10 August 2004 Whistles Offer Safety This issue regarding the horn blowing of the trains is so silly. Maple Ridge was founded beside an existing rail line. It was here before we ever were. Horns have been blowing for over a hundred years. Sure it's bothersome. So why move to a place where you can hear them?   The year we lived in Coquitlam, we lived just outside of the railyard where the lines divide... one heading through Coquitlam and the other heads toward Burrard Inlet.   We heard trains going all day and night long. We could even feel the "humping" going on in the rail yard. But the trains do not blow their horns during the night. The earliest they can blow is 8 a.m. They use whistles during the night. But if people weren't so stupid as to walk the rail lines at night or even try to cross them during the day, the trains wouldn't need those safety procedures. Trains can't go any faster than 60 km but even at the slowest speed (which they do travel in town) it takes almost a kilometer to slam on the brakes and stop. Stop complaining. Those whistles and horns save lives. I have no connection to the rail system. It's just common sense.   Jeannine Pietsch Maple Ridge