YORBA LINDA : City to Weigh Proposal to Stifle Train Whistle

Former President Richard Nixon wrote in his memoirs that as a child he dreamed of becoming a railroad engineer, inspired by the romantic sound of train whistles in his boyhood town.

But if a proposed ordinance that goes before the City Council today is approved, local youths may no longer hear that inspirational whistle.

Councilman Mark Schwing is pushing for a measure that would prohibit train operators from sounding whistles within city limits except in an emergency.

“I’m hearing complaints about the increase in trains blowing whistles and disturbing people’s sleep,” Schwing said.

But Mayor Barbara Kiley, who wrote of the train whistle in a poem honoring Nixon, said the sound was romantic, not a nuisance. “I think it’s kind of silly to try and stop” the whistle, she said. “It’s blown for safety reasons, and it’s a nostalgic thing. The trains were here long before the people (complaining) were.”