How far away from a freight railroad track should you live?

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rakaye47
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How far away from a freight railroad track should you live?

Post by rakaye47 »

I've been looking at some houses close to a freight railroad track where the train horn is definitely audible. How far do I have to go before the sound is not bothersome?
livesoft
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by livesoft »

At least 5 miles I would think.
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Geologist
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by Geologist »

I think we need more information about the nature of the railroad line (how many tracks, how frequent the trains) to give any useful advice. I work about 75 yards from a single track line that has about a train an hour. I live (15 miles away in another town) about 2.5 miles from the same railroad line and basically never hear the trains, so five miles seems too great a distance to give as a buffer.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by rec7 »

We are about three miles and a few nights a year I can hear it. But it is very faint.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by rustymutt »

livesoft wrote:At least 5 miles I would think.
5 miles just gets you that long low lonesome sound. At least 10 to not hear that lonesome sound.
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Honestly, we have a track 1 block away, and his horn only sounds a couple times a week, and it's not that bad. He's a tame engineer I suppose, as some might hang on the horn.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by Sportswhiz00 »

I live about 2 blocks from a commuter (heavy) rail line where the train often blows its horn another block or two down the track. Inside the house, I can't say that I've ever heard the train or horn except maybe when it is dead silent inside (although I do sleep with a fan on, so not sure if I could hear it at night). Outside, I can hear the train passing but it isn't loud enough to even be a distraction. Edit: If I have heard the horn while inside, it isn't frequent enough or obnoxious enough that I recall.

I used to live about a mile from a freight line and could feel the track vibrations while in bed but couldn't hear any noises.

I've also lived close to an airport and directly next to a subway station. Those were much bigger problems - had to turn the tv volume up every time a plane or train was passing.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by investingdad »

I grew up in a small town and we were about a quarter mile from the tracks. Because I grew up listening to the train whistles, I actually enjoyed them. I used to visualize which set of crossings the trains were at when laying in bed at night with the windows open.

So they don't bother me...other noises do, like motorcycles...I hate them.

The train whistles really carry for miles so if this is a problem for you be prepared to be pretty far away.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

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Deleting my messages on this forum
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by lcs »

I live about a block away from a railroad track and about 2 blocks away from an intersection where the train uses the horn. I can't recall hearing the train horn while in the house with the windows closed once in the 2 years I've lived here. I barely notice it with the windows open.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by mhc »

Do you like to sleep with the windows open?

Since the federal law changed a few years ago, I can hear trains 3-4 miles away, especially in the winter when the air is cold and there are no leaves on the trees. I get woken up several times a week. The horns will blow for almost 10 minutes non-stop due to all the cross roads along the track. Sometimes there will be 3-4 trains from 4:00 to 6:00 am. It is not enjoyable. I can even hear the wheels on the tracks, and I live 1.5 miles from the tracks.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by Epsilon Delta »

In part it depends on whether you like to open your windows. It also depends on the nature of the track. A main line with trains that that just coasts through at 50 mph can be quieter than a line with level crossing or someplace near a yard where there's a lot of shunting, stopping and starting.

Also sound is not the only issue you might care about. You could care about smell or hazardous material accidents.

Not that you want to avoid tracks absolutely, since there are lots of other industrial or agricultural operations that have similar problems and you have to live somewhere, so you can't avoid everything.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by whaleknives »

An interesting question, but the internet is up to it. The Denver FasTrack site tells us
  • "Train horns, wheel-rail interaction, diesel engines and vehicle cooling fans all contribute to train noise. Train horn noise is the loudest noise and is the same, regardless of the type of train (diesel or electric) . . . Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) safety standards require trains to sound their horns as they approach every railroad crossing . . . The horn noise level must be in the 96-110 decibel range at 100 feet in front of the train and 15 feet above the rail . . .
So using 110 db sound pressure level at 100 feet, at 5 miles through an open window we get 62 db (cheating with an Inverse Square Law calculator), or louder than conversational speech at 3 feet, and much louder than a quiet bedroom at night (30 db). "A volume increase of 6 to 10 db in gain level should give a sense of doubling the loudness."
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by Call_Me_Op »

whaleknives wrote: So using 110 db sound pressure level at 100 feet, at 5 miles through an open window we get 62 db (cheating with an Inverse Square Law calculator), or louder than conversational speech at 3 feet, and much louder than a quiet bedroom at night (30 db). "A volume increase of 6 to 10 db in gain level should give a sense of doubling the loudness."
Using inverse square-law is a huge approximation, since a train-horn is highly directive.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by derosa »

"Bothersome" is a personal thing so there is no objective measure. The first week you will hear it a lot. Its brand new, just like everything in the new house. Hey that toilet sounds funny when you flush it. Etc etc.

