The train horn is something different for everyone. For some, it is a nostalgic memory, for others, an annoyance, but for railroaders, it is all about safety. The City of Fillmore has within its limits, 17 public and private grade crossings all of which must have the horn sounded.

Federal law dictates that the engineer must blow the horn with a sequence of blasts in the fashion of long, long, short, and long no later than 15 second prior to entering the crossing. Failure to do so could also bring personal fine(s) to the engineer of up to $30,000, per incident.

But putting law aside for a moment, something that is routinely seen in Fillmore and throughout the country, are cars, trucks, and busses going around lowered crossing gates; vehicles that stop between the gates and the track, and pedestrians and bicyclists that try to quickly cross in an effort to beat the train. According to Operation Lifesaver, a person or vehicle in the United States is struck every three hours, usually ending in a fatality. It is a well-established but misunderstood fact that trains cannot stop quickly. The combination of weight and momentum, even at 10 mph, will propel a train, with air brakes locked in emergency for thousands of feet before coming to a complete stop.

Is there nothing that can be done for Fillmore’s peace and quiet? Yes. It’s called a quiet zone. Quiet zones can only be implemented by a public authority or local government, which must then pay for the upgrades to the crossings needed to bring them up to quite zone standards. The public authority or local government then assumes the liability if a vehicle or pedestrian is struck by a train within a quiet zone. There are quiet zones in cities and towns through the country.

Next time you hear the train horn and think it’s loud and annoying, just know that the engineer is mandated to do it in an effort to keep residents and train crews alike safe by alerting every one of the approaching train. – Matt Blackburn.

Mr. Blackburn is the Ventura Division Manager of the Sierra Northern Railway.