1 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 1: Hilliards to turn right under my hills Ulimart. So I'm 2 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:16,919 Speaker 1: navigating us to the Roseville Market, which has kind of 3 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:22,919 Speaker 1: always been my head getting dropped off. I'm back in Roseville, 4 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:25,600 Speaker 1: the place I suspect my daughter Ruby hopter first train 5 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: because I want to be on foot inside the yard 6 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:32,880 Speaker 1: and see what it takes to hop out. Mike Brady 7 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: told me no one owned train hopping. Anyone could just 8 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 1: head over to Roseville and hop a train. But it 9 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:41,839 Speaker 1: can't be that easy, can't it. Ye kind of a 10 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:47,879 Speaker 1: blind turn here the road. Okay, that's enough. That shut up. 11 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:51,879 Speaker 1: If I'd learned anything riding around the yard with Jonathan Esposito, 12 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: it was that I wouldn't get far on my own. 13 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: So I asked Ruby's friend Zoe, who'd hopped trains for 14 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,440 Speaker 1: seven years, to try to get us into as well. 15 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 1: It's been a while since I've been here, and I 16 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: don't know where the indies and outs are anymore. All right, 17 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:12,639 Speaker 1: we're turning right at the lake. This yard is so big. 18 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:18,840 Speaker 1: I should have brought my crew change. Yea. Zoe's an 19 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 1: experienced writer. She even has a copy of the crew change. 20 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 1: This insider map to the rails made by hobos. But 21 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: here in Roseville, I'm relying on Zoe vision. Yep, here 22 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 1: we got we're rolling. We parked the car and I 23 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: realized we're at the same spot Jonathan pointed me to 24 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: when he was driving me around. Inside the yard, the 25 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: little park where hobos hop out. There's an old tanker 26 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:44,319 Speaker 1: car painted white and standing on stilts turned into a 27 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: park sculpture. Oh, I see. We walk closer to get 28 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: a better view of it and of the fence around 29 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: the yard, And already there are signs that this is 30 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: a hop out spot for hobos. I'm already seeing a 31 00:01:55,160 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: ton of train tack. Yeah, nasty, sick, sober. Sorry Patricia's 32 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: first ride? Well, how are you doing? Patricia? Writers still 33 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: left messages letting people know they'd pass through and if 34 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 1: they had a hard time getting on a train. I'm 35 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:19,080 Speaker 1: never where does it say that the yars are more 36 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: dangerous than I want to believe. And while it's some 37 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,920 Speaker 1: comfort knowing Ruby's traveling family could protect her, I know 38 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: there's more to reckon with once you get on the train. 39 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:30,640 Speaker 1: What are the risks inside the box car? And how 40 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:32,639 Speaker 1: do hobos nowhere to go? And when to get off? 41 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:39,360 Speaker 1: And what happens along the way. I'm Deil Morton and 42 00:02:39,440 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: this the city of the rail probably three grains from you. 43 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: So yeah, Actually, I think the last time I was 44 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:23,640 Speaker 1: here hopping out, I remember sort of being down underneath 45 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: this tree. There was no fence here. After all my 46 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: travels running around the train yard talking to hobos and 47 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:32,240 Speaker 1: yard workers, there was one last thing I wanted to know. 48 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: How do you hop a train? Ruby's friend Zoe is 49 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: the perfect person to help me try to figure this out. 50 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: She was experienced patients and even a little amused to 51 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 1: be taking her friend's mom to hop a train. Welcome 52 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 1: to train hopping with the world's oldest Google. When I 53 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:53,640 Speaker 1: come to Roswell with Jonathan Esposito a few months earlier, 54 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: the place we entered didn't have any signs warning us away. 55 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: Here there were plenty saying warning danger a road property, 56 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: remote control trains in operation. Closer to the chain link fence, 57 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: I see the holes are too small to get a 58 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: foot in and climb over the top. But Zoe, she 59 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: saw the way through it. Yeah, we're talking. Oh there's 60 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:17,160 Speaker 1: a hole. There's a hole just big enough to get 61 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:20,480 Speaker 1: your body through. Okay, So there's like a a four 62 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: ft drop from here, and once inside the yard, were trespassing, 63 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 1: a crime that the railroads can take seriously. The rails 64 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: have a private police force they employed to protect the trains. 