Hobos, Tramps and Homeless Bums

[shai]

I'm considering doing the hobo thing this summer. Probably headed north out of Oakland to Seattle with stops at the usual spots (Sac, Portland) then back.

 

I hopped a few trains in my early 20s. Lightweight stuff, nothing long distance and definitely not on the fly. I mainly want to do this because I'm not getting any younger (I'm 37) and my housing situation is looking kind of grim in the not too distant future.

 

I'm not too concerned about it, I'm pretty resourceful and have lived a life that would have killed most people. What I am looking for is people who have more experience and a level head (in other words, no serious partiers, oogles or wingnuts) that will be in the Bay around the beginning of summer who have plans to head north. I have references if that helps. I probably won't be traveling with much money...in fact, it's almost certain that I'll be broke (besides my EBT card.) I can probably put you up somewhere while you're in town, though.

 

I know this probably sounds corny as hell but I've had pretty good luck meeting folks off 12 oz and some of you sound like you'd be good to travel with.

[InfraRed]

Watch out for Kbar if you just wear whatever jeans you come across.

I think there has been another jeans commercial featuring trainhopping in the last couple of years.

 

On the subject of their loading method; this is a detail that rarely gets discussed. I have caught a few boxcars on the fly and until now was unaware I wasn't practicing the correct method. I can only imagine how many other self-guided rail riders suffer from the same lack of knowledge.

[KaBar2]

Catching trains on the fly is extremely dangerous, as well as mostly unnecessary. If one takes the time to learn where and when the trains stop (for a variety of reasons) you can board the train while it's standing (i.e. "not rolling.")

 

Even when a train is rolling at "walking speed" ("No More Than 4"--miles per hour) it is still moving at about 5.8 feet per second. (Let's call it six to make things easier.)

 

Our typical boxcar is say 85 feet long. So if you hit the door College-Boy Swing Style, and slip, you will fall about 4-1/2 to 5 feet in a sitting position and land on your ass with your lower legs across the nearest track, probably with your bell rung pretty good. The car is moving, of course, as you begin your fall. Before you hit the ground the trailing trucks (the set of wheels) have moved about six feet closer. Bam, you hit--they are twelve feet closer. You start to try to recover and get a purchase on the crushed rock ballast and scramble backwards, now they are 18 feet closer. You finally start trying to get out of the way, they are 24 feet closer, you're pulling your legs towards you, they are 30 feet closer.

 

You have exactly TWO SECONDS LEFT to get your ass out from underneath that goddamned train.

 

If you are wearing your pack or a bindle, if you are carrying a guitar, if you have a broken leg, or trying to help your dog or anything else, you are about to have your legs SEVERED FROM YOUR BODY by the on-coming trailing truck.

 

 

DO. NOT. CATCH. MOVING. RAILCARS.

BOARD TRAINS WHEN THEY ARE STANDING. CATCHING ON THE FLY IS FOR SAPS.

[Balthazaar]

Penn-Mary all day though!

 

ain't that the truth. no problems going northwards through Bmore though...

[rolling nowhere]

Catching trains on the fly is extremely dangerous, as well as mostly unnecessary. If one takes the time to learn where and when the trains stop (for a variety of reasons) you can board the train while it's standing (i.e. "not rolling.")

 

 

 

DO. NOT. CATCH. MOVING. RAILCARS.

BOARD TRAINS WHEN THEY ARE STANDING. CATCHING ON THE FLY IS FOR SAPS.

 

 

that first part is why maybe half the time ive gotten on a train its not even at a yard. because ill go find a better place where a train stops and theres no bull etc etc. id never even consider a rolling boxcar. id rather wait for something else. if it has a ladder im down if its not too fast. although my foot hit the ladder wrong and i got dragged once. no bueno. im a big dude with a heavy pack in other words im not sprinting with that shit on haha...

[rolling nowhere]

I'm considering doing the hobo thing this summer. Probably headed north out of Oakland to Seattle with stops at the usual spots (Sac, Portland) then back.

 

I hopped a few trains in my early 20s. Lightweight stuff, nothing long distance and definitely not on the fly. I mainly want to do this because I'm not getting any younger (I'm 37) and my housing situation is looking kind of grim in the not too distant future.

 

I'm not too concerned about it, I'm pretty resourceful and have lived a life that would have killed most people. What I am looking for is people who have more experience and a level head (in other words, no serious partiers, oogles or wingnuts) that will be in the Bay around the beginning of summer who have plans to head north. I have references if that helps. I probably won't be traveling with much money...in fact, it's almost certain that I'll be broke (besides my EBT card.) I can probably put you up somewhere while you're in town, though.

