Whats it like Living with Train Tracks at the end of your garden?

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Permalink Reply by Antoinette on April 24, 2017 at 14:17

I live on Umfreville Road so you can see our garden from the Gospel Oak line as you go past but we're not directly next to the railway lines, as we have Railway Fields in between.  I hardly notice the trains these days.  When I first moved in (2004) the tracks were falling apart and there were many freight trains at night, and the house rattled badly when they went by (paintings would bang on the wall/ornaments would fall off shelves etc.) but since the track was relaid it's been fine.  There are only 4 trains an hour in each direction and they're really quite quiet.  When they go fully electrified it'll be quieter still.  It's a bit of a subjective thing though.  Some people would find it bothersome, but I'm a city kid, and literally hardly notice it.

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Permalink Reply by Gordon T on April 24, 2017 at 14:51

Double-glazed windows make a heck of a difference.

Also on Umfreville Rd (railway side) and concur with Antoinette.

Ten times more trains on the other line by Wightman Rd, though, some of them travelling at 90 mph. Plus the new depot at the northern end of the Ladder to take into account.

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Permalink Reply by Karen Alexander on April 24, 2017 at 14:55

We live on Wightman, half way down, so although we have the railway at the bottom of our garden it is only the sidings and train wash with the main line being quite a long way further back.  Our garden is about 65 feet long and to be honest you don't hear the mainline at all (except when there is a steam train coming along which causes quite  lot of excitement in our house). Because it is sidings there is quite a lot of train movement which for the most part is very quiet but sometimes the wheels screech on the track and that isn’t very nice. When you are inside the house you don't really notice it but if you are sitting in the garden in the summer it can be a bit annoying.

We have lived here for 21 years and its never really been an issue and I wouldn't think twice about buying a house with a railway behind it.

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on April 24, 2017 at 16:12

I used to have a flat on Stapleton Hall Rd and was quite excited to see the first Ford Focuses being moved on trains from Dagenham in 1998 through the trees. I think you'll be more concerned about the traffic right outside the front of your house helping London kill itself with diesel fumes.

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on April 24, 2017 at 22:20

Try these posts - http://www.harringayonline.com/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=train+noise

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Permalink Reply by Maddy on April 24, 2017 at 22:32

I'm also on Umfreville and I really like the trains (except for those heavy rattlers at 3 am, which someone once told me were nuclear waste). They come quite close to my bedroom, as Railway Fields is not very wide at this point. On winter evenings I like seeing them pass, all the windows lit up - for some reason it makes me think of Japanese anime films. Quite different from road traffic.

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Permalink Reply by Madeline on April 28, 2017 at 13:14

I live in Woodstock Rd and have the railway line directly behind the property. There are six+ tracks from Finsbury Park station just as they enter/exit the railway cutting, above ground level, below ground level. This means I can see the tops of the trains nearest me and the whole train on the furthest tracks. We have local commuter trains, intercity, freight and specials (like the Flying Scotsman this weekend).

Inside the house the train noise was never a problem even before we had double glazing fitted, it's more just a rumble than an actual train sound even with the windows open. But outside in the garden is a different matter. You can't continue a conversation until the train has passed, especially the freight trains.

Aside from that you do learn to live with it. We used to love the lull of the 1am freight train as it lolloped past with it's rhythmic teedum-deedum, teedum-deedum......

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Permalink Reply by Andrina Bamber on April 28, 2017 at 17:32

We live on Lothair North with a small garden. A surveyor said to dig up the concreted back to allow the vibrations flow, we did that years ago and have had very little if any problems at all in contrast to some people close to Green Lanes who patioed or concreted their gardens, and are always talking about the effect of the trains.

Double glazing front only, still no bother from trains, maybe only when having guests outside, usually weekends when the traffic is a lot less. If chatting you wait a couple of minutes for the train to pass. It is no big deal, but I expect Wightman is another matter as they have a much larger and thus busier route.

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Permalink Reply by Dee on May 8, 2017 at 13:50

Thanks for all your feedback. Interesting points that I'd never considered. Well the search continues for a house, but wont rule out Railway Houses next time if the gardens deep enough. 
Brilliant. more scope! 

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