Train crossing: Let whistles roar like the old days

Re: “At railroad crossing where 2 died, still no safety fixes,” (TNT, 7/28).

Trains have been around for over 150 years and have always been dangerous. That’s why they have whistles that can be heard from here to kingdom come. They work because they’re extremely loud -- much louder than the train itself.

These whistles work even when one train just completes its crossing while another starts its crossing moments later, which is when most people are hit. They are so loud that pedestrians still hear them, realize another train is coming, and thus avoid crossing and being hit.

Years ago, city officials allowed an exemption to the real-loud train whistles at the McCarver crossing, instead relying on an (obviously) much too quiet electric whistle permanently posted at the crossing. This exemption was allowed when newcomers to the neighborhood complained the whistles were too loud.

The tradeoff is people dying vs. people losing sleep until they get used to the real train whistle.

Seems like a simple solution. Allow the trains to blow their whistles at full volume once more.

This story was originally published August 4, 2017 at 4:48 PM with the headline "Train crossing: Let whistles roar like the old days."