Freight Train Riders of America

[ValleyX]

Hmmm, ARBFBE, you've never seen a human being treat another in that fashion? Never? You're fortunate, is all I can say. I hate to say I've been railroading for as long as I have but it's thirty-four years plus and I've known engineers and conductors who got into tiffs (and that's a mild word) and the engineer would decide he'd show the conductor just who was REALLY running the train, including a couple who would apply the independent (engine brake) and say, "Now he's in the front of the caboose", and then release it and say, "Now, he's in the rear of the caboose". It's true, it's vicious, but some of the old boys weren't really such nice guys.

Some of the old memories aren't always so pleasant, entertaining, perhaps, but not pleasant.

[Anonymous]

[bow] Go Ed.
It serves those stupid yuppie ***s right. They knew they don't belong there and that they have no business riding in the train cars. They deserve the "rough ride" Ed gave them and then some. You wanna ride trains that's what AMTRAK is for.


As for the documentary some of it does seem a little bit like over the top sensationalism. Especially with the guy saying "If You live near train tracks you have a potential crime scene in your back yard." Dumbass. If you live anywhere you have a potential crime scene in your backyard. A few months ago the SWAT team was called to a standoff a block away from a house I lived in when I was a kid and I didn't see no train tracks when I lived there.

I didn't go 31 flavors of paranoid on September 11th. Yes crime is likely to happen in some places more than others but I honestly doubt there's a Taliban or an FTRA member every 18 inches.


So long as you go railfanning in a well lit public area at a reasonable time of day you'll be fine and as long as you stay out of freight trains that Ed runs. [(-D]

[techguy57]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie
And now this thread will fade away, cuz when I post, they always do.....

What can I say - it's a gift!

Mook

Thought I was the only one who had that gift. I guess now I know there are others like me after all.[;)][alien][;)]

QUOTE:
How this thread ever became a heated conflict, I'll never know. Evidently the FTRA has more political clout than I gave them credit for....

[(-D]

Mike

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie


And now this thread will fade away, cuz when I post, they always do.....


Mook

How this thread ever became a heated conflict, I'll never know. Evidently the FTRA has more political clout than I gave them credit for....[8)]

[Mookie]

I told Ed I was going to stick my [2c] in here, but I think he covered it quite nicely.

Sometimes grown "children" need drastic measures to get a point across.

And now this thread will fade away, cuz when I post, they always do.....

What can I say - it's a gift!

Mook

[techguy57]

QUOTE:
As for your statement "if he is what he claims to be"...well, durn it, ya caught me...I really am a astronaut, I only pretend to be a railroader, because it is a job for real men, you know, the kind that are in touch with their feminine side, not afraid to cry, or wear pink shirts....

If you really doubt that I am a switchman, well, let me address it this way.
Ask mudchicken, Dan Harmon, drehepe, and a few others if I am who I say I am as they have all been my guest on my railroad.
Or, better yet, come see for yourself.
The address is 8900 Clinton Drive, Houston Texas...our main gate is directly across from the Port of Houston, Gate 8.

You will know it is the right place, because Gate 8 has a huge billboard advertising for the Ship Channel/Port complex, with a smiley faced ship being loaded by smiling happy dock workers with a background of sparkling clean refineries billowing happy, smiley clouds of pollutants into the air as a background, with happy, smiling faced guys wearing hardhats in the foreground, who welcome you to the Port of Houston, Gateway to the World!
Show up Saturday through Wednesday, between 06:30 and 13:30, you can watch us work.
Just park in the parking lot next to the lunch room and yard tower, and I am the skinny guy nearest you kicking cars and pulling pins.
Bring food, any food…(pizza or fried chicken always works).
Or, email me, and we can do the dime tour on Thursday or Friday, my off days.
I am proud of my railroad, what and how we do what we do, and why we do it.

Now, my qualifications are all there, in my profile, although I noticed such information seems to be quite lacking in yours...

So, if you want to come on down to the swamp and play, well, come on, we'll leave a light on for you.


