Modern Hobos

[Anonymous]

I am a college student and want to do find out if there are still Hobos around. I am starting to freelance a bit and would like to write a piece on the modern hobo. I am starting to plan a trip out to Seattle next summer and am thinking about becoming a hobo for a month or so. I know there was a book written on it (Rolling Nowhere) but I would like to experience it myself. I am wondering first, are there still hobos around? And where could I get a BNSF shcedule of freights heading west? Any comments would be greatly appreciated. If anyone knows of any modern hobos who aren't convicted fellons... that would also be helpful so I could interview them.

[Anonymous]

I am a conductor on the BNSF railway on the Transcontinental mainline in Needles,California and have stumbled upon (literally) a few ....Sometimes, I have to go back to a trailing locomotive while we are moving to restart a dead locomotive or troubleshoot a problem..
Nowdays,train riders have stopped riding Railcars on most occasions,opting for the heat & air and water found in a trailing locomotive...Usually you can smell them as soon as you open the door. Most are alcoholics or drug addicts,nearly all are in & out of jail constantly,you also find illegal aliens on occasion..
The old hobo days are long gone, replaced by a dangerous new breed of felons or people with little to lose...Security since 9-11 has stopped most of this,but you still see a few ....a dangerous few...We are well protected on trains,but a few slip through sometimes..Chances are ,you would not get far before being discovered by either the train crew or railroad security.Those guys are GOOD...
By the way,there is no such thing as a timetable for scheduled freight...trains have a target departure time,but nothing is in stone.
Sure ,they have a hobo reunion in Iowa every year,but they are posers ,acting the part, and sure some are real,but it was years ago that they rode the rails...most say it is too dangerous now..
I 'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news,but thats the way it is.......Rich..Needles,Calif.