65 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: Hobos call them bulls, and in the yard, bulls can 66 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: do pretty much whatever they want. I've heard sometimes they 67 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:39,599 Speaker 1: just wave you away and tell you they'll arrest you 68 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: if they ever see you again. But if they catch 69 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:44,159 Speaker 1: you on the train and think you may have tampered 70 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:47,479 Speaker 1: with it or the cargo, that's a felony. So as 71 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: much as I wanted to do this, I was getting 72 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: pretty anty. Right are there cameras everywhere? I don't know, 73 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: do see a camera? I do not see a place 74 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: where a camera. Yeah, I don't think that there are cameras. Okay, 75 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:07,919 Speaker 1: I wouldn't recommend now for going through because there's a 76 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: locomotive with people in it right up there already. I'm questioning, 77 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: Mike Brodie, could anyone really do this? You had to 78 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:19,720 Speaker 1: be fearless to move through the yard. We had to 79 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:21,839 Speaker 1: cover the distance from the fence to the box car, 80 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: and the yard was a wide open space. Plus, as 81 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: we heard an episode two, the trains can sneak up 82 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:31,160 Speaker 1: on you even as a worker. But after some waiting, 83 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: Zoe said, this was our movie. Get up. Okay, here's 84 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:46,919 Speaker 1: the big moment, all right, and we're in We're in 85 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:52,039 Speaker 1: now trespassing pass. Things were like, now we're in the 86 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 1: danger zone. About thirty ft past the fence. A train 87 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:58,160 Speaker 1: rushes by on a nearby track. The train we should 88 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: get down. SI can still see us, I think if 89 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: they're looking looked right out of me. I want to hide, 90 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: but I can't, so I just hope the conductor doesn't 91 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:16,000 Speaker 1: call the cops. I did not make eye contact. Even 92 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 1: if you didn't see us, I feel like I'm being watched. 93 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: So he spots the box car we want about a 94 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:29,920 Speaker 1: hundred feet away. Oh, I see it now. Yeah. The 95 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:32,800 Speaker 1: other things we're going to have to we're gonna have 96 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: to cross the main lines, so you definitely want to 97 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:39,599 Speaker 1: look both ways. You definitely need to keep an eye out. 98 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 1: So we're across the tracks from the box car. I 99 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: can see into it, but I can't move, so I don't. 100 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 1: I think I'm not going to do it. I don't 101 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:55,600 Speaker 1: think I can do it. I feel too exposed. I mean, 102 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: can you describe like what you're feeling? What's stopping you 103 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: from just walking closer to it. Uh I, uh, I'm 104 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: stick to my stomach and uh I'm I'm a little shaky, 105 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: and uh I don't feel strong. I'll be I'll be 106 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: here right with you. I won't go any faster or 107 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: slower than you. Z He is so decent. This adventure 108 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: with her reminds me of something Morgan told me that 109 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 1: people on the rails are kinder than you'd expect. Zoe 110 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: is proof of that. So we make our way to 111 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: the box car. All right, here we go. We're gonna 112 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:40,119 Speaker 1: get arrested. We better not. We've better not. I gotta 113 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: go to work tomorrow. And finally we're here at the 114 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: box car. It's way bigger than I expected. You made 115 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: it past the first hurdle. Oh look, and this is 116 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 1: this is the lowest. I think this is about the 117 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: lowest that you'll ever get a box car. Really, yeah, Look, 118 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: it's about older length on me. Hello, Hello, This is 119 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 1: what it sounds like inside the box car. Wow, there's 120 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: no big space here, and it smells like lumber. Do 121 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 1: you smell that smell? I craned my head into the 122 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: big hollow space of the box car. There's a graffiti 123 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: on the inside. And I'm surprised by how high the 124 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: ceiling is. I didn't realize trains were this tall. When 125 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: you stand next to the train, it's to two stories 126 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:37,360 Speaker 1: tall above you, right, it's high. Yea. So how do 127 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 1: you host yourself up into the box cars? It takes muscle. 128 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:42,840 Speaker 1: I can't believe you guys did this all the time. 129 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:44,440 Speaker 1: I mean, I have it from a distance. I feel 130 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: like I feel a sort of feeling of the freedom 131 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:49,560 Speaker 1: of it. But the actual mechanics of getting into the 132 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:56,280 Speaker 1: train are hard. This is really a tough thing. What 133 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: could I get up into the box car? I can 134 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: not gonna be the box car. And my friend who 135 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: CC rider, who's about your size, she carried a bucket 136 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: with her. Did you have a bucket? I was impressed. 