In two months you might still hear it.

In 6 - 9 months you won't notice it at all. A guest will say something like - wow that train is loud. And you will go oh yeah the train. You hear it but don't HEAR it. My guess is that you will notice it in the middle of the night when there are no other noises around.

We live 5 miles from track that is heavily used - at least once / twice an hour. During the day, outside - never hear them. MIddle of the night when lying awake thinking about the state of the world - the whistle is way off in the background.

We live about 8 miles, straightline, from charlotte motor speedway. Since i know what to listen for i can hear cars practicing or the ride alongs during the day. Guests never notice it. I have to really point out the sound of cars. When the races are on - never hear any race noises. All the bodies in the stands suck up the noise.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by cadreamer2015 »

I would be much more concerned about hazardous material, e.g. unit trains of Bakken crude oil, than about the sound of the train horn. When in college I lived in a dorm about 100 yards from a commuter train line. I found that the only train I heard was the one that went by at about the time I usually woke up. As others have pointed out, the brain does a very good job of tuning out things if you give it some time to get used to things.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by tainted-meat »

I lived about 100 feet from a freight train for five years; the whistle would blow at all hours of the night. Not to mention the incessant dinging of the crossbar. There were probably 48-60 passings on this each day (two rail lines).

Don't live within a mile at minimum of a freight line. People that say you won't notice it in a few months never lived 100 feet from a heavily used freight line. I noticed it until the day I moved out.

Then in my new place with no railroad in sight I noticed how quiet and peaceful it was.

I will never live within a mile of a freight line again.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by Scamp »

I live just unde a mile from a line that comes several times per day and blasts the horn. If I happen to already be awake in the quite of the night I can just barely hear it. If I hadn't be awake or the normal sounds of the day are going on I couldn't hear it.

Ironically the most valuable real estate in our town is right next to the tracks. I have friends there and they say they don't notice it.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by Pajamas »

I lived for a while in a small town originally founded as a railway stop and the train ran right through it, about four blocks from my house.

It was actually enjoyable to hear the horn getting louder as the train came towards town, peak, and then fade away. It was especially nice at night sitting in the porch swing.

It didn't interrupt my sleep at all.

So I think it is objective and what might bother you might not bother someone else. I am sensitive to some noises and they bother me although they don't bother others.

I do think rumble from living too close to a train would be a problem, though.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by Sidney »

I'd also consider the blast zone and/or toxic cloud zone in case of a derailment.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by goingup »

Scamp wrote: Ironically the most valuable real estate in our town is right next to the tracks. I have friends there and they say they don't notice it.
This is true in my area as well. Train tracks are right at the coast line. We're about 1/2 mile out and definitely hear them day and night but it doesn't bother me. Fog horns as well. I call this the sweet sound of commerce.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by likegarden »

It is so good to be older and have poor hearing and don't wear the hearing aid at home. I am not bothered by train noise, noise of my lawn mower, road noise in my car, the faint noise of the expressway at night and people in my house talking too much and too loud some time. A railroad is about a short mile away from home, and trains have occasionally many cars with crude oil. I think that mile makes us safe.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by barton277 »

I grew up with one just down the street. You don't notice it after a while. I would think especially with dual pane windows you might not at all.

I actually like the sound of trains as "white noise" at night now. It's a consistent, slower sound as opposed to car honking, trucks backing up or loud parties.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by Mitchell777 »

I live half mile, at the most, from both a freight line and a small airport. I almost never notice the noise from either, but then the freight line is making deliveries at a plant and neither the trains or planes are heavy. I do hear the train whistle but rarely. If the traffic at either was heavy I'm sure I'd notice as I have when the Blue Angels came to town
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

Our first house had 400 feet of open field behind it, then a thin treeline, a river and another thin treeline, then train tracks. This carried both freight and commuter trains. It was barely noticed and when we replaced our windows, we considered tripple pane for the front, but not the back. The street was 50 feet away in front. We ended up putting up a fence, which reduced the road noise dramatically.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by Crimsontide »

We live out "in the country" but about 3 miles from the train tracks. We can hear it most nights but I kind of like it. What is really cool is listening to the coyotes, they start howling a few minute or so before we can hear the train coming.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by nordlead »

I grew up 0.7 miles from two train crossings and I'm probably about 2 miles away now. The tracks are mostly surrounded by trees or businesses. I think the speed limit is under 30mph on pretty much all of the tracks around here and there are a lot of pull offs so they never seem to be going very fast. Only ever heard the horn late at night (not a lot of crossings during the day), and even then it isn't that loud. I wouldn't want to live much closer.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by Carlton »

Much rather live near to a freight rail line than a major highway. The incessant sound of tractor-trailer tire drone is quite loud and carries a long way. Train comes and is gone. I live about a mile from a busy 4 track RR, mostly passenger, but lots of trains. Don't really notice the sound, the planes landing at JFK are much more annoying. I would not like to live closer than a 1/4 mile to a busy grade crossing where the trains are constantly sounding their horns however.

