Hobos, Tramps and Homeless Bums

[rolling nowhere]

[KaBar2]

Rolling Nowhere! How ya been, tramp? Long time no see.

[enteruncreativename]

This morning I was in a freight bench and I had 3 bums walk past me. The one big guy in the bunch was carrying a freight sign that apparently had became their sign.

[KaBar2]

The word "bum" is an insult, EUCN. You probably don't know that though. "Tramps" is okay. "Hobos" is okay. "Bums" is fightin' words. Be cautious calling a trainhopper a bum. It's not cool, but I'm sure you meant no disrespect.

[xen]

Sitting out at the picnic table at work this morning and heard a CSX headed toward Terra Haute air up. I haven't wanted to quit that bad in a while.

I hear ya, babe. Just not today. Soon, but not today.

[rolling nowhere]

Rolling Nowhere! How ya been, tramp? Long time no see.

Alive. Mostly haha. Trying to get motivated to go ride trains for awhile because Im bored and not doing anything particularly worth while. I also live right next to a signal where a ton of trains stop on the mainline. So I get to listen to them stop n go all day and night taunting me. I can hear one rolling by right now.

[KaBar2]

John “Stretch” Wilson

 

2008 National Hobo King, Rail-riding Expert, End-to-End Leash

 

Companion with Burlington Dog, Crumb Boss Time and Again,

 

Friend to Hundreds across the USA, and Towering Jack-of-Many-Trades

 

with a Heart of Gold will be buried in Britt, Iowa during the 116th National

 

Hobo Convention. Plans are as follows:

 

 

Monday, August 10 to Wednesday, August 12 - Friends may sign the container in which Stretch’s remains will be placed for burial. Please see Connecticut Tootsie

 

 

Friday, August 12 @ 9:00 AM - The container holding Stretch’s ashes will be at his headstone and honored with all other westbound hobos at the Hobo Memorial Service in Evergreen Cemetery.

 

 

Saturday, August 13 @ 2:45 PM – All are welcome to attend the Christian Burial Service for Stretch at the National Hobo Cemetery. Later that afternoon, Stretch will be remembered during the 4:00 PM Mass at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, 2343 Navy Avenue in Duncan, Iowa. This is five minutes from Britt, just off Route 18.

 

Connecticut Tootsie

[KaBar2]

We buried Stretch Wilson on Saturday, August 14, 2016. As per our agreement with his mother, he received a Catholic burial service (performed by the Catholic priest from St. Weneslas' Church in Duncan, Iowa, five miles east of Britt.) He also received a traditional tramp burial. We wet down the grave and the urn with warm Beast Ice and closed the grave by each tramp present dropping hand-fulls of dirt into the grave. Indiana Hobo, Tattoo Slim and I dug the grave on Friday and we finished closing it on Saturday after everybody who wanted to do so got an opportunity to contribute a handful of dirt. There were about fifty tramps in attendance, pretty much every tramp that knew Stretch and could get to Britt. It was a good funeral. I also attended the Catholic mass said in his honor, along with about ten tramps from the crowd at the graveside service.

 

I figure my bro Stretch is hanging out in a jungle in the Great Beyond with Burlington by his side, tipping a couple of Milwaukee's Best Ice and having a good laugh at our expense. Ride easy, brother.

[enteruncreativename]

The word "bum" is an insult, EUCN. You probably don't know that though. "Tramps" is okay. "Hobos" is okay. "Bums" is fightin' words. Be cautious calling a trainhopper a bum. It's not cool, but I'm sure you meant no disrespect.

 

Correct and I apologize.

 

Last night in the bench as I walked into the same bench a woman was yelling rape. I simply walked away as several people came over and talked about how she had been yelling for a while. There appeared to be no one else in the yard and shortly there after a couple cop cars raided the parking lot. Luckily I was on foot far away when they got there.

[KaBar2]

Correct and I apologize.

 

Last night in the bench as I walked into the same bench a woman was yelling rape. I simply walked away as several people came over and talked about how she had been yelling for a while. There appeared to be no one else in the yard and shortly there after a couple cop cars raided the parking lot. Luckily I was on foot far away when they got there.

