More "Quiet Zone" in the Future?

[SP4449]

NIMBY= Not In My Back Yard. For those who don't know what it means.
I feel that if they don't want trains to blow their horns at a crossing then do a grade separation and even a trench like the Alameda Corridor where trains are far less likely to sound their horns and they are safer then grade crossings. I honestly think that the horn is still the best way to get someones attention to let them know a train is present and its for safety too and you can hear it before you hear the sound of the locomotives. There have been incidents in Quite Zones where people were dumb enough to go around the gates or fall asleep in their cars and hit the gates and by the time the Engineer sounds the horn for the emergency can be too late.

[CoasterMike2105]

Just a friendly reminder to everyone that this thread is about the implementation of a specific quiet zone and not about opinions of quiet zones in general. Let's try to make sure we don't diverge too far off the main topic, as has been the case with several previous quiet zone threads. Thanks.

[AmtrakFan454]

So having given this some SERIOUS civil engineering thought, I see it as beneficial as a temporary solution.

Recall Placentia pretty much dried up its coffers with an abrupt attempt at putting in underpasses at ALL its rail intersections.

Irvine seems to be doing this in a graduated manner. Culver, Jeffery, and Yale are all grade-separated.

Sand Canyon has recieved the work needed to begin its conversion to an underpass. Harvard, which I might add is a traffic bottleneck of 2 lanes where it crosses the tracks, will probably be grade-separated in the near future.

Eight more crossings could be eliminated altogether between Santa Ana station and Tustin. Just eyeballing it from Google Maps, I see they all would have reasonable gradients on the roadways. Red Hill is a bit of a stretch, but it could be done.

I see QZs as a means of pacifying the residents near the tracks. As a quid pro quo we'll probably see more service.

Good job Metrolink, now let's start easing the frustration of drivers stuck at the crossings with some grade-separation.

From the Desk of the Amtrak Fan: I see massive service expansion in our future...cool.

[n6nvr]

Anybody noticed the signals of Ball Rd in Anaheim related to the new quiet zone. They even have some traffic signals at the crossing in addition to the RR signals. But only in one direction.

I saw the above I read it and thought it was talking about San Gabriel by the Mission and thought "But there aren't any intersections between Mission Rd and the Alhambra border."


This particular stretch should be fairly easy to do. Only 3 maybe 4 crossings, and those are mostly industrial and not residential traffic areas. And it doesn't look like it would be easy to go to grade separations. IIRC the heavy use crossings have already been separated.

[SP4449]

With this Quiet Zone are they going to put in Noise Barriers?

The problem with Quiet Zones is that even if you don't hear the horn you still get the noise of the trains and with Noise Barriers that cuts down on that noise.

[roee]

Quiet Zone's aren't really to prevent the people who bought a house next to the tracks from hearing the train, it's more to prevent people miles away from hearing the horn. The horn noise can carry for miles and the aim is to reduce that noise.

[AmtrakFan454]

(11-07-2011 10:43 PM)SP4449 Wrote:  With this Quiet Zone are they going to put in Noise Barriers?

The problem with Quiet Zones is that even if you don't hear the horn you still get the noise of the trains and with Noise Barriers that cuts down on that noise.

I don't think so.
Recall that abomination they crafted out in Yorba Linda--sure, it blotted out the train's sound, but its disgusting beige, 3-story form blots out the sun in a few angles and kills property values.

Speaking with regard to South Orange County, they won't attempt anything of the sort, considering it would devalue their property.

From the Desk of the Amtrak Fan: Even if it was aesthetically-pleasing, I'd take a railroad over some huge wall.

[chris_wlkr]

(11-08-2011 08:00 AM)AmtrakFan454 Wrote:  

(11-07-2011 10:43 PM)SP4449 Wrote:  With this Quiet Zone are they going to put in Noise Barriers?

The problem with Quiet Zones is that even if you don't hear the horn you still get the noise of the trains and with Noise Barriers that cuts down on that noise.

I don't think so.
Recall that abomination they crafted out in Yorba Linda--sure, it blotted out the train's sound, but its disgusting beige, 3-story form blots out the sun in a few angles and kills property values.

Speaking with regard to South Orange County, they won't attempt anything of the sort, considering it would devalue their property.

From the Desk of the Amtrak Fan: Even if it was aesthetically-pleasing, I'd take a railroad over some huge wall.

Besides being off topic, you know for a fact that the sound wall killed property values? Would love to see that as another topic. It was the community that wanted it, the sun moves and most of it is lined with trees so I fail to see how anyone would care besides a railfan.

And we are not talking about South Orange County. This is not even Orange County close.

Regardless of opinion, quiet zones do improve the quality of living around the area and that is a step in the right direction for the railroad to co-exist with the general population and continue to be able to provide service where it is needed.

Whatever it takes. You can't feasibly serve the public if they all think your assholes.

[n6nvr]

For 99%+ of the population taking the sight of trains away and dropping their sound improves property values.