Why Your House In Superior Might Shake When A Train Goes By

We had a busy weekend and a long Monday, so I turned in early to bed last night. Around 8 pm, I felt a strange sensation that I had never felt in my bedroom before. The bed was shaking and vibrating. It was impossible to miss. I've been sleeping in the same house and the same bedroom for over 15 years, and I've never experienced it before.

I knew what was causing it, because its happened on the third floor of our house. We turned a walk-up attic into a bedroom, and our son used to complain about the house randomly shaking. We have train tracks that are just a few blocks away, and when heavy trains make their way through, you can sometimes feel the vibrations from the train.

While my bed shook for about 15 minutes, I did some reading up on why this happens. How does a train blocks away cause our house to shake?

The low-frequency vibrations of trains can travel long distances. Our house is a tall, wood-frame house that was built over 100 years ago, like many other houses in Superior.

Train vibrations also travel further in wet, clay-like soil. If you've ever done a yard project, you know that Superior is basically a giant pile of clay.

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Recent railroad crossing repairs could be a factor as well. Deteriorating crossings were recently filled in and blacktopped, creating a more solid ground area around the tracks.

Second-floor levels and higher tend to vibrate more from ground movement, due to the fact that they aren't resting directly on the foundation. The higher you go, the more movement that happens.

The good news is, there isn't anything to really worry about, besides it being annoying. Some things you can do are put pads down underneath your furniture to dampen the vibration.