INTERNET TRAIN HOPPERS (WANNABES)

[edblysard]

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

[dharmon]

I'm almost surprised we haven't heard from the one whose name shall not be mentioned that this is somehow the fault of the RRs.

[AltonFan]

A few years ago, I found a book in a public library. It was a how-to guide for train-hoppers. Fascinating reading, but to read the anonymous author's glowing account of this activity, with only mere hints about the dark side of train-hopping (including the possibility of murder by gangs of robbers, and homosexual rape) left me rather unsettled. Why would anyone do anything this dangerous?

A short time after reading this book, there was a news show about the Freight Train Riders' Association. Some old time hoboes were saying that they were quitting because there was getting to be too much violence on the trains.

ISTM, from the material published at www.deadtrainbums.com , even assuming it is all factual, that the modern-day tramps are a threat, not only to people trying to illegally hop trains, but also to railfans looking for place to watch trains, train crews, and people who live and work in proximity to railroads.

A question for current/former railroad workers: do you feel threatened by the current crop of tramps? How do you deal with them when you find them?

Another question: has anyone had bad experiences with tramps while railfanning?

[Anonymous]

I once watched an Investigative Reports on TV that was all about hobos and people who hop trains. It talked about the FTRA (Freight Train Riders of America), the name of a group of former hobos of the 30's who met to remenisce, etc. but has now been taken by a very large group of gangs/criminals/druggies from all over the country who ride freight trains and are generally often wanted by the law. It also followed UP police catch some guys trying to steal stuff from Intermodal conatiners, which I thought was pretty interesting. I actually think I have this show on tape.

I find the stories about hobos of the 30's interesting, but it was the depression and they were desperate and had few alternatives. They didn't ride freight trains for fun! I find it ridiculous that anyone who can afford a cell phone, laptop, GPS, etc. (unless it's stolen, of course) wouldn't just ride Amtrak (or Via if they're Canadian) in comfort and luxury to see the country. But I suppose there will always be the thrill seekers and risk-takers like the Niagra Falls guy, who will do anything regardless of anyone's safety.

[Anonymous]

Train hopping is not only foolish, it is downright dangerous. I notice that many of the incidents on deadtrainbums.com are somewhat dated. Rest assured this stuff continues to happen. Post 9-11, anyone engaging in this conduct should expect arrest and jail time.

LC

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

Anyone STUPID enough to think train hopping is glamourus or romantic or fun need to check out this website:

www.deadtrainbums.com

WARNING: This site contains graphic photos of what happens when 200tons of cold steel meets 200pounds of stupid meat. It also contains stories about murder, beatings, rapes, and other "glamourus" aspects of trainhopping.

You have been warned.

That was the site I meant. Pretty ugly.

[vsmith]

Anyone STUPID enough to think train hopping is glamourus or romantic or fun need to check out this website:

www.deadtrainbums.com

WARNING: This site contains graphic photos of what happens when 200tons of cold steel meets 200pounds of stupid meat. It also contains stories about murder, beatings, rapes, and other "glamourus" aspects of trainhopping.

You have been warned.

[Modelcar]

...dharmon, you're not the only one in the world not knowing about all the above mentioned...I for one had no idea this kind of thrill seekers has spread back to the rails. Too bad, as their life most likely will be shorter now, at least some of them. How foolish...and dangerous.

[mudchicken]

The railroaders and ex-railroaders on this board are pained to see that this idiocy has new-found encouragement. We are going to see new generations of the potentially maimed and soon-to-be-dead out there. Absolutely asinine.

Mudchicken

[dharmon]

Personally, my life has been exciting enough at times. Don't usually feel the need to go looking for ways to tease the tiger. He always seems to come looking for me. Heck just driving to and from work in SOCAL has become an extreme sport[:)]

[Mookie]

No answer here - but why do they do drugs, eat bugs and earthworms so all the world can see, fall over Niagra falls w/o a barrel, drink themselves into oblivion, race motorcyles way over the speed limit in a busy city, and in general exhibit a death wish?

And it used to be just the male population that did most of this - now it is spreading into the female population as well. And it won't get any better - the thrill is out of the bottle!

Jen

[tree68]

I know a former conductor who lost a leg on the job...

While the "old fashioned" hobo was in part a way of life, these folks indeed sound like thrill seekers. The part about having GPS, cell phones, etc is very intriguing. Virtually every generation has had its few who ride trains for the thrill, or to see the country, but, again, it's sort of a way of life.

