I merged two old threads I'd made into this one. so post up all that business in here. Questions, links of interest, pictures, etc. First off, if you're considering riding trains, find somebody who's experienced to take you! The internet is no substitute for real world experience, the only way to learn is by doing, and the only way to do it is finding somebody who's willing to teach you. Secondly, consider that what you're doing could potentially get you killed or at the very least seriously fucked up, arms and legs don't grow back. Don't be wreckless with your life, think safety first in every situation. asking for a crew change, or posting sensitive information will get you banned! I'll start off by posting this: 3rd edition of the North American Professional Railroad Atlas. it's password protected, so pm me and if you're not a retard and seem like you may actually use it i'll give it to you. http://rapidshare.com/files/165973320/Professional_Railroad_Atlas_of_North_America.pdf
Here's something people were asking about in Tools & Tips. Most Category I railroads do have 1-800 customer tracing numbers. UP, CN, CP, KCS, NS, etc all have these numbers readily available to the public, but nobody seems to know about them. For example, this is a picture of a boxcar I took over a year ago in Portland, Oregon. I phoned the registry five minutes ago and it told me it's currently loaded and just arrived in Laredo, Texas this morning. try it out: UP's customer tracking number is 1-800-272-8777 not only pretty cool for riding, but also you can track where you're pieces are across the country!
El man dont know where you located but in one of those flicks it seems your doing some winter hopping. I live in Canada and will never hop in the winter but if your down in the southern states i could see it being different. You got any special winter gear you rock?
how do you know which boxcars to go into? like obv soem have shit loaded in them how do you know if yours will have shit loaded into it? also how long is it usually between stops?
don't listen to this. being an anarchist has nothing to do with riding trains. how is going to a new city dangerous? show people respect and they'll show you respect back, it's nothing more difficult then using your head and not being a jackass. Trains stop all over the place, not just at cities. No train will run over twelve hours without stopping to at least change the crew, it's federal law. Having a lot of cities close together doesn't mean anything, class I railroads don't do short hauls, it doesn't make sense financially. Trains in Texas and New Mexico stop just as often as ones in New York and Indiana.
what about finding a good car? how do you do that? and do most of the rail crew care alot about hoppers? liek would they call the cops or just kick you out if they foudn you? feel free to pm me
ya'll need to go and find a lot of this stuff out for yourself, most of it's common sense. When you're caught (and you will be eventually), they'll either arrest you, ticket you, or send you on your way, it all depends. treat the bulls with respect and sir the shit out of them and they tend to be more lenient. [Broken External Image]:http://z.about.com/d/graphicssoft/1/0/d/I/1/boxcar.jpg Boxcars Used to haul all types of shit, if it's closed don't even attempt to get into it. Sheltered and spacious, obviously you can ride in all types of weather. You can stay very well hidden going through yards as well. Very occasionally the doors will try to close on their own due to the movement of the trains, always a good idea to shove a railspike in the door track to keep it stuck in place. Try not to get on a boxcar on the fly, they're about chest level on most people so getting into them while they're moving can be pretty difficult. Bring earplugs if you're sensitive to loud noise, it can get loud as fuck in these things. Gondolas Pretty straightforward really. They're basically big rectangular buckets used for carrying scrap metal, rebar, pipes, railspikes, etc. Nice ride in the summer, pretty cold and exposed in the winter months. You can ride them empty or full, depending on how much product is actually inside em. Grainers Probably the most common car you'll see, especially in the midwest and areas with a lot of agricultural output. Grainers have "porches" on both ends, little cutouts where you can ride. However, many of these cutouts have "suicide floors", meaning, there is no floor on either end, obviously avoid riding these unless you're desperate. With Grainers, there are a ton of different kinds, each with positives and negatives as far as riding goes. Frequently they have cubbie holes at either end that provide a sort of cave to hide in when going through yards, bad weather, etc. You want to try if at all possible to ride the back porch, this keeps you out of the wind and rain. These occasionally carry hazardous material that can fuck with your lungs, or at the very least give you a nasty rash, so keep a heads up as to what you're riding. 53's and 48's Intermodal trains are those made up of piggybacks (trucks loaded up onto flatcars), and doublestacks (48' and 53' containers loaded into well cars). These trains carry high priority goods, especially anything carrying mail/UPS, etc. Frequently, these containers are smaller than the wellcars that carry them, leaving a small gap at either end where you can ride. More and more often these spaces have "suicide floors", with just a couple of crossbars instead of a solid floor, but it's still relatively easy to find rides with solid floors if you know what to look for. These trains are carrying expensive product, like electronics, so they tend to be watched and inspected more than regular trains. The tradeoff is risk for speed, Intermodal trains like these haul ass and get you where you're going a lot faster then junk (non IM trains). [Broken External Image]:http://notcleancoal.com/images/coal-train.jpg Coalcar Shouldn't be your first choice, but in a lot of parts of the country (West Virginia, Pennsylvania, etc), a huge number of trains are ONLY coal cars. Care should be taken if you're riding an empty one, they have slanted sides and getting out can be a bitch if you're not in good shape. Prepare to get dirty as shit obviously. [Broken External Image]:http://www.freefoto.com/images/25/60/25_60_6---Intermodal-Railroad-Train_web.jpg Piggyback The back end of a semi-truck that's been loaded onto a flatcar. Like the 48's and 53 Doublestack cars, these are high priority, and if they have any sort of mail company logo on the side, then they're even higher priority, aka FAST ride. These can be ridden by hiding in between the wheels and climbing up above the axles when neccesary. A variation is a Pig in a bucket, which is a truck loaded into the well cars that normally carry the 48's and 53's, if you see one take it. You ride underneath and it's one of the safest rides there is (assuming you have a solid floor). The Units Depending on the size and tonnage (weight) of the train, there will be multiple units attached to it. The vast majority of the time, only the lead unit is occupied by an actual crew. If the train is big enough, or is heading over mountains and steep inclines, there may be unit's in the middle or on the back (pushers) in addition to the ones on the front. These units are almost always left unlocked, and are easily accessible from the nose of the car (where the gangplanks are). Riding units is warm in the winter and cool in the summer, but they can also get you into a lot of trouble. Most train crews don't care about you riding the regular cars, but many times they'll get pissed if you're riding in their units. I would stay away from units unless the weather is too bad to be riding anything else.
ive been wanting to do this for so long,but want somebody experienced to go with.ill ask one of the crusty kids if theyre down to go to the westcoast i guess.
so what you just jump on one and ride the bitch? how do you really know where its going or do you just find tracks in the general direction. you guys bring food obviously but i mean else do you take? maybe its just common sence and im a fucking retard.