KaBar2 Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 Ident-- I have only ever heard of one "Waterbed Lou." There are a lot of people who adopt some commonly-known moniker as their own, not realizing that there is already a well-known old-timer who already has that sobriquet. (A good example is "Derail" of which I personally know three rail-riding tramps who used this name.) Right now there is a major effort being put forth by King Adman to identify the Unknown Hobo in Minneapolis. I've talked to several people online who are leaving this weekend in different directions to post up Adman's "Unkown Hobo" posters and fliers. Go to http://www.hobo.com/unknown_hobo.htm Adman was one of the two tramps that searched for and found the missing Lord Open Road, who had been murdered and buried in a pauper's grave by the county in Dalhart, Texas. The king then, Steamtrain Maury Graham, sent Adman and another guy to find Open Road. Once he was located, they then went through all the official hassle to have him disinterred, cremated, and then they brought some of his ashes back to Britt, to be buried in the National Hobo Cemetary. Some of the ashes (about 1/3) they sprinkled on rail cars along the way, in every different type of car, so that Lord Open Road could "ride the rails forever." Every year at Britt, they symbolically give Lord Open Road the money of which he was robbed in Dalhart --$3.65 and we remember his name---and the names of the two sorry motherfuckers that killed him, who someday will be released from the safety of a Texas prison, I hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAES.IVB.ET Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 General question... Anyone ever been down to Freedom Tunnel (Amtrak, New York, West Side...) The last time I went down there must have been 2-3 years ago. That place was fucking nuts. I don't care who you are. Especially after it rained. Your feet just sunk in the mud. One of my boys got jumped down there too, so it kind of lost its charm. I don't know. I was over there scouting some shit out but all the locks have been put on that shit and I think there are camera's now. I'm so curious. Damnit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAES.IVB.ET Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 KaBar did you see this? http://www.cwporter.com/letter18.htm I'm assuming you have so I'll just say everyone else check it out. I don't think it puts anyone in good light but it was a good read at least. On another note I found an article about Montana freights. http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2003/09...territory01.prt Another small time article but once again entertaining. "If someone is found on railroad property, he will be asked to leave. Someone found on equipment will be arrested. Under state law, trespassers may receive up to six months in jail and a $500 fine. Under federal law the maximum jail time is six years and a $5,000 fine." When I got caught.... the railroad never brought charges against me. I had a fine and 140 hours of community service. It wasn't Montana but hey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaBar2 Posted October 16, 2004 Share Posted October 16, 2004 I had never seen that interview before, but I think it's probably authenic. Mr. Porter seems to be something of a racist and a white supremacist. There is a certain element in the world of tramps and hobos that subscribes to this sort of racist claptrap. Generally speaking, they are the most ignorant and least educated, and/or ex-convicts. Among the white ex-convicts, this sort of bare-knuckle racism is pretty common. I can't say as I disagree with his opinions on guns, though. He's on the right track there. Just from reading this article, I'd say that the person being interviewed was either a member of the Ku Klux Klan, or some similar racist group, and/or a member of the FTRA, or both. His ideology roughly approximates that of the Klan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAES.IVB.ET Posted October 16, 2004 Share Posted October 16, 2004 My friend ducked out this summer to go hop freights. I haven't heard from him in about 4 months. Any way to find him. Do they usually find bodies if he got stabbed, thrown from a train ect. Any ideas? He's a pretty shady kid but he can handle himself and hes been jumping for a while but you never know. If he got arrested I know I would have at least gotten a letter so I doubt he's there. Is it hard to get to Canada through freights? I've never spoken to anyone who's gotten to Canada that way. When I visited Montreal not to long ago I saw a huge freight yard so I know there's plenty of traffic going up through their. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAES.IVB.ET Posted October 16, 2004 Share Posted October 16, 2004 I know this double posting is bullshit but I cant edit the previous post any more... KaBar I saw that you wanted to make a movie. You should definitly look at Dark Days. This is one of the most amazing documentaries I have every seen. I took this from http://www.imdb.com : Near Penn Station, next to the Amtrak tracks, squatters have been living for years. Marc Singer goes underground to live with them, and films this "family." A dozen or so men and one woman talk about their lives: horrors of childhood, jail time, losing children, being coke-heads. They scavenge, they've built themselves sturdy one-room shacks; they have pets, cook, chat, argue, give each other haircuts. A bucket is their toilet. Leaky overhead pipes are a source of water for showers. They live in virtual darkness. During the filming, Amtrak gives a 30-day eviction notice. This description doesn't give it enough credit but just to give you the idea. If you see how these guys make there homes down there it's amazing. Definitly something to see. If you get the dvd you can see how they made it. The homeless guys you see down there are the crew. They did the lighting/dolly/interviewing... Also Dj Shadow just to put the cherry on top. BUMP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostvandal Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 kabar, i was wondering if you have any new ideas to what eat on the rails.. last time i was getting pretty sick of tuna cans and bread with nuts and dry raisins after 4 days.