KaBar Posted June 25, 2002 Share Posted June 25, 2002 The 102nd National Hobo Convention will be held in Britt, Iowa the weekend of August 9-10-11. A lot of people arrive early and make a week of it. A lot of it is bullshit, but there are some good things too, and gatherings like Britt (and others, particularly Dunsmuir, CA) are unprescedented opportunities to meet and get to know trainhoppers and "real deal" tramps. There is a "Hobo cemetary" at Britt, a city-owned "jungle" (read "park with a boxcar") and the National Hobo Museum. IF YOU GO, be careful about breaking any laws in Britt. There are laws prohibiting public urination and drinking and the local police force brings in help from surrounding jurisdictions to deal with the greater-than-normal numbers of visitors to town. Forget about motels or renting a room anywhere---the closest available motel rooms will probably be Mason City, about 35 miles away. It's strictly a camp-out deal, but enough real tramps show up that there is always a jungle with campfires, tents, etc. and also a lot of older former tramps in motor homes or camping out of a van or something like that, a few punk-anarchist-scavenger trainhoppers who often bring bicycles and so on. Quite a party. Just be cool about drinking in public. Britt is on Route 18, about 35 miles west of Mason City, Iowa. Britt still has intermittent train service, but it's not regular enough to depend upon to get to the Convention. A hundred years ago, when the convention was brought to Britt, there was daily train service, sometimes several a day that passed through Britt. The telephone number of the National Hobo Museum is 641-843-9104. Oh, and for pete's sake, don't hit anything in the town of Britt, unless you want to face a pissed-off local judge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fr8burner Posted June 25, 2002 Share Posted June 25, 2002 thats not that far at all from here...i might have to find my way down there......i actually will probably be there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern kid Posted June 26, 2002 Share Posted June 26, 2002 wish i could make it...sounds like fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legal Speed Posted June 26, 2002 Share Posted June 26, 2002 damn, im probebly the closest person to there. too bad i dont have a ride.. shouldn't be hard finding someone who wants to take me there and hang out with a bunch of hobos for a weekend.. :scramble: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaBar Posted June 26, 2002 Author Share Posted June 26, 2002 Transportation To Britt I'm sort of considering hopping to Britt, the problem is the risk of getting stranded. I wouldn't imagine lots of trains run between Houston and say, Mason City, just every day. Driving is more like it. Anybody in the Houston area want to go? All we need is a car that is reasonably affordable on gas mileage and plenty of coffee, LOL. I might try hopping as close as I can get in 48 hours, and then go on in via Greyhound. Back in the old days, I would have never attempted such a closely timed trip via train. I had no schedule, so it was just "head west until you finally ramble in--early or late, who knows?" I need to do a little more planning. Anybody up for providing a place to crash at some mid-way point between Houston and Iowa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remi Martin Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 wow, that sounds cool. whats up with Dunsmuir, CA get together? Im a bit curious how og hobotramps and what not would mix in with Cali writers. All the writers I know that paint trains do so in high end fashion and drive nice cars. We have a jungle in our yard. Not that I have a yard or paint trains, quite the contrary. not that im trynna make fun or clown, it would just be two opposite ends of the spectrum with the love of freights being the binding glue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaBar Posted June 28, 2002 Author Share Posted June 28, 2002 No Idea How Well They'd Jive Most of the trainhoppers and writers I know that really click either do so on a personal level, or they hold some common belief, like punk music or anarchism. From what I can see, hoppers don't have a lot of genuine connections to graff, unless it's streaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remi Martin Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 most of the train hoppers i met have been chill...i met them young, i went to j/h and h/s next to a freight yard and was a bad kid with freinds always looking for someone to by us fortys. sounds cool though. if you go get a racker to roadtrip with you! and make him get a digi and post flicks for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WITS Posted June 29, 2002 Share Posted June 29, 2002 Re: Transportation To Britt If you're going to hop you need/want a partner? Email me if you're at all interested in the idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miz303 Posted June 29, 2002 Share Posted June 29, 2002 i spotted a brit...the other dae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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