PORTLAND, Ore. — Trains run through a divided section of Portland’s Central Eastside, though they are one thing that seemingly everyone there agrees on: The horns are too loud, and they either race through at dangerous speeds or stall and back up traffic.
Anna Mantheakis works near the tracks on Southeast Washington Street and crosses them every day.
“Sometimes it feels like they’re just going by all day long … the horns, they are a burden on everyone who works here,” Mantheakis said.
“It hurts our ears,” said Elena Gustina Rambo, who sleeps in a tent just feet from the tracks. “There are some trains that have a lot of cargo on them and they’re speeding so fast.”
Despite the obvious dangers, Rambo feels safe there, secluded from others.
“The guys are on one side and I’m the girl on this side. We try to keep the track clean,” she said.
Across the tracks, a man lives in a homemade plywood hut about six feet from the tracks.
“I respect the freight lines. I don’t do anything to disrupt them, they don’t mess with me, and this is the only spot we’re kind of exempt from being messed with from Rapid Response,” he said of his decision to set up camp there.
That sense of security from being swept didn’t last long.
On Wednesday morning, officers from the Union Pacific Railroad Company Police Department went to each tent and handed out pieces of paper with a notice to vacate. People camping illegally on railroad property are now required to remove their camps immediately or they could face criminal trespassing charges.
The notice says that camping anytime along the tracks is a hazard to the trains, a safety risk for homeless people and an unwarranted liability to the railroad. It goes on to say that people “are required to remove all trash and rubbish they have caused to be on Union Pacific Railroad Property.”
“I mean, it's insulting but it's pretty ridiculous,” said Kyle, who built the plywood hut his friend lives in. “I think that’s just another way of making a big deal of something out of nothing.”
Union Pacific never responded to KGW’s request for comment Wednesday.