137 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:12,440 Speaker 1: I could see just how brave my daughter had to 138 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: be to climb onto one of these. And then what 139 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:18,440 Speaker 1: so have you read into box cars like this? Sure? 140 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:24,200 Speaker 1: Where do you sit? Ideally? You sit where if you're 141 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: traveling this direction, you want to sit on this side 142 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: to keep the wind out of your face. That's clean 143 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 1: face versus dirty face. So wherever the wind's not blowing, 144 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: the box goes are terrible, right, all right, we got 145 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:43,079 Speaker 1: some sound it's here. If that means that it's airing up, well, 146 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know where that came from. 147 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:48,240 Speaker 1: So if that train was leaving, it was time for 148 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: us to go. I could have to work my way 149 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:56,200 Speaker 1: up to the box cars getting in it. We did 150 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 1: this the tame way, sneaking up to a stationary car 151 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 1: and even and it was too much for me. But 152 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: in most stories I had heard people ran after moving 153 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,319 Speaker 1: trains and caught them on the fly. That sounded ridiculous 154 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: to me. Catching on the fly could kill you. It 155 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 1: was much safer to get on a stationary train. But 156 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: just like that train writer and Mike Brodie's photo running 157 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:20,080 Speaker 1: to catch a train with a guitar sling on his back, 158 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 1: sometimes you gotta grab your ship and go. I didn't 159 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:27,680 Speaker 1: understand the full sequence of actions until Alexei would, the 160 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 1: hobo who described his first ride through the Houston Skyline 161 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: told me how he caught a moving train. I mean, 162 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 1: if it wasn't moving, you're fine, But if it's moving, 163 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 1: then it's definitely a whole another. And like I know 164 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: exactly how high those things are. It's like it's I 165 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 1: have to throw my bag up and give a good 166 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:48,440 Speaker 1: leap and use my upper body strength to get up 167 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: in there. I'm six wall in I have a very 168 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: athletic bill, but you know, I was some pretty good health. 169 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:58,280 Speaker 1: I would just, you know, you just run next to it. 170 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 1: You grab the ladder and just run with it until 171 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:02,480 Speaker 1: you get your balance, and then you just kind of 172 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 1: like swing on so you just kind of jump on 173 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,120 Speaker 1: it and kind of lunge, kind of land on the 174 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:14,880 Speaker 1: top of it with your belly and then lift yourself up. 175 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 1: That's literally how people lose their legs is because they 176 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 1: can't necessarily stay up, you know, so they kind of 177 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:32,680 Speaker 1: slide down and then they just kind of help into 178 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,240 Speaker 1: the tracks. I know two people who have lost their 179 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:47,400 Speaker 1: legs from box cars. Such a grizzly image. Plenty of 180 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,959 Speaker 1: other writers told tales of people losing their fingers or 181 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:53,480 Speaker 1: their limbs hopping trains, and after walking the yard with Zoe, 182 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 1: I don't think I agree with Mike. Not just anyone 183 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 1: could do this. I couldn't even get into one that 184 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,920 Speaker 1: wasn't moving. But after cowering next to the box car, 185 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:06,000 Speaker 1: I had more respect for Ruby. I had always known 186 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:08,680 Speaker 1: she was a badass, but in the yard I realized 187 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:13,960 Speaker 1: just how much. But badasses aren't invincible, and for a traveler, 188 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:34,720 Speaker 1: getting on the train is just the first hurdle. So 189 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: you've made it past the fence and avoided the yard workers, drones, 190 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,520 Speaker 1: and rail cops. But once you're on the train, so 191 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,840 Speaker 1: many things can happen along the ride. Talking with veteran 192 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:46,360 Speaker 1: writers like Ceci and Cherry led me to Thomas Wolfe, 193 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 1: who had written all over America and had tons of 194 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:52,440 Speaker 1: stories and a lot of near death experiences too. Those 195 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:54,520 Speaker 1: are the kinds of stories and mother loves to hear 196 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 1: going to die. Right. We're all destiny. It's just just 197 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 1: no exception to that rule. So the thing to do 198 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 1: is just it's important. What's not not important while you're alive, 