Catching Out: How to Hop Freightrains

The holy grail of homelessness. The Shangri-la of the street. The Valhalla of  voyagers.


Ok, so maybe its not that cushy, but it is pretty awesome. By far my favorite way to travel, even better than paying for a ticket or riding in a plane. It gets you long distances fast, and the scenery is invariably beautiful. It can be dangerous, but the rewards are well worth it, and risk can be minimized with basic safety.

How to get started:

The pre-game:

Step 1: Find the train yard. Its usually in the poor parts of town, where land is cheap and they can get away with loud noises all night. This usually means the ghetto. Go and check it out- note where people enter and exit the train yard, where good places to hide are, where do trains usually stop, which trains usually leave the station. Check to see if anyone looks in the cars before they leave. Just get familiar with a yard and its workings, because if youre anything like me, you have no idea how a train yard works or what goes on in it.

Step 2: Try to get a schedule. Your local punks, travelers, or the local anarchist info shop is a good place to start. Its not printed out: you are probobly going to have to copy it by hand from someone elses paper. Try asking some of the union workers in the yard- though you risk giving yourself away, they can sometimes be very helpful. After all, the original "hobos" were union workers that train hopped place to place to get work. Check message boards, try calling trainyards pretending to be a supervisor needing some information on the next train out. You dont need a schedule, but it sure helps.  At the very least, look up the train yard on google earth and see where the separate tracks lead. A two way radio is excellent for listening to conversations and finding out where things are heading- just find what station theyre using.

ok, now youre ready for the rules.

The Commandments of Train Hopping:

1. Thou shalt not hop a moving train, nor off of one.
2. Thou shalt not catch out while drunk, unless thoust be a fucking moron.
3. Thou shalt not cross the tracks under a coupling, or under a car.
4. Thou shalt not sit around visibly in a train yard all day waiting for a train to leave. If you must do this, do it at night, and do it in secret.
5. Thou shalt throw your shit on the train before you get on.

These are the kinds of cars you should be looking for, in order of desirability:

-Open boxcars (by far the best)

-The rear owls hole of a grainer or hopper

-Solid floor under the overhangbehind cargo containers

-Upper levels of empty auto carriers

 

-Empty gondolas and flatcars (very visible)

 

To be extra classy, try hopping the engine cars that are usually hauled around in the back of trains- they are usually unlocked and air-conditioned.

Don’t ride tank cars. Dont ride loaded flatcars and gondolas whose shifting load may crush you. Dont ride cars marked " Bad Order" - they are broken and unsafe.

Hop the trains when they are completely stopped- hide in a good place,  and make your move. Throw your shit on, and hide. If you are in a boxcar, hide in the corner in the rear of the boxcar that is on the side where people walk by. Put yourself in the shoes of someone casually walking by the cars, casually looking in to see if anyone's there. Huddle down, and wait for it to move.
Wait.
Keep waiting.

If you get caught, just run like hell- you have nothing to lose, unless its a police officer. Having a dog helps, because they probably wont get on your case and risk getting bitten.

Enjoy the scenery! Train tracks often just go through straight wilderness, making night riding some of the most gorgeous views of the sky youll see. theres also something romantic about the lonesome horn far ahead of you.
Getting out is easy, no one is gonna bother you once you leave the car. Just walk away.

Here is a poem I wrote with the intention of sharing the emotions and feelings of trainhopping with the uninitiated.