Point Richmond intersection less noisy following train track installation
August 18, 2014 by Mike Aldax
A Point Richmond intersection is quieter now that BNSF Railway installed a “curve lubricator” to muffle the screeching noise made by train wheels, according to City Manager Bill Lindsay.
The Port of Richmond has been working with BNSF to reduce wail car wheel noise near the intersection of Cutting and Canal boulevards, Lindsay reported in his weekly newsletter Monday.
“BNSF’s Maintenance of Ways Department has recently installed a curve lubricator which should be reducing ‘wheels squeal’ at that location,” Lindsay said.
But that won’t solve the problem raised by Councilmember Tom Butt, who has for years been trying to reduce the noise caused by train horns. See here and here for recent stories on the effort to lower the volume on the horns, which Butt says are loud enough to cause hearing loss and sleep deprivation.
The map below shows where the curve lubricator was installed (notice the curved trackway just south of the intersection.):