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaBar2 Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 Ghostvandal--- For actually riding on a train, it's hard to beat canned food. Even back in 1969, I carried a small backpacker's gasoline Svea stove and a liter of white gas. This makes it a whole lot easier to heat up food while you are rolling. The coolest stove I've seen recently is the Mountain Safety Research (MSR) Whisperlite multi-fuel stove. By changing the jets, you can burn unleaded gas, diesel or kerosene. Most of the tramps I know burn diesel that they get from a parked unit's fuel tanks. (You can get these MSR stoves at REI and other places that sell lightweight backpacking equipment.) Canned goods are heavy as shit, though. I usually pack a bunch of packages of Ramen noodles. Instant rice, macaroni and cheese, just about anything that involves "just adding water" and boiling. In situations where you cannot cook, though, it makes sense to have some canned food that can be eaten cold, like pork and beans, sardines, spaghetti-o's, etc. Dry, hard salami doesn't require refrigeration, nor does beef jerky. DON'T FORGET TO BRING A MILITARY P-38 CAN OPENER. I also carry big bags of roasted peanuts in the shell, and dried fruit (not too many apricots or you'll be shittin' like a goose.) I collect mustard and mayonnaise packets from hamburger joints, and save them for catching out, so I can make sandwiches. A lot of tramps only eat one meal a day. The rest of their nutrition comes in pop-top aluminum cans, LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefarm Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 i was picked up somewhere in mass. and was pulled off the train. the train cop called in a local officer and the two went into a huddle and concluded that they would just take our info and let us go. they said we would get a summons later on. when we went to court the charges were dropped but still had to pay a 250$ court fee. a good example of how the courts are fucked. i would hate to be arrested on a bunk charge only to later be found not guilty and then have to pay a fat court fee for something i didn't even do. the best part about this was that the train cop was really cool before the local cop arrived. he told us to catch out of western mass. if we didn't want to be hassled. he also told us to not show up to the court date if we didn't want to deal with fines. he said that he hated throwing people of the trains but since sept. 11th things have tightened up. things are changing and not for the better. look around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostvandal Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 Originally posted by thefarm@Oct 28 2004, 10:04 AM he said that he hated throwing people of the trains but since sept. 11th things have tightened up. things are changing and not for the better. look around. Quoted post same story happened to me, but it was engineers that found me in the slave engine, they said since sept 11 they would loose their job to let someone ride the slave engine..whatever i took the next one. kabar about that military can opener. a good knife and your foot can do the job too hehe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lepthebeard Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 ...bombvomitter... ...yer bro maybe in canada, it's still pretty easy to ride into our great country via the west coast from ______ to ______... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostvandal Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 ^ actually not THAT easy but.. at least you dont get killed by other tramps like on the us westcoast.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lepthebeard Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 ...dude neither you or I know shit about this topic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostvandal Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 hehe..well i dont know about the u.s westcoast but i sure know about canada :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chance Em Redy Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Excuse me for not knowing much about train hopping- thts not possible in hawaii- so anyway, you guys just ride these trains all over the country and bring paint with you? Is it like a scheduled trip where you know when ur gonna get back home, or is it like you just take trains wherever they go and do that for a year or so? some writers just do this as a lifestyle? damn this shit is interesting. i bet theres alot of crazy stories to be told as well. late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelACKson Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 well i dont think most people bring paint with them when they travel by freight train (just another thing to get in trouble for when youre traveling) ...at least i dont. its fairly easy to know where youre going, it jsut takes some research. ive found its better to take a day or two more off from work than you originally planed because train trips are usually not as simple as you planned. im a loser and