Hobos, Tramps and Homeless Bums

[Dick Quickwood]

i just realized i used to have an alice medium, it served me well, the only thing i didn't like was the cloth straps on the top flap, they always pulled through the metal buckle things

[fukhuman]

cool thanks kabar...

also..iwas wondering about the deadman thing..

do you have to use them when hoping boxcars?...

[Dick Quickwood]

there's a possibility of the door shutting and you getting stuck in a boxcar so yes

[kidblaze2k]

hey kabar,

some questions-

 

1 about staying out of sight-it is alright to ride piggybacks without sidewalls? otherkinds of cars like that? only at night? should you plan to be 100 fucking % out of sight whilst riding?

2 should you stay totally out of sight of yardworkers? you said the train crew recently told you about a better car to ride than the grainers you and stretch and burl were in. is this usual or would they kick u off more likely? how about asking yardworkers for schedule info? is this chill?

3 :king:

thanks homes, i've come back every month to check this thread for years but never posted here.

[fukhuman]

there's a possibility of the door shutting and you getting stuck in a boxcar so yes

 

and a rail road spike will work as one?

[KaBar2]

This is one of those subjects that gets covered over and over. I should set up some kind of FAQ's site, I guess.

 

Okay. There is more than one style of boxcar commonly found on the rails. The oldest type is called a "revenue" boxcar (it's owned by the railroad company itself and is NOT a customer-owned boxcar or a RailBox type of car.) The oldest type of revenue boxcar has WOODEN FLOORS. These are pretty much all out of service now. The next newest one has steel floors, but still has the old-style door track that is welded into the edge of the doorway, and the old-style door latch that one can easily use to swing up into the car. This is the type of boxcar than can be "dead-manned" or spiked open, and these cars were very common when I first started riding freight trains in 1970. These doors were very hard to open or close when they were rusty or damaged. If you got stuck inside, you were pretty much screwed.

 

The next type of boxcar is called the plug-door boxcar. These cars have doors that travel on an EXTERIOR DOOR TRACK. It's a flat bar mounted on the OUTSIDE of the boxcar body, and the doors are mounted on swivel mounts that permit the door to be moved in and out of the door frame, and also to slide "open" and "closed." There is no way to lock a true plug-door boxcar door "open" except to secure it with a chain or a strap, and it will be sliding back and forth against the chain during the entire trip. Federal regulations require plug-door boxcar doors to be CLOSED AND LOCKED during movement. Obviously, this is not going to work for tramps.

 

The second, newer kind of "plug-door" boxcar has a LOCKING LEVER on the outside of the door. It looks like a long handle with grips on both ends and a bolt through the middle. This handle is designed to allow workers to cinch down a plug-door boxcar door a few degrees at a time if the boxcar door is rusty or sticking. Usually, plug door boxcars slide easily and can be opened by one man. It is possible to unscrew the lever, unlock the door, move the door open a few feet and then RE-LOCK THE PLUG-DOOR BOXCAR DOOR IN PLACE, holding the door open to whatever degree you want it open. If you screw down the lever well, there is very little danger of it sliding shut.

Riding a loaded boxcar is a bad idea. The load could shift and crush you into mush. Make sure, before you open a boxcar that it is empty. Look for the door latch "seals" (little alumimum numbered seals with which workers secured the door latches. DO NOT EVER BREAK A SEAL ON A LOADED BOXCAR. It's a felony,

 

You must OBEY THE RULES if you want to ride trains safety.\

 

I was taught to ride trains by an old-school tramp named Rufe. He had lots of rules. One was "Leave no trace, do no damage, make no disturbance." The idea is to sneak into the railyard without being seen, board a train without being seen, ride it without being seen and get off the train and out of the yard without being seen.

