3 More Quiet Zones for Hamburg CSX/NS

Residents are a little closer to relief from the frequent blowing of train whistles at three railroad crossings in Hamburg.

The town is planning to install "quiet zones" at the CSX and Norfolk Southern railroad crossings on Pleasant Avenue and Lakeview and Bayview roads, and has committed to put $300,000 in town funds toward the design and construction of the crossings. The money is left over federal funding from the first two quiet zones created in the town.

Construction is expected to start this spring.

http://buffalonews.com/2017/01/24/hambu ... iet-zones/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

& what do the engineers think of these quiet zones?

Nothing wrong with some noise relief for the residents. Have not yet heard of any accident related to it

That said, over $500,000 to do the first two crossings??? Any one seen them? How much can it cost to secure to the pavement maybe 20 pylon poles on each side? You'd almost think they could have done the whole town for $100,000

https://s3.amazonaws.com/bncore/wp-cont ... 00x733.jpg

DECA wrote:& what do the engineers think of these quiet zones?

I know a CSX engineer who works in the greater Buffalo area, and he thinks quiet zones are a bad idea.

Quiet zoning has been going on for at least a decade now, there has to be a peer reviewed study out there somewhere.

If anyone has scene the recent video of the UPS truck getting wiped out at a crossing where the lights and gates failed to function you might think twice about "quiet zones." Reports are out that the warning system failed due to ice and snow buildup. Hmm...they don't get much ice and snow along Bayview Road, do they?????

tonfire72 wrote:If anyone has scene the recent video of the UPS truck getting wiped out at a crossing where the lights and gates failed to function you might think twice about "quiet zones." Reports are out that the warning system failed due to ice and snow buildup. Hmm...they don't get much ice and snow along Bayview Road, do they?????

A lot of misinformation here, let's talk facts.

First, while it has no bearing on the real issue, to be accurate it was a FedEx truck, not UPS.

As for the crash, I have seen nothing more since the initial news reports. BUT:

1. The crossing involved with that incident was not in a quiet zone

2. The reports stated there had been a false activation. That's when the gates and lights activate, but without a train coming.

3. A signal maintainer arrived, and shortly afterward the protection cleared. While it was not so stated, it's logical to believe the maintainer over-rode the system to allow the backlog of highway traffic to clear. At some point after that, the collision occurred. In the video, the maintainer's truck can be seen on the right shoulder beyond the crossing, near the cabinet.

4. So the above would suggest several possible causes. Since we don't have all the facts I'll just list some options and let the proper parties reach a conclusion.
A. It's possible the maintainer screwed up by jumping out the crossing without properly determining no trains were due.
B. It's possible the dispatcher gave the maintainer permission to bypass the protection forgetting there was a train coming
C. It's possible the train crew was told to stop and protect the crossing and failed to do so.
D. It's possible the maintainer DID re-activate the crossing but some factor, either human or in the system, did not properly reset the system.
E. It's possible it was none of the above

5. Crossing protection is designed to fail into an active mode - if something goes wrong, the lights and gates are supposed to default to "on". Yes, activation failures (no lights and no gates despite a train being there ) DO happen, but they are far less common than lights on and no train.. If the power is off, the batteries take over. If the batteries get low, the lights come on. If the batteries run down altogether, there is no juice to raise the gates back up and they stay down. The gates come down by gravity, not by force from the motor.

6. Ice and snow, per se, do not interfere with crossing protection in the manner seen. There are many different types of protection systems used, and I have no idea what was in use there. I don't know, maybe there is some combination of factors which would allow that but offhand I don't understand why.

7. Last, since that was NOT a quiet zone, it stands to reason the train in the video WAS sounding its horn. And even in a quiet zone the horn is allowed to be sounded in an emergency. SO - really that incident has no bearing on the Hamburg plans.

I will state that I'm not a fan of quiet zones. Unless somebody was living near the tracks back in the 1800's before the railroad was built, they moved there knowing there were trains nearby. The argument that there are more trains now than in the past is silly - numbers go up and down, but there has never been a time where that crossing saw one or two trains a day. It's always been a mainline situation and whether there are 25, 50 or more trains a day, it was like that when they moved in.

BR&P, well said. I'll admit that the information in my post was gained from a Facebook post and some goofy video sites. But as for the issue of quite zones, i still think that blowing the locomotive air horn as the train approaches adds an element of safety especially at crossings that handle mainline traffic. I hope your point #3 is not the case ( for the Maintainer's sake) but certainly does sound like a plausible cause.

Turns out the maintainer messed up, and they tied a can to him:

Utah Transit Authority has fired an employee after determining he improperly raised crossing gates at a North Salt Lake rail intersection, causing a FrontRunner commuter train to hit and tear apart a FedEx semi-trailer rig earlier this month.

"We have determined that the gates were raised by a UTA employee who responded to the scene, and the accident was caused by human error. The investigation verified that the signal system functioned properly, and [had previously gone] into a safe, down and active mode, as it's programmed to do," UTA Chief Safety and Security Officer Dave Goeres stated on Monday.

The gates at the 1100 N. 100 East intersection, due to accumulations of ice and snow that day, had defaulted as programmed to the "down and active" position. However, the employee decided to raise the gates again, where they remained when the crash occurred.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/4881154-155/ ... edex-truck" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

latest update

Bid awarded for 3 'quiet zones' in Hamburg

it should be a little quieter in Hamburg later this year.

That's when three more railroad "quiet zones" will be constructed on Lakeview and Bayview roads and Pleasant Avenue. Quiet zones were established on Rogers and Cloverbank roads in 2014.

The quiet zone prohibits a train approaching an at-grade crossing to refrain from blowing its horn. The Federal Railroad Administration allows the zones when there are measures enacted to ensure the safety of motorists.

In Hamburg’s case, that comes down to the installation of narrow yellow medians or traffic separator systems, which have reflective “channelization” devices. They prevent vehicles from driving around a gate that is lowered for a train to cross. The gate still will ding when it comes down.


http://buffalonews.com/2017/03/14/bid-a ... s-hamburg/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

These people that have moved there LONG after the railroads have been there have absolutely NO right or business to whine about the noise.

The railroad was there first. Period! They knew that before hand and should of been governed accordingly.

videobruce wrote:These people that have moved there LONG after the railroads have been there have absolutely NO right or business to whine about the noise.

The railroad was there first. Period! They knew that before hand and should of been governed accordingly.

Well said. That's the way it SHOULD work. Sadly, in today's snowflake world there are too few people with the fortitude to stand up and take a stand, and tell it like it really is, instead of how they wish it was. We can only hope that some of the changes for the better we are starting to see trickle down to lower levels. Our society needs a slap up across the head to stop this sort of foolishness which had been going on far too long. I just hope it is not too late.

I just hope it is not too late.

I'm sure it is, especially with this out of control Dictator anti everything (except money, especially his) that was elected.

No different than moving near an airport or a T-way, then complain about the noise.

Well, we'll have to talk off-forum sometime about that subject, so we don't get locked. Trying to keep it rail related, I think his efforts to restore American industry will be a good thing for rail traffic. Having a reality-based view of the environment rather than hysterical "sky-is-falling" outlook will allow coal traffic to come back somewhat. I read an article just a week ago about some location in Appalachia - I regret I can't remember where - which has already seen a resumption in mining activity and one would guess that corresponds to rail carloadings as well.

I don't agree with everything he says and does, but the concept of self-reliance - from nationally all the way to individually - is a good start.

Reliance using anti-environmental tactics.
Don't pollute the air with idling diesels, but burning coal is ok.