About the Author J. D. Santucci (a.k.a. "Tuch") began his railroading career in 1978 as a trainman on the Missouri Pacific. After a round of lay-offs in 1985, Tuch embarked on a railroad odyssey, working in many different situations for different roads. This column tries to explain some of the nuts and bolts of the job and also demonstrates what we have to deal with on a regular basis within and without the industry. Tuch currently works through freights out of Chicago for Canadian National/Illinois Central. ©1999, 2003-2007 JD Santucci. Logo ©2002 The Railroad Network. By J.D. Santucci

April 24 , 2005
Sometime ago, USA Today did a piece about those that take to riding the rails to get around the country. Most of the people they spoke with were "career" hobos. Hobos are not as prevalent as they used to be. One reason is the increased programs by the rail industry to remove and arrest trespassers. They don't care if you are harmless and only seeking a ride. In this era of homeland security as well as the proliferation of lawsuits, the industry does not want anybody not authorized to be there, on their property.

This hobo article was poorly written as it almost seemed to make light of the dangers of riding the rails. One interviewee commented that while he knows it is dangerous, (in his exact words) "I haven't been killed yet." Almost sounds as if he thinks you can get killed more often than once. The article gave out a few of the tricks of the hobo trade as well as if it was planting a seed for those wondering about the concept of traveling across America the free way. It was mentioned about some of the hardships often encountered with this method of transportation including the less than optimal conditions that must be endured or avoiding getting caught. While they touched upon the dangers of it, they didn't get into significant detail of what can and does go horribly wrong. The article neglected to mention what can and does happen when those that don't know the safe and proper way to board and dismount from rail cars, the actions of slack and other significant dangers that await the pseudo railroader whey they enter a rail yard and climb aboard the equipment.

People have been hopping freight trains to get a free ride for years. The post Civil War era helped to promote such transportation options as the rail industry began its period of explosive growth. Soldiers that were mustering out of the military were looking to relocate in search of work and new homes. The Great Depression really made this method of transportation popular as tens of thousands of down and out men fanned out across America in the attempt to attain some sort of gainful employment. They had no job, little to no money and few, if any prospects of employment at their present location. With unemployment reaching 20% or more nationwide and even higher in some regions, climbing on board a freight train (hopefully undetected) with a small grip of worldly possessions and heading to another location in search of work and some sort of decent life only made sense. Both of these periods may have been chapters of American history that inspired the movie "Emperor of the North." And for those of you that are really old like me, you might recall a movie "The Littlest Hobo" about a dog that was a hobo.

Now by no means am I encouraging anybody, no matter what your situation, to hop on freight trains and take a ride. In this era where there more nut cases out there than ever before along with homeland security issues and the like, one really doesn't know what they may encounter out on the high iron. And the industry really takes a particularly dim view of trespassers these days. They don't care if you are broke and trying to get somewhere from here; you will be arrested. It isn't like the old days where they would run you off the property or maybe even overlook your presence. Today, it is incarceration and a trip through the judicial system. We are required to report any and all non-authorized persons on the property. While we have always been required to report such people, it has been greatly overlooked in years past. There is a much greater emphasis on security in today's era and they expect and demand that we report violators and trespassers immediately. They have informed us to not give out any information as to where trains are destined or times they are leaving to anybody that comes up to us around or near the property.

In this lesson we are going to discuss what can and does go wrong when those that are not in the know, try to take advantage of low rent transportation. In one case, the story involves me long before my career began on the railroad. Another involves a friend who as a youngster also was part of an unsanctioned ride that resulted in problems for him.

Hopping a freight train is a very dangerous way to travel across North America. Railroaders are trained in the proper methods to board and alight from moving equipment. We are also taught many other aspects of dealing with moving and standing equipment. And of course, one of the biggest fundamentals of railroading that is constantly hammered home is the fact that you should expect movement on any track, in any direction, at any time. Even with this training, sometimes railroaders are injured or even killed in the performance of their duties. Railroading in a dangerous occupation for those that know what they are doing; imagine what can happen to those that have not received the proper training. Over the years many trespassers have been seriously injured or killed while taking a free ride. Several years ago a college student who was documenting a summer vacation traveling across America on the high iron was killed. The car in which he was riding had the load shift which crushed him to death. He was found dead in the car several days after the fact. It is entirely possible that this poor guy may have been alive for a period of time after the lading within the car had shifted. This fellow was by no means poor or down on his luck. He had some amenities to make his travels bearable including electronics for keeping a journal of his travels and experiences.

Oh yes, there is a rule about not riding a car with a shiftable load. We railroaders know that but most trespassers don't.