 

"You are not on vacation. THIS AIN'T NO HOBBY. Get out of that fucking door, RIGHT NOW." If you are riding piggybacks, there must not be a single other rideable car on that entire train. STAY COMPLETELY HIDDEN FROM RAILIES, FOAMERS, CITIZENS, COPS AND PASSERS-BY. Standing in the door waving at people just guarantees you will be reported to the bulls or the Sheriff, the train will be stopped and you will get arrested. When I ride boxcars, I try to find one with one door open and one door closed (a "one-eyed bandit" is what Littlejohn calls these) and remain hidden up in the corners of the car when passing grade crossings, lighted areas, roads, houses, etc.

 

If you stay flat up against the walls, nobody can see you, unless you are smoking a cigarette or operating a flashlight, or wearing fluorescent orange clothing. Don't be stupid. Wear dark clothes. Wear boots and gloves. AVOID BEING SEEN BY OTHER PEOPLE. Unless of course, you want to be arrested.

 

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e280/KaBar2/IMG00016.jpg

 

Here's a couple of shots Stretch took of me washing out filthy road clothes in the Mississippi River at Clinton, Iowa. That swing bridge in the background is where the UP Superhighway passes over the Mississippi on it's way to Chicago. It was built in 1909.

 

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e280/KaBar2/IMG00014.jpg

[fukhuman]

hey thanks kabar....

so if you hop a open box car you should put the deadman in the door track so it wont slide shut somehow?

[CACashRefund]

An article in todays newspaper:

 

Nothing can prepare you for hopping your first freight train. The ground vibrates, you hear that lonesome whistle blow, and a wall of noise hits you like a tidal wave: groaning, screeching cars, steel wheels scraping against tracks, your partner yelling in your ear, "There's your car, go for it!"

 

I almost lost my foot on my maiden voyage (couldn't find the bottom rung of the ladder that hangs from the back of the grainer), but my heroic partner, a man I'd never met before, grabbed me by the seat of my pants and hoisted my body 4 feet in the air, while running behind me at train speed. Eight years and several thousand miles of rail later, I still thank him regularly.

 

Faced with the stultifying predictability of modern life, many contemporary thrill seekers turn to prepackaged outdoor adventures. For $1,395, Outward Bound will give you eight days of practice in self-reliance designed to challenge and inspire personal growth in dozens of locations from Patagonia to the Kenai Peninsula.

 

Me? I'd rather climb through a hole in the chain-link fence that surrounds the Oakland freight yard, hide in the shadows for six hours, jump onto a solid-bottom double stack when nobody's looking and lumber out of town for limitless practice in self-reliance and inspiration.

 

There's nothing prepackaged about this experience. Your travel insurance won't cover it, and a group leader won't offer waiver forms to sign at the beginning of your expedition. You're certain to get filthy, you'll risk arrest, and you might even sacrifice limbs to the rail gods, but remember what Helen Keller said -- life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.

 

Want to visit Mexico's Copper Canyon, the Canadian Rockies or Alaska's Inside Passage? A freight train can take you there. And if you think the view is nice from Amtrak's glass-walled observation rooms, just imagine what you can see from the open doors of a boxcar.

 

Besides, you'll be on the cutting edge of new-millennium hoboes who carry cell phones, credit cards and traveler's checks.

 

Once reviled or romanticized, the lonely rail rider -- from Civil War hoe-boy to Great Depression tramp -- has slipped into the realm of myth and legend. But somehow this celebrated figure is making a comeback in the 21st century. Although hitchhikers have all but disappeared from the nation's teeming freeways, it turns out that plenty of people are still willing to risk life and limb on a train for the chance to work in the United States or just for the glory of watching the wilderness roll by from the porch of a grainer.

 

Thousands of men and children ride the rails north from Central America in search of family members or well-paid work, while stateside, ex-middle-class punks hop freight trains on a quest for your basic adrenaline rush or a little social bonding. The kids are doing it in packs -- I once spent 40 hours in a boxcar with 12 of my closest friends.

