Do you live near any railroad tracks?

Have you ever stood by the tracks and listened to the different sounds the cars make as they pass by?

Yes .There are a set of them just one block west of us and another about 3 blocks north . Sometimes i think they overdo it on the whistle blowing,while you try to sleep. The sound of the whistles at night gave me an errie feeling when i was a kid.

When we lived "in town," the railroad tracks were about 500 feet from our house ... close enough to feel the rumblings of the trains, and definitely close enough to hear them pass. Now, we're out, "in the country" and the tracks are several miles away ... but on a clear night, you can still hear the train whistle.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

My late step dad ,and a good friend both worked on the rail road. Both gave me a word of warning. Do not pull up very close to the tracks when a train is going by. They have seen to many accidents where a car has been mashed from a train car hitting them from an accident.

The nearby railroad track went over a small creek,or more like an open drain at that point, we as kids thought it was great fun to sit under the line and feel the train thundering above us, a matter of maybe a couple of yards.One day I saw a huge amount of steam from the train (yes, i was alive in the steam train era!) engulf the are we would sit in. never did that again,and made sure my friends didn't either !!

Hey Jack It worked THanks buddy i owe you one. Just for that you can have all the cheese that was left from who has the cheese!! Sneaky!!

At one time, my family stayed in a house that was practically ON the train tracks, literally within 25 0r 30 feet or so. Talk about rumbling! And yes, if you pay close attention, different cars do have different rhythms, sometimes even the same types of cars, depending on what they are loaded with or whether full or empty. also, the cars at the end seem to make a different sound and echo than the cars in front or middle of a long train.

That house was in Mocanaqua PA, a town so small that as teenagers we would sit on the corner and count the train cars, or throw rocks at the sides of them, to hear the CLANG when we hit them! Of course, part of the fun was running when/if the caboose man would catch us throwing them!

Tater, i just can't even imagine you being naughty !!