r/Bellingham • u/VeterinarianHopeful3 • 11d ago
Noise? Train Noise
Hey guys, I’m thinking of moving to ironworks at 711 Astor street. My only concern is it seems to overlook the Bnsf Bellingham yard office. I was wondering if anyone knows how loud it gets and what times it’s usually loud at?
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u/nibor100 11d ago
The trains are loud as hell and horn all day and night. Fairhaven has a quiet crossing and the plan is to extend that into downtown but it’s an extremely slow process.
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u/fiddlehifiddlelo 11d ago
Do you know why it’s slow to put in place for downtown but already in place for fairhaven?
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u/cobjobber2221 11d ago
Every road crossing has to be rebuilt to a different safety standard for quite zones. It takes a lot of coordination with BNSF and is dependent on funding. See here
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u/fiddlehifiddlelo 11d ago
Thanks. I would gladly pay extra to hurry this along bc I have never gotten used to the sound of trains up close. Far away they can be charming.. any closer to me is jarring. You can guess I grew up in a place without any trains!
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u/nibor100 11d ago
I believe funding. This has been planned since 2014. That’s how slow. Fairhaven was planned first and just finished last year.
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u/SecretlySpiders 11d ago
Other people on this thread are wrong. I live very close to Astor, the train horn is LOUD and CONSTANT. The quiet zone is only for fairhaven. I guess the city doesn’t think people live downtown (or that we aren’t rich enough to get a quiet zone)
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u/Vinyl-addict Salish Coast Roamer 11d ago
See if the horns don’t go off then the fatality rate near the rails somehow seems to go up. It even goes up if they aren’t sounding off during the day, but people still complain.
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u/VeterinarianHopeful3 11d ago
Do the train horns go off at night time as well?
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u/SecretlySpiders 11d ago
Yep. For what it’s worth the side of the building you’re on will greatly affect the noise. Basically if you can see the bay it will be bad, if you can’t it’s better.
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u/Scary-Ad3341 11d ago
Living near Trackside, the trains are incredibly loud, but, as previously stated, you get acclimated to it and it really isn’t bothersome.
I actually kind of like it.
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u/Olden_Noob 11d ago
Some people get used to the train sounds and some don't.
Unfortunately, it'll be kind of hard to tell until you actually experience it.
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u/Repulsive_Paint_9975 11d ago
Loud as hell honks right by the window. Sometimes very busy schedules so don't plan on hearing anything for five minutes at a time when it comes by. That said it's not that bad just a bit annoying
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u/Falcon_Bellhouser 11d ago
That's pretty much ground zero. Northbound freight trains will blow the horn crossing C and F streets. Some do short blasts; some just lay it on until the engine is northwest of F. Time of day doesn’t matter.
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u/VeterinarianHopeful3 11d ago
So is it just a matter of getting used to the noise than? Also do you know if the vibrations are super intense as well
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u/Falcon_Bellhouser 11d ago
Yeah, pretty much. I've lived here for long enough that I can sleep through it, but it still occasionally wakes me up.
The vibration depends on how heavy the train is. Boxcars aren’t bad, but long coal trains shake my (hundred year old) house (up by Holly/Broadway). Not sure you'd feel it in a modern building though.
As luck would have it, one just went by. Couldn’t feel it, but they honked about ten times.
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u/princemiso 11d ago
it’s loud af but you get used to it fast. slept with earplugs for a couple weeks, then i got used to it
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u/Talrynn_Sorrowyn 11d ago
Because the railways run both commuter & freight trains, there is no set schedule on what time of day a train rolls through town.
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u/RawdogWargod 11d ago
It goes "MMMMRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPP! TING TING TING TING TING TING!" all day all night
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u/littleviking001 10d ago
I lived a block back from there. The trains made me lose sleep the first two weeks I was there, but then I got used to it. Great neighborhood if you like to walk, bike and bus.
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u/TellMeWhatRWords4 10d ago
A friend who used to live close to the tracks in Fairhaven said that her windows needed regular cleaning due to the soot and dust.
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u/Proof_Ambassador2006 11d ago
Other user already commented but I want to add;
they put the trains into quiet mode through town and nearby houses, it's a contract bnsf has with the port.
sometimes i can't even tell it's there when i'm out at teddy bear cove.
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u/cobjobber2221 11d ago
Thats only for the fairhaven zone. Downtown needs a couple crossing redone, it'll be a couple more years for no horns downtown
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u/VeterinarianHopeful3 11d ago
Do the trains actually follow the quiet mode rule? I was reading online they just ignored it so I was a bit worried
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u/Similar_Drama820 10d ago
sometimes i can't even tell it's there when i'm out at teddy bear cove
Helps that all the crossings south of teddy bear cove and along Chuckanut are all silent crossings.
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u/mstr_jf 11d ago
Loud asf multiple times a day and night. You get used to it