Ed

[(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][bow][bow][bow][bow][bow]

I'm coming to visit this summer Ed! I can't wait to see all the smiley-faced people down there!
[8D]
Mike

[vsmith]

As for these knuckleheads...simply arresting them and escorting them off the ROW would have not had the same effect psychologically as getting slammed around a little in the yard. Of course these Bozo's could have ended up like the guy I read about on Deadtrainbums.com they found in a trailing engine cab hogtied naked and "violated", Yep! Yuppie Trainhopper looking for the "romance of the rails' guess he found it....sort of.....

Ed did the right thing, teach'em a lesson. Think twice about doing it again. Got an issue you got to prove a point to the world how macho you are? take up base-jumping. Dont step on other peoples jobs just to prove something to yourself or friends.

What really got me re-reading this was not the Fearless Leader knucklehead, but his Sheep managers who tagged along to show they werent litlle girly men to their boss. "Yeah I'll show the boss we have guts!" BS! If they had guts, they would have said ".. Hmm Stuff $5k in my pockets to ride on a dusty windy open to the elements railcar, possibly lose one or both legs or my life if I fall or get mugged and pushed off by hobo's all so I can prove to my boss I'm not chicken?.....Hmmmmm. [censored] THAT NOISE BOSS MAN!" ......now THAT would take guts!!!!!

[edblysard]

arefbe,
Well, I kinda think that they placed themselves in harms way.
I doubt anyone forced them to train hop, nor did anyone force them to choose the bethgon as a ride.
This happened at the tail end of the SP/UP meltdown in Houston, we were having trains that should be yarded on the UP shoved down our throats because UP "owned" the dispatching for the metroplex at that time.
UP crews inbound to Houston didn’t even know where to tell their cabs to pick them up at, because they had no idea where they would end up.
Totally frustrating times down here.

It also must have been the "Yuppies ride the Rails" year...you know how crazes and fads go with that group of people...anyway, we were having so many trespassers, and so many problems with them, not the least is it slows everything down, that our gumshoes were working 12 on 12 off just keep them under control.
It was also the year of "The Railroad Killer" where the news media had hyped the Mendez story to the point it wouldn’t have surprised me if civilians hadn’t started using the thrill riders for target practice.

The area where our yard is might not be the best part of town, the Houston ship channel and city docks are not someplace to be after dark.
HPD only patrols down here, they don’t get out of their cars unless there is no other choice, several times they get called out to a disturbance, and when they arrive and get out to investigate, they get shot at.

Now, from the short bit of the young mans phone conversation that I overheard, it was apparent he was a well educated, young white male, no accent and no slang, so it was readily apparent he was a thrill rider.
We just obliged him and his friends.
In fact, we didn’t know we had a three for the price of one going, I initially though there was only two of them!

No, they were not in any real danger, other than their pride being hurt and their toys getting stepped on.
The inside of a bethgon is, by nature, clear of obstruction, nothing there other than the cross brace rods, and they are above head level if you standing in the tubs...so these guys got a cheap amusement park ride in a big, long half tube.
I mean, if I and my helper could hang on the side stirups with one hand free to use our radios, it wasn’t that rough a ride.

The double tap the end was to let them know the "ride" was over.

Yes, our risk management officer chewed my butt off.
Yes, I understand that had we had a serious accident and really hurt them, we and I would be liable.
Yes, I took a risk, a calculated one, but a risk none the less.
No, I don’t feel any remorse; they placed themselves in that position on their own accord.

Was what I did mean?
Yup, and very satisfying at the same time.
Did they learn anything?
I hope so, because you know this stuff doesn’t give to many second chances, it doesn’t care if it runs over you or not, if you get in its way.

As for your statement "if he is what he claims to be"...well, durn it, ya caught me...I really am a astronaut, I only pretend to be a railroader, because it is a job for real men, you know, the kind that are in touch with their feminine side, not afraid to cry, or wear pink shirts....

If you really doubt that I am a switchman, well, let me address it this way.
Ask mudchicken, Dan Harmon, drehepe, and a few others if I am who I say I am as they have all been my guest on my railroad.
Or, better yet, come see for yourself.
The address is 8900 Clinton Drive, Houston Texas...our main gate is directly across from the Port of Houston, Gate 8.