Other unauthorized riders have broken limbs or even lost them when they slipped or got banged. Slack action from within a moving train can be deadly. A stopped train that suddenly begins to move can be as equally deadly. I had two relatives injured when they were teenagers as they hopped a freight train. One slipped and fell off and the other tried to grab him and also fell off. One lost both legs while the other lost one. This event had my mother telling me constantly not to ever attempt to hop a train. Being that we lived in very close proximity to rail lines and the fact that I had a strong interest in trains, I don't think mom believed she could stress this point enough with an adventurous young me.

In my career, I have not had the misfortune of finding a trespasser that was severely injured or dead. However, I know many railroaders that have. And they all bear witness to gruesome, horrible encounters. One told me of discovering a guy that had only moments earlier, been cut in half. They guy was not dead yet, but died in this railroaders arms within moments of being discovered. In other cases, the individuals were found already dead. Another fellow rail told me of seeing what he thought was somebody laying along side a train on an adjacent track as their caboose approached. He radioed the Engineer to stop the train immediately. Both this fellow and his Flagman found the guy, only he was dead and had been dead for some time. It was winter and he told me of the guy being already frozen stiff, and in two separate pieces.

As I stated earlier, in years past if the railroad cinder dicks caught you on or attempting to board a train would likely just run you off the property and tell you not to return. Today the attitude is much different. In the current world you will be arrested on the spot and charges preferred against you. Don't worry though as you will still be provided with free transportation, only in this case it is to the nearby crowbar motel. You will then become a guest of the Governor of that state. Perhaps this is not too bad of a deal; free lodging, free meals and the privilege of sharing a shower and restroom with dozens, if not hundreds of others. Of course the drawbacks include your not getting to check out and leave when you desire different digs and having to bunk up with murderers and rapists and the like.

On more than one occasion in my career I and/or a member of the crew of the assignment I was working have leant assistance to hobos. I have directed them to a car on a particular track to help them find the way to their intended destination. My willingness to help in years past may stem in part from an episode that happened to a friend and me as teenagers. We'll categorize this one as a "When things go haywire" story.

As a young teenager I used to spend a great deal of time at this one friend' s house, sometimes staying overnight. This would be in the period before I received my driver's license. We used to periodically hop freight trains that operated on tracks near his house. Most of the time these were slow moving trains pulling into and out of a small yard just down the road from where he lived. We would ride them a short distance, maybe half a mile tops. We would just hop on board and hang onto the side of the car for a little ways and then drop off. Needless to say, we were not performing these duties in compliance with the proper operating and safety rules. But we were in the stage and state of mind of being indestructible so we weren't concerned about something bad happening to us.

One Saturday morning about 9 or so in the morning we strolled over to the yard to see what was going on. A train was slowly pulling out and we decided to hop on and ride along for a little bit. Being the train was just starting to move getting on board was very easy. We just hopped right into a boxcar with an open door. We had figured this train would be stopping in the next town and we would just drop off there and maybe hitchhike back home. Wrong! The train never stopped and we wound up at some yard about sixty-five miles from where our little journey began. We found somebody working in this yard that very kindly assisted us in getting to a track in the yard with cars that were going back to the place from where we just came. The guy was really friendly and helpful. He put forth the extra effort to assist us in returning home. This guy told us exactly where we were and about how far we needed to go to get back from whence we came. Without his assistance, we would likely have had to call either my buddy's or my parents to have them drive way out to get us. This would have been a fate worse than death, especially considering how far we were from home. And in my case, having the family history as it were, of tragedy in riding the rails, I would likely have been better off dead.

We finally did make it back to my friend's house about 10 that evening. We were tired, hungry, thirsty and dirty. Gee, it's hard to believe they don't clean and sanitize the insides of those boxcars in between each loading. We also got quite the butt-chewing for being gone so long without telling anybody where were all day. If only they knew, but then if they did, we would probably have been in real deep doo-doo. And if they knew, we may not have survived the outcome. We would have likely been better off continuing our journey.

I always remembered our little episode and for many years, was willing to assist others trying to get somewhere via the rails. I'll touch upon this more in a bit.

A friend tells me of a similar fate when he hopped a train. Where he grew up, there was a rail line in terrible disrepair. The trains rolled along very slowly making it easy for him to hop on board. He used to use this method of free transportation to get a ride to the next town where there was a lake. He would bring his fishing gear along, hop a slow moving train and drop off at the next town, walk over to the lake and fish. Not a bad deal I guess.