 

I know this probably sounds corny as hell but I've had pretty good luck meeting folks off 12 oz and some of you sound like you'd be good to travel with.

 

sounds like a pretty chill trip. if you need any info holler.

[shai]

What I mainly need to know is two things-

 

-Can I catch out of Roseville then go all the way to Seattle directly? I've heard that the easiest way to get to Seattle is to head to SLC, then catch the train that heads northwest by way of Idaho...it sounds scenic but it's a little out of my way.

 

-How easy is it to scam the commuter rail between Seattle and PDX?

 

I'm not dead set on riding trains, but I'm probably going to have a bike with me so hitching won't be as easy.

[scaryletters]

What I mainly need to know is two things-

 

-Can I catch out of Roseville then go all the way to Seattle directly? I've heard that the easiest way to get to Seattle is to head to SLC, then catch the train that heads northwest by way of Idaho...it sounds scenic but it's a little out of my way.

 

-How easy is it to scam the commuter rail between Seattle and PDX?

 

I'm not dead set on riding trains, but I'm probably going to have a bike with me so hitching won't be as easy.

 

This is about as easy as it gets man, don't be fucking around with utah, that's a massive detour for no good reason. Go trot out to Roseville, bag yourself the Hinkle train. Lots of empty lumber, lots of empty canadian grainers, pretty hard to miss. Usually pulls out a little after midnight. It'll end up hauling all the way into canada via hinkle and spokane, so get off in portland. Hopping to seattle from pdx is easy as hell, or, take the extremely cheap CAP bus to olympia and hitch from there. That's what I do anyways.

 

and I'm fairly sure there's a straight shot to seattle, but it comes out of the port of oakland and only on sunday evenings, so time that shit. I've caught it before out of oakland, but jumped off in roseville to continue east.

[rolling nowhere]

This is about as easy as it gets man, don't be fucking around with utah, that's a massive detour for no good reason. Go trot out to Roseville, bag yourself the Hinkle train. Lots of empty lumber, lots of empty canadian grainers, pretty hard to miss. Usually pulls out a little after midnight. It'll end up hauling all the way into canada via hinkle and spokane, so get off in portland. Hopping to seattle from pdx is easy as hell, or, take the extremely cheap CAP bus to olympia and hitch from there. That's what I do anyways.

 

 

he beat me to it.

 

do that stuff.

 

id not bring the bike and find one when you get there. shit is gonna be hell climbing through strings of cars or sneaking (trying to and failing) around. or maybe you could play it off OOOPS i thought this was a new mtn bike trail. my bad!

 

 

theres a faster way to portland but id only do that in a pig in a bucket.

[shai]

Thanks for the tips. Everything I've heard has made me think twice about catching out of Oakland...the bike is definitely optional but I'm not a big fan of hoofing it around cities I'm not at home in.

[rolling nowhere]

roseville is easier. but oakland aint bad. id go up to roseville you can get trains going to/through portland all day no problem.

[flatcar]

Since this person seems to be dillusional, I will set the record straight. I don't ride freight trains anymore, as I have a real job. I've never claimed to be a hobo, nor will I ever be, I enjoy the comforts in life that a job brings me. I don't have to eat out of dumpsters or beg for food or money. I have ridden many times, I just choose not to anymore. What's really funny about our buddy's is he thinks he saw me San Jaun Capistrano, I've never been there, and Tex is in no position to go anywhere. So you folks can take as you wish. If read this guy's rants and see how his mind works and then decide.

[Rail Road Roller]

whats good with Appalachia?

[steamtrain6868]

Re: "New Chicago Railroad Map with yard locations"

 

http://transportation.northwestern.edu/images/ChiRlCorridors.jpg

was created by CREATE a plan to consolidate Chicagos railroad yards and routes by the city and the railroads.

[steamtrain6868]

Re: Perryville MD alterntive to Baltimore Bayview for N Bound riders

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=Perryville+MD&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Perryville,+Cecil,+Maryland&gl=us&ll=39.55892,-76.074207&spn=0.011646,0.01929&z=16

 

Perryville MD is Served by MARC Commuter trains during rush hour. The WYE north EAST of the Station has NS south trains slow down (Before the engine makes the curve) to go to Enola in Harrisburg. Trains heading north to Newark DE(SEPTA TO PHILLY) and Wilmington DE(ALSO SEPTA)(Grain Trains to Delmarva,Coal Trains to seaside power plant. Cross in front of Police station on Otsego Street. Further up the tracks there are Block Signals. If this fails you can use CT transit to Elkton DE which in turn goes to Newark DE which is were the SEPTA Station is. SEPTA of course goes to Philly and New York City via Trenton. Perryville also has a huge Veterans Hospital with a decent chapel and cafeteria. Bus info---

http://www.ccgov.org/uploads/Aging/WEBSITE__PERRYVILLE_NEW_9-22-101.pdf

[KaBar2]

Boxcarro---

 

If you saw Tex, it must have been quite some time ago. I'm thinking you must have seen somebody else--engineer's caps are pretty common among tramps. I don't know that Tex rode the West Coast all that much even back in the day.