You will know it is the right place, because Gate 8 has a huge billboard advertising for the Ship Channel/Port complex, with a smiley faced ship being loaded by smiling happy dock workers with a background of sparkling clean refineries billowing happy, smiley clouds of pollutants into the air as a background, with happy, smiling faced guys wearing hardhats in the foreground, who welcome you to the Port of Houston, Gateway to the World!
Show up Saturday through Wednesday, between 06:30 and 13:30, you can watch us work.
Just park in the parking lot next to the lunch room and yard tower, and I am the skinny guy nearest you kicking cars and pulling pins.
Bring food, any food…(pizza or fried chicken always works).
Or, email me, and we can do the dime tour on Thursday or Friday, my off days.
I am proud of my railroad, what and how we do what we do, and why we do it.

Now, my qualifications are all there, in my profile, although I noticed such information seems to be quite lacking in yours...

So, if you want to come on down to the swamp and play, well, come on, we'll leave a light on for you.


Ed

[techguy57]

QUOTE: Originally posted by arbfbe

Since, I believe, there is still a Constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment it is also illegal. How would you defend youself in court if one of the tresspassers had been injured and sued your pants off?

Again, I stand by my comment that these guys KNEW they were tresspassing. They put themselves in risk by doing so. As for the cruel and unusual punishment, how so if what was happening falls within the realm of standard operating procedure? I'm sure you've seen cars being kicked and you know it can be a very violent act. Still it is SOP for railroads such as the one Ed works for. I think given the circumstances it would be hard to prove this "cruel and unusual". Perhaps Gabe or some of or other forum members familiar with the law could answer this better.

QUOTE: Railroading can be fun but it is not a game.

I know that full well and don't believe that I had suggested it was. Tresspassing is a crime anywhere but more importantly tresspassing on railroad property is risking one's life. My point is that the riders in question learned that lesson in this case.

QUOTE: The responses in support of Eds' actions and the convoluted logic behind this is truely incredible.
Perhaps, Bergie is right, it is time to move on.

You have your convictions and I have mine. I'm not looking to pick a fight but part of the concept of this forum is to allow members to voice their opinions. I also know full well Ed doesn't need me to defend his actions. He is fully capable of defending himself. I haven't bashed your thoughts and opinions in your posts and I'd ask that you extend the same courtesy. You have you opinions and feelings on how this should've been dealt with and I have mine. We'll agree to disagree on this topic. I'm willing to move on as well before this thread descends into even more silliness and gets anymore off topic.


Sincerely,

Mike Vanlandingham

[zardoz]

arbfbe-
I was out of line in part of my post above, and I apologize for the name-calling. I was upset at your implied coddling of the idiots that Ed "roughed" up. If they had over $5000 between them, a tv, cell phones, fancy backpacks, etc. I doubt a measly $350 fine would have been much of a deterent to future 'adventures'. I noticed that you did not address the issue of the potential life-saving result of Ed's actions.

However, I stand by my opinion that what Ed did was not completely out-of-line; close to the edge, perhaps, but not over.

You claim to be a part-time rail. And you claim that you were "roughed up"in a caboose a few times. When that happened, I would guess that the engineer knew somebody was in the waycar, and tried to be as gentle as possible with the equipment he had.

When the railroads got rid of the waycar, my job as an engineer got 100% easier. No longer did I have to be concerned for the fragile life-forms at the rear of my train; I merely had to be concerned for the lading of the cars. I would venture a guess that most other engineers would agree with me

So, if you accept that presumption, you realize the likelyhood that the various engineers that handled the trains that the car these morons were riding in were not concerned about the potential for injury how he handled the train. Which leads me to my point: these dopes were riding in trains where getting "roughed up" was a calculated risk.

You've never seen a rail treat another human that badly? You must live and work in a nice, safe area. I've seen bums get thrown off of MOVING trains. I've seen worse. Life in the big city, I guess.

However, maybe, after some train bum has stolen your grip, or robbed you at knifepoint in the yard, or maybe have a few of them corner you in the yard demanding your wallet, your clothes, or maybe your virginity, maybe, just maybe, you would not have such an unrealistic view of these "fragile humans" that are actually a serious concern for real rails.