Well one day, unbeknownst to him, the railroad began repairing the track. After he climbed on board, the train began to accelerate. It was going too fast for him to safely drop or jump off, so he remained on board. The train went some 40+ miles before it stopped. He quickly detrained when it did and like my buddy and I, had no clue as to his own whereabouts. In a short period of time, he discovered where he was and realized he was a long way from home. He was able to hitch a ride with a trucker and managed to get partway home. But it was now getting late and he weighed his options. He was still around 20 miles from home. The only real choice he had was to call home. He had no money on him and had to so collect. Bet that went over well. His father came to retrieve him and bring him back, but he was in real trouble. This episode ended his rail riding career.

Now in both of these cases, we were all fortunate that nothing terrible happened to us. Well, nothing more terrible than the wrath of parents that is. We weren't injured or killed. We also didn't fall into the hands of predatory people either. We were lucky. And I've always said when it comes to being good or lucky; I'll take the luck every time.

In my very early days of railroading I was getting all sorts of tips from the old heads. These guys were really filling me with a great deal of information in a short period of time on learning and performing my trade. I remember one of them telling me as we walked along coupling up a track to always take a look inside open boxcar doors. He said I should make sure nobody might be in there ready to jump me after I walked past. Another had told me to knock on the side of a car with an open door as I walked along side of it as well. Still another said to hum or whistle a tune as I approached an open car door. Many told me to be wary as I passed an open door to assure that I was not about to get jumped as well. And so I held onto all these pieces of knowledge and used them as the situations arose.

One late night back in January 1979, I was coupling up a track in 8 Yard at Yard Center and encountered a boxcar with an open door. I approached it shining my lantern inside the car and then looked in. About that time some guy was taking a peek out to see what was going on. Neither one of us expected to see the other when we spotted each other simultaneously. He screamed, I screamed and we both ran off in separate directions. I turned back and saw that he was not coming after me so I stopped running and went back to look into the car from which he had just jumped. There was some of his personal effects from a life of traveling the rails but nothing life threatening, so I didn't bother to report this guy. I just figured he was trying to get somewhere from here.

I have found unauthorized riders on trailing units of my locomotives over the years as well. In one situation, it was the dead of winter and brutally cold. We had been sent out to dog catch a train in which the crew had died on the hours of service. Upon our arrival at the train, the dead crew was already gone. So I went and did an inspection of the power and check for handbrakes. The third unit of my locomotive consist was an old high hooded GP9. This unit had been relegated to what was essentially "B unit" status. The seats had been removed from the cab as well as the wipers from the windows and the heaters no longer worked. The toilet had also been removed. The doors had a message stenciled on them stating that the cab of this unit was not to be occupied. There was also a stencil reading "Trailing Unit Only" on the sides of the cab. The cab interior was quite ragged and filthy. Well, actually it was quite disgusting. I don't believe they would have to inform me not to ride in this unit, but then that is me.

Anyway, as I am passing through this unit I hear some noise coming from within the short high nose. I open the door to take a look and there is some guy in there along with some belongings like a bedroll. When he saw me he cowered towards the very front of the nose and said "Don't hit me!" I assured him that I wouldn't. I then asked him what in the world he was doing in there. He told me that he was trying to get to Chicago. I guess when you really need to get somewhere in the worst way possible; it was no worse than getting there by riding inside the old toilet compartment of a ragged old locomotive with no heat during the dead of winter.

This poor soul looked like he was about half frozen. I told him to grab his stuff and come with me. He asked if I was throwing him off the train. I told him that I wasn't but was going to make his trip to Chicago a little more comfortable. I brought him back to the very rear unit of my locomotive consist. It was a regular locomotive with such fabulous amenities as windows, a toilet, seats and working heaters. It was probably about 75° warmer than it was in the nose of that old GP9. I showed him where the toilet was, the cooler full of water and ice, the crew packs that contained paper towels, hand cleaner, hand wipes and toilet paper and the controls on the control stand. I told him that he was, under no circumstances, to touch anything on that control stand. I removed the brake handles and took the reverser handle with me. He really could not have done too much, but I told him just the same. I told him that if he touched anything on the control stand I would throw him off while we were moving. (I wouldn't have really done that, but it sure sounded scary enough for him to believe). He promised not to do anything wrong.

I told him that we were several hours from Chicago and that we would not be going all the way into the city, but would be stopping and tying up the train in a yard in the suburbs. I explained to him that when we pulled into the yard and stopped, this was his cue to exit from the train. I gave him directions how to continue his journey and about how far it was to Chicago from where we were and exactly where we would be when we finally stopped. He thanked me several times before I headed out to finish inspecting my power and then get on with the trip.

When we arrived at the yard, he dropped off and started walking towards Chicago. He waved and yelled another thank you as he passed our locomotives.

