Freighthopping

Freighthopping or train hopping is the act of surreptitiously hitching a ride on a railroad freight car. In the United States of America, this became a common means of transportation following the American Civil War as the railroads began pushing westward, especially among migrant workers who became known as 'hobos'. 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. Today, the practice is forbidden by statute in nearly all states, though it is still practiced. In modern day usage, hopping a freight train is also known as "catching out" or "hopping out."

Many railroads take a strict view of people hopping freight trains, and employ railroad police, also known as "bulls", in an attempt to prevent the practice. Among other duties, railroad police are charged with preventing trespassing on railroad property, which includes freighthopping. Railroad police officers typically patrol in utility trucks, SUVs ("bullmobiles"), or even standard police cruisers. Railroad police are certified police officers.

Decline of freighthopping

In recent decades, the traditional role of hobos as itinerant workers has fallen off. Most itinerant workers in modern times have automobiles and drive between jobs, alternatively they may use public transportation, and live in many types of temporary housing. As seasonal agricultural work became the province of undocumented immigrant workers, and other seasonal work became increasingly lucrative, freighthopping became mainly used by the homeless population, by thrill seekers, anarchists who have adopted the practice as an expression of a revolutionary lifestyle, and people who enjoy traveling across the countryside under the open air. Most freighthopping is done by thrill-seekers who ride very short distances.

Hopping a freight train can be a life-threatening experience. Freight trains are much faster and more secure than in the heyday of hoboing. A freighthopper stands a good chance of freezing to death even in relatively warm weather, being jostled off the train, arrested, or attacked by another hobo. According to Ted Conover, a large percentage of modern-day hoboes are ex-cons, and violence is not uncommon among the transient population.

On many freight trains the traditional boxcar has given way to more secure plug door cars or intermodals. Containerization makes freight trains far less accesssible than in the past. Even flatcars are becoming increasingly open, making life harder for freighthoppers.

See also

• Hitchhiking
• Hobo
• Itinerant
• Boxcar Betty
• Emperor of the North Pole, a movie about freighthopping starring Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, and Keith Carradine.
• "King of the Road"
• William T. Vollmann

Further reading

• Uys, Errol Lincoln. Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move During the Great Depression (Routledge, 2003) ISBN 0-415-94575-5 [1]

External links

• Hobo Letters Letters from boxcar kids who rode the rails during the Great Depression