199 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:09,920 Speaker 1: because you only got one chance at it. Lots of 200 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:12,960 Speaker 1: hub As adopted ship happens mentality as a way of 201 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,600 Speaker 1: accepting how things go wrong. For wolf the risks were 202 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,079 Speaker 1: just a part of the ride, and the danger enhanced 203 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,560 Speaker 1: the beauty. Wolf even found something beautiful about the day 204 00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:26,559 Speaker 1: he almost died in Montana. Wont through one of those 205 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:30,679 Speaker 1: tunnels out there, and uh, the invention the universe should 206 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:38,240 Speaker 1: and it just filled up with diesel fuels. We couldn't 207 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: see anything but the little light on the console. It's like, 208 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:44,960 Speaker 1: you know, getting light headed, odes of water and I 209 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:52,880 Speaker 1: think we're gonna get gas to death. It seemed like 210 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 1: forever at that dead we could he trying to hold 211 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 1: your bath. Yeah, yeah, we're just holding hands because we're 212 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:06,679 Speaker 1: sure we both gonna die. But then it came out 213 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:09,839 Speaker 1: of the tunnel opened, all the air gone out, all 214 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: the teams die out. It was a close call. But 215 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:21,240 Speaker 1: moments like these are why some Hobos told me they 216 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:23,640 Speaker 1: learned more about their companions in one week on the 217 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,320 Speaker 1: rails than they knew about some members of their families. 218 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:30,120 Speaker 1: Many Hobos see their near death experiences this way with 219 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 1: a sense of romance. For Wolf, as long as he 220 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 1: didn't die, it was a good experience and a good story, 221 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 1: the story of making it through the story of nearly dying. 222 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 1: But once you're on the train, the danger inside the 223 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 1: box car isn't the only hazard. You could still get 224 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 1: caught on the train by the cops. And it's not 225 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:54,280 Speaker 1: just bulls outside the yard. A lot of local police 226 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: don't like writers either, and some cops have reputations because 227 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 1: of the rough way they handled writers, and every writer 228 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 1: has a cop story. I met Danny Dean through Morgan. 229 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: He's the boyfriend she mentioned traveling with last episode. When 230 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,360 Speaker 1: Danny and I talked, he told me about an encounter 231 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:13,120 Speaker 1: he had in Roosevelt with one of those notorious cops. 232 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 1: I wasn't even doing nothing, honestly except taking a nap. 233 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:22,200 Speaker 1: He decided to wake me up. And they also didn't 234 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:25,960 Speaker 1: warn me about Officer Flood. A lot of other writers 235 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,040 Speaker 1: had stories to tell about Officer David Flood. It was 236 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 1: pretty tough on the travelers he found around the train yard. 237 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:35,280 Speaker 1: What happened with you in Flood? I mean, I've actually 238 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 1: been trying to get Fled to talk to me. He's 239 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: such a famous figure in that yard. You know who 240 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:46,520 Speaker 1: Flood is? Yeah, oh man. I wasn't even doing nothing, 241 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:51,120 Speaker 1: honestly except taking a nap from the bridge, and he 242 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: decided to wake me up. He was being a little 243 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:57,000 Speaker 1: fucking handy with me, you know, like rough. He like 244 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: twitched my handback and put in handcuffs. I was like, 245 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: that's I noticed you's in that glove song. He's trying 246 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:04,960 Speaker 1: to go through my pockets. But I'm a traveler, so 247 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 1: I have like a hundred pockets and giving time. Danny 248 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: was sick of this treatment and he'd been minding his 249 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,560 Speaker 1: own business, so he decided to fight dirty. So I 250 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:21,920 Speaker 1: pissed myself. Yes, I was basically trying to piss on 251 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 1: his hands, and I was like, hey, hey, you feel that, 252 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:28,320 Speaker 1: And yeah, he got mad and he put my head 253 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 1: in the back of this fucking control car and it 254 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:38,640 Speaker 1: took me to jail. Get Another place where the cops 255 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:42,080 Speaker 1: are infamous is New Orleans. According to writers, the cops 256 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 1: there could arrest you for just about anything, and if 257 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 1: there wasn't a law in the books, they could make 258 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,560 Speaker 1: what up. This could lead to all kinds of inventive charges. 