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noyd666
have not heard these before.
Anybody here ever hopped trains before?
- Thread starter who dat is
- Start date
have not heard these before.
http://www.vice.com/thumbs-up/thumbs-up-season-1-1-of-5
I came across the videos that you spoke of. I've only watched the first one so far but I plan on burning through the rest of them.
Exactly! The one time a friend and I rode, we hid in box car and waited until it stopped. I think we were probably 11 or 12. The plan was to float the river that went back past town only the train went 90 degrees from where we thought it was going. Luckily it stopped near a bar that my dad used to drink in all the time and the owner let me call him. I got in a lot of trouble, but probably not near as much as we could have.
Safety was NEVER an issue when I was a kid.ROFLMAO! im from NY so this thread has a whoooole other meaning for me
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noyd666
ever watched box car bertha? might change ya mind lol. david carridine. good show.
how so?
Gah! I'm getting so stir crazy! I've never been pulled so strongly to drop all my shit and hit the road. Does anybody have any hitchhiking or traveling stories that they would want to share? I have to live vicariously though other's experiences for the time being. Right now I'm getting down on this book here, http://www.amazon.com/Vagabonding-Uncommon-Guide-Long-Term-Travel/dp/0812992180
I've had dirtbag experiences before and I've found that the less shit I own, the poorer I am, the simpler life is, and the happiest I am.
*Edit* - I forgot to mention noyd666 that I'm checking out that Stoner Train stuff, it's awesome! I don't know why I didn't notice your post awhile back. Thanks for posting the pictures and the heads up. I'm always on the lookout for some good ol' stoner rock/metal.
I've had dirtbag experiences before and I've found that the less shit I own, the poorer I am, the simpler life is, and the happiest I am.
*Edit* - I forgot to mention noyd666 that I'm checking out that Stoner Train stuff, it's awesome! I don't know why I didn't notice your post awhile back. Thanks for posting the pictures and the heads up. I'm always on the lookout for some good ol' stoner rock/metal.
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Gah! I'm getting so stir crazy! I've never been pulled so strongly to drop all my shit and hit the road. Does anybody have any hitchhiking or traveling stories that they would want to share? I have to live vicariously though other's experiences for the time being. Right now I'm getting down on this book here, http://www.amazon.com/Vagabonding-Uncommon-Guide-Long-Term-Travel/dp/0812992180
I've had dirtbag experiences before and I've found that the less shit I own, the poorer I am, the simpler life is, and the happiest I am.
*Edit* - I forgot to mention noyd666 that I'm checking out that Stoner Train stuff, it's awesome! I don't know why I didn't notice your post awhile back. Thanks for posting the pictures and the heads up. I'm always on the lookout for some good ol' stoner rock/metal.
last year or the year before on my birthday I decided to pick up a friendly looking hitchhiker and give him a ride to town... about 15 miles away or so. It was all fine and dandy, but he smelled up my car for days
now i am reluctant to pick up any more hitch hikers.
hitchhiking is tough nowadays,would rather jump a train any day...I have considered selling what I got left and going on walkabout for a bit...not much to sell as the ex old lady got it all...prob got like 8k in stuff....
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Don't let that one ruin it for you. I don't know where you are but in Colorado it's definitely more accepted to hitchhike and pick people up too. I know back east it's a different story with that.last year or the year before on my birthday I decided to pick up a friendly looking hitchhiker and give him a ride to town... about 15 miles away or so. It was all fine and dandy, but he smelled up my car for days
now i am reluctant to pick up any more hitch hikers.
Do it, post of your travels here!
thelaughingman
Active member
I train hopped to the next town for the hell of it with a friend because he done it before and the opportunity was there ..also I knew a guy that train hopped back in his bay days from the valley to San Jose to Richmond and such, but I don't recall the reason why (probably because he was one) but he needed to get off a speeding train, he jumped, landed wrong and broke a bunch a bones.
thelaughingman
Active member
last year or the year before on my birthday I decided to pick up a friendly looking hitchhiker and give him a ride to town... about 15 miles away or so. It was all fine and dandy, but he smelled up my car for days
now i am reluctant to pick up any more hitch hikers.
forreals haha that fawnk, fabreeze it..
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thelaughingman
Active member
I was a nomad when I was young so now I'm happy that I have settled down for the meanwhile.. I understand the yearn you feel and back east back packing is the thing to do..
the people you meet, the stories of others.. the highs and lows.. life is a great lesson
the people you meet, the stories of others.. the highs and lows.. life is a great lesson
I have some train stories for you guys.About the guys who run the trains. My dad and grandpa were career trainmen. Yes I rode some trains as a kid. My dad took me on them. I got to ride up in the engine. There were extra seats up there for the crew. I sat in the engineer seat when the train was moving pretty fast. I felt like I was driving it! When you sit in that seat man you feel the full power of the train. Its awesome to feel all that power of the machine. I blew the horn at crossings. That was my job when I rode the train. I got a kick out of it.
I got to ride in the caboose too. This was the crew quarters for the conductor and 2 brakemen who did the track switching. They had a heater in the caboose. There were 6 bunks in the caboose. They used to run with more crew. When my grandpa started it was steam engines and they had 2 fireman to keep the boiler stoked with coal.
The caboose went obsolete during the Reagan presidency. My dad said he busted the unions up somewhat and then the rail companies were forced to downsize on crew members.