In another instance, some guy comes up to me as I was going to take charge of my power at the yard. He told of wanting to get to a particular place. This train just happened to be heading to where he needed to be. He told of losing his job in the big city, struggling and going broke and then deciding to head back home. It was right before Thanksgiving and he said he was really hoping to make it back home in time for the holiday. I told him we could accommodate his wishes. He then asked if it would be possible for him to ride in one of my locomotives. I had three of them this trip and told him that if I didn't see him climb on board, I wouldn't say anything. I told him to wait for me to finish looking them over first so I would not "discover him" on the engines while we were in the yard.

We went about the business of doubling our train up, getting the required air test and departing the yard. We didn't go very far and had to stop, so I went back to check and see if we indeed had a passenger. This guy was back in the third unit and had settled in quite nicely. He had an Army duffle bag with what appeared to be all of his worldly belongings. I showed him where the water, ice, crew packs and toilet were, how to adjust the heaters and of course, gave him the speech on not touching anything. I also told him to lay low and not sit in the seats. I was concerned that somebody on another train or perhaps an official out in the weeds might spot him. I also turned the radio on so he could follow our progress. I told him our train symbol so that he could hear when other trains, the Dispatcher or Yardmasters would call us with instructions or information.

We were back on the roll and well down the road had to stop again when a defect detector stopped us requiring an inspection of a suspect car. While the crew was taking care of that I went back to check on our passenger. He had set up a bed on the floor using some of his clothes and a jacket. I brought back my lunch and gave it to him. I had nibbled at some of it, but had lots of goodies left. I figured he could really use it more than me. I thought this guy was going to start crying when I gave it to him. He could not thank me enough. He told me that God would bless me for my kindness. I thanked him for the thought and told him that I felt God would also bless him too with his returning home. It made me think of the piece in Scripture about the prodigal son returning to his family. I hoped and wished his father would be as glad to see him return home.

We finally arrived at our division point and crews were changed. I told the outbound Engineer of the passenger on the third unit. I informed him that this guy was given a full briefing about what to do and not do and how he had not been a problem. I also told him where the guy was headed. He assured me that he would make sure the guy got to the final destination alright.

I never heard of any problems so I have to presume the guy made it okay.

Now would I do any of this today? Not likely; far too many nut jobs on the loose these days.

In more recent times, like the past year or so, I have either had riders removed or thrown them off myself. In one case we were sitting waiting at Homewood for a signal to proceed south. I was parked right at the Amtrak station. First my Conductor noticed some guy wandering around the parking lot on the east side of the rails. The lot was empty and it was later in the evening, so I know the guy wasn't waiting for a passenger train. He then disappeared. Several minutes later I observed him on the station platform walking along side my engines. Well, staggering might be a better word. He then vanished. I suspected that this guy climbed onto one of my trailing units. So I decided to take a "stroll across the grounds." I had four units this night as we had two locomotives to set out en route. He wasn't in the second or third unit. When I reached the fourth unit and opened the cab door, I could smell his presence. There was a tremendous reek of alcohol coming from within the cab. I walked in and there was this cat all perched comfortable like in the seats on the Fireman's side of the cab. First thing out of his mouth was a request for a cigarette. My response was a rather stern and forceful, "OFF!"

He then began to tell of needing a ride and again I told him "OFF!" He again requested a ride and I simply told him "OFF!" yet again. I then started to approach him to encourage his departure. He quickly got the message that there would be no free rides this evening and hastened to get up and head out the front cab door. I had noticed there was no duffle bag or satchel of any type surmising that he was a local just trying to get around town. I contacted the Trainmaster and informed him of the situation. I gave him a description of the guy and also told of this guy appearing to be intoxicated so they might want to make sure this guy doesn't get himself run over or something.

On another occasion I witnessed several youngsters, probably in their very early teens hop onto a southbound train departing Homewood. We were waiting for this guy to depart before we could make our set out and pick up at Markham. The southbound was not traveling very fast as they were just starting to leave and of course, climbing the hill out of Homewood. There were two girls and a boy and both my Conductor and I spotted them hop onto a couple of cars and hold onto the ladders. I contacted this train and told them to bring it to a safe stop as they had kids hanging on the side of their train. My Conductor headed out the door to try to capture them. I also contacted the Trainmaster who in turn, contacted the police. As it would happen, the Metra Police were close at hand and picked up the call. They came to assist showing up within minutes of my call. With the help of my Conductor they apprehended these offenders.