 

Train hopping is illegal, and dodging the bulls -- those rail cops mandatory in any hobo folk song -- is imperative. If you let your attention waver for a minute (which will inevitably lead to gentle snoring curled inside your sleeping bag), you might find yourself in a boxcar outside Klamath Falls, Ore., staring up the barrel of a government-issue rifle. Later, you'll have to re-route to avoid counties where there is a warrant out for your arrest.

 

Make no mistake: Jumping someone else's train can be hazardous to your health. I've seen a few telltale scars on hobo compadres. Then there's Heather, who proudly displays her metal prosthetic limbs -- she lost both legs below the knee her first time hopping. (Getting on the boxcar was no problem, getting off was another story.) But I've also met hundreds of hoboes who have hopped tens of thousands of miles and never sustained an injury. This is a dangerous activity, but let's examine the nature of that word "danger."

 

Outward Bound instructors rate their various open-air activities by perceived and actual danger. Rock-climbing, for example, has very high perceived danger -- a sheer fall of hundreds of feet, exposed granite all around -- but a very low actual danger, because of that complicated tangle of carabiners, knots and harness keeping you suspended above the valley floor. Driving, on the other hand, has a very low perceived danger. Most Americans do it multiple times a day. But in reality, automobiles kill more people every year than cancer and heart disease.

 

Like many people on the West Coast, I learned how to minimize the actual danger of the perilous pastime of freight hopping from Hobo Lee, a stocky man who sports post-industrial plumbing parts as jewelry. The day of my training trip, about eight of us gathered for a short joyride on a local train.

 

Most people don't just jump on a bike and pedal away; they start with training wheels and require lots of parental encouragement. A predictable train, low danger from bulls, lovely scenery and some thoughtful instruction are the hobo equivalent. Lee paired first-timers with more-experienced riders and delivered a short lecture.

 

"If you can jog and you can climb a ladder, you can hop this train," he told us. "Once the conductor has passed, find your car. Start jogging next to the train, and when you're going the same speed, grab onto the ladder at the back. Then climb the ladder, starting with your back foot."

 

After hopping dozens of trains, that beginner rail line still terrifies me, because you have to catch it on the fly, while the train is moving. A certain macho attitude develops about one's ability to nail different cars at different speeds, but by avoiding moving trains, you significantly reduce your chance of injury.

 

"The train's gotta stop somewhere," says New York Slim, a hulking man who's hopped trains since the early 1970s. "And that's where you get on." Slim runs with a grizzled crew of old-school tramps called the Freight Train Riders of America, which earns him the respect and admiration of the younger generation.

 

Engineers and conductors deserve an eight-hour workday just like the rest of us, and freight trains have to stop to change crews. Once you figure out where the crew-change spots are, you just hide and wait. And wait. Bring a good book.

 

Sitting in a grimy, baking freight yard waiting for a train that may never come might not seem like the ideal vacation. The initial setting is dreadful -- most freight yards are in grim industrial parts of town with no public restrooms for miles -- but once rolling, the scenery can't be topped.

 

I celebrated my 30th birthday on the porch of a grainer as part of an extended free tour of the Canadian Rockies, and four gainfully employed friends of mine spent a weeklong summer break last year enjoying the breathtaking beauty of Northern California and Southern Oregon by rail. But the ultimate recreational hobo destinations are the rural towns of Britt, Iowa, and Dunsmuir (Siskiyou County), which host hobo gatherings every summer that attract hundreds of grubby riders for a week of merrymaking.

 

For others, riding the rails is just free public transportation, all work and no play. The brave man who saved my foot on my first trip used to ride freight trains to Tijuana for cheap dental work.

 

Cell phones and credit cards aside, today's hoboes have a lot in common with their predecessors. "The main difference is in the trains," insists longtime freight rider and storyteller Utah Phillips, a 70-year-old with a long whip of a white ponytail who rode his last train two years ago. "The trains are more and more automated, so there's fewer workers in the yard to talk to, and they go faster than they used to.

