Idling Train Keeps Middletown Family Up At Night

Christina Morantz has a nemesis, an enemy that keeps her and her husband, Charles, up at nights, has them calling the police on multiple occasions and, at times, regretting moving to their home in Middletown three years ago.

This rival does not have a name, because it is not a person. Christina easily rattles off its identification number, engine 6151. It is a large, several-ton hunk of steel and fuel that has used the train tracks directly behind the Morantz’s home on Wellington Road for the past five months as essentially a parking space. The loud, metal beast is not the only train to rest, idling for days, in their backyard, but engine 6151 is definitely the worst.

“It is the bane of my existence,” said Morantz. “It’s not only loud, but uses diesel fuel. The fumes take over the house and make it very hard to breathe.”

The existence of the train tracks behind their house was no secret when they moved in December 2012. Morantz says they were prepared for the sounds of occasional passing trains throughout the day, but this is something new and much worse. Since October 2014, the train tracks, operated by CSX, has been used by operators to rest and idle for days, subjecting the Morantzes to disruptive noise well over 65 decibels. This new development comes following the closure of two trainyards in West and South Philadelphia, making CSX’s Langhorne yard a major hub in the region.

“We’ve called the CSX emergency number several times, and they keep adding our names to a file, but nothing has changed,” said Morantz. “We just want to get a good night’s sleep.”

Middletown Police Chief Joeseph Bartorillo confirms that Middletown has a noise ordinance, but it’s tricky to enforce against CSX, which is subject to oversight through the Federal Railroad Administration. He has been in contact with the company, but is hesitant to start issuing citations.

“The fines are fairly minor, especially for large company like CSX,” said Bartorillo, who has witnessed firsthand the volume of noise produced by the trains. “There’s also the matter of jurisdiction. Rail companies have challenged municipalities that tried to enforce local ordinances and won, with state supreme courts ruling that there is no local jurisdiction over the trains.”

Bartorillo has scheduled a meeting with the Morantzes, the township and CSX officials later this month to hopefully hash out a mutually beneficial solution. According to Joe Kelly, police chief for Yardley Borough and 23-year veteran of the New Jersey Transit Police Department, the trains idle during the winter because the cold weather makes it difficult to restart the engines.

Presumably, the warmer weather on the way will bring some reprieve for the Morantzes, but it will only be temporary until a full solution is found. One option presented during a discussion about the situation at the Feb. 17 Board of Supervisors meeting suggested constructing an access road to the track on Wheeler Way, which would allow the trains to idle further up the track and grant access to the engines for service vehicles.

“That’s certainly not a quick and easy solution, though,” said Bartorillo. “The project has to be designed, budgeted and bid.”