Let’s rethink the use of train whistles

The thought hit me when I was hiking the Mickinnick Trail the other day and heard the blaring, shrieking whistle from the Burlington Northern freight passing in the valley far below. I gritted my teeth and frowned at how the magic of forest quietude was being ripped away by this industrial blast. Then a question occurred to me: What possible function could be served by my hearing this whistle? Drivers on the road crossing the tracks in front of the train need to be warned of the train’s approach. But why does a hiker high in the mountains need to know a train is passing?

Somehow, we have taken it for granted that train whistles are supposed to blare in all directions, waking up babies half a mile away and distracting novelists on the other side of town. In earlier times, this was perhaps understandable. The arrival of a train was a community event (and the whistle was the only way the engineer could communicate with linemen at the back of the train). But today, a whistle blaring in all directions makes no sense at all. Railroads need to get creative and design a whistle that projects only to the front. For starters, the whistle could be placed inside a shielded tube so that it would scarcely be heard from the side or behind.

This change would reduce aggravation, and improve goodwill toward railroads.

JIM PAYNE

Sandpoint