 

"But there's always been people who are inveterate wanderers, who are constitutionally incapable of having a boss, taking a master," he says, chuckling. "I was a tramp, see. I wasn't looking for work, just enough money to get a steak and move on. A hobo works and wanders, a tramp dreams and wanders, and a bum drinks and wanders."

 

We all have a bit of that worker, dreamer and drinker in us. And a growing number of modern misfits are following in Phillips' footsteps, riding the rails.

 

I would never encourage anyone to sneak into a freight yard and board the first boxcar going anywhere, because that would be illegal. I'm just saying, if you do, don't be surprised to find someone else already there, preparing for their customized-budget Outward Bound journey.

 

Leonie Sherman's work has appeared in publications from Alaska to Cambodia, including the Oakland Tribune, the Phnom Penh Post, the Chilkat Valley News and The Chronicle's Sunday Magazine. Upon receiving her master's degree in journalism from UC Berkeley in May, she plans to hop the first southbound boxcar out of Oakland. Contact us at insight@sfchronicle.com.

[KaBar2]

Go back through his thread and read the posts on "slack action." Slack action is what causes boxcar doors to shut (and sometimes re-open, but don't count on it.)

 

There's a picture of Burlington Dog K-9 on Stretch's photo album site, looking out a boxcar door enjoying the view. This dog gets all excited and goes crazy when Stretch says "Burl! Wanta catch a train?" He loves riding freights, no shit. ("Queen's First Ride, photo 18/20)

 

http://photo.epson.com/

 

Scroll down to "Albums" then type in Stretch's addy

stretch122hotrail@yahoo.com

 

Some of them are pics Stretch took, some that he got off the net just because he liked them. Several are pics snapped by North Bank Fred.

I especially like the photos of the 2002 Queen of Hobos, Lady Nightingale, riding the BNSF in Mississippi. There are also several of Hobo Spike, the 2003 Hobo King (photo 2/20, 6/20, 12/20). Photo 11/20 is Stretch, Lady Nightingale, Hobo Spike and Burlington Dog. 20/20 is Texas Mad Man and Oops.

 

In the "Eureaka"(sp) section, there's some shots of me and Burlington at the jungle. Burl is "flying a sign," begging for something to eat.

[murada]

--Kabar

 

Just out of curiosity do u or have u ever come across n e black,asian, hispanic Hobos, Tramps etc. I am curious to know if this lifestyle is lead by any ethnic minorities. I know there are plenty of homeless minorities but are there n e hobos,tramps, etc.?

[KaBar2]

Murada---

There are many Latino trainhoppers, especially the illegal aliens, who hop trains in an attempt to reach the agricultural areas of central California, Oregon and Washington. These guys are probably the closest to the old-time hobos, because they travel to work in the fields, then return home to Mexico or Guatemala, etc. at the end of harvest. I've seen quite a few. The know very little about hopping trains and often speak no English, so it is difficult to tell them that they are doing something profoundly dangerous. They will ride pretty much any kind of car, loaded with whatever, and often try to ride the tops of grainers, etc. Traoins in Mexico travel much slower than here inthe states, and it is not unheard of for Mexican train crews to charge Mexican trainhoppers a mordida to ride.

 

I have never seen a grown adult Asian trainhopper, but I have seen a couple of Vietnamese kids who were sort of punk rocker types travelling with some other Flintstone Kids. I do not see very many black trainhoppers, although several of my black friends at work are fascinated by my stories about Stretch and Burlington, and profess that they would love to go catch out. Saying you want to and going and doing it are two different things, of course. I think their fantasies about it are a little more glamorous and considerably less rusty and filthy than real life trainhopping, LOL.

 

There are some very well known black trainhoppers. New York Slim has been riding since sometime after the Vietnam War. He is in tight with the old FTRA guys, and knows the Boxcar Boys Ranch guys and all the Sinner's Camp tramps very well.