just go out for weekend trips but many people spend their lives riding trains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaBar2 Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 Quite a few of the younger riders do write grafitti as well as hop trains, but they usually don't carry paint because of the weight and the noise of the cans. If you get detained by the bulls BE POLITE and respectful, and they might turn you loose. If they search your ruck and find eight or nine cans of spray paint, they might very well write you up for vandalism as well as trespassing. Do what you gotta do, but BE CAREFUL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaBar2 Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 I got a call today from some of my friends from Britt, who just blew into town on a train this morning. Jenny, Dritz and three guys they are traveling with arrived in downtown Houston at the Library and called me. I gave them directions to the jungle and told them what bus to take. They sounded really happy to have a destination. It's raining and Houston is really shitty when it's all rainy and muddy. They're going to stay in the hooch that Stretch and I built last winter. Cool. I'm going down to the jungle tomorrow morning and take them some food and beers. Kind of nice to have some trainhopping friends in town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyrax Posted November 4, 2004 Share Posted November 4, 2004 KaBar -- I've read through a lot of the first few pages of this thread and plan on going through the rest of them, but by far this is the most interesting stuff I've read here on 12oz. I know you've been told this a lot already but it's the truth :) Glad you've been keeping this thread going. What are the chances of you bringing a camera down to the jungle next time and maybe getting a few pictures of it, and some of your tramp and hobo friends? I'd be interested to see what it looks like, and how they look after being out on the lines for so many years. I'm in Ontario, Canada and have never personally seen a jungle, or anyone riding the rails for that matter, but I'm sure it's different out west, more towards Saskatchewan and Alberta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaBar2 Posted November 4, 2004 Share Posted November 4, 2004 Hyrax--- There are some tramps that object strenuously to being photographed, so it can be sort of a ticklish situation trying to take pictures. Trainhopping is against the law (it's a misdemeanor,) so they are understandably sort of resistant to being photographed and identified. The three guys and two girls down at our jungle right now are in their mid-twenties, and are not old grizzled veteran riders. Jenny and Dritz are in their early twenties. The Other three, two guys and a girl, I don't know well, having only met them yesterday for the first time. All five are your typical anti-establishment type young adults--dressed in road-weary, patched clothing, often black in color. The guys wear dreads or longer hair. The guys all wear a beard, but because of their young ages, their beards are not very thick yet. Jenny dyes her hair jet black and wears it in dreads, the other young lady is a strawberry blonde and wears her hair braided. Everybody is wearing work boots or combat boots, dark Carhartt trousers, overalls or jackets in varying degrees of delapidation, and either "gimme caps" or "engineer" caps, with railroad patches sewn on. It's a style thing, much different from older tramps, who usually are much less well-prepared and usually dressed in whatever clothes they got from the mission or Salvation Army. All these kids have well-worn sleeping bags, blankets and tarps or ponchos, black mountaineering type rucksacks, and good winter gear (they came from up north, via New Orleans.) These kids are what the older riders my age call "Flintstone Kids." Kids who look like this are generally anarchists, in my experience, but these kids told me they are Christians. They read the Bible. When we cooked "lunch," they said a brief grace before eating. Jenny and Dritz pepper their conversation with lots of casual profanity, but the other three do not, and while they didn't admonish her, they looked a little pained when Jenny reeled off a string of cuss words. All of them are seasoned trainhoppers. They have been to see the elephant. Today is a glorious, clear, beautiful Texas winter day. It's about 70 degrees and probably as pretty a day as we will see in a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelACKson Posted November 11, 2004 Share Posted November 11, 2004 planning a trip in late december from the midatlantic region down to florida on IM. i know its gonna be cold as shit for most of the trip but i had some questions do you know what jacksonville is like? (jungles, bulls etc) is there any way to tell what IM cars are best to ride without actually climbing on them? (im going to have to catch it on the fly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaBar2 Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 nelACKson--- I tried to avoid riding in the Deep South, back in the day, because the police in the South had such an attitude about hippies. I hear that they are a lot more laid back these days (compared to the '70s, of course) but the increased surveillance created by 9/11 is a big problem. Intermodal freight has always been considered "hot" cargo. They watch IM trains a lot closer than regular general merchandise revenue trains. Keep this in mind. The best IM well cars for trainhopping, in my opinion, are TTX 48's, preferably with a shorter container loaded, or if it's a stack, look for a short container with a longer container up top. This creates a "porch" on