[Tharmeni]

The president of this group is Elmer "Stubby" McGee and the VP is Dan "Peg Leg" Wagner.

eom

[Anonymous]

I found Ed's story to be both entertaining as well as informative...just as I'm sure was intended.

The one thing that did cross my mind while reading it was the liability the RR would have in this litigation happy society of ours, for maintaining a "concealed hazard" (Ed, in otherwords) such as that on their property.

Really shocked that the RR police were not somehow obligated to snitch off such on the job roughhousing, just in fulfulling their duty.

Maybe the boxcars with shackles are the roadroad's strategy for dealing with the FTRA internally? [;)]

[arbfbe]

Zardoz,

Well, you can add this to my profile, I do what Ed claims he does and have done it off and on since 1969. I have never seen a rail treat another human being like this in my entire career. I doubt I ever will. If I saw Ed and crew doing this again my first call would be to 911, perhaps that might keep Ed and crew out of trouble big time. Roughing them up to perhaps to save their lives, get real. Now we get to name calling and mamby pamby. Zardoz, I will stay with my assessment that perhaps you need to grow up. Ed and his crew did not provide the "excitement' the may have perceived the riders may have wanted, they placed the riders' health and well being in jeopardy.

Call the cops and have them arrested for tresspassing. After they pay the $350 fine they will not likely return. No one gets roughed up and no one gets hurt. I hope someday you can give Ed a position with your company to reward his "brilliance", "resourcefulness" and "willingness to handle the problem and not hand it off to others." I do not think I would want either one of you within 100 miles of any company I might be responsible for. I have seen people fired permanently for a lot less. I have seen companies sued for less. Both of you are too risky for my money or the stockholders' money.

[zardoz]

Hey arbfbe,

When you get off your soapbox and come back to earth, then maybe your comments will have some merit. You seem so self-righteous, so I decided to look up your profile...what a surprise--no info. What do you do for a living? How dangerous is your job?

What Ed did was brilliant, not cruel. Consider this: what if what Ed did to those idiots made them realize the stupidity of their actions? Maybe he save their lives! Maybe they went back to work and told others not of their 'exciting' trip, but instead of how they almost got killed, and got banged up in the process. Maybe Ed saved many guy's lives.

What would you preach about then? They wanted to ride the rails for "excitement". Ed was simply giving them what they wanted.

And what are the "norms of common decency" that you refer to? Being a namby-pamby towards those that, by their actions, indicate they are not deserving of such respect?

And you say that those of us laughing at the story need to grow up. Gee, I was thinking the same about you. I bet you believe in not spanking your kids also. "Just give them a time out. Little junior will respond positively. At least it says so in my 'parenting for dummies' book". Right? So likewise, do you feel we should have just given these morons a "time out" thinking that will leave an impression on them? I would bet that what Ed did made an even bigger impression!

And your right about him including the story on his next job app saving time; it showed: resourcefullness, a willingness to take care of a problem immediately instead of leaving it for someone else, and a willingness to make a decision and stand by it. If I were interviewing him, he already got the job (unless it was in Customer Service)[;)].

[arbfbe]

The responses in support of Eds' actions and the convoluted logic behind this is truely incredible.

Perhaps, Bergie is right, it is time to move on.

[CSXrules4eva]

QUOTE: Originally posted by techguy57

Arbfbe,
Ed would not have put himself in a position where any of the folks would've received anything more than a bruise. He knew in this situation full well what would happen. These guys are lucky that the gondola didn't go to a coal flooder first. As coborn said, there was really no danger of death from what Ed did. Besides, why would Ed want to do anything to hurt them? It would be more trouble than its worth for him.

Not that it gives a railroad free reign to treat stowaways however they want, but lets remember these guys were tresspassing and they knew it. Sometimes you just have to touch the burner to learn it'll burn you too. As Ed says, most of these guys learned their lesson. Mr. Cellphone might be a different story.

Mike

First Let me say that Ed's story was Hilarious!! [:D][(-D][(-D] I nearly fell on the ground laughing.