 

There has been both a black Queen of Hobos (1981, 1983, 1987) as well as a black King of Hobos (Bo Lump's adult son, "Bo Grump." elected in 2000.) Queen Bo Lump and her son were very active trainhoppers a few years ago. In fact, Elizabeth may be one of the few hobo Queens who was ever an actual hobo. She attended the Ladie's Tea at Britt last year when Connecticut Shorty (daughter of a very famous hobo from the 1930s-50s, Connecticut Slim) was telling all the ladies from Britt about all the stuff she took trainhopping, and Bo Lump allegedly leaned over to another woman and said "If she takes all that stuff with her, she must be crazy. She ain't never had to run for her life, that's for sure."

 

Some people say that the reason so few blacks hop trains is because there is a pervasive attitude of racism on the rails. I do not believe this to be true. New York Slim may be the exception that proves the rule, but he says that the FTRA is not a racist organization, and I have never witnessed any overt, bare-knuckles racism among tramps, with the exception of a few individuals who had served time in prison.

 

It might be that relatively few American blacks need to seek adventure, fame and fortune on or along the railroads. Many of them are already experiencing a hazardous, hostile environment. Maybe they don't need to experience it first hand.

 

 

 

Originally posted by murada@Mar 27 2006, 03:48 PM

--Kabar

 

            Just out of curiosity do u or have u ever come across n e black,asian, hispanic Hobos, Tramps etc. I am curious to know if this lifestyle is lead by any ethnic minorities. I know there are plenty of homeless minorities but are there n e hobos,tramps, etc.?

Quoted post

[The Player Haters Ball]

I'm glad we hear from you every so often Kabar. Very informative.

 

pffft. informative. what a gay word.

[TURBO DOG]

kabar, you live in houston??? me too...i moved here after katrina....i am from new orleans..and a train fan/graffwriter..only on trains though not too much into the city destruction thing...your posts are wonderful....been reading them for years, and it just occured that you lived in houston....anyhow while staying out at my mothers in weimar texas tight after the storm...i used to catch rides in between towns on the porches of these gravel haulers...they looked like taller shorter gondolas...no place to hide...but it would only be from one town to the next and then waiting on a ride back was terrible...but you were never visible from the road where we would ride them...anyhow just saying hello....houston has a lot of trains...i will be moving back to new orleans soon, anyhow holler back at me and keep up the awesome posts man!!

 

GOOSER....SOUTHERN FREIGHT REVIVAL

[hill billy]

i M@kE r!De oN Tr@!n 4 Ye@r n0w NoT 0nly U nO HoW m@Ke F@Ce_

[KaBar2]

Turbo Dog---

 

Yep, I'm from Houston all right. Email me off-forum, we can go make the rounds of the Houston rail scene: Rsaxon50@hotmail.com

 

Did I understand you correctly? Did you say you were hopping gravel trains out of Weimar? I think I misunderstood.

[mississippi]

kabar.. any adventures on the mississippi gulf coast?

[murada]

wow, Kabar, thanks for the response. That is some fascinating shyt right there. You r a wealth of knowledge, thanks again!!!!

[TURBO DOG]

not too long ago, i saw this intermodal coming down the line and it was sparking like crazy all sorta flames coming out from the litelw well where people sit...and at first i thought there was a wheel malfunction...you know where they become all molten hot and shit...it was a freezing cold night...then i saw a head poke out..and i realized...this train rider had built a fire in there...it was waaaaaay weird...as the train got closer and slowed(but never stopped) i saw a little head pop out! hahaha!! it was cool....but wouldnt this be completely unsafe???? is this a normal occurence??

[airblaster]

yo KABAR..i gotta say you r the man! also...have u ever found any really cheap things to use for scribes/streaks for trains.? i usually use mean streaks/ quik stik's/ or markals...where do u get soap stone or anything else cheap...pm me if you want. also...do u like CANADA...i live here...its rad

[KaBar2]

Turbo Dog--

 

Building a fire in a railcar is majorly stupid. First, it makes both light and smoke, neither one of which is good if you are trying to hide. Plus, the heat from the fire will ruin the paint on the car, and it could set shit on fire like grease, oil, etc. I have seen tramps build a fire INSIDE A SPIKE BUCKET, which makes it a little safer, but bottom line, I don't build no fires on rail cars. You get arrested doing that shit and you are DEFINATELY going to jail. Oh, and sometimes it will set off the hot box detectors along the tracks, which will cause them to stop the train thinking they have a wheel bearing on fire or some shit like that.

