Something Clever About Trains

I suppose I’m writing this mostly because in the middle of my Nyquil-tinged night I was thinking this would be a good thing to post about. Now, having said that, I don’t understand the volume at which trains blare their horns when coming to an intersection. I suppose there’s a law requiring them to do it, but I don’t understand why the horn has to be heard from several miles away. The other problem is that it seems they’re supposed to do it at every single intersection, which means that you hear that horn 50 times before the train gets out of range. This can make for an unpleasant night’s sleep, even with the aid of our good friends at Vick’s.

Comments

Nathan Mulford said…
I think with the aid of Vick's that you would have cool dreams about being a hobo on one of those trains having a good time with the moonshine that you swiped from Skinny Pete and a talking dog with a spot on him that looks like the state of Texas.
July 7, 2008 at 10:18 AM
Joel said…
You had that dream too?
July 7, 2008 at 10:20 AM
)en said…
I, too, slept this weekend with the aid of Nyquil, though I had no dreams, but a wonderful deep, dreamless sleep/coma.

I'm pretty sure they blare their horns so far in advance to give warning to anyone who might be trapped on or tied to the tracks, because it is so hard for trains to slow down once they get going.
July 7, 2008 at 10:41 AM
Unknown said…
Tell me about it. We live at the base of mountains where trains travel during the late hours of the night/early hours of the morning. Every time that horn blares it echoes all throughout the mountains, thus magnifying the horrible sound and waking me up with start! I think sometimes they do it just for fun - like they're up there thinking "If I have to be awake in the middle of the night doing this crappy job I'm going to make sure as many people suffer from this horn as I possibly can."
July 7, 2008 at 10:50 AM
Joel said…
Finally, someone else gets it.
July 7, 2008 at 10:54 AM
ATH79 said…
Do you think that if you'd ever been hit by a train that you would feel differently? Then when you heard the sound of the train whistle you be thinking "good thing they're blowing that whistle". You are so insensitive. HAHA
July 8, 2008 at 12:26 PM
)en said…
exactly.

although, i think that if I'D been hit by a train, then, after that, I would hate the sound of a train horn even more. were i someone who hates the sound of a train, initially.
July 8, 2008 at 4:58 PM
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