 

There are a lot of disturbed people who are homeless and/or riding trains. There is a distinct dichotomy between people who have made "being homeless" a sort of career and true rail riding tramps. There is somewhat of a "crossover" between true rail riding tramps and rubber tramps, especially between train riders and the hard-core "van dwellers" (also spelled "vandwellers" by some people.) As tramps get older, the thrill of riding the rails loses a lot of its allure, but the freewheeling lifestyle does not. Not too many of the down-and-out "homeless careerists" ever make the jump to a somewhat more normal lifestyle. A large percentage of the homeless are mentally ill and they are self-medicating their mental illness symptoms with street drugs and alcohol. Once addicted, it's really difficult for them to make the change back to a more-or-less normal life.

 

If you thought that the woman yelling rape was an actual rape victim, then you should get her some help, call the cops, whatever you can do. One of the biggest problems for homeless people is that the police hardly ever take the crimes committed against them seriously. It's entirely possible that the woman you saw actually was raped, but the conditions she persists on living in make criminal actions against her awfully likely. (Not that that makes any difference morally or legally. Legally she should be accorded the exact same care as a wealthy person from the rich side of town, but realistically? Realistically, if she gets blackout drunk every day of her life, or shoots up heroin, or works part time as a hooker, the cops are not going to take her claims very seriously.

 

She might have been raped twenty years ago and is still traumatized over it. There's no way for you to know if she was actually raped or if she is some lunatic borderline trying to get attention. I'm glad somebody called the cops to get her some help.

 

I wouldn't be a police officer for anything. What a fucked up job. Tons of danger, tons of responsibility, tons of vulnerability and the pay pretty much sucks, not to mention everybody in society resents you. What a lousy job.

[KaBar2]

Here's a photo of the Old Heads. These old guys were a lot tougher than they look. They're all steam-train-era tramps.

 

http://uni.edu/carrchl/wp/allaboard/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2014/12/Figure-291-1024x666.jpg

[One Man Banned]

Good point about the trauma, hadn't thought of that exactly. If a woman's yelling rape I hope that anyone would take notice, and some kind of action.

[KaBar2]

John Wilson - Stretch was a good friend of mine . Very grateful I got to know and call him a friend . He will be missed . Tattoo Slim is a stand up dude . Spent some time in the yards with those two - learning experience

 

Yeah, I'm missing Stretch and Burlington too. And you are absolutely correct, Tattoo Slim *is* a stand up tramp. He was the guy who was bringing Stretch food and water towards the end. I can't understand why Stretch didn't take better care of himself.

[xen]

Hey @KaBar. Retirement should be coming up soon? Are you gonna full time or 40 mile it?

[KaBar2]

Yup. Retirement is coming up in exactly 30 days. I've still got a bunch of stuff to take care of after I am blessedly no longer required to go to WORK every day. I've got a ton of possessions of which I have to dispose, and I have to sell the house, two motorcycles (not running) a Jeep Cherokee and a Toyota. After I get all that shit done, then I can go travel. I think I'm going to rubber tramp for a while. I've got a paid-off Ford E250 van I'm building out with a bed, etc. in it. Once I find a good, safe place to park it with some friends up in Minneapolis, then I'll probably go ride some trains. I haven't been up on the High Line in a long time. I'd like to go see it again.

[xen]

@KaBar I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous but you've earned it so I can equally say I genuinely happy for you. I don't see anything wrong with rubber tramping, I'd love to do it again. 24 years until I can retire if I don't just drop out again.

 

Take a camera and do your best to keep this thread and a bit of hope for us home bums alive. I love this thread and can't wait to hear some road stories. You gonna run for Hobo King?

[Fist 666]

Agreed. Definitely looking forward to more stories from you, Kabar.

 

Do you have a decent digital camera or would you be interested in one? I feel like there are some pretty affordable compact and rugged (water/dust/shock/cold proof) ones available now, I'd bet we could crowdfund one pretty easily here. Enough of us came together to help Keep It Rail's adventures when he needed it.

[xen]

oh ya. a decent camera is cheap these days. I haven't hopped since 13 but even then the camera on my phone was pretty good. I'd be more than willing to kick on a camera fund. Especially if it means keeping this thread alive.

 

If you're headed to Minneapolis (i assume the high line?) from TX. Plot a route through STL and i'll buy you a beer or 12. I owe you.

[xen]

PM me if you think it could happen. If not, maybe hook up in Britt 2018

[KaBar2]

Xen and Fist666-- Twenty-three days to go! From the looks of things I'm going to be tied up here in Houston for a while getting rid of shit. No idea how long it will take me to dispose of all the crap I've accumulated. It's the usual thing: when you're trying to buy something, the seller acts like it's made out of gold, but when you're trying to sell, all your stuff is dog shit. I think Sally Ann is going to get a big bump in donations.

