i wonder if there is a similar story on planehopping?

details on how and where to slip unseen into a wheel well.

how to identify destination, find info re altude, time, security, best planes and airports, etc.

trainhopping seems very dangerous, but is a tempting way to travel far and fast if you are short of funds.

there was a movie about hoboes, with lee marvin,ernest borgnine, and keith carradine. it had a stupid name like 'emperor of the north pole', but was a good show.

i guess some of the dangers faced by hoppers now, are the same as those depicted in that movie.

i lived by a rail yard. moving trains are very dangerous, and most accidents cause permanent damage.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll wanna settle down....

These thrill seekers do not realise just how stupid their actions really are. They may be skilled at grabbing onto pig irons on the move but the hazzards of a railway are far greater than just falling under the wheels and getting bisected. There are many places on a railway that have limited clearances or sometimes no where to walk if a train occupies the track. Only a trained worker would be aware of those kinds of hazzards. But go ahead kids and enjoy yourselves. When you fall, I'm sure your parents will love the story the cops tell them about chasing the crows away from your corpse, as the birds will surley pick out your eyeballs from your shattered skull.

Of curse, train hopping is 100% the fault of Gordon Campbell. The moral depravity caused my the Liberal governemnt has corrupted youth so completely they resort to dangerous actions to get thier thrills.

Further, the rain forecast for tonight is caused by Gordon Campbell displeasing God.....

The cutesy "aren't we free spirits for ignoring the law/not respecting private property and risking our lives" tone of this story really sets my teeth on edge. And yeah, Mike/Kate, if you're hopping trains illegally and living on the street, you are a "dirty kid bum", no matter what trendy name you want to hang on it. If you like the lifestyle, that's your choice, but don't be offended when people call a spade a spade.

Stories like this really make me wish that people's right to sue was automatically invalidated by acts of stupidity. How fast do you think these idiots would sue the rail companies if they were injured while trespassing on railroad property? Several of my family members work around heavy equipment, including trains, and as another poster pointed out, injuries from trains are usually either fatal or severely crippling.

There was an incident in the Elk valley a few years ago. One of the coal trains was being loaded at the mine near Elkford and the loading operator noticed that there was a person wandering around the tracks.

The man was dirty, cold, thirsty, hungry and...well he was as black as coal. He also couldn't speak a word of English and was staggering around the train in a most alarming manner.

Finally someone arrived that could speak German and an interesting tale unfolded.

The young man was a German tourist who had been drinking with some locals in Vancouver. For some reason they took him to a railway and hoisted him up and into an empty coal car. Trapped in the coal car he was duly transported from Robert's Bank to the mine at Elkford and had a free rail tour of the Canadian Rockies. It nearly ended with him being buried in 200 tons of coal as it was loaded into the car he was trapped in.

Sometimes dogs or cats are found in the coal cars, tossed in by people who have decided Fido or Tabby need to go on a one way trip, but getting rid of a drunken tourist in this manner is a novel approach.

Be careful where you drink Gordo.

until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving on...

Just don't get on a CN RAIL car. The seem to have started de-railing left and right since it was sold to the Americans.

Seems to be a lot of negativity towards people for taking what others might consider 'unnecessary' risks or making 'poor' life choices. While my danger threshold isn't what it used to be, and I do tend to think of safety as a priority, I also accept that others may have needs and values in life that differ significantly from my own. And so long as they are not harming others in their actions – unlike more conventionally accepted life choices like driving, which quite commonly involves people going at speeds above the legally posted limits, and sometimes results in the severe injury or death of innocent bystanders – then I believe these choices are theirs to make.

Everyone has different ways to make life resonate more deeply. For some it is a nomadic life-style, for others it is invoking adrenaline through dangerous activity, gaining in material possession and societal status, or even through the building of family and community. The most important thing for me to remember, before I criticize another person's life, is that to FEEL alive can be such a beautiful thing and can be such a powerful motivator in life. Who am I to use my life experiences to define the personal values of others?

