I guess it's debatable whether they need to be quite so enthusiastic about it. I understand them wanting to give warning to anyone stuck on the tracks, but living within 2 miles of a busy set of tracks, I can tell you it's not easy to get a night of uninterrupted sleep with repeated 5 to 10 seconds of horns going off randomly in the middle of the night.
Personally i cant lay off my horn either, but then Again my trains are only 1:20.3 scale
But still loud enuff to make ppl stop in ther tracks and take notise when my 2-6-6-2 Baldwin loco pull uphill along the garden fence in my friends garden
When I lived in the states the guy next door was retired from the rail-road; I think I remember him telling me once they have to sound the horn for every intersection and in some built up areas. Seems there are a lot of rules and regs for driving a train, it is after all federally regulated.
I can tell you it's not easy to get a night of uninterrupted sleep with repeated 5 to 10 seconds of horns going off randomly in the middle of the night.
You should wear ear plugs. Getting interrupted during sleep has negative effects on your health during the day. It all has to do with sleep quality and not sleep quantity.
When I lived in the states the guy next door was retired from the rail-road; I think I remember him telling me once they have to sound the horn for every intersection and in some built up areas.
I believe i herd this as well. They are required to blow the Train's horn X miles from every crossing and intersection unless it is a Quiet Zone and offers other measures of crossing safety.