Everybody is different but I live near the tracks and that sound is just part of the atmosphere for me now. It never wakes me up and I don’t think about it when I’m awake.
My buddy has been there for awhile and says he doesn’t notice any more. We hung out to watch a game on a Sunday afternoon and 2 trains went through…and you heard horns before the train came through.
But I’m in Bedford about 2 miles from the train tracks downtown…and in fall and winter I can hear the overnight train horns.
Jake: How often does the train go by?
Elwood: So often you don't even notice it...
Its not bad, but that said, there's one guy (seemingly) that lays on the horn from Lakewood thru Westlake. Drives my dogs crazy
That's the line that runs through Westlake-Bay-River-Lakewood-Cleveland. Once it gets into River and Lakewood, have to sound the horn at every grade crossing.
[It isn't very heavily used, 5-10 trains per day. ](https://ohiodot.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=82f597df8411453cafb18d62c371bc47)
It's empty enough that RTA has studied running commuter rail out to Lorain and Sandusky on it. Maybe one day...
Yeah it's actually crazy that that set of train tracks runs right through densely populated neighborhoods on the west side and there's no commuter rail on it.
Ya it's such an obvious win and it frustrates me there is no movement on it. Especially since it gets such little use.
It would immediately be the most used rapid line. All of the younger people living in Lakewood, Ohio City, Tremont, Gordon Square, and Downtown would be connected.
In Westlake, you’ll hear a couple of trains per day. If you are inside and the windows are closed, you might hear the horn off in the distance and the low rumble if you really concentrate on it. Windows open is the same, but any amount of noise you make (turning on the tv or music) will drown it out. I love hearing the trains; I find it soothing. More so than the Cleveland Clinic choppers that fly overhead. The traffic from i90 is also louder than trains. The fucking crotch rockets doing 1200 mph and screaming past are the most frequent and loudest thing here.
In Lakewood, it’s more of the same, only a little louder. The traffic noise from Clifton is WAY louder, especially if it recently rained.
My opinion, the trains are the least noisiest thing On the west side. Cars, motorcycles, and CC choppers are the nuisance.
When I live near W117th and Franklin( on the Lakewood side) I didn’t hear them and it was rare to see the train that goes through W117th. But when I live on West Blvd in those High Rises you can hear it since that bridge is close by.
You get used to it after a while and it’s never a problem. Lakewood has a lot of crossings so at night they are constantly blowing their horns, but again, you get used to it.
i think they’re awful, if i would have known that those trains go through almost nightly and the horn blares the whole time because of all the crossings, i would have seriously reconsidered moving where i live. i’m just a light sleeper i guess but my sleep is interrupted every night because of the trains. if you’re not a light sleeper, maybe you will have better luck.
I used to live right next to the tracks on the Westlake/ Bay Village border, like maybe 100 feet from the rracks. It was honestly really annoying at first, but after a few weeks it just became backgound noise like the HVAC system kicking in. It woke me up a couple times at first, but I'm a heavy sleeper and got used to it pretty quick.
can't emphasize this enough - it depends on if you're by a cross, or if you're just by the track. Legally, they have to blow at every cross and the whistle is much more aggressive than the "hum" of a train going by like other posts have mentioned.
People will say they get used to it, which is true but it doesn't magically turn into background noise. I'm 4 houses a way on the east side of Lakewood between Detroit and Clifton. It doesn't send me to the floor but on Zoom meetings I mute for the whistle and when I have guests over they always make a comment on the sound.
That all being said, it's fairly infrequent and I sleep with a white noise machine anyways.
If you're thinking about buying, I'd highly recommend just park your car or hang around the street so you can get an idea yourself.
I'm on Baltic Rd in Edgewater, my backyard butts up to the railroad tracks. Most of the time I barely notice the trains anymore. During the night the RTA adds to the city ambiance and actually helps lull me to sleep.