The caboose was an important safety feature of trains. These guys were first to call for help on the radio. If a car struck a train at a crossing. There were a lot of accidents. People just drove right into the side of a train. My dad said you can hear it and feel it when an auto impacts the train. There is a big crash sound and vibration thru-out the whole train. Like a small bomb hit the train.
My dad was expert at hopping aboard moving trains. He said first grab onto a handrail as you are running. Keep those feet running, then pull yourself up with your upper body strength. Don't try and jump on it just using your feet. If you miss and fall down consequence can be deadly if you fall under the train. I will try and remember more of my dads train stories and post them here. It was a smaller railroad in northern Michigan. They had some train riders. If they were minor children they got kicked off the train while in towns. Hobos were allowed because the good ones never were detected until they found empty whiskey bottles inside boxcars. Most of their runs were thru large national forests in Michigan.
I got to ride in the caboose too. This was the crew quarters for the conductor and 2 brakemen who did the track switching. They had a heater in the caboose. There were 6 bunks in the caboose. They used to run with more crew. When my grandpa started it was steam engines and they had 2 fireman to keep the boiler stoked with coal.
The caboose went obsolete during the Reagan presidency. My dad said he busted the unions up somewhat and then the rail companies were forced to downsize on crew members.
The caboose was an important safety feature of trains. These guys were first to call for help on the radio. If a car struck a train at a crossing. There were a lot of accidents. People just drove right into the side of a train. My dad said you can hear it and feel it when an auto impacts the train. There is a big crash sound and vibration thru-out the whole train. Like a small bomb hit the train.
My dad was expert at hopping aboard moving trains. He said first grab onto a handrail as you are running. Keep those feet running, then pull yourself up with your upper body strength. Don't try and jump on it just using your feet. If you miss and fall down consequence can be deadly if you fall under the train. I will try and remember more of my dads train stories and post them here. It was a smaller railroad in northern Michigan. They had some train riders. If they were minor children they got kicked off the train while in towns. Hobos were allowed because the good ones never were detected until they found empty whiskey bottles inside boxcars. Most of their runs were thru large national forests in Michigan.
My dad hoboed back during the great depression. Wish he'd have told me more about it. He said men looking for work but couldn't afford to travel did it this way... a lot. He said some railroad detectives had the attitude that hobos were homeless bums with no family, or no one at all who cared about them, so they found no remorse in bashing in their skulls & tossing them off the train, dead. But dad said many of the men were like him, looking for work to send money back home to support the homefront. Dad found permenant work here in Maryland & sent for mom to join him. She was pregnant with me at the time. I still wish she'd miscarried.
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noyd666
wow, you must have had it hard to think that.
Not so much hard as depressing. Only child raised in solitude & silence. Just don't see much joy in life.
- But I did grow up across the road from the tracks & always wished I'd had the nerve to jump on a train. They often stopped right in front of our house. I was so bored/depressed I only dreamed of excitement & adventure. Hobos used to come to the house for food, & mom always gave it to them & they all knew dads story, how he hoboed & found work & brought mom here. Once, an elderly man who'd hoboed with dad jumped the train & had dinner with us. Guess he was probably only 40, but to a kid...... I fell asleep listening to them talk about old times & their adventures. About two years later, one jumped off in front of our house to give dad the message his friend had been killed & tossed off the train by a railroad detective. Some of the stories were really sad.
- thing about my mom.... she knew just what foods to pack for them. Canned meat, sometimes a can opener if they didn't already have one, lots of bread. She kept a stash of canteens & every hobo always left one. But they always had a hardy hot meal before they left, and she made sure they downed an ice cold glass of milk. Even tho dad had been a hobo once, it was her they all knew, called her Miss Ruby.
- But I did grow up across the road from the tracks & always wished I'd had the nerve to jump on a train. They often stopped right in front of our house. I was so bored/depressed I only dreamed of excitement & adventure. Hobos used to come to the house for food, & mom always gave it to them & they all knew dads story, how he hoboed & found work & brought mom here. Once, an elderly man who'd hoboed with dad jumped the train & had dinner with us. Guess he was probably only 40, but to a kid...... I fell asleep listening to them talk about old times & their adventures. About two years later, one jumped off in front of our house to give dad the message his friend had been killed & tossed off the train by a railroad detective. Some of the stories were really sad.
- thing about my mom.... she knew just what foods to pack for them. Canned meat, sometimes a can opener if they didn't already have one, lots of bread. She kept a stash of canteens & every hobo always left one. But they always had a hardy hot meal before they left, and she made sure they downed an ice cold glass of milk. Even tho dad had been a hobo once, it was her they all knew, called her Miss Ruby.
Sidebar: Background of Detroit & Mackinac Railway
Sidebar: Background of Detroit & Mackinac Railway
Just some info about a small railroad. Where my dad was a conductor on this railroad.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_and_Mackinac_Railway
Detroit and Mackinac Railway Historical Society
http://www.michiganrailroads.com/dmhs/home.htm
D&M Engine and rail car photo album.
http://www.railroadmichigan.com/detroitmackinac.html
Sidebar: Background of Detroit & Mackinac Railway
Just some info about a small railroad. Where my dad was a conductor on this railroad.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_and_Mackinac_Railway
Detroit and Mackinac Railway Historical Society
http://www.michiganrailroads.com/dmhs/home.htm
D&M Engine and rail car photo album.
http://www.railroadmichigan.com/detroitmackinac.html
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