by Audrey Levine, Staff Writer
Hillsborough’s railroad quiet zones have gone into effect as of Tuesday at the Beekman Lane and Auten Road rail crossings, and nearby residents say they are enjoying the “sounds of silence.”
”We are very pleased that the township went ahead with this as they said they would,” said Rose Reina-Rosenbaum, of Peterson Road.
Because the Norfolk Southern Rail Line has completed required safety improvements at the crossings, the trains no longer have to use horns when crossing the roads. Instead, horns mounted at the crossings will sound to warn drivers.
Normally, the trains are required to sound the horns four times each time they cross the roads. With the quiet zones installed, a quieter horn on the crossing sounds, in addition to the use of safety medians, signage and safety road striping, which the township completed according to Federal Railroad Administration regulations.
For John Lisowski III, of Peterson Road, he used to hear the sound while getting ready for school, but, Tuesday morning, it was much softer.
”I heard it a little bit, but it was a lot less,” he said.
Ms. Reina-Rosenbaum said the train’s horn sounding four times when it passed was almost cause for her and her husband, Paul, to move from their home that’s about 400 feet from the tracks.
”We weren’t told about the train when we first bought our home,” she said. “Then we were on the deck and heard the whistle. We weren’t sure what to do. It was so loud, we were wondering if we had to run.”
On Tuesday, Ms. Reina-Rosenbaum said, she did hear the train itself pass during the night, but did not hear the whistle each time it passed.
”Sometimes we would hear the whistle three different times in an hour, and more than seven different times per day,” she said.
Now, Ms. Reina-Rosenbaum said, she has only heard a whistle sound a few times.
”Before, we had to learn to always keep our windows shut,” she said. “Now, without the whistle, we will wait and see.”
Other residents are also looking to be able to keep their windows open during the summer, now that the trains are quieter through town.
”We have been waiting and waiting for this,” said Cal Patterson, of Peterson Road. “We didn’t like sleeping with the windows open in the summer.”
Mr. Patterson said, Wednesday morning, he did hear the sound of an approaching train, but, when it reached the Beekman Road intersection, the horn did not sound.
”It didn’t blow at the intersection,” he said.
Though residents living near these two intersections can sleep easier at night, those near the Roycefield Road and Valley Road intersections will have to wait a bit longer for relief from the horns.
While similar changes have been completed at Roycefield Road, they will not go into effect until safety improvements have been completed at Valley Road, which does not lend itself to the use of a safety median.
The township wants to install a wayside horn at the Valley Road crossing, which would point to the ground and send out a radius of sound that reaches a 10th of the distance of the train’s horn.