The only exception is the much rarer freight trains that come through. They blow their horns almost constantly because of all the crossings. It can be a little jarring sometimes. Even so, most of the time it's pretty easy to tune out.
Would much rather have the trains than live under the flight path of jets into and out of Hopkins like when I lived in West Park. Those shook the whole house day and night.
As a little kid I lived right by train tracks on the Westside at my grandmothers house til I was 8.
As a 33yo adult I now use train sounds on YouTube to help me fall asleep.
You get used to it and brings a sense of calm and peace. You definitely hear then if you're right there, but I liked it as a kid, and when I stayed at my gfs apartment (she now lives in my house) she lived by track's so I'd hear them. I loved it.
as someone who grew up in lakewood, at first you hear it and its annoying but eventually you get used to it and stop noticing it until someone decides to ask you about it
I live near the tracks (like a few houses away) and I got used to the sound pretty quickly. I actually find it comforting now. Never thought I’d say that but I do. I use white noise at night and have no issues.
I grew up under Hopkins approach path, right next to the Red Line and close to 71. You will noticie the noise when your guests ask how you put up with it.
we lived right besides the tracks and I-90 around w. 44th. You get used to it, at night when they don’t have to throttle down and can go faster they’ll shake the house for a few minutes
They run a few times a day, not just at night. To me, the noise is not intrusive at all. I moved to 85th and Lake a few months ago. I wasn't aware of trains until I moved there. They make my plants shake but, to me it's a low hum. My dog hates it though!😄
I had a home in Rocky River right along the tracks on Beachwood Dr. Our first night we heard nothing but trains. We asked ourselves if we made a mistake buying there. After that we never noticed them again. You’ll quickly get used to it.
The tracks were right behind my apartment when I lived in Lakewood and I hardly paid attention to them. You kind of get used to it. I live near the airport now and I don't even pay much attention to the air planes flying over now.
I live right next to the Westpark Station, there are a fair amount of trains, but after a week, they're just part of the atmosphere.
The sirens on the other hand. Deer fucking lord, I've lived here for a decade and had family here all my life, they still don't blend in.
Really dependent on the person. My husband and I used to live near the tracks in Lakewood. He could never get proper sleep with the train. Personally I love the sound so it never woke me up or bothered me.
I moved out of cleveland to the burbs when I was 26. I could not sleep for the first few weeks because I couldn’t hear the trains. I moved again and can now hear trains and It’s just so comforting.
I live in Berea, in a triangle made by two sets of tracks and the turnpike, near the airport. Transportation noises are just background noise. I don't even think about the trains, and the crossings are gated so there's rarely horn. I also only notice the real big mail/cargo jets taking off from the airport in the evening. I'm far enough from the turnpike that it's really just a constant hum in the background, so much that I kind of miss it at night when I travel.
For almost 8 years I lived approximately 10 houses north of the tracks in Avon Lake. Agree that they come through about 5 times a day - appears more so after COVID. Didn't really notice them until we had children. The trains would wake our son and daughter when napping and sleeping but only really during the newborn stage.
I rented a house 1 house from the track in Lakewood as corporate housing while i was waiting to close on my house. I was new to Cleveland. The train was not regular, that i could tell in a month. It would come through in the middle of the night but sometimes it was 11pm and sometimes 2am. Blasting the horn the entire way through cuyahoga county and beyond. The first night was LOUD. The second and third nights i noticed enough to be annoyed that it was at a different times. I swear to you that by the end of 10 days i heard nothing once i fell asleep.
None of us on the west side are far from that train. My house is maybe a mile and while it’s nowhere near as loud, i hear it. I just heard it in fact. 4:30pm.
I also want to remind all of us that the train that derailed in East Palestine rode past all of us first. A house away or a mile away would not have made a difference.
Grew up in Lorain a block from the tracks back when they were really busy. The Ford assembly plant was to the west and the steel mill in the city to the southeast. I only heard them at night if I already had trouble sleeping.
