this issue. I went as far as a threat to sue CSX for lost time and wages from work in which they settled out of court.

Point of the story don't move on to a dead end back country road with a RR crossing at one end of it.

Yep, this is especially true if a wreck occurs anywhere along this stretch of track blocking your escape/ rescue route. You'll be trapped without escaping by foot, ATV, or helicopter. This exact scenario killed a couple residents and the train conductor as he sought refuge in a nearby home after a rural UP wreck in Texas or Arkansas. In such a case, you better have a pathway leading away from the tracks cleared and maintained for quick escape by all terrain vehicle, or run like hell, unless you are fortunate to have a helicopter readily available.

These incidents do not scare me so much that I wouldn't buy a house near tracks. The likelihood of these occurring is relatively slim, and most times, nobody is hurt. Just need to be VERY aware of the implications should this occur. Hence property values are usually diminished in locations such as these.

At least a dozen.. even if there was 50 fatal incdents in the last 50 years, that averages to once a year on the entire rail network. The odds of sitting at the dinner table and having a propane tank car land in your lap are pretty slim, and that was my point - maybe not as slim as one in a million, but it's not like someone gets killed every week.


Now I'd think twice about living along certain stretches of the St. Lawrence, given that it's been rough for years. But even there, for the most part as long as your home is 100' or so from the tracks and you don't put anything you don't want to risk being destroyed in that part of your yard, even if there is a derailment, worst case CSX has to come in and level it out and plant new grass. I agree, living on a dead end road with a crossing is probably a bad idea, and the most risky option, but even there people have lived in those places for a long time and died of all kinds of other unrelated things.


As for finding a home for sale, about all you can do is get a map and go exploring, follow roads along the tracks, and look for for sale signs. You might be able to narrow some of that down on the computer by looking up the addresses of sale listings on a map online, though.

lvrr325 wrote: The odds of sitting at the dinner table and having a propane tank car land in your lap are pretty slim.

It did happeneed and it could happen again.

I could think of 2 incidents... CSX coal runaway and that famous SP wreck in Bemonut (sp) that had train coming off track at high speed and landed on the houses. In CSX situation, a boy was killed. I'm not sure about SP situation although at least 1 crew was killed. I'm sure there were more... RR buildings, include stations, are more common that railcars crashed into anyway...

Also there is another one I know of... but minor... a gonadala came off the rail on the street ( not sure if its grade crossing or some sort of street running) and it rolled into automobile shop if I recall correct business type recently (within a year)