Slog - Comments on Mystery Train http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train Last night brought this comment/call for answers from Slog reader Will: So this is more of a call for answers than a comment. Can anyone explain why a household living on the southeast end of Capitol Hill would be hearing train horns in the middle of the night? Yes, we've considered ghosts, haunted house syndrome, and the mysterious crack heads trolling our neighborhood. But for real, WTF? We all hear it. It's clearly a train. Where the F are these trains coming from?!!! Has anyone else been hearing myterious trains at night? Or been running around impersonating trains at night?... Copyright 2008 Fri, 08 Dec 2006 00:05:29 -0800 Fri, 08 Dec 2006 20:11:11 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by robotslave I get train noises in the north part of West Seattle, too. Nearest tracks are four miles away.


I wondered about it for a bit, too, but then just concluded that Seattle has some really loud fucking trains, and that's probably a good thing, because a quiet train could really fuck you up.

]]> robotslave http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c554390 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c554390 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 00:40:51 -0800 Comment by K Amtrak or BNSF from down by the waterfront? You're barely a mile away; I could see hearing the horns if it's fairly quiet at night near you.

]]> K http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c554391 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c554391 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 00:55:44 -0800 Comment by david Train horns are acoustically designed to carry over long distances. They characteristically have a cluster of several mid- to mid-low-pitched tones arranged in dissonant chords creating subsonic carrier waves that have a wavelength of a few miles.

]]> david http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c554392 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c554392 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 01:19:35 -0800 Comment by mirror David: Wow, thanks for the info.

I too live in a place where I never hear trains during the day. But at night I hear them. I always assumed the busier traffic background noise during the day obscured a sound I would be hearing otherwise.

]]> mirror http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c554393 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c554393 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 01:56:52 -0800 Comment by Ross Well, it's physics. (unfortunately for some people). Fog typically occurs in dense air, which results in less db loss per meter compared to a "less foggy" situation (effectively sounds appear louder in a humid climate) Also fog occurs with relatively little wind, so this adds to any perceived gain in relative volume of any horn or whatnot.

]]> Ross http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c554394 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c554394 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 01:58:25 -0800 Comment by genevieve How funny - I clicked to this page just as there was a train horn blowing (and I'm in SE Cap Hill too).

]]> genevieve http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c554395 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c554395 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 02:07:13 -0800 Comment by Giffy I am done in the SD around 24th and Jackson and I hear train horns at night. I always figured it was the trains from SODO. I am also pretty sure I have heard fog horns off the water when it is particularly foggy.

]]> Giffy http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c554405 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c554405 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 04:06:35 -0800 Comment by Lloyd Clydesdale And consider that the train yard in Interbay/Magnolia exists in an amplifying bowl of topography. I'd guess that the sound could travel to the Hill via the Fremont Cut/Lake Union.

]]> Lloyd Clydesdale http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555445 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555445 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 07:14:29 -0800 Comment by golob Could it be one of the Christmas ships on Lake Union?

Many of the larger ships have horns very much like a train.

]]> golob http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555495 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555495 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 07:35:02 -0800 Comment by Matt from Denver Doubt fog has much to do with it. Growing up in Denver 4 miles from the nearest tracks, I'd hear them summer nights. Sound either carries further at night, or the reduced traffic doesn't cover it anymore.

I now live about 1 mile from tracks, still hear them at night more than day.

]]> Matt from Denver http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555497 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555497 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 07:51:27 -0800 Comment by trains
Capitol Hill folks do hear trains all the time. I assumed it was from the King Street Station...

]]> trains http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555498 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555498 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 07:52:26 -0800 Comment by Glenn Fleishman I'm in Montlake, with a giant hill blocking downtown and the various train lines, and I still hear horns, quite clearly. Very lovely, because it's in the distance. My son loves trains, so it's kind of a plus.

I grew up in Eugene a few blocks from Southern Pacific's largest trainyard on the west coast, and would go to sleep at night hearing the trains say, "scrreeeeee....BAM!" as they coupled through the night. Yes, hot train love helped me go to sleep.

]]> Glenn Fleishman http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555501 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555501 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 08:03:11 -0800 Comment by catalina vel-duray I live on the east slope of Beacon Hill, and always hear them, both day and night. I don't remember hearing them when I lived on Capitol Hill, but that doesn't mean I didn't. :-)

I love hearing the trains. I grew up in the hills above the Union Pacific yards in Council Bluffs, Iowa, so trains horns remind me of home.

God knows I'm no scientist, but could cloud cover (as opposed to fog) play a roll in how the horns are heard around town?

]]> catalina vel-duray http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555504 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555504 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 08:10:57 -0800 Comment by Ari I've been thinking about this a lot lately too - I'm on the East side of the hill and I hear them (at night) all the time. I considered the trains from downtown, but what about the Eastside? I know they run freight trains along the east side of lake washington, although I don't know exactly when.

]]> Ari http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555645 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555645 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 08:52:42 -0800 Comment by Tom Harpel We hear them all the way down in Madison Park, right by the lake.