 

Nice van and home-made travel trailer, but doesn't it attract quite a bit of attention? I don't like talking to cops enough to run a rig like that. I'm a little more inclined to pass on through without making a ripple in anybody's karmic conciousness.

[rolling nowhere]

I enjoy the comforts in life that a job brings me. I don't have to eat out of dumpsters or beg for food or money.

 

the fuck is wrong with eating from a dumpster? i spent 7 bucks on pizza tonight when i could have eaten free pizza if i wasnt lazy about it. chump status! i do it even when i have plenty of money. ill make 200 bucks in a couple hours and still ride my bike 25 miles round trip to dumpster food.

no one has to beg. sure most people out there do it a lot maybe they arent motivated enough and are just too fuckin lazy to do otherwise. i dont know. i dont care. just agitates me when people lump all that bullshit in with traveling/riding trains. thats some last resort shit for me. i think ive asked someone for money maybe 3 times when traveling. ive walked 20-30 miles because i dont need to ask someone for 2 bucks to ride a bus. ive got fuckin feet i put myself in that situation its my problem ill solve it. yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaah. now there have been times where someone came up and was like..hey you want this burger man? hey here take this money. always appreciated. but begging? NAH

[rolling nowhere]

 

wild irish rose is gross but thats a pretty cool guitar. and jazz chorus is a sweet amp.

[Balthazaar]

the fuck is wrong with eating from a dumpster? i spent 7 bucks on pizza tonight when i could have eaten free pizza if i wasnt lazy about it. chump status! i do it even when i have plenty of money. ill make 200 bucks in a couple hours and still ride my bike 25 miles round trip to dumpster food.

no one has to beg. sure most people out there do it a lot maybe they arent motivated enough and are just too fuckin lazy to do otherwise. i dont know. i dont care. just agitates me when people lump all that bullshit in with traveling/riding trains. thats some last resort shit for me. i think ive asked someone for money maybe 3 times when traveling. ive walked 20-30 miles because i dont need to ask someone for 2 bucks to ride a bus. ive got fuckin feet i put myself in that situation its my problem ill solve it. yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaah. now there have been times where someone came up and was like..hey you want this burger man? hey here take this money. always appreciated. but begging? NAH

 

I eat better (more food, healthier food) by dumpstering than I when I pay for food!! And saving all that money let me just buy a smaller packing, lighter sleeping bag tha I hope to put to good use asap..

[KaBar2]

Flatcar is friends with Collinwood Kid, up in Cleveland. Trust me, he's eaten plenty of dumpstered chow if he eats at Collinwood's place.

 

There's nothing wrong with eating dumpster chow (as long as you do it correctly) and there's also nothing wrong with buying your chow. There's also nothing wrong with flying a sign, if you really need the help. Now, stealing from people, well that's a different issue.

 

Stealing is not cool, and one should not expect mercy if you get caught. I don't steal from other people (well, other than a ride on trains, maybe) and I get pretty pissed about it if anybody steals from me. I don't have a whole lot, but what I do have is mine. I might share what I have, if I feel like it, but if somebody tries to take what little I have by force, what happens to him is his own fault.

 

I'll go a long way out of my way to avoid any altercation, but if somebody makes me fight, he has bought his own ticket.

[Balthazaar]

don't steal from people, steal from walmart

[KaBar2]

Bathazar, nothing you could possibly steal from Wal-Mart could be worth spending one minute in jail, to say nothing of having a criminal record, etc. But each to his own. Life has a tendency to teach us stuff the hard way.

 

Worse than that is that all the bad shit you did when you were a kid comes back to haunt you as an adult. At least it does if you grow up and actually mature and become an adult. Some people are 45 years old chronologically, but still about 14 or 15 emotionally. Kind of sad, but "oh well."

 

Simplify your life. Don't steal shit.

[flatcar]

"I ain't got nothing, but you can always have half" -- Chico Marx

 

Yes I have eaten at Collinwood's. and yes I have eaten from dumpsters. I just feel better buying my food and knowing what it has gone through. There is a reason they throw food out. here in Massachusetts, most food establishments are required to lock or otherwise make their dumpsters inaccesible to people. The reason being if you eat that dumpster food and get sick, you can sue the establishment that threw it away. It's the unlimited liability crap that we face here in MA.