As for hazardous material transport, media hysterics aside, railroads have a very good record of hazmat safety with something like 99.98% of hazmat cargo arriving to it's destination without incident. The hazmat death rate from trucks releasing hazardous materials is 9 times higher than rail, but tend to not get the nationwide attention due to the smaller scale of individual incidents. Worry more about the drunks and texters on the road.

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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by wearymicrobe »

I am 500 yards or so from the Amtrak line, effectively if you are in southern California and near the freeway you are near the train. They don't blow the whistle though and we have 0 issues with the train. I actually like the sound of them rolling along the track near the house its kind of comforting. The freeway is 100x worse as it is constant.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by nordsteve »

I live about 2 miles from a well-used line, and due to terrain have line of site to the track for a couple miles of its length, including two crossings. We hear the horn, but most nights it is the "wistful train horn in the distance." Very occasionally, if there's a temperature inversion and the wind is coming from that direction, it's somewhat louder. It never wakes me up.

I wouldn't live near a busy line, in particular near a crossing.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by SpringMan »

We moved 1 block from a RR which ran behind the back yards of the last street in our sub. It was a single track and the train ran infrequently. About 10 years ago, the track was removed and it became a bike trail, part of the rails to trails movement.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by Paul78 »

wearymicrobe wrote:I am 500 yards or so from the Amtrak line, effectively if you are in southern California and near the freeway you are near the train. They don't blow the whistle though and we have 0 issues with the train. I actually like the sound of them rolling along the track near the house its kind of comforting. The freeway is 100x worse as it is constant.
I was living close enough to the tracks to feel the vibrations in the house I was renting. The noise never really bother me though. Assuming there was very little crossing which required the whistle (there was a crossing on a nearby street) and mostly just the trains running parallel to the street not through it.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by tractorguy »

I've been living about a 1/2 block from a 2 track freight line for 6 years and have never been bothered. However, they do not blow the horn at the crossing at night (this is common in residential areas). I very rarely hear a horn at the next crossing west of us. I sometimes am awake at odd hours & can hear the engine as the train accelerates out of town but it isn't any thing that effects my sleep. There are several houses between me and the train and this noticeably blocks the noise.

On the other hand, my daughter lived 2 miles and up the hill from a switching yard. It was a direct line of sight to the yard. The horns there are going continously and would keep you awake all night if the windows are open. They aren't bad if the windows (double glazed) are closed.

So, it depends. If you are interested in an area, go stand in the street at 10:00 at night in front of the house you are interested in and wait for a train to go by. Then you can judge for yourself.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by HomerJ »

rakaye47 wrote:I've been looking at some houses close to a freight railroad track where the train horn is definitely audible. How far do I have to go before the sound is not bothersome?
When I was in high school we lived right next door to some tracks... The trains didn't blow their horns though, just the clackety-clack of a train rushing by...

After a while, I didn't even notice it...

It was fun walking the tracks or crushing pennies or making out with my girlfriend while a train rushed by. (The tracks were in a gulch... You had to climb down 6 feet to get to the tracks.)
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Post by HomerJ »

derosa wrote:In 6 - 9 months you won't notice it at all. A guest will say something like - wow that train is loud. And you will go oh yeah the train. You hear it but don't HEAR it.
This.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by David Jay »

HomerJ wrote:
derosa wrote:In 6 - 9 months you won't notice it at all. A guest will say something like - wow that train is loud. And you will go oh yeah the train. You hear it but don't HEAR it.
This.
From a half mile away, my experience agrees with the comments above. If it is close enough to shake the house that might be different.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by BolderBoy »

rakaye47 wrote:I've been looking at some houses close to a freight railroad track where the train horn is definitely audible. How far do I have to go before the sound is not bothersome?
5 miles with windows closed, 10 miles if you sleep with windows open.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by joe8d »

Used to live in house with a freight railroad track literally in my backyard.After a short time,you don't even hear it.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by nordlead »

