Recent Train Horns Downtown

The unusual recent train horn use downtown by Wisconsin & Southern Railroad (WSOR) is due to railroad construction near the South Broom Street crossing that impacts the signals. According to federal law, WSOR must place a “stop and flag order” on the crossing at South Broom Street, which then requires the sounding of the locomotive horns. The “stop and flag order” is due to a crew doing ditching and bank restoration work near South Broom Street and Monona Terrace. This is only temporary until the work is complete, and does require horns to be sounded in accordance with federal law throughout the duration of the work. The date of project completion is unknown at this time as this work is weather dependent. However, it may last for as long as a few weeks.

Also, according to the federal Train Horn Rule, railroads must begin to sound the horn ¼ mile in advance of a public at-grade railroad/highway crossing for each crossing that isn’t in a quiet zone or has a “stop and flag order” such as South Broom Street this week. Most of the downtown has been included in quiet zones since 2008. A downtown quiet zone map is available here. In a quiet zone, railroads are required to cease the routine sounding of their horns when approaching crossings. Train horns may still be used in emergency situations or to comply with other federal regulations or railroad operating rules.

In the area of the East Rail Corridor, where there is not currently a quiet zone, there are 10 public crossings in a 2-mile stretch resulting in a federal mandate to blow locomotive horns at least 40 times as one train passes through this area. So, unfortunately, at times it seems like a continuous horn through neighborhoods east of the Capitol Square. The frequency and decibel sound of the horns is governed by the Federal Railroad Administration.

I’m very pleased to report that the planned reconstruction of the John Nolen Drive, South Blair Street, East Wilson Street and Williamson Street intersection in 2022 will include the installation of a quiet zone.

There have been very few complaints about WSOR compliance with the downtown quiet zones since we worked hard to institute them. Until today, the most recent quiet zone train noise complaints that I received were related to a “weather restriction order” in early 2018 due to extreme temperature fluctuations causing signal malfunctions. I greatly appreciate downtown residents contacting me about these issues affecting our quality of life.