We learned these kids were heading to Richton Park, about six miles south of Homewood. The money they were supposed to use for train tickets on Metra was spent on other goodies. They just figured they would just hop on a freight train and ride for free. I don't believe they considered the dangers of such a stupid stunt. It is not easy to hang on the side of a car for miles even when you have been trained in the proper method of doing so. I don't figure these kids would have done too well, especially as the train began to pick up speed. And the train would have likely been going a bit too fast for them to safely drop off when they reached Richton Park anyway.

I've heard stories of civilians hopping onto a freight train that was standing in the intent to climb through, only to have the train begin to roll. I've heard a story from several friends at the former CNW about a guy in a suit and tie that hopped onto an empty coal train that took off and how he hung onto the side of it for miles before being spotted by another train. There are even some that have hopped onto passenger trains as they pulled out of the station so that they would not miss it. They were hanging onto the grab irons on the sides of the cars with the idea of riding like this to the next station where the doors would open and they could step in. And these are adults that are supposed to know better. I guess the only difference between the kids we caught and such adults is their age. I'm guessing these adults have failed to grasp onto the concept of adulthood.

Now in one case, I had rides jump onto my train during my days at the MoPac. They were not along for the ride though; they were looking to break into the trailers on the flatcars. These folks were often referred to as the "Banditos" by the railroad police and the C&WI Dispatcher.

Whenever we would depart 37th Street Yard in Chicago, we had to pass through what was referred to as "The War Zone." This was a very high crime neighborhood in Chicago that we really tried to avoid stopping in whenever possible. The neighbors has become quite adept at hopping onto the moving trains at 10-15 MPH. Their reasons weren't for a free ride, but rather, free stuff. They would climb aboard the intermodal flat cars with the intent of breaking into the trailers loaded onto these cars. If the could get the doors open, they would then climb into the trailers and begin tossing out whatever was inside along the right of way for their accomplices to gather up.

There was MoPac, Conrail, C&WI and Chicago Police all up and down the right of way all through the war zone in the attempt to deter the banditos or, if nothing else, capture them once they began their activities. But even with all the police protection in place, the trains were still getting hit. To assist us, the C&WI Dispatcher would always contact us on the radio when we were headed south to let us know when we cleared his 47th Street interlocking. I can still vividly recall the voice of Dispatcher John Vaisvill as would announce on the radio "Colorful Flying Zebra (his name for train CFZ) you're all straight at 47th Street; let 'em roll!" If it was the City run or any other train, again he would contact them and give them the same clear message. We had a 15 MPH speed restriction through the 47th Street plant and he was letting us know to pout on the coal and get them going so as to have enough speed up to prevent the banditos from getting on board the train.

One afternoon while coming south, we had literally dozens of banditos out there waiting to apply their skills to our train. Being that the train was long enough, we still had a fair amount of it still coming through 47th Street. This gave the banditos the opportunity to start boarding the train while we were only moving at 15 MPH. These are some brazen individuals. Knowing and having been trained in the proper way to board a moving train, I don't want to attempt to do it 15 MPH or faster, but they will just the same. And board they did.

When John announced that we were all straight, I really got them rolling. The speed limit was 40 on the C&WI, but I had them up to 50. It was all jointed rail so the cars were rocking a bit. The trailers were also bouncing up and down some on the cars as well. Anybody on board was being subject to quite the wild ride. As the speed of the train was increasing, the head man was observing seeing people either jumping or falling off from the train. We notified that special agents as we observed those detraining.

As we rolled through 81st Street and its 15 MPH speed limit, I only reduced to about 25 MPH. I didn't want to give any remaining riders the chance to exit the train. The speed used to be 30 through here so I figured the crossover switches were still good for at least 25 therefore it wasn't likely we would be piling them up through here at 25. The 81st Street Tower man reported to the Dispatcher that there were still a few riders on board. The Dispatcher relayed that information to us. We rolled along non-stop to Yard Center, for once not getting stopped on the "Bumtown Hill" to wait for cross traffic at Dolton. We arrived at Yard Center and were instructed to stop at Sibley Boulevard. The MoPac Police meet us there and managed to capture the remaining riders. We were told that they about had to pry these perpetrators hands off with crowbars as they were clutching desperately to drop bars on the backs of trailers. It was also told of them all having rather fearful looks on their faces and being scared nearly half to death from their wild ride.

Perhaps their journey was worth it; they were able to get out of the city for free, get a free ride in a police car, get free lodging from the Governor of Illinois, get free meals and even get some of that free clothing they provide for you while a guest out of the deal as well. And who says crime does not pay?

And so it goes.

Tuch

Hot Times on the High Iron and the HTOTHI initials, ©2005 by JD Santucci.