Sayville Residents Fed Up Over Loud LIRR Trains

NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- Some Sayville residents angry about the sounds and smells coming from idling trains parked near their houses are joining forces against the Long Island Rail Road.

The LIRR trains zipping past Bill McCarthy's Sayville home are loud and he's been putting up with it for 22 years.

Now, he says, he and his family must cope with something new -- locomotives idling at all hours in his own backyard.

"Literally the diesel engine is directly behind...the patio and my den," McCarthy told CBS 2's Jennifer McLogan.

McCarthy and his neighbors said earplugs won't do. Their properties are located near a spur where a double track transitions into a single track.

Recently, idling eastbound diesel engines sat waiting ten minutes at a time for the westbound track to clear up.

Kathleen Young said she can't enjoy her deck and garden.

"At this point we almost have to lip read," Young said referring the noise.

"Worst on Fridays and on weekends, especially Sundays," McCarthy said.

McCarthy said he has contacted the LIRR and a representative was sent one year ago, but no action was ever taken.

"My wife is a recovering breast cancer survivor and I said...you're polluting the air in addition to the trains just sitting there. Enough is enough," McCarthy said.

Residents hope to see the diesel engines moved 300 feet west to idle behind parking lots of businesses, rather than in their backyards.