 

I've got an iPhone 6 with a pretty good camera (it takes videos too) but I don't really know how to use it. I need to find out for sure. Once I finally sell the house here I'm pulling the pin and headed north. I love Texas culture and Texas law, but it is too damned hot down here in the summer. My plan is to live in my van and just go from event to event for a while. In the spring and summer there is a sort of circuit of tramp gatherings and hobo gatherings. I'd like to go to the West Coast Hobo Gathering if it's still being held up in Black Butte. I'd like to go back to Amory, MS and see Miss Charlotte. There are several hobo gatherings I wouldn't mind seeing. My original plan was to just catch out and ride trains, but health problems and so on might make that difficult. I'll just have to see how things go. If I have a good, safe place to park the van, then I can go 40-mile it and use the van as a base of operations.

 

Tuck and Jewell have encouraged me to come visit them up in Minnie and I might do that, too. I have a cousin in Wisconsin, and good friends in Washington State, Oregon, and Montana. It's going to take a while just to get used to not having to work. Anyway, I'm definitely looking forward to retirement.

[Fist 666]

Well if your travels bring you near Denver, you've got a place to sleep and shower if you need it. This thread is probably the single greatest thread on the whole of the internet, anything I can do to repay the wisdom and entertainment found here.

[KaBar2]

Well if your travels bring you near Denver, you've got a place to sleep and shower if you need it. This thread is probably the single greatest thread on the whole of the internet, anything I can do to repay the wisdom and entertainment found here.

Thank you for your kind words, but I hardly think this is the best thread on the internet. It's really odd, because as a kid I was hard-headed as shit, and I did not like to take advice or any kind of direction from anybody, although my parents sure tried. Some of my uncles that I thought were fascist reactionaries back in the day sure seem like they were a lot smarter than I thought, now. But I think it was Old Rufe who influenced me the most. He used to tell me, frequently, "You ain't no tourist. This is serious business. Act like a professional." I thought he was a little crazy back then, but it all makes so much more sense now. Another thing he used to say is, "All we got is honor, and if we ain't got honor, we got nothin'." It didn't mean all that much to me then, but it means more now.

[xen]

@KaBar I live out in the sticks but only a few miles outside of STL near the CSX line that runs from Rose Lake to Vincennes. Trains stop irreguraly right where I work. I always say I am one bad day from my ride waiting.

 

If you need a place to stash the van and a ride to or from Rose Lake or any STL yard, your stuff is safe and shotgun protected. As good as you being with it. I've walked the wrong side of the law but I do have a sense of right and wrong that is on par with yours.

A couch to crash, shower and a hot meal on the pass through is also a standing offer. Hell, I'd take the couch.

 

 

This thread allowed this to happen and I'd be honored to meet the man.

There's and handful of Markals in it for you if you are bribable :)

[xen]

[KaBar2]

I've still got quite a few things to do before I'm truly free of the Shackles. I have a houseful of shit to dispose of. I have to sell the house and a couple of cars. I gave my ratty-ass Harley to my nephew. He's all happy, and says he's going to re-build it. I used to take him for Harley rides when he was about eleven or so, back in 1989. He's like 38. The perfect age to want to re-build a rat Harley into a thing of beauty.

 

I'd love to meet you guys. It's weird--it's like I've had a fifteen-year relationship with people I've never even met.

 

Once I get done with the "chores," maybe I can come kick it for a while. We can sit down by the mainline and hoist a few beers. "Retirement" is a funny way to put it. I feel like I'm getting out of jail after a long stretch. Back to Real Life. Fifteen days to go. Tomorrow I give notice I'm quitting, officially. It's kind of like, once you do that, you're committed to a course of action. No backing out. No fishtailing. I'm pullin' the pin. Last day: November the 6th.

[xen]

Hoisting a few on the main would be cool as hell. I've never kicked it with someone that actually knew what was going on. Me and my boy ytry (RIP) took this thread and ran with it. We'd have never known about the Rail Atlas, about scanners, how to read a train, had the balls to talk the workers, known what the bulls drove, any of that. I studied this shit for a couple of years.

