In response to the letter, June 5, from the people of Smith Crossing who wrote to “stop the idling.”

It amazes me how often people will move into a dwelling next to railroad tracks and then turn around and complain because the railroad makes too much noise and is a nuisance. They saw those tracks when they chose to live there. The railroad was there long before they were.

As far as the “seemingly for no reason” idling — locomotives are not like automobiles. You can’t just turn them on and off easily. In the winter, they cannot be shut down because they are diesels and don’t have antifreeze in them. They would freeze up. They need to idle because there is no way to plug them in, like other machinery, to keep the oil warm.

The railroad does not do this to make people mad. Rail workers are just going about their business, as they have for many, many years.

I am curious if there is going to be a push for an ordinance to quiet all the logging trucks that pass by homes all day long, too. I doubt it. The contents of three trailer trucks can fit into one rail car. That means there are far more trucks going by than trains. That’s a lot more exhaust and noise, not to mention the wear and tear on the road.

If you don’t like what the railroad does, then don’t live next to the tracks.

Simple.

Deb Emery, New Gloucester