]]> Tom Harpel http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555648 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555648 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 09:00:59 -0800 Comment by Ursula I've been wondering about this for months; I live down past 23rd on Madison and couldn't for the life of me figure out where the train noises came from. So glad someone actually thought to, uh, ask about it.

]]> Ursula http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555649 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555649 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 09:04:13 -0800 Comment by Callie Yes! I live right by Madison Market and I hear them at night too! It's totally spooky, and has sparked quite a few discussions with my friends. That seems like a really long way to be able to hear a train horn - from SoDo to Madison Market? Really? I think these are ghost trains, for sure.

]]> Callie http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555650 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555650 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 09:04:42 -0800 Comment by Deacon Seattle The same trains are being heard from my perch in Madrona.

]]> Deacon Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555655 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555655 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 09:16:09 -0800 Comment by charles i'm right above the interbay train yard and not to rain on your parade but they rarely sound their horns day or night because there are no street crossings in the area -- all traffic goes over head on bridges. i was actually surprised because moving in there i figured i'd hear trains all the time, but the only sound I hear are heavy thuds as train cars are coupled/decoupled and moved around.

]]> charles http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555659 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555659 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 09:21:10 -0800 Comment by COMTE I'm in Squire Park, and I love hearing that "lonesome whistle blow" late in the evening; reminds me of overnighting at my grandparents' house which was just across the street from BNRR tracks in Kelso.

]]> COMTE http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555661 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555661 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 09:24:33 -0800 Comment by Ronald Holden One of the reassuring noises of the night. Used to hear them all the time in Madrona. Fog, one would think, might help carry the sound.

]]> Ronald Holden http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555793 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555793 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 09:42:43 -0800 Comment by keshmeshi I've heard them since I moved to Capitol Hill a year and a half ago. I seem to hear them less in the summer, so perhaps the fog does have an impact.

I used to live three miles away from the train tracks in San Jose and could hear train horns every night, with or without fog.

]]> keshmeshi http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555882 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555882 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 09:59:55 -0800 Comment by georgetown stew The trains can be heard, because there is less noise from other sources at night--less freeway, noise from your street, etc.

Also, the "switching" of cars in the yards in my neck of the woods are done after peak hours, and especially in the middle of the night, to mitigate the impact on steet traffic. Drayage to and from the rail yards and the port happen from 7 am to late night, and trying to switch and build cars while all that was going on would be the biggest nightmare for traffic (it would look like the viaduct was closed or somethin'). Strings of cars are built so they can go to Portland, Vancouver, and Chicago (via Everett) from the yards here. You can see them leaving at around 8 in the morning and again after 6pm.

And I've heard them all over town too. Fauntleroy, Cap Hill--but it's all coming from SODO and Georgetown, and we're at the bottom of the bowl, so many neighborhoods are line of sight from the source.

It is the ghost of what Seattle once was--a blue collar town.

]]> georgetown stew http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555972 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c555972 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 10:08:49 -0800 Comment by georgetown stew Oh, and Interbay--the cars there are for the wheat terminal. All that hapens there is a string gets pulled in, they get dumped onto a conveyor (corn, soybean, you name it), and this is all during the day. Sine all of this is done within the yard (off the main line) and not over streets, there is little need to blow the horn.

]]> georgetown stew http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c556007 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c556007 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 10:13:19 -0800 Comment by georgetown stew (^%@*)#* spelling!

]]> georgetown stew http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c556012 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c556012 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 10:25:07 -0800 Comment by m. Hertzmann I lived 20 yards from the tracks that go along the Missippi river many year ago. I now live near Monsoon and hear the train at night.
Some possible factors:
Trains use their horns more at night.
The aforementioned ambient noise.
You are more likely to be quietly reading a book or in bed with your ears turned up at night.
When I lived on the river I would sleep through most trains but there was always one that screamed your name and you'd wake up thinking the world was being ripped in half.

]]> m. Hertzmann http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c556176 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c556176 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 11:25:56 -0800 Comment by Grant Cogswell Heard them all the time at 18th and Howell. Not so much from the state of Oaxaca, though.

]]> Grant Cogswell http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c556353 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c556353 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 12:30:00 -0800 Comment by Jim It's the holiday party boats on Lake Washington, Portage Bay and Lake Union.

]]> Jim http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c556357 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c556357 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 12:39:50 -0800 Comment by Abbey I live in Squire Park and here those trains EVERY NIGHT. The first night startled me, but now it calms me. Incredible in a big city we are quite enough for the sound and echos to reach us.

]]> Abbey http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c556879 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c556879 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 18:19:28 -0800 Comment by LAB I've been hearing train horns at night for all ten years I've lived on Capitol Hill. There's some crazy acoustics up here--several times, especially in the summer, like Bumbershoot time--I've heard concerts from Seattle Center. One night, maybe 1999, I was up at Volunteer Park and got some not-bad sound from the R.E.M. concert across town.

]]> LAB http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c558000 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/mystery_train#c558000 City Fri, 08 Dec 2006 20:11:11 -0800