 

Stealing from Walmart? Kabar is right, the crap you are stealing from them ain't worth the years in jail you will get. Wal-Mart will rip you a new one, just to set an example.

[xen]

I am for making an honest buck but we all do what we have to to survive. I have stolen many flashlights, batteries, and assorted other items from wal-mart and don't have the decency to feel bad about it. While I agree it is better in the long run to pay for your stuff, if you can get over on wal-mart, do that shit. The 70 year old greeter is neither physically capable of nor legally able to detain you. Run for it. Maybe fill out an application beforehand. Just saying.

 

I won't mention the self checkout...

[flatcar]

Yes there are many ways to rip off a store. BTW They CAN detain you legally. (at least in MA) until the police arrive. Thay can't search you but they can hold you. Of course the greeters that Wal Mart puts up , ie elderly or mentally or physically challenged., really couldnt put up a fight. Pay for it, don't steal it. I knew a girl and her bf who would carry receipts from Walmart and then keep going through the check out area with stuff they didnt pay for. the greeter never stopped them. They were finally caught via CCTV and had ripped off over 8K of stuff. They are doing 5 -7 now.

[xen]

Of course you are going to get busted eventually. If for no other reason than the law of averages. You'll probably get caught up by a bull if you stay on the trains long enough.

That shoplifting detector beeping doesn't warrant probable cause. I know we are dealing with technicalities here. No one is going to take a shoplifting beef to the supreme court. So ya, bottom line:

Work is out there if you want it. Jail is out there if you are willing to risk it. Cashing in on a disposable society is always an option.

Done 18 months for 4 cans of paint, 25 blank cd.s and a 12" sandwich. Shoulda paid for that shit.

[Balthazaar]

I have been pulled off trains and caught for other things but never for five-finger discounting something. I steal alot of gear (jackets, tent, pack cover, sleeping bag liners, camp fuel, etc.) and the only karmic problems I've experienced thus far is that i tend to lose alot of the things that I pick up... easy come easy go i guess. Of course I recognize that getting caught is inevitable, but the opportunist in me most often eclipses it..

[shai]

That's pretty much where I'm at. I'm definitely not one to judge, much less take take any kind of moral high ground but I don't steal anymore unless it's from a store and ridiculously easy to do so with minimal risk.

 

Since I participate in the capitalist/consumer thing as little as humanly possible I get a lot of what I want or need for free or for trade, which obviates the whole "come-up" aspect.

[scaryletters]

I steal as much as possible, even when I don't need to, and I advise everyone to do the same. I'm not talking about theft from individuals, but theft from the government and theft from corporate entities are justifiable actions in my book. Both these structures are fighting tooth and nail to exploit you every single day you wake up. Hell, look at the new inheritance tax laws, they're even trying to exploit you when you're dead! Fuck em, fuck every last one of em.

[kortesoner]

Mad agreement with the above statement, Our entire world is run by money and it`s all a fucked up game. If you`re born into a third world country with no money for food or oppurtunity to work, then your fucking dead. Every day i see a new ad telling me to buy some new shit, when really what they`re selling is already planned to break so that you`ll have to buy more. I`ll paint a bank, smash the bank windows while I`m at it, rack from wal mart cause they`re a corporation out to make money and nothing else. they`re not there for YOU, you are there for THEM. They buy out all small businesses, put them outta business, then you`re added to their list of customers-making them more money.

If the big deal is how long you`ll spend in jail, then that`s out of your hands. YOU never asked to have to work in a SHIT system which creates more and more useless jobs to afford living- that suck out your very essence of being. Think about it: how many jobs are created only for the purpose of MAKING MONEY- marketing, wall street investments, FUCK FOR CHRISTS SAKE THE PRIVITIZATION OF PRISONS MEANS THAT FOR EVERY PRISONER THE SHARE HOLDERS ARE MAKING MONEY- THEY ARE PROFITING OFF PEOPLE BEING IN JAIL, NOT FROM HELPING PEOPLE AND HELPING TO INVESTIGATE THE SOCIAL REASONS WHY PEOPLE END UP IN JAIL TO BEGIN WITH.

So if you don`t want to end up in jail then don`t steal. But if you don`t give a fuck about large corporations or money, then rack up.

For the record i stick to what i see as the rules of what not to paint- houses, mom and pop shops, churches, and school.

I`ve also only ever stole from a PERSON once- i later told them and gave the shit back.

And finally, i rack paint.