Is it true that you can't hear a train if you ar standing in front of it?

Question

Is it true that you can't hear a train if you ar standing in front of it?

Answer 1

The posters that said it's not true are wrong!Trust me on this i have been a railroader for 31 years. If they aren't blowing the whistle they are surprising quiet til they pass you.There are exceptions of course.When they are moving slow and pulling a hard grade or they have flat spots on the car wheels you can usually hear them coming. One of our rules is you have to blow the whistle before you pass a train to warn them your coming.Always look carefully before you walk over tracks.PLEASE! Nothing is worse than that sickening clang and knowing someone just died. You might want to go look at http://www.oli.org I have had many close calls with people walking near the track that didn't hear us coming.

Answer 2

It sure is, under the right circumstances...

If you relied on your ears alone for survival when on tracks, you would one day lose your life.

It's called "drifting."  Once moving, one can close the throttle completely and that train will roll and roll and roll, with the vast majority of the sound behind it.  They aren't always running at full throttle.  If approaching from behind, you're already at a distinct disadvantage, since the human ear isn't designed to pick up sound coming from behind very well.

Fog and heavy rain can mask their sound.  Snow on the ground sucks up the sound like a very efficient sponge, even when operating at full throttle.  That same snow storm will plug up a locomotive whistle very quickly, rendering it useless, so you can't depend on hearing that either.

If the wind is against you, that alone can contribute to not hearing the approaching danger.

In addition, freight cars are routinely cut off in motion and allowed to roll on their own in local freight and yard switching operations.  Trust me.  A car rolling up on you can strike you without you ever hearing it.  I have known veteran rails who have lost their lives or suffered amputation in the performance of duty because they didn't hear a car sneaking up on them, and they were trained against the danger.

Best to stay off the right of way.  But, if you must be there, use all your senses and stay alert in all directions around you.

Answer 3

I think you would hear it (well unless you have your headphones or are talking on your cellphone  but I would think you would  least See it (unless you are blind)

Answer 4

no you would know unless it going less than like 10 mph.

specially a steam train you know 5 days before hand.

Answer 5

it makes you shock and the noise is over..

Answer 6

This sounds like something my mom would have told me.

Actually though, there is a kernal of truth in there.  We are accustomed to hearing the roar of a train as it passes, and have a reference point in our head of how loud that is.

What I have learned in my 25+ years in the railroad industry is that fast-moving trains are much quieter than you would expect them to be, when they are coming up on you.  This is experienced most vividly in open areas where there are not a lot of reflective surfaces.  That's one of the reasons that track workers always have someone assigned to look out for trains while they do their tasks.

While it is possible to hear trains that are coming toward you, it is easy to underestimate their "audio footprint", and not notice them until it's too late.  I am sure it is a contributing factor to the many rail deaths that I read about each day, as part of my job.

Answer 7

Tell you what...you'd hear the horns, luv!

Answer 8

With an electric train there is no generator, so that sound is taken away. Therefore, unless the train is slowing down or starting up you cannot hear is untill it passes you, or from maybe 20 meters away, but by then it is too late. When a train is slowing down or staring up at a station, the reason that you can hear it if it is in front of you is because the traction motors are starting up or cutting out and that makes some noise.

With deisel trains, you can hear the generator whenever, but not the moving sound untill it passes you.

Answer 9

Sometimes, trains are not always noisy, under certain circumstances they are very very quiet and then you wouldn't hear an approaching train.

A train coming downhill or coasting wont make much noise.

If you are looking for a physical reason you wouldn't be able to hear a train there is none.

Unless the train is traveling faster than the speed of sound which is not likely.

Answer 10

I don't know, but I would not want to be the one to test this theory.

Answer 11

you would hear the vibration in the rails first and hear the train when its too late. BANG!!

Answer 12

Not true at all. You can hear every other type of vehicle if you're standing in front of it. And trains are louder than most of them.