Probably the same bozos who run the gates...

[dharmon]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not in favor of it. I guess I was the only one in the world that didn't know that this stuff still went on. The folks doing it are doing it for the thrill and danger both physical and of getting caught. The sites I perused not only glamorized it but had tips of the trade and such. It is the same guys who parachute off of tall buildings down town and all those other pursuits made famous by things like MTV's "Jackass".

I guess that I knew that some folks still road the rails, including the seial killer you mentioned. But hadn't realized that it was a "sport". Please don't take this posting as support, it was info only.

One of the sites I think was called deadhobos.com or something like that. It has really ugly pictures of train hopping gone bad. It is a good way to get dead or maimed REAL quick.

[vsmith]

Pardon me but, Isnt train hopping a great way to lose an arm, a leg, or a life? also isnt it extremly dangerous given that many criminal types are hopping trains also? Wasnt that serial killer down Texas way using trains as a way to get around? I've heard of angry hobos beating up and robbing Yuppie hobos wannabes who hop trains with cell phones, laptops, gps devices, credit cards and cash, all things not usually associated with hobo-ing? I've heard of rapes, murders, being thrown from moving trains. Isnt it also extremly dusty, dirty, and uncomfortable riding an open car at 60 mph? Why do these knucleheads do it?

[dharmon]

I have to admit, this one peaked my interest. So naturally I hit the google to see what in the world this was about. I had not really given train hopping much of a thought, but apparently it is making quite a comeback among recreational thrillseekers. These are the same guys who bungee jump and bridge jump, not to be confused with the traditional hobo (which I honestly thought was pretty much a dead issue). There are several web sites which are dedicated to this "adventure", including some rather graphic photos of incidents which did not go so well for the hopper. There was one site which had pictures taken of hoppers in the cabs of trailing units ...much like the discussion in the DD40X thread. I personally wouldn't recommend it as a form of railfanning or travel.

Alot of you folks might have known about this issue. I did not realize it was this common.
Dan

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CShaveRR

Gee, Sis, I thought this was a coal-train simulation!

Beats me, but since you are the older and wiser one in the family, maybe you can tell me!

(Boy is this going to confuse a lot of new people!)

Mook

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SLIC

I RODE FREIGHT TRAINS FOR 12 YEARS AND NEVER HAD A PHONE OR CREDIT CARD NOW I SEE ALL THIS STUFF AT MY OLD SITE ABOUT THE NEW & IMPROOVED TRAIN HOPPER THIS REALLY SUCKS IM GOING TO CATCH THEM AND GIVE THEM TO THE BULL SORRY TO INTERRUPT
THE BREEZE 2003[

Okay, I'm lost. I have NO IDEA what was just said or asked here. What is a train hopper and why would you need a cell phone or credit card? Please enlighten me.

[CShaveRR]

Gee, Sis, I thought this was a coal-train simulation!

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SLIC

I RODE FREIGHT TRAINS FOR 12 YEARS AND NEVER HAD A PHONE OR CREDIT CARD NOW I SEE ALL THIS STUFF AT MY OLD SITE ABOUT THE NEW & IMPROOVED TRAIN HOPPER THIS REALLY SUCKS IM GOING TO CATCH THEM AND GIVE THEM TO THE BULL SORRY TO INTERRUPT
THE BREEZE 2003[

since your subject line is internet train hoppers - did you do your riding on real trains or internet ones?

Mookie

[JoeKoh]

Slic
first of all welcome to the forums.I do not want anyone to hop a train.It is too dangerous.remember safety first.
stay safe
Joe

[Anonymous]

I rode trains for 12 years and never had a cell phone or credit card Its not a sporting event it is very dangerous do not try it just for fun DONT TRY IT BECAUSE YOU READ
ABOUT IT EITHER just because i did it and lived doesn make it cool its very dangerous in this world you never know when you will derail or die so listen if you want you can learn but dont read the book this is very illeagle and is for serious people only
DO NOT TRY THIS CAUSE IT LOOKS FUN IT AINT theres to much **** nowdays and if your under 18 stay home youll thank me for this some day read the news paper some one dies every day dont let it be you they weigh more and you cant out run a speeding train RED MEANS STOP so when you see a train wave to the men or women in the cab
not the hoboe on the boxcar you dont see me [8D]