259 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: Morgan encountered some of those traveling kids all knew this, 260 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 1: these little stories about how the cops in New Orleans, 261 00:16:57,240 --> 00:16:58,880 Speaker 1: so if they think you're doing something wrong, they can 262 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:01,320 Speaker 1: write a ticket for whatever they want. One of them 263 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: was the obstruction of the flight path of a pigeon, 264 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:11,359 Speaker 1: and which was heard that Yeah, one was the molestation 265 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,440 Speaker 1: of a chief burger. But the one that I heard 266 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:18,639 Speaker 1: also was leading it with intent to fall. Getting caught 267 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 1: on the train could mean much moorse than a ticket. 268 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 1: Or a night in jail. You could get pulled off 269 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:25,399 Speaker 1: in the wrong place, and that could lead to a 270 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:28,480 Speaker 1: lot more trouble. Zoe told me about a time she 271 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:30,880 Speaker 1: got pulled off in the desert. She was already dealing 272 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:33,359 Speaker 1: with the heat when things took a turn for the worse. 273 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:38,960 Speaker 1: Gotten on a on a train and sat on it, 274 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:42,159 Speaker 1: and the train just didn't move until the sun was 275 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,960 Speaker 1: just beating down on me. It was a hot, hot 276 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:49,920 Speaker 1: day in New Mexico, and I'm just roasting in the sun, 277 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:54,359 Speaker 1: like praying that all these workers are zipping by on 278 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:56,359 Speaker 1: a t v s, just praying that they don't see 279 00:17:56,359 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: me as being so hot and thirsty. But he didn't 280 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:02,399 Speaker 1: have any water. I had water, but you know, I 281 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 1: can't really like sit up to drink it. Zoe knew 282 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:08,800 Speaker 1: if she sat up to get a drink of water, 283 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,679 Speaker 1: those passing workers might call the bulls on her. On 284 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:14,879 Speaker 1: that train, we did end up getting out of the 285 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:20,119 Speaker 1: yard without being seen, and just for like twenty minutes 286 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 1: later to go past an elevated work camp and have 287 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:24,560 Speaker 1: a bunch of workers see us and call the cops. 288 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:27,720 Speaker 1: And we got left in the middle of nowhere in 289 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 1: the desert. But when the cop pulled Zoe and her 290 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:34,640 Speaker 1: friends off the train. He didn't arrest them, he stranded 291 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 1: them in the desert, and just before he left he 292 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:40,359 Speaker 1: tried to scare them off the rails for good. And 293 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:44,439 Speaker 1: the cop that had taken us off the train was saying, 294 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,360 Speaker 1: like trying to say all this like mean nasty stuff 295 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:52,840 Speaker 1: about how we'd probably like die of exposure out there, 296 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:56,679 Speaker 1: and we were in such a hostile environment. There's like, 297 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:00,840 Speaker 1: you know, all sorts of snakes and squa rampeans, and 298 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:03,399 Speaker 1: then like local people like we could be on res 299 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:06,879 Speaker 1: land and they could shoot us, like some horrible things. 300 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:09,440 Speaker 1: Stuck in the desert, Zoe was forced to face another 301 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 1: major challenge of train hopping, having enough supplies, the group 302 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:17,920 Speaker 1: was running out of water. In that situation, well, first 303 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:21,280 Speaker 1: we spent a night by the tracks because we thought 304 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: maybe something else would stop, but trains rolled past too 305 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:26,080 Speaker 1: fast to get on all night long. And then the 306 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:28,159 Speaker 1: next day we're like, well we just have to walk 307 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:31,119 Speaker 1: until we see something. And how many whiles did you 308 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:33,440 Speaker 1: have to walk? I don't remember. I mean, the people 309 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:37,840 Speaker 1: are traveling with weren't super great, but we were like 310 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:43,679 Speaker 1: running out of water at that point. We finally, like, 311 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:55,000 Speaker 1: I saw a farmhouse in the distance, and uh, everybody 312 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 1: was too scared to go ask them for water. They 313 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,520 Speaker 1: made me go do it because that was the girl. 314 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:05,680 Speaker 1: Of course, as the only woman in the group, Zoe 315 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:07,960 Speaker 1: was the one that did the work of begging for water. 316 00:20:08,760 --> 00:20:12,879 Speaker 1: So alone, Zoe approached the house. I knocked on the 317 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: door and the person that opened the door was a 318 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:17,919 Speaker 1: Mennonite woman and she didn't say a word to me. 319 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:20,280 Speaker 1: I was like, hey, I need some water, and I'm 320 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:25,840 Speaker 1: like filthy and look crazy, and it was a wordless transaction. 321 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:28,200 Speaker 1: She like motioned for me to come into the house. 