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Freighthopping or trainhopping is the act of surreptitiously boarding and riding a freight
railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
car, which is usually illegal.


Origins and history

In the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, freighthopping became a common means of
transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...
following the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
as the railroads began pushing westward, especially among
migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...
s who became known as "
hobo A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; and a bum neither travels nor works. ...
s". It continued to be widely used by those unable to afford other transportation, especially during times of widespread economic dislocation such as the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. For a variety of reasons the practice is less common in the 21st century, although a community of freight-train riders still exists. The practice was heralded in popular culture of 20th century America with songs such as " King of the Road", and films like '' Emperor of the North Pole''. Typically, hoppers will go to a
rail yard A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock or ...
where the trains switch out crew. They will either know from other riders of a spot to hide and wait, or they will find one themselves. Depending on the size and layout of the yard, riders may have to get on the train while it is moving; doing this is known as "catching on the fly." Train surfing is a similar activity that involves the act of riding on the outside of a moving train, tram or another rail transport. In a number of countries, the term train hopping is used synonymously with freight hopping.


Safety concerns

Freight train cars are not designed for human riders; hopping on (or off) moving trains bears serious risk of dismemberment or death. In March 1899, Welshman W. H. Davies, the "tramp-poet", lost the lower part of his right leg after jumping a train at
Renfrew, Ontario Renfrew is a town on the Bonnechere River in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. Located one hour west of Ottawa in Eastern Ontario, Renfrew is the fourth largest town in the county after Petawawa, Pembroke and Arnprior. The town is a small tra ...
. The incident is recounted in his 1908 book '' The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp''. The 1944
Balvano train disaster The Balvano train disaster was the deadliest railway accident in Italian history and one of the worst railway disasters ever. It occurred on the night between 2–3 March 1944 in Balvano, Basilicata. Over 500 people in a steam-hauled, coal-burning ...
involved (and was partially caused by) hundreds of freighthoppers. YouTube user hobestobe, aka "Stobe the Hobo," was killed while freighthopping when he got snagged on a passing
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
train. Riding in a car itself can be dangerous too; freight cars often do not have floors, only narrow steel beams with the speeding tracks underneath. Riding on these beams is referred to by hobos and hoppers as "riding suicide," for their obvious danger. Being in a loaded car with shifting, heavy cargo can also be dangerous.


Riding the rods

In the early 1900s days of wood frame freight car construction, steel truss rods were used to support the underside of the car in order to provide it with the strength to carry heavy loads. There could be four or more of these truss rods under the car floor running the length of the car, and hobos would "Ride the Rods." Some would carry a board to place across the rods to lie on. Others would lie on just one rod and hold on tightly. Riding the rods was very dangerous. When a train moved at high speed, the cars could bounce and rock violently if the track was rough, and rock ballast might be tossed up which could strike a rider.


Modern day hopping

Hopping trains happens all over the world and varies from place to place. Some places are more critical and consider freight hopping a crime, and other places are more lenient. ;Europe Despite increased deterrent measures, would-be migrants use the
Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operate ...
and
Eurotunnel Shuttle Eurotunnel Le Shuttle (sometimes shortened to Le Shuttle or The Shuttle) is a railway shuttle service between Coquelles (near Calais) in Pas-de-Calais, France and Cheriton (near Folkestone) in Kent, United Kingdom. It conveys road vehicl ...
to cross the English Channel from France to England. ;United States
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
in the United States encourages people who witness transients on freight trains to report them to its dispatch center. According to a sheriff's deputy from
Lincoln County, Nebraska Lincoln County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 34,676. Its county seat is North Platte. Despite the county's name, the state capital city of Lincoln is not in or near Lincoln County ...
train hoppers no longer write symbols on trees and buildings, but there is still a network of train hoppers that occurs mostly online. ;Mexico It is estimated that yearly between 400,000 and 500,000 migrants—the majority of whom are from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—hop freight trains in the effort to reach the United States. ;Mauritania In the
Mauritania Railway The Mauritania Railway is the national railway of Mauritania. Construction of the line began in 1960, with it opening in 1963. It consists of a single, railway line linking the iron mining centre of Zouérat with the port of Nouadhibou, via Fd ...
, freighthoppers can ride with their cargo freely due to the lack of road between
Zouérat Zouérat ( ar, الزويرات) is the largest town in northern Mauritania and the capital of Tiris Zemmour region, with an approximate population of 44,649 (2013). It lies at the eastern end of the Mauritania Railway to Nouadhibou. History ...
and
Nouadhibou Nouadhibou (; ar, نواذيبو, Nwādībū, Berber: Nwadibu, formerly in French: ) is the second largest city in Mauritania and serves as a major commercial centre. The city itself has about 118,000 inhabitants expanding to over 140,000 in the l ...
.


See also

* Train surfing *
Boxcar Betty __NOTOC__ Ben Lewis Reitman M.D. (1879–1943) was an American anarchist and physician to the poor ("the hobo doctor"). He is best remembered today as one of radical Emma Goldman's lovers. Reitman was a flamboyant, eccentric character. Emma Goldm ...
*
Mike Brodie Mike Brodie (born in 1985), also known as the "Polaroid Kid" or "Polaroid Kidd", is an American photographer. From 2004 to 2008, Brodie freighthopped across the US, photographing people he encountered, largely train-hoppers, vagabonds, squa ...


References


Further reading

* Uys, Errol Lincoln (2003). ''Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move During the Great Depression'': Routledge.


"Riding the Rails"
''
American Experience ''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...
'' PBS series. * Conover, Ted (2001). ''Rolling Nowhere: Riding the Rails with America’s Hoboes.'' Vintage.


External links


Hobo Letters
Letters from boxcar kids who rode the rails during the Great Depression {{Authority control Articles containing video clips Passenger rail transport