 

Airblaster---

 

I buy soapstone and contruction crayons at places like welder's supply houses. When Pfffffffffft was here, he bought some white art crayons at an art supply store. When I streak with a marker, I usually like those big fat markers. Chalk, soapstone and contruction crayons are good. I like those paint markers for steel, too. They have a tip that has a ball bearing so when you press down on the ball-bearing tip, paint comes out, and you can write with it. It's designed to write part numbers etc. on steel, like in a shipyard or a welding fabrication place.

[KaBar2]

I just saw the thread asking if I'm still here. I hadn't seen it before for some reason. I usually just check this thread and "Crossfire" these days.

 

I heard from Stretch. He did manage to catch out from Beaumont, and made it to New Orleans, then to Jackson, MS, then to Meridian, MS and then to Amory. They had a bunch of excitement at Amory this year. He called me last night and said the Railroad Festival and Hobo Gathering had been shut down because of very violent thunderstorms and tornados all around Amory. Most of the campers, hobos and out of town visitors were being sheltered in the basement of the City Hall/ police station and a high school. Stretch called me on his cell phone from the Yard office. He sounded like he had a skin full and was laughing about the threat of tornadoes.

 

He said some reporter from London had showed up at the yard in Jackson, MS, looking for him. Apparently his guy had been in contact with Queen Mama Jo in Kansas City, and she knew where Stretch was supposed to go through next, so she told the reporter and he went there and sat on the Yard waiting for Stretch and Burl to go through. The guy is doing some kind of report on "Freedom in America" or something like that. Stretch took him for a train ride over to Amory and the guy took a lot of pictures and did some interviews and paid Stretch $25 or so. If I know Stretch, he had the guy buying a case of beer a day, LOL.

 

It was a beautiful day today. I wanted to go catch out, but instead I mowed the lawn. Sucks.

[Oliver Clothesoff]

hes back:cool:

[Gunm]

...and all was well in Trainspotting

[ASER1NE]

The actually getting the balls to go on a trip longer than a couple hours is damn hard. Im trying to get the info needed to go cross country . Like to montreal or something , that shits going to so damn fun.

[KaBar2]

The real difficulty with a long, cross-country trip is when you must switch from one railroad to another in a city without mass transit. It's either a real long walk, or a bus/streetcar ride or hire a taxi. Stretch has Burl with him, so he cannot ride buses, but under normal circumstances a bus is the transportation of choice. You need to know here you want to go, you need to find out what bus will take you there and you need to have enough money to afford it. Or you need to take a long walk.

 

Stretch and I hired a taxi a couple of times to get from Yard X to Yard Y or from the yard to the city bus station because I had to catch a bus at a certain time. It wasn't cheap, but I don't think I've spent more than seven bucks for a taxi ride while trainhopping. Sometimes taxi drivers will refuse to carry Burl or they will complain about all your gear, but in general, they've always been pretty cooperative.

 

Back in the old days, tramps tended to only go where the train took them. If they rode the Illinois Central then they usually rode north/south (these tracks are CN now, if memory serves) if they rode the Burlington Northern then they rode up north and east/west between Chicago, Spokane and Portland. Switching from one railroad to another isn't hard, but it depends on where you do it. Certain cities have two yards from different railroads in close proximity. Other times, it's a cross-town trip of miles. Sometimes you'll have a situation where two railroads share the same tracks, or even the same crew change area, but this is not common.