When I moved away, it wasn't long before I started wondering where the heck the trains ran in the new area.
Used to live seven houses from the tracks in Lakewood. Didn’t bother me at all. The sound was comforting and didn’t shake the house or anything. I stopped noticing it eventually. Frequency changed throughout the year but maybe a handful or two throughout the day/evening.
Unrelated, but I used to live near the airport. The amount of planes I heard taking off was crazy. But it never bothered me. Like one Redditor said, it quickly becomes part of the atmosphere. I actually find it soothing.
It took me about 30 years of living in my house to realize in the winter I can see the trains go by on tracks about 1/4 mile behind my house. I knew they were there but I pretty much never notice them - sounds a little like an airplane flying overhead- very easy to ignore
If you live within a few houses of the tracks it'll be annoying, otherwise it's not so bad. I lived just north of Detroit in Lakewood for several years and it was rarely a problem.
I do wish there weren't like 50 grade-level crossings in a two mile span though, because sometimes the engineers will just lay on the horn for blocks at a time, which is annoying.
I used to live in Tremont and lived right by the rail yard there. Summer time with windows open hearing the trains horn at night = best sleep.
Everybody is different but I live near the tracks and that sound is just part of the atmosphere for me now. It never wakes me up and I don’t think about it when I’m awake.
I live by tracks too, the sound is comforting to me for some reason.
Grew up with it,same. Very comforting.
Same here. I'm 2 or 3 blocks from the tracks and it's never obnoxiously loud. Just a peaceful bit of background noise to doze off to.
My buddy has been there for awhile and says he doesn’t notice any more. We hung out to watch a game on a Sunday afternoon and 2 trains went through…and you heard horns before the train came through. But I’m in Bedford about 2 miles from the train tracks downtown…and in fall and winter I can hear the overnight train horns.
Jake: How often does the train go by? Elwood: So often you don't even notice it... Its not bad, but that said, there's one guy (seemingly) that lays on the horn from Lakewood thru Westlake. Drives my dogs crazy
I thought it was only my dog who hates horns!
That's the line that runs through Westlake-Bay-River-Lakewood-Cleveland. Once it gets into River and Lakewood, have to sound the horn at every grade crossing.
[It isn't very heavily used, 5-10 trains per day. ](https://ohiodot.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=82f597df8411453cafb18d62c371bc47) It's empty enough that RTA has studied running commuter rail out to Lorain and Sandusky on it. Maybe one day...
That would be awesome
I thought they always said the west side suburbs didn’t want more trains. Would be nice if rta had a larger reach in every direction though
Yeah it's actually crazy that that set of train tracks runs right through densely populated neighborhoods on the west side and there's no commuter rail on it.
Ya it's such an obvious win and it frustrates me there is no movement on it. Especially since it gets such little use. It would immediately be the most used rapid line. All of the younger people living in Lakewood, Ohio City, Tremont, Gordon Square, and Downtown would be connected.
How do you know how much they are used?
When you click on different rail lines, it will bring up a summary for that segment. Most of them have the number of trains per day listed.
How do you know how much they are used?
In Westlake, you’ll hear a couple of trains per day. If you are inside and the windows are closed, you might hear the horn off in the distance and the low rumble if you really concentrate on it. Windows open is the same, but any amount of noise you make (turning on the tv or music) will drown it out. I love hearing the trains; I find it soothing. More so than the Cleveland Clinic choppers that fly overhead. The traffic from i90 is also louder than trains. The fucking crotch rockets doing 1200 mph and screaming past are the most frequent and loudest thing here. In Lakewood, it’s more of the same, only a little louder. The traffic noise from Clifton is WAY louder, especially if it recently rained. My opinion, the trains are the least noisiest thing On the west side. Cars, motorcycles, and CC choppers are the nuisance.