one end of the lower container. Do NOT catch a TTX 53--there is no floor in the well, just steel girders to support the bottom of the container. Do not try to ride an "unrideable car"-- a spine car, a 53, a chemical tanker, etc. My preference is a Canadian grainer, preferably a Cadillac grainer with the raised bulkhead around the porch, allowing you to hide better. A good second choice would be a boxcar with both doors open (rare, these days) or an empty gondola car. These days, I do not ride piggybacks. There is too much surveillance going on, and TOFC's do not have any really good places to hide. I am adamantly opposed to catching on the fly unless the train is moving EXTREMELY SLOWLY. Catching a rolling train is very dangerous. I did it when I was "young and dumb," but I would never catch on the fly today. It is unnecessary, 90% of the time. If your catch-out spot absolutely forces you to catch on the fly, you need to use your head and find a better catch-out. Read this thread. Most of this stuff has already been covered about five or six times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelACKson Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 ehhhhh.....thanks for the advice, youre the first person ive talked to about this that has asked me to reconsider anything and that makes me think. the spot i catch out of is just south of the yard so to catch southbounds theyre usually just starting to roll but i understand what youre saying. thanks again, im going to do some rethinking on this trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
83. Posted November 17, 2004 Share Posted November 17, 2004 Originally posted by KaBar2@Nov 3 2004, 06:40 AM They're going to stay in the hooch that Stretch and I built last winter. Quoted post you guys did a nice job on that too... i pass by there occasionally but no ones ever been there. its also slightly creepy alone because i feel like im tresspassing or something... we met some other fellow trying to head west a couple months ago in the area and me and my pal were gonna go too but we got split up after much waiting and no train rides.. and who knows where he is now.....hopefully doin his thing safe and sound. this thread is the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyrax Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 Thought this deserved a bump.....KaBaR, whats the news? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaBar2 Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 I've been offline since before Christmas because I caught a virus from an email (I think.) My wife, the computer literate person in our family, finally hit it by luck. We went into our hard drive and deleted about a thousand bullshit files that had accumulated over the years. Somehow or another we got the one that was the problem. So. I'm back online again, at least for a while. We also think that somebody else has had access to our DSL line somehow, because there is record of it being used while I was offline. Wish I could locate this prick, I'd gladly beat his ass mercilessly. I got a call from my hobo friend, Graincar George. He spent Christmas up in Maine with Lady Nightingale and her family. He says Stretch is headed south, and Graincar intends to meet him down here, so I may have guys in the jungle again. The weather has turned kind of chilly--it was in the low 40's today, but it's supposed to get warmer and wetter this weekend. I'm about ready to catch out. Maybe I'll take a trip with Stretch and Graincar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheReckoning Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 Me and my homie found a bum in this abondend house once I think he was dead or hella loaded cus he dindt move when we were walking by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaBar2 Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 I heard from Stretch via email. He and Burl are headed south to Mississippi to visit Loco Larry, then to Shreveport, LA, then to Houston. I'm sure I'll get a call in the next week or so, maybe two. It will be good to have stand-up tramps in the jungle again. Every once in a whole I go by there to check it out, see how things are faring. Usually if I wait longer than a month, the jungle is thrashed, littered with trash and empty beer bottles and cans, food cans and so forth. I'd get pissed off, but what good would that do? It makes me frustrated, that so few tramps these days understand that it is just NOT COOL to shit where you eat. Man! There's a sign right there: "Keep a Clean Camp." How fucking hard can it be to toss your trash in the fire? Back in the day, sloppy ass streamliners who did shit like this would get their ass kicked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iloveyoursister Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 Originally posted by IVomitBombs@Oct 16 2004, 08:18 AM General question... Anyone ever been down to Freedom Tunnel (Amtrak, New York, West Side...) The last time I went down there must have been 2-3 years ago. That place was fucking nuts. I don't care who you are. Especially after it rained. Your feet just sunk in the mud. One of my boys got jumped down there too, so it kind of lost its charm. I don't know. I was over there scouting some shit out but all the locks have been put on that shit and I think there are camera's now. I'm so curious. Damnit. Quoted post I think you may have found yourself a panel spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AerosolTerrorist Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 Wow your olddd hahha...but damn you write alot.i couldnt posibly read that..but good points i gues Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.