Veteran tramps usually are on a very loose schedule. "I get there whenever I get there." They may arrive at a gathering a week early, or sometimes a week late. I get asked all the time " Do you think I could go from Forth Worth to Miami in four days?" or "...from Atlamta to Chicago in a week?" IT ALL DEPENDS. If you are on a tight schedule, trainhopping is not the mode of transportation of choice. You need a block of time that is more or less open-ended. Of course, 24-7 tramps are not about transportation. For them, it's a lifestyle.

[blahblahblah567]

man this shyts tight.. i never come on this side of 12oz much.. i dont no why i came here today...kabar... i dont no if u have....but write a book....

[KaBar2]

Stretch called me again last night from Mississippi. He has found a job with a local electrical contractor as a sort or combination laborer and go-fer. For the last few days he's been trenching for underground untilities conduits. He's in a small town about ten miles from Amory, and has found a trailer for rent. He's considering settling down for the first time in twenty years. This would be a very positive step for Stretch. He's in his late thirties, and it's time he started thinking about becoming a little more stable. For one thing, he has almost always worked temporary, day-labor type jobs, and without paying Social Security taxes he won't get much SS when he hits 65. Working for cash makes a lot of sense when you're on the road and you need fifty bucks to get where you want to go, but in the long run, it is an unwise way to live. I lived like this too, between 1970 and 1976, when I joined the Marines. I wasn't really worried about Social Security or retirement back then (what 20-year-old is?) but in retrospect I REALLY wish I had stopped drinking and smoking and started investing that money in mutual funds. But, alas, I was an "anarchist revolutionary." What did I care about the capitalist system or investing? By the time I was 65, we would have "hung the last priest with the guts of the last capitalist." (sigh) Idiocy. I have no excuse. I should have had better sense. I was a New Left anarchist numbskull.

 

If Stretch chooses to settle down and start working steadily, and invests fifty dollars a week at 6% interest from now until he reaches 65, he will retire with about $219,000. That's not great, but it's not bad. It is a shitload more money than he will have if he does NOT prepare for retirement. And, of course, if his investments get more than 6% his return will be commensurately greater.

 

There's nothing wrong with bumming around and just enjoying life. But at some point, a person needs to start thinking long term.

[KaBar2]

Error

[swedish erotica]

This is a retarded question, but i really want to know the answer. Not really relating to trainhopping, but just trains in general.

 

How come in mostlines there will be a combination of like csx and union pacific power, ect ect?

[Pfffffffffft]

Stretch called me again last night from Mississippi. He has found a job with a local electrical contractor as a sort or combination laborer and go-fer. For the last few days he's been trenching for underground untilities conduits. He's in a small town about ten miles from Amory, and has found a trailer for rent. He's considering settling down for the first time in twenty years. This would be a very positive step for Stretch. He's in his late thirties, and it's time he started thinking about becoming a little more stable. For one thing, he has almost always worked temporary, day-labor type jobs, and without paying Social Security taxes he won't get much SS when he hits 65. Working for cash makes a lot of sense when you're on the road and you need fifty bucks to get where you want to go, but in the long run, it is an unwise way to live. I lived like this too, between 1970 and 1976, when I joined the Marines. I wasn't really worried about Social Security or retirement back then (what 20-year-old is?) but in retrospect I REALLY wish I had stopped drinking and smoking and started investing that money in mutual funds. But, alas, I was an "anarchist revolutionary." What did I care about the capitalist system or investing? By the time I was 65, we would have "hung the last priest with the guts of the last capitalist." (sigh) Idiocy. I have no excuse. I should have had better sense. I was a New Left anarchist numbskull.

 

If Stretch chooses to settle down and start working steadily, and invests fifty dollars a week at 6% interest from now until he reaches 65, he will retire with about $219,000. That's not great, but it's not bad. It is a shitload more money than he will have if he does NOT prepare for retirement. And, of course, if his investments get more than 6% his return will be commensurately greater.

 

There's nothing wrong with bumming around and just enjoying life. But at some point, a person needs to start thinking long term.

 

 

 

one day strech will catch that ramblin fever and hop out. im sure thats the hardest thing to get past.