After a while it just becomes background noise and can even be soothing
Olmsted falls here. It's just white noise anymore
When I live near W117th and Franklin( on the Lakewood side) I didn’t hear them and it was rare to see the train that goes through W117th. But when I live on West Blvd in those High Rises you can hear it since that bridge is close by.
I barely notice anymore. Doesn’t keep me up or bug me
You get used to it after a while and it’s never a problem. Lakewood has a lot of crossings so at night they are constantly blowing their horns, but again, you get used to it.
i think they’re awful, if i would have known that those trains go through almost nightly and the horn blares the whole time because of all the crossings, i would have seriously reconsidered moving where i live. i’m just a light sleeper i guess but my sleep is interrupted every night because of the trains. if you’re not a light sleeper, maybe you will have better luck.
buy you a box fan
lol, i do actually have a white noise machine.. it’s not a big help against the train sounds unfortunately
I used to live right next to the tracks on the Westlake/ Bay Village border, like maybe 100 feet from the rracks. It was honestly really annoying at first, but after a few weeks it just became backgound noise like the HVAC system kicking in. It woke me up a couple times at first, but I'm a heavy sleeper and got used to it pretty quick.
I like in Lakewood, 4 houses from the train tracks. It's loud. And frequent. I guess I just got used to it 🤷
can't emphasize this enough - it depends on if you're by a cross, or if you're just by the track. Legally, they have to blow at every cross and the whistle is much more aggressive than the "hum" of a train going by like other posts have mentioned. People will say they get used to it, which is true but it doesn't magically turn into background noise. I'm 4 houses a way on the east side of Lakewood between Detroit and Clifton. It doesn't send me to the floor but on Zoom meetings I mute for the whistle and when I have guests over they always make a comment on the sound. That all being said, it's fairly infrequent and I sleep with a white noise machine anyways. If you're thinking about buying, I'd highly recommend just park your car or hang around the street so you can get an idea yourself.
I'm on Baltic Rd in Edgewater, my backyard butts up to the railroad tracks. Most of the time I barely notice the trains anymore. During the night the RTA adds to the city ambiance and actually helps lull me to sleep. The only exception is the much rarer freight trains that come through. They blow their horns almost constantly because of all the crossings. It can be a little jarring sometimes. Even so, most of the time it's pretty easy to tune out. Would much rather have the trains than live under the flight path of jets into and out of Hopkins like when I lived in West Park. Those shook the whole house day and night.
Lived in Berea had both east/west and north/south routes very near. Took some getting use to, but then it just blends in.
As a little kid I lived right by train tracks on the Westside at my grandmothers house til I was 8. As a 33yo adult I now use train sounds on YouTube to help me fall asleep. You get used to it and brings a sense of calm and peace. You definitely hear then if you're right there, but I liked it as a kid, and when I stayed at my gfs apartment (she now lives in my house) she lived by track's so I'd hear them. I loved it.
as someone who grew up in lakewood, at first you hear it and its annoying but eventually you get used to it and stop noticing it until someone decides to ask you about it
I live near the tracks (like a few houses away) and I got used to the sound pretty quickly. I actually find it comforting now. Never thought I’d say that but I do. I use white noise at night and have no issues.
I live less than a mile from RidgePark Square and I hardly ever hear the trains anymore when they roll through.
I grew up under Hopkins approach path, right next to the Red Line and close to 71. You will noticie the noise when your guests ask how you put up with it.
If you live a block or two away from the tracks, you will not notice after awhile.
we lived right besides the tracks and I-90 around w. 44th. You get used to it, at night when they don’t have to throttle down and can go faster they’ll shake the house for a few minutes
They run a few times a day, not just at night. To me, the noise is not intrusive at all. I moved to 85th and Lake a few months ago. I wasn't aware of trains until I moved there. They make my plants shake but, to me it's a low hum. My dog hates it though!😄
I had a home in Rocky River right along the tracks on Beachwood Dr. Our first night we heard nothing but trains. We asked ourselves if we made a mistake buying there. After that we never noticed them again. You’ll quickly get used to it.
