March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Railroad plans to stop night-time switching

Residents of Hancock Street in Bangor who are fed up with the night-time noise at Springfield Terminal will have to wait three weeks more to get a good night’s sleep.

“Our solution is that all night-time switching activity will be conducted during the day,” railroad spokesman Geoffrey Wade said Wednesday evening. Wade guaranteed about 15 residents at a gathering in City Hall that night-time switching activity will cease in three weeks.

“Hopefully, after three weeks, you’re going to see dramatic improvements,” he said.

Wade told the gathering, including three Bangor city councilors, that the railroad company is undergoing “a major revamping of operations in the area.” He said, “Our objective is to do all switching activity elsewhere, but that will take some time.”

Moving switching operations to the daylight hours will not be a long-term solution, City Solicitor Robert Miller said. In fact, he added, the noise level will probably increase.

Speaking on behalf of the Hancock Street residents, Miller said that if the situation cannot be resolved, the residents will have to seek “legislative relief.”

Miller asked Wade to prepare a letter detailing the steps to be taken at the terminal. He asked that the city receive that letter within three weeks. Miller also asked Wade to send a follow-up letter detailing what had been done.

If Miller and the residents believe that the alterations are not sufficient, another meeting will be called.

Complaints about the rattle and roar originating from the railroad yard began when Springfield Terminal closed its switching yard along the riverfront. The company said it would move operations to Old Town, Northern Maine Junction in Hermon, and Waterville. Residents on Hancock Street, however, soon discovered that their backyards had become the switching station.

One woman said Wednesday evening that the deep, rolling sounds of the train use to help put her baby to sleep. Now, banging and clanging keeps everyone in the neighborhood awake.

The woman went on to say that engines run continuously outside her home. “Your backyard just smells of oil,” she said. “At night, I’ll jump out of bed and think there’s something wrong with my furnace.”

Wade told the gathering, anxious to get something done, that making a change in the operations at the terminal is not as simple as making one adjustment. “We are undertaking a substantial effort.” Operations in Bangor are related to those in Massachusetts and Atlantic Canada, he explained.

“We still have to run a business, and we have to meet the needs of our customers,” Wade said. “If we are able to move the switching activity out of the area we will do that.”

Laughton Jewett, the company’s area manager, said residents should not confuse the dropping of blocks, or sections of cars, with switching activity. He said blocks destined for Bucksport, which come from the north or south, will have to be backed up and re-directed to connect with the Bucksport branch. But this will happen only twice a day — once up and once back.

One man asked about engine operators arbitrarily blowing the train’s horn. He suspected that the operators blew the horn to let the residents know the trains are still active in Bangor.

Wade responded that the engineers should only blow their horns before reaching road crossings to warn residents that the train is approaching.


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