At 6:55 in the evening, Brant Baber recognizes the train flying by, 50 feet from his front door. It's one of 30 that pass, whistles blaring, in front of his historic Clifton home each day.
"That's the Southern Crescent that goes to Atlanta," Baber said.
There's something about a mega-ton locomotive barreling down the tracks outside the front door that brings homeowners to both sides of the tracks: either it becomes part of the landscape, or they hate it.
Springfield resident Neal Money's yard borders the same Norfolk and Southern tracks going through Burke as Baber. To him, it's become part of the scenery. Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express trains come through during the week, and an occasional freight train rattles the windows.
"The Amtrak trains are no louder than trucks. The only time it's heard is if a very large cargo train comes through hauling coal or something," he said.
Ron DiRissio lives near the VRE station at Rolling Road. He still doesn't like the train whistle, although he's lived along the tracks for 30 years.
"The noise is an issue: The train, when it comes to pick up passengers, they blow the horn. There are times when it really rattles you," he said.
TRACKS THROUGH that part of Burke belong to Norfolk and Southern, but they are used every day by Amtrak and VRE.
Much of the whistle blowing was eliminated, said Mark Roeber, VRE spokesman, with the advent of the Roberts Road bridge near the Burke Centre Station, ridding the area of its last at-grade crossing.
"Federal law requires you to blow a whistle at at-grade crossings," Roeber said.
It happens at the stations too, according to DiRissio. He called one of the train companies about it. "They said it was some type of legal issue that they had to blow the horn," DiRissio said.
In Clifton, Baber is right at an at-grade crossing. The VRE trains' whistle is recognizable. "The loudest whistle I've ever heard on these tracks," Baber said.
THERE ARE STILL at-grade crossings down by Fredricksburg. Roeber hears about that in his VRE office too. "We have had complaints down there," he said.
For Realtors, there's no hiding a mega-ton locomotive. Alberto Yanez, a Realtor for over 25 years, is selling a house in Springfield along the tracks for the second time. He sold it four years ago as well.
"I have to tell exactly what it is. The tracks make a noise but it doesn't shake the house," he said, but admits some are skeptical.
That's when he has to do his job. "You have to be much more creative," he said. "I have to work a little more,."
The house YAnez is selling now, in the Burke neighborhood, is a four-bedroom, three-bath house with a pool and hot tub, priced at $475,000.
"If the tracks weren't there, it would be the same price," he said.
Although Baber loves trains and his house, which dates back to 1880, selling it wouldn't be easy. The 30 trains a day would be hard to hide.
"I believe it diminishes our ability to sell this house by threefold. There's a niche, it appeals to a real minority of the buyers," he said.
METRORAIL is a different story. Its trains don't make much noise but they travel more frequently. Still, living near a Metrorail station is definitely an asset, according to American Realty agent Tricia Hines.
A house worth $300,000 alone, if built close to a Metrorail station, would be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $700,000, she said. "The closer to Metro, the more expensive they are."
Possible drawbacks to living near the Metro are cars, bus and pedestrian traffic. "I think that's the price you pay for living in essentially the city," Hines said.