Trains Give Sleepy Residents a Brief Reprieve

Noise-weary Placentia residents who say they’ve been jolted from sleep too many times by the blast of freight train horns may finally get a good night’s rest. But another rude awakening is waiting.

On Friday, the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. announced its trains would stop blowing warning horns in Placentia between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.--until Thursday.

But once the brief period of quiet ends, the rail line said its trains would resume blasting their horns at intersections if the city can’t win a court order to permanently silence the whistling.

In another development, U.S. Rep. Gary Miller (R-Diamond Bar) has submitted a $3-million request to Congress to upgrade Placentia rail crossings to the point that warning blasts would no longer be necessary.

Placentia officials greeted the gesture as a positive step toward resolving the horn issue, which blasted into the spotlight last weekend when the rail line lifted its 25-year ban on blowing whistles at intersections. The rail line said it made the change based on safety concerns, but residents and city officials said the horns are simply irksome.

“This is a critical first step,” Mayor Chris Lowe said of the rail line’s announcement. “Placentia residents will be able to sleep solidly for the first time in a week tonight.”

The city is appealing to the state Public Utilities Commission, which oversees railway safety, to end the late-night whistles. City Atty. Thomas F. Nixon said the rail line is violating state law by requiring its engineers to blow warning blasts at all intersections.

“The discretion to sound a whistle rests with the train operator,” Nixon said.

Residents, some who claim they have had precious little sleep since the railway lifted its ban, are calling on officials to muffle the blaring.

At a gathering Friday, some three dozen residents jeered as trains rolled past the intersection of Bradford and Santa Fe avenues, horns blaring.

“Hurry up! We want our sleep back!” resident Han Tang, 31, yelled at the officials.

Another resident, Mike Hubbard, 37, said he was going to replace the windows on his home with double-paned glass and said he thinks the city should pay for them if it can’t stop the whistles.

“We just don’t get any sleep,” Hubbard said. “Just when you start to fall asleep, another one goes by and you’re awake again. I do construction. I can’t work all day on a ladder and be sleep-deprived. I’ll fall off.”

Rail line spokeswoman Lena Kent said Burlington decided to end whistle bans nationwide based on reports that intersection accidents increased 62% when trains did not use horns or whistles.

Kent said the decision was also based on a fatal train and car collision in Placentia several years ago. The plaintiff in a lawsuit claimed the ban on trains sounding warnings contributed to the accident, and Burlington and the city settled out of court. But city officials said the motorist was racing the train and the case was settled only because it was cheaper than going to trial.

Kent said the overnight horn moratorium was meant as a gesture of goodwill.

“We’ve said all along that we want to work with the city to resolve this,” Kent said. “We want to be good neighbors, but we don’t want to do it at the expense of safety.”

The rail line has offered to help Placentia join a special pilot program known as a rail “quiet zone.” Under this program, Kent said, train horns would be silenced if the city improved railway and road crossings with additional gates and concrete medians.

On Friday, residents said they were skeptical of such proposals and also questioned the rail company’s motivation for temporarily toning down the horns.

“It’s a smoke screen,” said resident John Cullum. “They’re not doing it because they care. They’re doing it because it makes them look good. They’re playing politics.”

Meanwhile in Washington, Rep. Miller is seeking funding to upgrade the city’s 11 rail crossings. While it has yet to be enacted, federal legislation seeks to require horn blasts at all freight and roadway crossings but would exempt intersections with certain safety features, said Steve Schoellerman, an aide to Miller.

The $3 million requested would help pay for those features, Schoellerman said. “This wouldn’t help with the problem immediately, but it would help in the long run.”