How often and how far did you go?

My roommate and 2 other friends hopped on a train after leaving the chicken one night when we were in college...it was in late Jan/early Feb. The train sped up and they couldn't get off until Houston where even then they had to jump and got all busted up.

Tried to sleep in a McD's but the mgr kicked them out. They finally called a pledge to come get them at 4am

I've ridden a hobo like a freight train but not the other way around.

Got on in morgans point, ended up in galveston. Ran out of beer. Had no money. But she was worth it.

In '89, I saw a couple of guys climb on top of a box car as the trained crawled through the crowd on the tracks as the Ags kicked some t-sip ass at Olsen. Last I saw, they were doing about 40 MPH towards Hempstead.

Does the train at Hermann Park count? If you get on at the science museum, they give you a free ride back to the zoo! (Houston, TX)

Did it once. Friend and I started in San Antonio, made it all the way to California. Flew home.

Pretty great adventure, but I wouldn't do it again. A lot of bat **** crazy people around the trains. The kind who look like they would cut your throat for a quarter.

At the time, we used this book as a guide: https://www.amazon.com/Hopping-Freight-Trains-America-Littlejohn/dp/094462734X

I'm sure that it is way out of date now.

Ursus, you've done this, amirite?

We need a detailed report of your trip. This sounds fkn wild.

Gawd....can't come close to competing with these stories. Used to go to the tracks as kids on bikes near our house in Cypress area (former Compaq property) and inevitably took the dare to jump on when the train slowed to go over Cypress creek. Stayed on for all of 3 minutes and got scared when it felt like we were going 1 mph faster, so bailed out. Got scraped up, but discovered what had to be the State's most productive dewberry patch in the process. Now realize my mother had very good cause to worry about our unknown wanderings...

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We need a detailed report of your trip. This sounds fkn wild.

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Well it can't be worse than a certain African Jeep trip we all know and love/hate.

I knew someone at A&M in the 70s who hopped on one on the spur of the moment.

I don't remember where he was finally able to get off the train at, but it was more than 200 miles away. A friend of mine who went to get him wasn't very pleased.

Tried to once in HS - but dammed if a slow moving train 100 yds away doesn't look a lot faster when you're actually try to grab on. I couldn't catch up with it.

Buddy down street at A&M told me he hopped on one @ Holleman and jumped off in Rockdale. He got caught leaving & they told him lucky you - next stop was El Paso. He wrote a story about it for a class paper.

Interned for a railroad one summer. Usually the train crews won't do anything as long as you're not causing problems. If the railway police spot you independently, they'll radio in to the engineer to stop so they can take you off of the train. Same thing if you do cause problems. There are actually more eyes on the tracks and the trains than you would think of.

Best place to catch a ride is inside the cab of additional locomotives. If they're running distributable units, the cab on the back of the train is a good spot. Otherwise, try to hide in an open box car or lay low on the platforms on either end of grain hoppers.

As a kid, used to hop trains in Round Rock, and ride to Taylor. Had some scary near misses.

Dad went to OU, said he did it back in the 60's from Norman to Ft. Worth

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We need a detailed report of your trip. This sounds fkn wild.

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+1

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We need a detailed report of your trip. This sounds fkn wild.

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took him two months to get out of Bexar county. #trainhopping #hoppintrains #hobolife #freeride #trainhopping #railtrip #travelphotography #choochoo #trainhopping #americatravel #americathebeautiful #bexarcounty #trainhopping #hobolife #rockislandline #emilyhasbigfeet #folsomprisonblues #trainsmakemelonesome #trainhopping #itshardtostopatrane #shegotrunnedoverbyadamnedoltrain #trainhopping #locomotive #tresspassing #texas #hobo #trainhopping #trainhopping #lifeontherail #hastag #poundsign #trainhopping

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We need a detailed report of your trip. This sounds fkn wild.

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took him two months to get out of Bexar county. #trainhopping #hoppintrains #hobolife #freeride #trainhopping #railtrip #travelphotography #choochoo #trainhopping #americatravel #americathebeautiful #bexarcounty #trainhopping #hobolife #rockislandline #emilyhasbigfeet #folsomprisonblues #trainsmakemelonesome #trainhopping #itshardtostopatrane #shegotrunnedoverbyadamnedoltrain #trainhopping #locomotive #tresspassing #texas #hobo #trainhopping #trainhopping #lifeontherail #hastag #poundsign #trainhopping

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+100 for repeating hashtags. All in the details.

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We need a detailed report of your trip. This sounds fkn wild.

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took him two months to get out of Bexar county. #trainhopping #hoppintrains #hobolife #freeride #trainhopping #railtrip #travelphotography #choochoo #trainhopping #americatravel #americathebeautiful #bexarcounty #trainhopping #hobolife #rockislandline #emilyhasbigfeet #folsomprisonblues #trainsmakemelonesome #trainhopping #itshardtostopatrane #shegotrunnedoverbyadamnedoltrain #trainhopping #locomotive #tresspassing #texas #hobo #trainhopping #trainhopping #lifeontherail #hastag #poundsign #trainhopping

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The #hashtags!

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We need a detailed report of your trip. This sounds fkn wild.

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took him two months to get out of Bexar county. #trainhopping #hoppintrains #hobolife #freeride #trainhopping #railtrip #travelphotography #choochoo #trainhopping #americatravel #americathebeautiful #bexarcounty #trainhopping #hobolife #rockislandline #emilyhasbigfeet #folsomprisonblues #trainsmakemelonesome #trainhopping #itshardtostopatrane #shegotrunnedoverbyadamnedoltrain #trainhopping #locomotive #tresspassing #texas #hobo #trainhopping #trainhopping #lifeontherail #hastag #poundsign #trainhopping

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It is what it is

I once knew a guy that was a hobo somewhere back in the 1960's or so. He claimed he never had much aspiration in life. He would jump a freight train from Oregon to Iowa and get marijuana that had been planted in cornfields and haul it back to Portland to sell it. He would shove the weed down inside the legs of a pair of jeans and roll it up and pack it along with his few possessions. One time his train was stranded in a blizzard out on the Great Plains and he went three days without food before the train was freed from the snow.

He had lots of interesting stories about his life. He would be pushing ninety if he was still alive.

The old steam engines in Colorado are fun to ride. Prettier scenery than the old Texas State Railway from Palestine to Rusk.

Train-hopped all the way from Kansas City to Los Angeles back in 2003.

I work the Houston to Hearne run. Nothing feels more amazing than coming through on game day and blowing the horn and everyone going whoop!

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I work the Houston to Hearne run. Nothing feels more amazing than coming through on game day and blowing the horn and everyone going whoop!

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Train-hopped all the way from Kansas City to Los Angeles back in 2003.

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Doesn't count when you worked for the railroad!

I know a guy who's missing both legs from the knees down after trying that.

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My roommate and 2 other friends hopped on a train after leaving the chicken one night when we were in college...it was in late Jan/early Feb. The train sped up and they couldn't get off until Houston where even then they had to jump and got all busted up.

Tried to sleep in a McD's but the mgr kicked them out. They finally called a pledge to come get them at 4am

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I know a very similar story about a guy who jumped on one Halloween night at the Villa Maria light.

He also ended up in the Houston yards. Those things are hard to dismount when they get up speed...

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Train-hopped all the way from Kansas City to Los Angeles back in 2003.

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Doesn't count when you worked for the railroad!

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But I still did it. Took me two weeks and it was a miserable two weeks. Met some shady people along the way.