There are many who can be considered to be 'down-and-out' by society's standards, with significant barriers to participation in many things we often take for granted, due to lack of 'currency', which is sometimes obvious like money, and sometimes more subtle like social aptitude. And on the issue of self-risk, much like the right to commit suicide, I firmly believe that people have the right to risk their lives in the ways they choose, so long as it does not endanger others.

If these so-called 'Yohos' have found a way to experience life more deeply, then more power to them. Like the others who take actions that break the laws in our society, through actions like littering/pollution or the violation of motor vehicle laws, people must balance potential consequences with the choices they make, and hopefully we respect others as much as possible when doing so. I only hope that when we do make choices outside of the norm, and take a path full of challenge – and sometimes even the scorn of others – that we can discover yet another way to expand our perspectives and find something new that resonates with us, even if for only a fleeting moment. Life is full of possibility, let’s be careful of how we project our limits onto others.

Well said sand_grain.

As a onetime "dirty kid bum" Rhea, let me say: get a life lady.

I have never riden a train, although I know lots of young people who still do.

I live in a railway town where there have been many injuries and fatalities involving people interacting with trains, but the vast majority of them were looking to get across the tracks(most were impaired), rather than a ride out of town.

During that same period many more young adventurers died riding automobiles, ATVs, boats etc., yet no one, as far as I know, stopped to check if they were dirty kid bums."

I know about pub hopping

To get a good sense of what riding the rails was about during the Depression, I recommend the movie Elmer Gantry.

It is necessary today, as then, for those without money to find greener pastures. If they choose to hop a train in order to do so, I wish them well and a safe journey.

My biggest fear, in Canada, would be that of freezing to death - in much of the U.S. in winter, for that matter.

Ahhh, the days of my youth. My few train hopping experiences in the 1970s are some of the dearest memories of my life so far.

The thunderous roar of a rolling pair of 3000-horsepower Units, a headlamp so powerfully bright you can almost see the bones in the hand that shields your eyes. The Units pass. I am running with all my might and desire over the crunch of heavy gravel, my suitcase held over my head with both arms. I tripped. I don’t know what happened or how. All I know is that I never fell. I somehow found even more might and desire next to those huge steel wheels. Accelerating. Exhilarating. Friendly hands plucked the suitcase from my arms. I grasped the handrail and hoisted myself up, up, up, on. Open window, armrest, infinite prairie night; the spoils of victory. I am eighteen. I am a man. I am alive. I know God. And now, God knows me.

Keep yer Concordes and Cadillacs and yer little cotton sails.
Angels may ride the buses, but God rides the rails.
–Findlekind

Ahhh, the days of my youth. One train hopping experience in 1978, burned in to my memory I will never forget the day.

The thunderous roar of a rolling locomotive, a smell of diesel so strong it makes you giddy with excitement. The unit passes, I am running with all my might, the crunch of heavy gravel under my feet, I grab on to the metal ladder at the side of the 70 ton oil tanker, I slip as the ladder accelerates, there is dust all around me.

I open my eyes, I am sitting on the ground, the train continues to rush by me, the two buddies I am with stop and gape in white faced amazement. My right leg is gone, sheared off by 70 tonnes of steel. Accelerating, exhilarating; I won't be doing this again anytime soon.

I am fifteen, I am a boy, I am still alive. I know God. And now God knows me.

http://amputee-online.com

Although I'm sorry for your loss, it's a good thing you only lost a leg in your train escapade, rockerbiff. Some of my high school mates lost their lives in car accidents. And the statistics tell a much more grim trend of risking life and limb for the thrill of speed. I'll be gracious and not post pictures of those incidents...

Long time ago I trainhopped a few times just to get from one side of town to the other. One guy I knew got killed. Fell off the top of a boxcar when the train wasn't even moving. The only trainhopper I ever knew to get hurt. I've known lots of people who've been injured and killed from riding in cars, trucks, bikes, & motorcycles.

Let us not be so vicious in our self-righteous criticism of trainhoppers. If someone gets killed while running to catch a bus, would you be gloating about his eyeballs getting eaten by crows?

If it's not the lifestyle you would live (or perhaps it's the lifstyle you wish you could have lived)is not a reason to get so uptight about people who choose to live their own lives in their own way.