ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 4, 1996 TAG: 9607050040
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: HOLIDAY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
Can it be that Norfolk Southern train engineers are blowing their horns longer, louder and more frequently since Christiansburg Town Council in March passed a no-horn ordinance at the Chrisman Mill crossing near Diamond Point subdivision?
That's what a passel of residents from the exclusive development told council Tuesday.
No one has scientifically documented that engineers are blowing their whistles more, and Town Council members said train whistles may be in the ear of the beholder. But resident after resident Tuesday said it sure seemed that the engineers were ignoring the new town ordinance and laying on their horns with more alacrity, and at all hours of the day and night to boot.
"The fact of the matter is they are blowing those horns more than they used to. If they would even be more considerate, it'd make us a lot happier," said one resident of the subdivision, which boasts some of the most expensive houses in town.
"They're blowing their horns a lot longer. They're blowing them all the way through the gates," said another.
Gary A. Shepard, a trainmaster with the railroad, apologized for the whistles and said he would ask engineers to tone down their acts. But he stressed that the company wants the town's ban lifted.
In March, Council voted 4-1 to ban whistles at the Chrisman Mills crossing. Ann Carter voted against the measure and Scott Weaver was absent.
Mayor Harold Linkous Tuesday asked the town's water, sewer and street committee, comprising Truman Daniel and Jack Via, to make a recommendation on the railroad's request at the next meeting July 16.
Via said Tuesday he has had "misgivings" about his decision since voting for the ban.
"Our main concern is safety. That's our responsibility, safety for the general public, not comfort, unfortunately," Via said.
But about a dozen Diamond Point residents Tuesday were unanimous in their complaints about the whistles.
After all, they said, since the Cambria crossing has a no-whistle policy, why shouldn't the Chrisman Mill crossing have one, too?
Moreover, since gates were installed at the crossing last year, why are horns even needed?
Residents said that while vehicles could weave their way around the gates, motorists who do so would surely not heed train whistles if they had already disregarded the gates.
Town Manager John Lemley said a traffic study completed last week showed 121 vehicles using the dirt-road Chrisman Mill crossing in a 24-hour period. During the same time "thousands" of vehicles crossed at Cambria.
The Chrisman Mill crossing has had no fatal accidents, and only one injury, in the late 1970s, when a construction worker drove his front-end loader onto the tracks and did not see a train coming. Two people who were walking along the tracks at Cambria have been killed in separate incidents in recent years, Shepard said.
"If we had been able to blow prior to reaching the crossing, maybe those people would have been able to hear and to have been more alert," Shepard said.
Railroad officials say evidence shows that whistles reduce accidents and injuries at crossings.
The entire question may be moot within months, however. Federal officials are considering enacting regulations, which could take effect by the end of the year, that would require trains to blow their horns at crossings within towns.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 linesby CNB