RV parks by railroad tracks -- not a peaceful camping experience

In issue 523 of the RVtravel.com newsletter, editor Chuck Woodbury writes about RV parks with train tracks close by. He asked the readers of the RVtravel.com Facebook page to relate some of their thoughts and experiences. Here is what they wrote:

•My husband and I joke about this. On a cross-country trip in 2008 every Trailer Life recommended park we stayed at was right next to train tracks. The worst one was in upstate New York where the train whistle blew all night long!

•I have always said all good RV parks are next to train tracks or interstate highways or both!

•At Hardy, Ark., the train came through every 20 minutes, 24 hours a day and they blow the horn! Parking on the river was fun but sleeping in 20 minute intervals was not.

•A nearby train at midnight can be frightening all right, but it's sure fun to show one's grand kids how to make squished pennies!

•We stayed at Salton Sea State Recreation about two weeks ago. The tracks were just across the road from the campground. The trains went by every half hour or less. But, after a day or so, we rarely noticed them. No whistles, thank God. It's all good.

•We joke that every KOA has to be by the train tracks or a major highway -- and sometimes between both!

•At the Grant River Corps of Engineers park near Potosi, Wisc., the ground shakes as trains go by. In fact a lot of C.O.E campgrounds along the Mississippi have trains nearby. But they are well worth that small inconvenience.

•Funniest story (and unfortunately, I don't remember where the park was) was back when we were still working, so had to travel longer distances each day to maximize vacation time. We pulled into a park right around dark, had a quick bite to eat, and went to bed. Just dropping off to sleep, and you guessed it -- a train blew right by the back of our motorhome (which is, of course, where the bedroom is!) There was a big hedge of bushes behind us when we backed in, so we had no idea the tracks were there -- we just about jumped out of our skin! Thankfully, they didn't run all night long like most places seem to!

•We had to attend a Dometic Update training class near Lake Altoona above Atlanta, Georgia. On the Lake Altoona Landing Campground website, it clearly stated "Be advised that the campground is located within close proximity to a railroad thoroughfare that is in frequent use." We chose to stay anyhow. It turned out to be a great place and the trains were not a problem.

•I love to hear the sounds of trains and their whistles in the night.

•We always stay at the free (donations accepted) city park in Dumas, Texas on our way to Colorado. There is a train track right next to the park, but it is comforting to hear the whistle and the train running through at night!

•I'm a light sleeper and trains and whistles keep me awake at night. I've stayed at enough RV parks to wish Trailer Life or any advertisement warned you of Tracks/Freeway Noise, but they don't -- you just have to remember to mark them off your list in case you pass through again. Trains are one thing but the whistles are impossible to ignore.

•Speaking as a rail fan, what is wrong with being next to the tracks? Great photo opps!

•As I remember there was a huge wooden fence behind our site in Havre, Montana. It hid the train switching yard!

•Could any one sleep well with a train horn going off at 3 a.m. in your back yard? Why do they locate so many RV parks near railroad tracks? And I don't want to hear "because that's how they have always done it." Someone after all these years should have better sense.

•Hershey Meadow Campground in Hershey, Penn., is nice, but loud!

•It's not just campgrounds but motels also. On one long trip by car it seemed that a train followed us to each motel. We were on the second floor on our last night when an elevated train went past our window. (grin)

•There was an RV park, since closed, in Woodland Washington. We were parked about 15 feet from a double line of tracks on the main north-south line. One day a train pulled onto the second set of tracks to let another train pass. There were about three engines that sat right behind our motorhome and were idling for about 30 minutes. The vibration shook our RV the entire time, the noise was loud and the exhaust smell was terrible. Just as we were about to get into the car and get out of there the train finally started up and left. Even then we had 100 car trains going past one direction or the other about every 30 minutes day and night. Needless to say, we never went to that park again.

•I don't think a KOA can be a KOA unless it's located near or between railroad tracks. I don't believe we have ever stayed in one that didn't have at least one train come by during the night.

•Diamond Jacks Casino RV Park has the train traveling on a wooden trestle. If you are on that end, it is really noisy. There is a Holiday Inn on the other side of I-20 and the VA would send us there and the hotel would put us on the side with all the tracks. Very noisy.

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