I agree with you here Mike, these suposedly (spelling) grown "mature" men needed to be tought a lesson or reminded as to actually how dangerious it is to hop freights, or any other train. I still can't get over the fact that these men were doing it for fun as a matcho thing. I think all of them needed serious reality checks or help. What Ed did to them serves them right, and if I were in his position I would of done the same, if I had thought of it. Some people just don't have a clue; were some people might end up getting a clue through their mistakes others won't. Sad but true.

[arbfbe]

QUOTE: Originally posted by techguy57

Arbfbe,
Ed would not have put himself in a position where any of the folks would've received anything more than a bruise. He knew in this situation full well what would happen. These guys are lucky that the gondola didn't go to a coal flooder first. As coborn said, there was really no danger of death from what Ed did. Besides, why would Ed want to do anything to hurt them? It would be more trouble than its worth for him.

Not that it gives a railroad free reign to treat stowaways however they want, but lets remember these guys were tresspassing and they knew it. Sometimes you just have to touch the burner to learn it'll burn you too. As Ed says, most of these guys learned their lesson. Mr. Cellphone might be a different story.

Mike

There is always danger of death and injury on or near the railroad. Being bounced around inside a freight car ranks right up there with high risk activities.

No, I have not been bounced around in a baggage car but I have been roughed up in a caboose a time or two.

Ed's alleged self confessed behavior goes against the norms of common decency. Those of you who are getting a big laugh about this need to grow up. Human beings are amazingly resiliant and incredibly fragile. Risk of injury to others for your own amusement or to teach someone a 'lesson' is just cruel. Since, I believe, there is still a Constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment it is also illegal. How would you defend youself in court if one of the tresspassers had been injured and sued your pants off?

Railroading can be fun but it is not a game. Be sure to include the yuppie hobo story as presented here in your next job application with a railroad should you need to submit one. That will save a lot of wasted interview time.

FTRA for real? I don't know for sure but I did see a body alongside the tracks with all the classic signs, pants down around the ankles, one arm and one leg severed. Still, if I noted FTRA riders aboard, I would call the police first and leave my cat like instincts to play with the prey in check.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TheS.P.caboose

This group has been around in some form for about 25 years now. As said before, stay away from this group in its current form.

So, if you ran into 2 toothless doofs in a "hobo jungle" claming to be members of this outfit...would your first inclination be to believe their claim, or would you suspect they were just trying to act tough?

[edblysard]

By all means, please be my guest and post it...
And please, dont try to hop a train for the fun of it, dangerous, and deadly way to try to have fun...who knows, you might run into a conductor like me!

Ed

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

Eds story made me laugh so hard I wet myself, I saved it in my humor files at home, if he gives permission, I'll repost it later unless Ed can find it and repost it.

Some FTRA members are types you do not want to mess around with, real bad -a$$es. No glamour.

Deadtrainbums.com had all the reasons NOT to hop trains posted graphicly on its website but its gone now.

[techguy57]

Arbfbe,
Ed would not have put himself in a position where any of the folks would've received anything more than a bruise. He knew in this situation full well what would happen. These guys are lucky that the gondola didn't go to a coal flooder first. As coborn said, there was really no danger of death from what Ed did. Besides, why would Ed want to do anything to hurt them? It would be more trouble than its worth for him.

Not that it gives a railroad free reign to treat stowaways however they want, but lets remember these guys were tresspassing and they knew it. Sometimes you just have to touch the burner to learn it'll burn you too. As Ed says, most of these guys learned their lesson. Mr. Cellphone might be a different story.

Mike

[coborn35]

Ed, LMAO!!! Thats great. I was just about to ask if any engineers had ever done that.
You shoulda stood next to the car and been like "About 3 cars to the coal loader, lets fill'er up good, over"
Arbfbe, There was really no danger of death. Having been banged around in a baggage car pretty good.......

[TheS.P.caboose]

This group has been around in some form for about 25 years now. As said before, stay away from this group in its current form.

[arbfbe]

Ed,

You should be ashamed of your behavior. Yes, there could have been serious injury or even death and you should know that. I hope you never get the opportunity to try the stunt again.

[techguy57]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

RE Yuppie riders......OK I have to repost this...this is Ed's story, in his own words, reprinted unabridged from a past topic...

I love that story. Lots of laughs but still a serious message.