 

Even reading this, we made every rookie mistake possible. You'd have beat our ass and said fuck off rookies. I mean we were pacing a stinker t 20 mph our 1st hop.

 

Not far from one of the worst missions I've been to was in Nashville we found a switchbox (metal box tnear the switch?) where a tramp painted Birmingham to the right, Chatanooga to the left, a coal train stopped about 1/4 mile up the tracks toward Chatanooga. We ran up as fast as we could, not knowing it was going to sit there for another hour and climbed in 3 cars from the back.

 

We sat there studying the Rail Atlas, convinced at any moment we were going to get chased off, plotting escape routes and wondering if we just fucked up. By all rights, we did. we had 2 meals worth of food, no water, a half gallon of whiskey, and no clue.

 

The train airs up and we take off just as it starts snowing. Fortunately I 'borrowed a blanket but turns out that though dirty, a coal car is a comfortable ride. Better than the back of a pickup. We could have a conversation at normal volume, roll a smoke etc.

 

The train pulls into the TVA and we know we don't want to be there so we bail in the middle of mowhere, 35 miles out of Chatanooga and we start walking. it's warmer down there and the no water thing is coming into play. we make about 11 miles up the tracks to a small town and crash under the bridge. we wake up sometime in the middle of the night and see a Burger King still open, go to get water, and get hassled by the local gentry. They ask if we were on the train and as I said no, my guy says yes. we get told to get back under the bridge and if they see us in their town again, we are going to jail. Much whiskey and a nap later we start down the tracks again.

 

A train passes us and slows way the hell down and the dude driving the train throws us each 2 bottles of water. Best, coldest water I ever drank and maybe a half mile later, a train going our way stops for no apparent reason. we climb on and immediately headed back out. rode that bad boy all the way through ATL to JAX FL. 19 hours across GA.

 

No reason we should have survived but that started the next 3 years of getting better at what we did

[xen]

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/living-on-the-streets-of-oakland/Content?oid=4037320

 

My road dog ytry. I gave him that name and he ran with it. Somewhere in an Atmosphere lyric is "You can't do what I do so why try?" And it's a fact.

I came off the road and home bumming wasn't his style. Last time I saw him was giving him a ride to the Amtrack station so he could get to Chicago. 4 days later I get a call that he was in LA and loving life. He found his people.

 

Didn't hear from him again for 5 years. Nobody did. Not his mom, not me, not his brother, anyone. He liked his booze and loved his heroin so we figured he was a john doe in LA and nobody gave a fuck.

 

Not ytry. he made a life under that bridge. He had electric and TV. His hustle was jacking copper, bit into a live wire and asking god "what the fuck?" before he hit the ground. Left behind a girlfriend and a 6 month old baby boy that no one here knew existed. The theorists say dude that owned the building was tired of the rats and turned the power on, I say he got sloppy and paid for it. Seen him have a few close calls. I know i am right. Just passed 1 year since he fried. His 'buddies' split and left him. waited a half hour to send an anonymous tip with a general idea where he was.

 

I get it. you OD, your ass gets dumped in an alley. Common knowledge and accepted. I'm not mad at them at all. Life on the streets isn't pretty.

 

Anyone in Oakland know where this bridge is? any info would be appreciated. JT is the one on the bike in the article.

[KaBar2]

I retired November 6. I've been busting ass trying to take care of a million different things ever since--talking to Social Security, trying to sell a car, giving away possessions, furniture, canned food, etc., etc. I'm getting to be on a first name basis with the guys who work the Donations door at Salvation Army. I spent a few nights in Sally Ann missions and I bought a bunch of stuff at their Thrift Stores, so now it's my turn to give. I gave about twenty 5-gallon square bucket containers of wheat, corn, rice and beans to Open Door Mission a couple of weeks ago.

 

The Straight Life kind of creeps up on you, little by little. Twenty-two years ago, I knew that if I didn't get a straight job that paid well and allowed me to build up a retirement fund I was going to be in deep shit at age sixty-six. I chose to go to nursing school. It was a good job that paid well, pretty clean, not too dangerous, indoors in the air-conditioning and offered good retirement benefits. Nursing had it's downsides for sure, but it was good to me and my family. I went from unskilled or semi-skilled industrial labor to a "professional" career. It allowed me to provide a decent living for my family and to send my daughter to college.

