… tough enough that “riding the rods, hopping a train” comes back into fashion.
http://www.intelligencer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3277710
But it ain’t like the Dirty Thirties when all one had to worry about was the railroad bull usually hanging around the yard, but not often out on the road. Today there’s video in the cabs, radios straight to the control center and the crews get on the Train Standby Line to tell each other what’s up along the line.
Anyone ready for some Hobo tunes? 
I recall a recent example where a college kid wanted to live the “hobo life” for a summer…Hopped on the end of a center-beam car loaded with construction lumber. Train stopped, load shifted…done. Not smart in any country.
The ever-present threat of some kind of home-grown terrorist sabotage keeps railroad security walking a knife edge right now. Anyone caught ‘hobo-ing’ since 9/11 is likely to get shot at first and questioned afterwards in ER.
Even here in UK people taking photographs of trains in stations are looked at with extreme suspicion, especially as you get nearer the capital.
tac
tac said:
The ever-present threat of some kind of home-grown terrorist sabotage keeps railroad security walking a knife edge right now. Anyone caught 'hobo-ing' since 9/11 is likely to get shot at first and questioned afterwards in ER.Even here in UK people taking photographs of trains in stations are looked at with extreme suspicion, especially as you get nearer the capital.
tac
Oh BTW, the closest I came to hoboing was back in 1989 when I rode on the platform of a hopper car at the end of a RhB wayfreight.
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/3398464[/vimeo]
At that time the two RhB wayfreights (North- and Southbound) would meet at Thusis. I was on the Northbound train, it was running late due to lots of switching along the way. Asked the conductor what he’d suggest, well, he’ll radio the other train so I could change at Sils i.D. Would have been an excellent plan if the other conductor would have been on the correct frequency!
Alas we get to Sils, the Southbound sits right up by the departure signal, I was off the train long before it came to a stop and running like hell after the Southbound that started rolling. Caught the last car! Rode on the platform.
The following Sunday I ran into the engineer of the Northbound.
“Thanks for the coffee”
Say what?
Turns out he bet with the conductor, who was of the opinion I wouldn’t catch the train, for a coffee with eXtra. :lol:
Train security isn’t all that great around here. We have a smallish yard here in Conneaut but it holds many chemical cars that could do massive damage. The other day we had a homemade bomb that was placed on the tie plate against the rail near a grade crossing. The fuse was lit but went out. It took the railroad police about 1.5 hours to show up. After the neighboring county’s bomb squad took care of it it turned out to be more anti personnel than heavy explosive but still…
Terry