Mike

[techguy57]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TheAntiGates

Yeah, that closely paralleled my thoughts as well. A "desperado" running from his deeds on the rails (a fugitive from justice, in other words) might very well rob and murder naive thrill seekers who have squeeky clean bed rolls, a ghetto blaster, and money in their pocket.....bit THAT is a ROBBERY, not a "mob hit"

It's the level of organization of this so called 'hobo mafia' that I call into question.

If such a group actually exists, then a potential threat to rail fans exists...aka 'don't go near the rails, or ya might not make it back'..etc.

It would be interesting if any of the actual railroaders here have ever encountered some of these guys.

AG-
I kinda thought of it in terms of mob or gang style territory. If said "hobo mafia" did/does exist I think it likely they view anyone not part of the gang as moving in on their turf. If that person didn't fall for the intimidation tactics, then they might have to teach them a lesson and so on. That could get real out of hand real quick. I don't think railfans would be much of a concern unless they witnessed something they shouldn't have.

I'd also like to hear some accounts by the railroaders.

Mike

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CSSHEGEWISCH

. Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

LOL!...so true.

[vsmith]

RE Yuppie riders......OK I have to repost this...this is Ed's story, in his own words, reprinted unabridged from a past topic...
--------------------------------------------------------------------


Yes, Altonfan/Dan,
We do run into them sometimes.

Last time, found three young men, late 20s early 30s, inside a rotory dump car/Bethgon in from the UP.

Bad choice of train on their part, it was supposed to go Englewood hump yard, in Houston, but last minute was diverted to PTRA at the ship channel.

Found them while walking back to make a switch cut, heard one of them talking on his phone to his lady, was complaining about the smell of all things.

Decided to have a little fun, I am that mean.

Stepped back enough so they wouldnt hear my radio, told my engineer to wait ten seconds, then pull the slack as hard as he dared.
Rail walked to the end of their car, heard the slack comming, pulled the pin, and waited.

When 40 empty cars get jerked into motion at notch 7 or 8, what ever is not tied down wishes it was!
We rattled them around as hard as we could.

My helper was at the main switch, I called him and my hogger, clued them in, so when we had to stop and shove back, they wouldnt waste any time.
They picked me up at the crossing, by now, we had called the gumshoes, they were waiting down in the yard.

Helper had caught on the car behind theirs, I caught on behind that one, and we let our hogger have all the fun he could think of, slack in, slack out, hammering frogs and the big curve that leads to our switching lead proper.

If you have ever see the inside of a bethgon, there is nothing to hold on to except a few thin cross supports, the bottom is two round tubs the length of the car, sorta like riding inside a big 55 gallon drum.

Got to the lead, and we did a double tap, (the old heads here know exactly what I mean,) and that gon was away like a shot, right towards a loaded cut of coke cars.

I let tube two go a second latter.

When it hit, that gon must have jumped two feet straight up, if it was a inch!
Fi***wo hits a second later, just a little slower.

When all the dust settled, and the gumshoes finally caught their breath and quit laughing, we all went over to see who hadnt puked, and who could still stand up!

I broke thay poor guys phone, he dropped it when we took off, and one of his buddied stepped on it!
Shame on me!

All three worked for a large company in Arnold land, and they did this type of stunt regular, as a "guy" thing.

They were all "managers" of one dept or another, and this was what they did for fun.

They though it was a macho thing to do, tough and manly, but not so dangerous they could really get hurt doing it.
Had been at it for a year or two.

Yeah, right.

Dumb, beyond all dumb stunts.

All had really nice back packs, each had his little octogonal tent and a phone, over five grand in cash between them.
One even had a mail order propane stove, and a small screen flat TV, like from Sharper image or something.

Not a one looked like they ever worked hard a day in their lives.

All had blown their groceries all over the place, and each other!
Mr cell phone had stained his pants.

We sat then down, and while the gumshoes were deciding what all they could charge them with, we had a little talk with them.

My engineer had shown up by now, so we let him go first.

He was a ex staff sargent, and dreged up every butt chewing he had gotten and given in the Army, and let them have it full bore!

His DI would have been proud.

My helper was still laughing to much to say anything but "You A**holes" and bust up again....