 

Nursing was a shit ton better than getting burned every day, breathing that stinking-ass cancer welding smoke, doing welding and heavy equipment repair in the stinky, filthy dirty, hot-and-humid-as-fuck Texas weather. No more coming home dead tired covered in dirt and filth. No more swinging a sledge hammer in the Texas summer heat at 43 years old. I got a two-year degree as an R.N. and I did twenty years as an adolescent psychiatric nurse. It was hard as shit, but at least I wasn't laying in the mud welding on some goddamned bulldozer.

 

I think I helped some kids. At least, I hope I did. I had a fucked up childhood and teenaged years, and I tried to help every kid I came into contact with. I did my twenty, and then I retired. Thank God.

 

As soon as I finish wrapping up all this bullshit with the house, I'm headed back out on the road for a while. I'm sick of the Straight Life, going to work every day, having to kow-tow to people with whom I do not agree just because they are "bosses." No more politically correct BULLSHIT. No more having to play a part with some jackass who is trying to kill himself when he has everything a person could possibly desire.

 

I AM FUCKING DONE WITH THE STRAIGHT-ARROW LIFE. From here on out, I am doing exactly whatever I want to do. Anybody who doesn't like it can go get fucked, because I am absolutely, completely DONE.

[xen]

@KaBar2 I can only imagine how liberating throwing those shackles must be.

 

I've had many Sally meals and beds over the course of a lifetime. They are a decent outfit as far as charity goes. Can't knock another man's hustle so i get they have to live too. There's not a whole lot of help for men out there. The Sally in Springfield, IL made us get food stamps and 'donate' them, the prices on the shit they sell is set in stone. I don't see why donated items' prices are non negotiable but whatever.

 

I've said since the second night I stayed there that if I ever got to a point where I could, I'd happily give the Medford Gospel Mission a grip of funds. They did more for me out on the road than the rest combined. I rolled into Medford with 8 cents, 2 packs of cigarettes, a friend and a road pack. They put us up in a clean bed, good shower, food that I would have paid full price for, and didn't judge. When I got a gig cleaning a candy factory, they'd flex the hours so I could come in after hours and let me sleep during the normal "out hours". Since I had a job, the policy of only staying 21 days didn't apply so in 2 moths I had enough saved up to head out again in style.

 

Peoria, IL is a bum's paradise. Not much for work but The Safety Net will let you stay as long as you want, the Gospel mission takes you to the breakfast buffet on Sunday if you don't mind going to a rich church and put on display as proof of their good works, 5 hot meals a day if you plan your route just right and easy grainers leaving all times day and night from ADM.

 

The Galesburg Gospel Mission and Women's Shelter in Galesburg, Iisn't a bad place to rest up for a night but they really don't want you to leave. Decent meal, comfortable beds, clean and a short walk from the BNSF yard. Hang out for a couple days and they will hook you up with close to new clothes. Volunteer to unload donations and make a quick $5. enough for 2 pouches of Tin Star tobacco and a pack of papers.

 

The Jacksonville Beach mission is awesome. No beds but more food than you can eat, free laundry and hygene supplies. Fuck all the downtown missions. No services, lice and bed bug infested shitholes. The YMCA offers day pass trials almost indefinitely for showers and free coffee. The jungle on the St. John River by CSX HQ is nice. Dude manning the drawbridge is an asshole and will call the cops on you but it's easy enough to avoid him. Lots of bamboo and a few shelters only needing a tarp to throw over the frame and the day labor trucks drive around begging for people to work. $100 a day easy.

 

It's been said "Nashville was the roughest but I know I've said the same about them all". Nashville was the roughest. They've heard every hard luck story since the Depression and they don't care about you at all. Move along.

[xen]

That's right. I just went YELP on various homeless shelters.

 

St. Louis missions all suck. cool town and you're better off outdoors. The New Life Evangelic Center should be condemned, over capacity and staff is more likely to rip you off than anyone. Larry Rice is a con artist and there is a special place in hell for him.

 

Harbour Light is OK if you can survive the trip to get there. Sketchy neighborhood even by my standards. Not far from the Rose Lake yard but cameras everywhere.

 

The Sacramento Gospel Mission looks like a max security prison. Fenced and razor wired to hell. Getting to it is a scene from a zombie flick. Didn't even get to the sign in before saying no thanks. Not sure if Loaves and Fishes is still running. They had got sued for feeding too many people. It was an open air homeless yard sale. Anything you needed for the road was for sale. Packs, camp cookware, showers, crack. Anything you want