Author Topic: Looking for a house in Longmont, CO - Train Frequency Question  (Read 2304 times)

narrative

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
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  • Posts: 53
  • Location: Longmont, CO
My husband started a job in Boulder and we are looking at houses in Longmont (coming from Illinois). I know there are several on the forum that live in the area.

A few of the houses in our price range are very near to train tracks - the north/south ones near Atwood or the east/west ones near Izaak Walton Park.

How busy are these sections of track? The kids and I are home all day (homeschool) so I am curious about daytime hours, but I am more concerned about evening and nighttime hours.

Any Longmont folks have any insight? TIA.

Duke03

  • Bristles
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Re: Looking for a house in Longmont, CO - Train Frequency Question
« Reply #1 on: August 25, 2017, 06:44:40 PM »
On average you'll probably see or mostly hear 25-35 trains a day if you are near the main line.  Union Pacific owns the track, but BNSF has trackage rights through there also. So basically you got two railroads sharing the same line.

aperture

  • Bristles
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  • Location: Colorado
Re: Looking for a house in Longmont, CO - Train Frequency Question
« Reply #2 on: August 25, 2017, 08:13:41 PM »
Arvada has created no-whistle intersections in the last 10 years.  I would encourage you to spend an hour or two in your car at the location you are thinking of living - before you buy or sign a long lease.  Sound fall off from trains is pretty good if you are a few blocks away... unless there is an intersection they have to whistle at.  Best, ap.

narrative

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
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  • Posts: 53
  • Location: Longmont, CO
Re: Looking for a house in Longmont, CO - Train Frequency Question
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2017, 07:54:51 AM »
Thanks for your replies! Wow Duke, 25-35 sounds like a lot.

This morning I found a few older (2015) city-data postings that say the line that runes near Golden Ponds (so say between Airport and Sunset) is less traveled than the tracks running along Atwood. Still true?

Aperture, I think your advice to spend a few hours sitting near anywhere I might want to buy makes really solid sense. I am going to have to do that.

I am (as usual) overindulging in internet information from redfin/trulia/zillow and taxing google maps, click-learning my way around town and essentially saving a base map in my head. I won't actually be there for another week or so though. I was in town last week and we did some driving around town to try and get a feel for different areas but one can only see so much that way, and funny enough I didn't see or hear a train the entire week.

It is definitely going to take some wrangling to come up with what we want there in a muustachian price range (if one could say that even still exists in Longmont). Good schools since we likely won't homeschool forever, proximity to the J bus or Bolt to make best use of a free RTD pass, bike paths for grocery runs, and a 3 bedroom house seem like something of a unicorn in our price range. Ah well, it will happen when it does. :)


narrative

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
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  • Posts: 53
  • Location: Longmont, CO
Re: Looking for a house in Longmont, CO - Train Frequency Question
« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2017, 08:15:07 AM »
And in case anyone else finds this with similar questions, this might be helpful:

Longmont Train Quiet Zone Study
https://www.scribd.com/doc/311759127

It only talks about the North/South tracks though as best I can tell.

aperture

  • Bristles
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  • Location: Colorado
Re: Looking for a house in Longmont, CO - Train Frequency Question
« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2017, 05:28:41 PM »
Good luck narrative.  Welcome to Colorado. 

In 2003 we moved into our house and discovered rail road tracks were 2 blocks away (our real estate agent never drove that way and we never investigated).  The train sounds led us to put in new windows on the south side of the house, but within 3 years the city silenced them, and now that track is used only 1/4 as often as when we first moved in. 

We love our home now and don't even notice the trains (silent intersections make that possible).  Hope you find all you are looking for.  -ap.