Whistle-Free/Quiet Zone proposed through Kingston

Kingston's mayor is proposing a study which will address the numerous complaint his office has received regarding loud horns through our fair city. Some officials believe the horn-blowing is retaliation for reporting the "Dunkin Donuts" incident of ~1.5 yrs. ago. A possible solution would be the installation of crossing gates that prevent autos & trucks from crossing the tracks once the gates are down, thus making horn blowing unnecessary. Btw, this was front page news in this morning's "Daily Freeman."

Don't count on a total ban unless the citizens of Kingston are willing to pay for possible lawsuits, and to upgrade the crossings lots of roads need to be made one way or center divided roads, the crossing equipment used cost around 1 million per crossing and also needs to be paid by state or city, but ultimatly the taxpayer.

I find this most interesting given its timing. Is anyone in town aware of the increased speed through town on the main track, up to 50 MPH from 35?? I guess they aren't aware of this, but when they do get word, I almost guarantee the town will try to lower the speed back to 35. Its well known that there are elements(and probably a decent number of them) who absolutely hate the railroad, always have and always will. They want a quiet zone in city limits but will be the first to sue when someone gets hit either walking on the tracks or going around the established protection in place. I for one have no intention of NOT blowing the horn when I come through the city. I try to be somewhat considerate, but there are times when one has to lean on it. And I take strong exception to those municipalities that attempt to regulate a federally regulated industry. if they don't like the trains and aren't willing to pay for the upgraded protetction(and you know they'll attempt to get the railroad and state to pay for it all), then MOVE! The railroad has been there for well over 100 years and will be there another 100, while as humans we tend to generally not live that long. This constant NIMBY whining and crying is getting out of hand. Get over it!

Cant these people just get used to the horns? I remember while staying at my grandparents for a week or so when they used to have the NYSW behind their house and in the beginning of the week i would be woken up by the horns at night. But towards the end of the week i would just be able to sleep right through them with no problem. If people just forget about horn laws and just live life then they will start to not notice the horns as much. But that is just a 16 year old's opinion and i dont know what everyone else thinks.

Well said, RCB! It seems Kingston (and Rockland County as well) has a cry-baby fest every year about this. I for one will be irate if my NY tax withholdings go toward safety crossings so their poor ears don't have to hear the big loud trains! If they don't like it, let 'em buy the little roll-up ear plugs!

What's even more interesting is that according to our mayor, James Sottile, the no. 1 complaint his office receives is about train horns. This is in spite of the fact that his administration, as well as those going back to 1970, has ignored our failing sewer system; has treated our library as a poor relation, yet spent millions on renovating City Hall, etc. As Sottile is up for re-election next year, I think there's more (or less, depending on your point of view) here than meets the eye. And yes, there is a faction that hates the RR with a passion. Such is life in this burg!

Common problem our terminal gets more complaints at this time of year because as the leaves have fallen off the trees. People who only heard a train once in a while for one crossing now hear several crossings being warned. Just goes to show theres more to buying a house than whats inside and the size of the yard. The realator sure isn't going to say anything about the trains when they show it to you. Now a politician is using it as a forum to get reelected on, because he can't handle the important issues of his office.

People cryed about the Finger Lakes Railway bringing the tracks back to life after a long standing of time. From waht I can rember Conrail ran one Train once every 1-2 weeks pending on what was going on. People in Senica Falls crayed about the Finger Lakes blowing the horn thew town the Railroad won the argument by pointing out that the line was there long befor everyone else moved in the area. The outher thing was is that some of the houses in Senica Falls and in Waterloo are so close to the tracks that there frount porches are with in a few feet of the tracks. Some people have to park there cars on one side of the tracks and walk 10-15 feet to there front doors by way of walking over the tracks to get from point A to B.

I worked this line back in the 1970's and early 1980's and at that time, we
did not whistle for the six crossings in the downtown area of Kingston. All
of those crossings had gates on them and at that time our speed through
there on the main track was 30 MPH.
I was lucky at least so far as Kingston was concerned but we had our
share of crossing mishaps there over the time I was working on the line.
The cops there did not like us either, I remember sitting on the siding
southbound waiting for a string of northbounds to come up from Milton and
walked over to get some dunkin donuts, we were not even close to any
crossings but a cop come in and started giving us some crap. We said as
little as possible, got our food and got out. The dispatcher knew we went
over there, even told us we had plenty of time to get something.
These places that do not like the railroad are something else, I wonder if
they also dislike the property and school taxes that the railroad pays?
Noel Weaver

The one thing I rember a lot when I was working on and off of the Sperry Cars. Were that the railroad guys never told us where we could and could not sound the horns. I ignored the cops what are they going to do board my car and arrest me? they could try it the doors were locked tight like fort Knox!! and we had enough food to last 2 weeks. As far as my feelings were along with everyone else in the crew that I worked with was the hell with them deal with it. Were passing threw besides we only test the line or lines in question once every 3 to 6 months to begin with.

Well I suggest letting the politicians blow their horns, when they findout how much it will cost their municipality (ie:tax paying constituants) with the new 4 quadrant, divided highway crossing protection. Then see who whines about raised taxes or train horns. No local authority, can make a law in conflict with Federal law. Which is what the railroad industry is converned by. Police Officers (most of them anyway) are not instructed on this fact either and any arguement is looked upon as resisting their authority. ( I am a retired Police Officer also) I am familiar my fellow officers lack of knowledge regardin these's matters, and fault their own agencies for not including some sort of familiarization with RR ops and regualtions in their training. But it's a matter of cost effectiveness anyways. Most municipalities look at the railroads as a hinderance, except when they get the tax check. Last year when Gov. Pataki got the RR's tax levy reduced to a level of parity with other industrys, all the municipalities started crying foul, and now are suffering with budget problems, after too long on the railroads payroll..

Well You can never please anyone these days. People will cry about anything and everything from air port traffic to sounds on the highways. walking trails behind there homes.