I explained that their "hobby" would one day cost them their lives because trains dont allways end up in yuppie ville, most of them stop in places where after dark, even bad people dont stand still.

They complained that they knew exactlly where they had been going.
Really?
Surprise, your train went somewhere else, you aint in Englewood, right next to IH 10 and a bunch of nice motels and diners, your on the Houston Shipchannel, right next to the docks, and most of you dont want to be near the docks after dark!

I went on to explain that had one of them gotten hurt, me and my crew would have to go through more crap than they would belive, and then had to live with their death on our minds the rest of our lives.

Mr Cellphone declared he was going to sue us, because we roughed them up.

When we all quit laughing again, we asked him how?

He said he knew no railroad treated cars that way, and we did that on purpose to hurt them!
I asked what we did that was different from other railroads?
He said "letting this car go on the fly! Everybody know railroads shove cars over a hump to switch them!"

I told him "Hey look around, dip, and tell me what you see"!

After a few seconds of watching the other three yard crews kicking the heck out of cars, he shut up.

They all three were charged with tresspassing, theft of service,(they cheated UP out of their passenger fare!) malicious mischieft, reckless endangerment and crossing state lines in the commision of a crime/crimes!(tresspassing on federal property and cheating UP)

By tresspassing in the first place, they were putting all the railroad employees working on that train in danger.

The gumshoes took them down to jail, and we went back to work.

Mr Cellphone will be back at it, he was the hardheaded one of the bunch, but I think his buddies had had enough, one looked like he was about to cry.

So, all you "train hoppers" out there think about this.
Every time you pratice your sport, you put your life, and mine, in danger. I dont like that.
If I find you on my railroad, we will treat you as badly as we can, short of killing you, then turn you over to the cops.

And if the real railbums dont kill you,(the railroadkiller was named Mendez) you may end up down here in Texas, and we dont take tresspassing to kindly here.

Neither do our Judges!

You also are running the chance to get killed by accident, because you dont know everything each railroad does, or where each train is going to end up.

Lastly, most of the real railroaders here are not going to be as nice to you as we were to these three.
If they catch you, your going to be one sorry looking piece of meat when they get through with you.

They dont like their life being put in danger by a bunch of bored, thrill seeking yuppie jerks either.

If you have to play at being a man, fine, go buy a Turbo Porsche, but stay off our trains.
Ed


[(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by techguy57

Still, the "hobo" life would lend itself to those who might be running from the law and the occurrences that are referred to in the documentary while perturbing are actually within the scope of reality.

Mike

Yeah, that closely paralleled my thoughts as well. A "desperado" running from his deeds on the rails (a fugitive from justice, in other words) might very well rob and murder naive thrill seekers who have squeeky clean bed rolls, a ghetto blaster, and money in their pocket.....but THAT is a ROBBERY, not a "mob hit"

It's the level of organization of this so called 'hobo mafia' that I call into question.

If such a group actually exists, then a potential threat to rail fans exists...aka 'don't go near the rails, or ya might not make it back'..etc.

My personal bet is that there were probably a couple hard cases on the lam who did some dirty deeds, and rumor and romanticism have grown the story larger than life.

It would be interesting if any of the actual railroaders here have ever encountered some of these guys.

[vsmith]

Eds story made me laugh so hard I wet myself, I saved it in my humor files at home, if he gives permission, I'll repost it later unless Ed can find it and repost it.

Some FTRA members are types you do not want to mess around with, real bad -a$$es. No glamour.

Deadtrainbums.com had all the reasons NOT to hop trains posted graphicly on its website but its gone now.

[techguy57]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Clemente

FTRA made headlines ten or so years ago when there was a surge in yuppie hoboes who were putting themselves at risk by taking their laptops and sleeping bags along for a whimsical freight train ride. Special agents and law enforcement in general warned these naive folks that there were very bad and dangerous people riding the rails now, much worse than the 'boes of folklore and cinema.

Just ask Ed Blysard about his encounter with yuppie hoboes in Houston. Excellent story and very informaitve about who is riding and the dangers of riding. And they probably thought that Ed and his bosses where the worst thing they had to worry about. [;)]


Mike