Why do trains shake my house?

The length, height, width, and composition of the building and its distance from the tracks, determines its natural oscillating frequency and the train's length and speed must create an oscillation that closely matches the building's frequency (or its harmonics), so that the small train vibrations get amplified to ...



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No, train vibrations do not cause cracking in houses (sheetrock, stucco, etc) that are more than 20 to 30 feet away from the tracks.

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Like cars, boats and planes, riding on a train can cause motion sickness too. Commuter trains tend to rock and stop frequently. Double-decker trains can be great for viewing scenery, but also tend to sway.

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It is suggested in general that vibrations are not noticeable at distances over 300 m from the railway [23].

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A lot of it depends on how close and how well-used the tracks are. If they're exempt (in the US) or unused then it's no different than living by a field since no trains use them. If they're rural and near a road, you'll get horn blasts as the train goes by as well as the noise from the train.

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When air warms with altitude a temperature inversion exists. Sound travels faster in warm air than it does in cool air. This means the sound of a train horn will bend downward when it passes through an inversion causing sound waves to propagate farther than normal.

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Like cars, boats and planes, riding on a train can cause motion sickness too. Commuter trains tend to rock and stop frequently. Double-decker trains can be great for viewing scenery, but also tend to sway.

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Roughness and irregularities on the wheel and rail surfaces are a source of noise and vibration. Rail joints and squats on the rail cause a familiar clickety-clack sound as train wheels roll over them.

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No, generally they won't. Railcars have the right of way, hence the rails that are already in place.

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The reason that trains honk their horns so much at night is because it's dark and the trains aren't so easy to see. Even though the lights are on, we sometimes can't see them coming, especially around the many blind curves near or ahead of the train station.

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Anyway, don't blame the engineer: They're required to blow that horn. The regulation in question is called the Final Rule on the Use of Locomotive Horns—a name that strongly implies they've had just about enough of your bitching—and it requires four blasts 15 to 20 seconds before every crossing.

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Train horns may be sounded in emergency situaons or to comply with other railroad or FRA rules even within a quiet zone. Quiet zone regulaons also do not eliminate the use of locomove bells at crossings.

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