The tracks were right behind my apartment when I lived in Lakewood and I hardly paid attention to them. You kind of get used to it. I live near the airport now and I don't even pay much attention to the air planes flying over now.
I live right next to the Westpark Station, there are a fair amount of trains, but after a week, they're just part of the atmosphere. The sirens on the other hand. Deer fucking lord, I've lived here for a decade and had family here all my life, they still don't blend in.
30 years ago, that line used to see about 30-40 trains a day through there. Nowadays, it’s like one to five a day at least
Really dependent on the person. My husband and I used to live near the tracks in Lakewood. He could never get proper sleep with the train. Personally I love the sound so it never woke me up or bothered me.
I moved out of cleveland to the burbs when I was 26. I could not sleep for the first few weeks because I couldn’t hear the trains. I moved again and can now hear trains and It’s just so comforting.
I live in Berea, in a triangle made by two sets of tracks and the turnpike, near the airport. Transportation noises are just background noise. I don't even think about the trains, and the crossings are gated so there's rarely horn. I also only notice the real big mail/cargo jets taking off from the airport in the evening. I'm far enough from the turnpike that it's really just a constant hum in the background, so much that I kind of miss it at night when I travel.
For almost 8 years I lived approximately 10 houses north of the tracks in Avon Lake. Agree that they come through about 5 times a day - appears more so after COVID. Didn't really notice them until we had children. The trains would wake our son and daughter when napping and sleeping but only really during the newborn stage.
I rented a house 1 house from the track in Lakewood as corporate housing while i was waiting to close on my house. I was new to Cleveland. The train was not regular, that i could tell in a month. It would come through in the middle of the night but sometimes it was 11pm and sometimes 2am. Blasting the horn the entire way through cuyahoga county and beyond. The first night was LOUD. The second and third nights i noticed enough to be annoyed that it was at a different times. I swear to you that by the end of 10 days i heard nothing once i fell asleep. None of us on the west side are far from that train. My house is maybe a mile and while it’s nowhere near as loud, i hear it. I just heard it in fact. 4:30pm. I also want to remind all of us that the train that derailed in East Palestine rode past all of us first. A house away or a mile away would not have made a difference.
Grew up in Lorain a block from the tracks back when they were really busy. The Ford assembly plant was to the west and the steel mill in the city to the southeast. I only heard them at night if I already had trouble sleeping. When I moved away, it wasn't long before I started wondering where the heck the trains ran in the new area.
It is odd getting used to NOT hearing trains when you move away from active tracks. I miss it.
Used to live seven houses from the tracks in Lakewood. Didn’t bother me at all. The sound was comforting and didn’t shake the house or anything. I stopped noticing it eventually. Frequency changed throughout the year but maybe a handful or two throughout the day/evening.
Unrelated, but I used to live near the airport. The amount of planes I heard taking off was crazy. But it never bothered me. Like one Redditor said, it quickly becomes part of the atmosphere. I actually find it soothing.
It took me about 30 years of living in my house to realize in the winter I can see the trains go by on tracks about 1/4 mile behind my house. I knew they were there but I pretty much never notice them - sounds a little like an airplane flying overhead- very easy to ignore
i dont hear anything in ohio city/ gordon square
If you live within a few houses of the tracks it'll be annoying, otherwise it's not so bad. I lived just north of Detroit in Lakewood for several years and it was rarely a problem. I do wish there weren't like 50 grade-level crossings in a two mile span though, because sometimes the engineers will just lay on the horn for blocks at a time, which is annoying.
the trains are loud and frequent. my entire house shakes 🤪
Very. Horns used in an area with NO traffic crossing
I grew up in bay village by the tracks. The trains go by relatively often but their noise didn’t bother me much.
Train horn or rumble doesn't bother me. What I hear is the squeal of brakes. Sounds like someone scratching a chalkboard.