Here are a few documents and links showing the link between train horn noise and 1) reduced property values and 2) negative health effects. Also shown on this page is a link to a Wall Street Journal article reporting that rail freight volume has more than doubled since the early 1980s and that estimates are, that over the next 20-25 years, growth could be as high as 80%.
Property Values
A 2006 university research paper entitled: “The Economic Valuation of Train Horn Noise: A US Case Study” showed that the loss in property values caused by train horn noise in a small town was 4.1% for every 10 decibels of sound above a threshold of 50 decibels. (Note: a decibel scale is different from a linear scale. In a linear scale, for example a ruler, 12 inches is twice as long as 6 inches. With a decibel scale, 90 decibels is ten times as loud as 80 decibels, 100 decibels is ten times as loud as 90 decibels, and so on. Thus, 100 decibels is one hundred times as loud as 80 decibels.)
According to the formula above, a house that receives 80 decibels from the train horn could expect to see its property values reduced by 12.3% (3 times 4.1%); for 90 decibels the reduction in value would be 16.4% (4 times 4.1%). The author of this study has advised us that the town in which the study was conducted had 15 trains per day crossing through the intersection. He indicated that a volume of train traffic above that level would likely cause a greater percentage reduction of property values than what he found in the study.
We have obtained readings of 112 decibels at the Voorheesville railroad crossings, and 80 decibels at 1000 feet from the crossing.
Noise and Health
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has determined that exposure to any sound above 110 decibels can cause hearing damage with as little as 2 minutes of exposure. See their Noise Meter.
A letter to the Ipswich Chronicle, Ipswich, MA, makes a similar point.