Farmington's North Creek neighborhood is facing a raucous disturbance, with residents irked by the incessant idling of Union Pacific trains near their homes. As reported by FOX 9, over 30 homes in the vicinity have dealt with the nuisance for more than a year, losing sleep due to the loud humming that could have been avoided if the trains stopped just a bit further down the tracks.
"It's impossible to sleep through the night with that going on, let alone do anything normal during the day," an afflicted mother imparted to FOX 9, choosing to remain anonymous. The complaint is not about the transient commotion of trains passing through, that, residents can tolerate but rather the persistent vibrations and clamor from parked trains, punctuating the quietude of their habitat.
Neighbor Rodd Johnson pointed out the impact of the location where the trains lay dormant. "It can be quite actually quite loud," Johnson told FOX 9. "You're like, 'Wow.' And so it's this constant vibration and noise based upon a spot that they don't need to be on." He's been prodding the city to mandate Union Pacific to dock its idling trains past the 195th St. overpass, where noise barriers are in place.
A sentiment echoed in the community was the disruption these idling engines caused, some for durations as egregious as a week straight. "We've had them as long as a week, continuous operation," Johnson narrated, "They never shut them down." Despite the city's requests to Union Pacific to mitigate the nuisance by relocating the idling area, neighbors are clamoring for more — signage and an enforceable ordinance to ensure that their peace isn’t just a fleeting notion, as highlighted by Sun Thisweek.
Union Pacific has recognized the disturbance in an email stating, "We’ve not had a crew change spot under the overpass, but apologize for any inconvenience neighbors may experience as a result of living near rail operations." The difference between a fleeting disturbance and an enduring one appears lost in the night-time roar, but for residents of North Creek, the battle for silence continues
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