Wayside Horns in Operation at the only Del Mar railroad crossing and
the 96-year-old single-track bridge north of Del Mar is being replaced.
A platform for Del Mar Track and Fairgrounds is being planned as well.
Photos by Carl Morrison
Photographs by Carl Morrison while staying within sight of the crossing April 27 - 28, 2013.
Wave Crest Resort in Del Mar is right beside the tracks, and at the
point where northbound Coaster and Amtrak locomotive engineers blow
their horn for the upcoming crossing, around a curve and unseen until
within a few feet. Southbound trains blow their horn in the same
place to warn trespassers on the Del Mar cliffs that a train is coming
at a high rate of speed. There are over 50 trains a day, so there
is plenty of horn blowing in Del Mar each day. Additionally,
freight traffic is restricted to evening hours after commuter trains
are tied up. It has been our experience in staying at Wave Crest
Resort for 30 years, one week each Spring, that there are two freights
that go through Del Mar between 10 pm and midnight. As you know,
freight train horns are much louder than commuter train horns.
For the first time in 30 years, we only heard a faint train horn which
sounded like it was actually coming from the crossing or farther
north. When I first heard it, I said to my wife, Sue, "That
locomotive sounds like it has a sick horn." After observing a
train passing through Del Mar, I present below some photos and Internet
research about "Wayside Horns" and the comparison of their cost with
"No Horn" Quiet Zones as I am seeing in my hometown of Placentia,
California. (Sorry I do not have a sound recording of the Two
Longs, a Short, and One Long from the Del Mar Wayside Horn.)
On each side of the crossing is a lightpost trackside with a 3-flash
red "X" signal that the wayside signal is working ahead. Without
this signal, the engineer would blow the horn. Because so many
walkers, runners, surfers, and bike riders trespass and walk on the
tracks or cross the tracks on the Del Mar Bluffs above the beach south
of the crossing, I have heard engineers have the locomotive's bell
ringing as they traverse the bluffs, and an occasionall horn heading
southbound. Of course, even in Quiet Zones, engineers still have the option to blow the horn if need be for safety reasons.
The Only Railroad Crossing in Del Mar.
The Speaker for the Wayside Horn atop the Signal.
Speaker for the Wayside Horn, but I am not sure of the function of the screened enclosure on the top.
Cab Car passing through the crossing right to left.
Pusher Locomotive on the same train.
PRESS RELEASES
Del Mar tests train-crossing horn - Stationary devices possibly an option
By: Tanya Mannes - Sign On San Diego - Posted: Friday, April 23, 2010
Del Mar considered the possibility of creating a horn-free zone to
address complaints about the train noise. That would mean installing
gates and median barriers, among other safety measures, to lessen the
need for engineers to sound their horns. But officials concluded that
the expense — as much as $1 million per intersection — would be too
high for the city of 4,600 residents, said Public Works Director David
Scherer. ...a wayside horn, a $150,000 device affixed at the crossing.
The wayside horn is 92 decibels heard within one acre. Train horns are
100 to 110 decibels heard over 31 acres while the train is moving,
according to Robert Albritton of Quiet Zone Technologies, the wayside
horn manufacturer. Albritton said the horns are being used in 23
communities in the U.S., including more than a dozen in California.
In comparison, a home lawn mower is about 100 decibels and a truck without a muffler is 90 decibels.
Quieter train horns installed at railway crossing [ in Del Mar]
By: Chris Nichols - North County Times - Californian- Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
A group of Del Mar residents weary from blaring train horns liked what
they heard Thursday during a test of quieter horns installed at the
city's lone railway crossing.
With sound meters in hand, residents and rail officials tracked the
decibel levels of the three "wayside horns" temporarily rigged at the
crossing and compared them with the blasts from several Amtrak and
Coaster trains that passed through.
The wayside horns consistently registered about 95 decibels, 10 to 15
decibels less than the train horns, several meters showed. The
difference is akin to hearing a loud power lawn mower instead of a rock
concert. State workplace safety officials recommend wearing ear
protection at 85 decibels and above.
"If this system gets in place ... I'm going to be a happy guy," said
Jim Benedict, a Del Mar resident and member of the Del Mar Quiet Zone
Committee, a citizens group that pushed for the test. Rail officials
noted that train engineers will always be able to blow train horns if
necessary. A wayside horn system includes signals up the track from
each crossing that will flash if the system is working properly ----
telling engineers they don't have to blow their train horns. Joining
the residents at the crossing, just west of Del Mar Village and along
Powerhouse Park, were state utility and federal and regional rail
officials, and leaders from cities across North County.
Several, including Carlsbad City Councilman Matt Hall and Encinitas
City Councilman Jerome Stocks, said they hoped to relay the results of
the test to their respective cities. "If this works and our residents
say, 'Gee, it makes a difference,' then I think other cities will
follow our lead and try it," Del Mar Mayor Richard Earnest said.
The city of Del Mar is following the lead of its citizens. The citizens
committee has pledged to pay for the horns, said Hershell Price, its
chairman. Committee members estimate that they'll have to raise about
$150,000 for the purchase and installation. They plan a workshop to
present the results of the test in coming weeks.
The city, while it has blessed the project, does not have money to
contribute to it, said Karen Brust, Del Mar's city manager. Loud train
horns have generated complaints along North County's coast for years.
Several residents said the problem has worsened as more trains run
along the coastal railway. "The problem really is those big freight
trains," Del Mar City Councilman Carl Hilliard said. "Those trains are
equipped with horns that are intended to scare (away) prairie dogs
thousands of yards from the track."
Horn complaints are also common along the Oceanside-to-Escondido
Sprinter railway. But there are no planned tests and none has occurred
on that corridor, North County Transit District spokeswoman Sarah
Benson said. The public agency owns both railways. Robert Albritton,
CEO of Quiet Zone Technologies, the company that made the horns used in
Thursday's test, said a change in federal law about five years ago
allowed the installation of wayside horns across the country. Even so,
only about 100 crossings in the United States have wayside horns,
Albritton said, with the nearest in Riverside and Paramount, a
community near Los Angeles.
"There's a lot of communities that aren't fortunate enough to have
money" to install the system, Albritton said, noting that he provided
the horns free for the test.
"A lot of them don't know they can do this yet," he said.
More News about Del Mar, California, and the Railroad that Passes through between Los Angeles and San Diego.
Future Railroad Platform at Del Mar Fairgrounds:
DEL MAR — SANDAG moves forward with plans to add a
seasonal train platform at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, double track a
1.1-mile stretch of the railway and replace the San Dieguito Railway
River Bridge. Plans to replace the 96-year-old San Dieguito Railway River
Bridge include raising it between 7 and 10 feet to take it out of the
flood zone.
Looking west down the San Dieguito River past the RR Bridge to the Pacific Beach at the sandstone bluff on the right.
South End of RR Bridge, Del Mar Fairgrounds is east of the track and visible from both the track and I-5.
San Dieguito River passes under the RR Bridge.
South of the RR Bridge, looking toward the city of Del Mar and its one
crossing. I presume this is where doubletracking will take place.