BolderBoy wrote:
rakaye47 wrote:I've been looking at some houses close to a freight railroad track where the train horn is definitely audible. How far do I have to go before the sound is not bothersome?
5 miles with windows closed, 10 miles if you sleep with windows open.
5 miles would eliminate every house in my town, and 10 miles would eliminate the entire city and +90% of the county (possibly the entire county). I'd love to see a map of the US with a 5 mile and 10 mile markings for freight rail tracks.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by leonard »

Far enough away that this question doesn't even enter your mind.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by sls239 »

In my experience, it really really depends on where they blow the horn. So not really where the tracks are so much as where the crossing is. We are less than a mile from the tracks, but probably a good 3 miles from an at grade crossing. I can hear the horn (it just sounded as I was reading the thread) when it is quiet, but it would never wake me up out of a deep sleep or anything.

Now my mom's apartment is maybe 100' from some tracks and a little over a mile from the crossing, and technically they aren't supposed to blow the horn until closer to the crossing, but they do sometimes and it certainly wakes me up.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by stan1 »

I find crossing bells in the silence of the night more annoying than the horn.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by TradingPlaces »

Should and would are very different and very personal questions.

I expect that you won't find a universal answer here.

Your circumstances will vary, and your tolerance for noise will also vary.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by john94549 »

I grew up five or so miles away from the closest freight track, and heard it every day. These days, I'm 20+ miles away, and can still hear the train when the wind is blowing in the wrong direction.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by virgingorda »

I grew up about a block away from a freight and Amtrak track (Amtrak just a few trains daily). They did not blow horns in this stretch so that was not a big deal. Our house also did not shake, but my grandmother's did even though she lived across the street a little further from the tracks. I loved watching the freight trains as a kid. Then, a highway was built alongside the tracks. There is now constant road noise from that even though it is a parkway with a lower speed limit.

I now live a mile from a commuter rail line. The train does not blow its horn unless necessary. I can hear it occasionally but it usually doesn't even register. I also live a mile from a high school and can hear the pep band and cheering on Friday nights with the windows open.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by gd »

Everyone's reaction will be different, and your tolerance over time will also vary, depending on your attitude. Do not assume you will grow to never notice it, you may find it gets under your skin over time. Use your past experience with things like noisy neighbors or officemates, and other night noise situations as a guide. If you want to get serious, some calm cold night park your car near the house and wait for a train. Windows rolled up is winter, down is summer. I live 2 miles from a busy RR track and don't mind it; the motorcycles and loud pickups driving by I dislike more every year. My spouse never notices any of it.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by tim1999 »

I used to live about 2 miles as the bird flies, on the other side of a large hill, from a freight/switching yard for one of the major railroads. In the middle of the night with the windows open, I would hear all kinds of high pitched "screeching" noises coming from the yard, sounding like the train wheels needed lubrication or something. That's as about as close as I'd care to get from an active rail operation. About 3 miles away were numerous grade crossings where the horns would blow, but I rarely ever heard those for whatever reason.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by fizxman »

I live about 575 ft from an interstate and on the far side of the interstate is a freight railroad, so about 725 ft, but with some buildings in between my house and the interstate. I also live under the flight path for an airport that's about 7.5 miles away (largest planes are 737s or A320s). So I can hear cars, trucks, trains, train horns and airplanes coming and going. I can honestly say I only hear them when I pay attention to them because I got used to it.

My freshmen through junior years in college, I lived about 100 ft from a freight railroad and I got used to that as well. Maybe I'm different but I would imagine most people would get used to most noises.

Now as far as resale value, you may have to sell at a discount, but you should also purchase the house at a discount as well, so it should be a wash.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by nordlead »

So this morning I was laying in bed listening to the sounds.

I decided that the airport (which is ~10 miles away) is more annoying than the train horns (~2 miles away). Big trucks engine breaking on road are probably even more annoying, but that typically only happens during the daytime, not early morning.

The most annoying things though, were the birds chirping as they are higher frequency, louder, and constant.
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Re: How far away from a freight railroad track should you li

Post by donaldfair71 »

Honestly, we live about 100 yards from one with a row of townhouses in between us and the train and we hardly notice it. Also, it is at the base of an embankment so it's lower than us (we can see the top of the train barely when we look out the window).

I can hear this train faintly about 5 miles away when I'm at work. But when I'm home, I really don't even notice it any more. Visitors notice it and ask, which reminds us. When outside, you hear it but it isn't even a "thing". As in, it's there, but offers no annoyance at all.
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