To the Editor:

While I appreciate Ms. Lois Gordon Crawford’s concerns about the potential health impact of train whistles in Brunswick (“Brunswick must do more on train noise,” Sept. 9, Page A6), she fails to mention what is seemingly an obvious point: Train whistles exist for public safety.

They warn drivers and pedestrians that a train is on the move. They appeal to our sense of hearing at night and even in foul weather when our sense of sight may fail us. Train whistles like fog horns are designed to operate at a frequency that travels a long distance.

Rather than waste time speculating about the potential health impact of train whistles, perhaps we should take time to consider the risks of having trains silently roll in and out of town.

Has anyone ever died because a train blew its whistle while they were walking or driving near the tracks? In contrast, how many lives have been saved by train whistles over the century and a half that trains have rolled across our nation? One cannot know for certain but we can all agree that many lives, maybe thousands, have been saved because a person heard the train coming before they crossed the tracks.

Freeport has taken a calculated risk to ban the whistles in their town. I would suggest that Brunswick should not make the same rash decision.

Finally, as a military veteran of several wars, I would like to inform Ms. Crawford that not all of us that have defended our nation in combat are suffering from PTSD. Train whistles do not cause me to flash back to combat zones.

In fact, they remind me that I live in great community with a thriving downtown and many small businesses that depend on the commerce delivered by trains.

I celebrate the access and freedom of travel that we can now all enjoy in our community. The whistle of a train has served as inspiration for poets and writers for decades. It is music to my ears.

Roll on Brunswick, and let the whistles blow.

Patrick O’Doblian
Brunswick