NIGHT NOISES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22726, 12 May 1937, Page 15

NIGHT NOISES

Sir, —"British Whistle" has missed tho mark when he says the letters appearing in tho Herald are written against the practice of blowing whistles at railway crossings. Two of the letters have been against the practice of blowing whistles at the Newmarket station all through tho night, where there are no level crossings around the station. We know that if there is an accident and the whistle has not been sounded the driver will be held responsible, yet look how many accidents there are. There will always be the careless, who will not stop and listen for the train or whistle. On Sunday the awful blasts kept coming from the Newmarket station and did so all night all the week. This din cannot be necessary. Anti-Noise.

Sir, —I read with interest "British Whistle's" letter in this Saturday's issue. His remark re the minority having to he protected hits the nail fairly on the head. Why should the majority of people, some of-whom are patients in hospitals, convalescent homes, nervous break-down cases, etc., have to suffer for the carelessness and neglect of the minority—a very small minority at that? One does not object so much to the reasonable use of pleasant-sound-ing locomotive whistles, but to the indiscriminate and unnecessarily frequent use of the nerve-wracking discordant whistles at present in use, and to some of the railway men using tliem as alarm clocks for the next man to wake up and come on duty, or wifie to get dinner ready as her hubby will soon be home. Several raihvaymen live in our vicinity. 1 live close by a main line and station near a level crossing. There is a "flag" station about one mile further on. Each train sounds the whistle for the flag station (what is the matter with the guards) and if the train stops it whistles again before restarting. Then two blasts for two level crossings, and yet another for the signalman at the station, and one more as the train leaves the station. Jn all, six blasts, long and short, from the world's worst-sounding locomotive whistles in a •distance of about a mile, and about 50 times in 24 hours. 1 have known some whistles to be sounded for the full distance between the stations. Add to this the "shunting" whistling and din three or four times a day at the station, t All that noise to protect a minority on a mile length of railway track; and this is only a suburban place.

Twknty Ykahs a Driteb