Is there any way I can report a conductor for making excessive horn blasts?

The law requires a MINIMUM of 20 seconds or a quarter mile before occupying the crossing. During that time / distance, the law requires that the signal be extended or repeated.

Any track work being done? Many times a train will get a track bulletin to "whistle freely" in areas where men are at work.

These days many units are equipped with a whistle that is automatic, pre-programmed for the grade crossing signal, and able to be engaged with a button on the floor. Many times the engineer has his hands full, literally, and the only way to actuate the horn hands off it that floor switch. Once that is engaged, the whistle will sound repeatedly until it is disengaged.

Even not knowing the particulars of this instance I can assure you the engineer is complying with the law. We sit right under those damned horns, so I can also assure you we do not like it any better than anyone else.

Eliminate idiots and the whistle wouldn't be necessary at all except as a backup (sometimes primary) communications device. There are many more whistle signals than those for grade crossings of varying combinations of long and short sounds of the whistle.

The bottom line is, "How many people have YOU killed in just another day on the job?"

Your typical engineer can expect to experience three fatalities over a 30 year career, and the lion's share of them are at grade crossings.

I was lucky, because I beat the odds and experienced none. I know a guy who racked up nine, including 8 teenagers at once on graduation night.

He got my three.

One number separated us on the seniority roster.

But for the luck of the draw, that could have been me.

So... What constitutes "excessive" use of the whistle in your book?

First, it's not the conductor who operates the horn.

Second, there are many legitimate reasons that this might be happening. For example:

1. On the Metro-Link line in Ventura County, they have had several incidents of pedestrians or homeless persons or vehicles being hit by trains, which necessitates shutting down the entire line, in both directions, delaying thousands of passengers for 1-2 hours, chartering buses to carry them, stopping traffic on an Amtrak route that shares the same track, and usually kills the person hit by the train. Therefore, they are now being very careful there, even though this is a great inconvenience. For example, if someone on the platform is too close to the tracks, some trains will stop before the platform, and wait for everyone on the platform to get away from the track, before the train pulls into the station.

2. In some places, especially if both directions share a single track or the radio is broken, they use horns to communicate between trains.

3. If they see someone in the crossing, they may need to do extra blasts to warn or scare the person.

4. At one badly designed station in Van Nuys, California, trains don't always stop in the same place, so they use the horn to tell the passengers where the train is. Unfortunately, this usually happens when the train is late, and trains going in opposite directions are scheduled to stop only a few minutes apart, so passengers don't know whether their train or the other one is blasting its horn.

It's not the conductor responsible for the excessive horn blasts, but the engineer.

Without a sense of where you are geographically, I can only make an educated guess.

Listen to the sequence of the blasts. Does the long-long-short-long pattern repeat? If so, the engineer is observing a railroad operating rule to repeat the warning until the lead locomotive occupies the crossing.

Well good you checked on the correct whistle signal.Morse code letter R

Now did you check it is the Engineer that does it or did you assume it was the conductor.

Did you check if any Animals or children were on the tracks too.

Ride on a locomotive for an hour or two and you would learn not only who sounds the whistle but how loud it is inside the cab. It is not blown for fun.

You will really like the flagmen return whistle or the whistles appraoching construction workers.

For everyone’s safety, federal regulation requires locomotive horns be sounded for 15-20 seconds before entering all public grade crossings, but not more than one-quarter mile in advance. This federal requirement preempts any state or local laws regarding the use of train horns at public crossings.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) required pattern for blowing the horn is two long, one short, and one long sounding horn, repeated as necessary until the locomotive clears the crossing. Locomotive engineers retain the authority to vary this pattern as necessary for crossings in close proximity and are allowed to sound the horn in emergency situations.

The federal regulation concerning train horns is officially known as the FRA’s Final Rule on the Use of Locomotive Horns at Highway/Rail Grade Crossings and became effective June 24, 2005.

Call your congressman.it is FEDERAL LAW.

Buy some ear plugs.

Train Conductor Whistle

Conductors do not blow the whistle, engineers do. And the rule book says the whistle sequence will be sounded OR REPEATED until the crossing is occupied. The engineer can blow the whistle all he wants if he feels it necassary. I can almost guarantee you, if you report one engineer for excessive whistle use you will hear that much from every train for the next month.

As a locomotive engineer, I promise you I hate the damn thing more than you do. Imagine sitting 8 feet away from it for 30 years, it's a necessary part of the job.

There are flashing red lights, gate arms that block the crossing.. I dont see any reason why they would need to blow the horn.. especially when there are no construction, no one in the crossways.. sucks to have to listen to that loud *** horn at 4:30AM every morning.. waking up my whole family.. if you can't see the flashing lights and the gate arm down.. and try to cross the railroad tracks, then Darwinism.. If you get hit by the train, then one less stupid person.. just because of these few idiot drivers or pedestrian, I dont think the entire neighborhoods need to suffer.. Plus the property value stays in the dump cause no one wants to buy your house or move in the neighbohood.

We can blow that horn all we want as long as it's the prescribed whistle signal. Like Samurai said though we don't blow it just to hear it. We hate it worse than you do! I wish every crossing we go over was a quiet zone.

I live in a quite zone, there are signs posted for the train. Yet this one jackass will wake everybody up at around 12am, 12:15am, 4am, 4:15am, 6am and again at 6:15am.

some cities have limits on noise. check that first. get the number on the lead unit (engine) and report your complaint to the operating railroad close to where you live.