322 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 1: She grabbed my water jug, she filled it up, She 323 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 1: gave me some pamphlets on being a Mennonite, and then 324 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:38,560 Speaker 1: closed the door behind me. Set me on my wife. 325 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:45,120 Speaker 1: Even if you calculated the right amount of water to bring, 326 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: if people you were traveling with aren't smart about it 327 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:56,200 Speaker 1: or experienced enough, you would pay the price. The rails 328 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:59,120 Speaker 1: are a small world, and in this tiny society, Google's 329 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:02,639 Speaker 1: could make everything worse. Morgan told me last episode about 330 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:05,879 Speaker 1: how hobos would ditch Google's whenever they could, and getting 331 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,200 Speaker 1: left behind could have big consequences, especially when the weather 332 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:16,200 Speaker 1: starts turning cold. Four months after Ruby left, she called 333 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:18,400 Speaker 1: and asked if I could send her some of her sweaters. 334 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:23,200 Speaker 1: Ruby was in Tennessee and it was cold. Of course 335 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:25,960 Speaker 1: I could. I'd do it right away. She'd never ask 336 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,360 Speaker 1: for anything while she was on the road, so here 337 00:21:28,359 --> 00:21:31,760 Speaker 1: I had a chance to do something for her. I 338 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:34,720 Speaker 1: gathered up her sweaters and jackets, thinking about everything else 339 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:39,080 Speaker 1: I wanted to stuff into that box. New underwear, socks, chapstick, 340 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:43,560 Speaker 1: face wipes, shampoo and conditioner, hand sanitizer, long John's sunblock, 341 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:47,560 Speaker 1: fingerless gloves, homemade chockat chip cookies, and an envelope full 342 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:52,080 Speaker 1: of cash. I was grinning at the post office, imagining 343 00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:55,240 Speaker 1: her cozy in these sweaters, hams warmed in these gloves, 344 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:58,320 Speaker 1: passing around her favorite cookies, a little touch of love 345 00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:03,680 Speaker 1: from home. By the time I was done, the box 346 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 1: costs a hundred dollars to ship. I would have spent 347 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:09,000 Speaker 1: more than that for the chance to be her mom again. 348 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:15,879 Speaker 1: A week later, Ruby called from a friend's phone, ecstatic 349 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,240 Speaker 1: and grateful. She loved everything in the box. She and 350 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 1: her friends sat around as she unpacked layer after layer. 351 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 1: Now they were enjoying the chocol ship cookies. Later they 352 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:27,119 Speaker 1: were going to get all suited up and go to 353 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 1: the grocery store and have a feast, and everyone would 354 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:33,359 Speaker 1: be warm. Because she had given away most of the box. 355 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:38,200 Speaker 1: I was stunned. I had meant those things for her, 356 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,280 Speaker 1: all of them. When I was picking through the thrift 357 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:43,760 Speaker 1: store and racing around the aisles of Old Navy, I 358 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:49,920 Speaker 1: wasn't thinking of clothing every hobo in Tennessee. It took 359 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,439 Speaker 1: me until the next day to understand how wrong I was. 360 00:22:53,119 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 1: Ruby carried just as much as she needed, not five 361 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 1: sweaters and four jackets playing that would be a burden. 362 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:04,520 Speaker 1: Now everyone was warm. This world was pushing me to 363 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:07,520 Speaker 1: rethink all sorts of things. Sure, I used to think 364 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:09,919 Speaker 1: I was generous giving dinner to anyone who showed up 365 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 1: at my doorstep. But that was a formal kind of 366 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:16,160 Speaker 1: generosity where I risked very little. When we gave away 367 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 1: these warm clothes. Her generosity was more intimate. She put 368 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:24,080 Speaker 1: herself at risk so that everyone could be comfortable, and 369 00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:26,000 Speaker 1: of course it was only a little bit of comfort, 370 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:30,160 Speaker 1: because riding trains was never all that comfortable. Then maybe 371 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:33,560 Speaker 1: I had to rethink my idea about comfort too. You know, 372 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:37,520 Speaker 1: I has known people that how could people do this 373 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:40,040 Speaker 1: for years, even trying to get to sleep in a 374 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:43,960 Speaker 1: box car. Thomas Wolfe explained it to me. So see 375 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:46,439 Speaker 1: you continue like when you're riding, can you sleep in 376 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:49,000 Speaker 1: that box because I hear it is people told me 377 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 1: it is like super noisy. Right. Oh, it's another one 378 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:57,199 Speaker 1: of those really beautiful things. As you'r dozing off, all 379 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,679 Speaker 1: these sounds of it makes it's almost like sings to you. 380 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,440 Speaker 1: What what kind of a song is it sing? Yeah, 381 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:10,240 Speaker 1: I mean it's it's not really anything discernible. You know, 382 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:12,920 Speaker 1: it's point where you're just about to fall off, you're 383 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: not really asleep, and then all those creaking sounds and 384 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:18,240 Speaker 1: the talk of talking poka all that, it's just like 385 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:21,200 Speaker 1: it's singing. As some piece it's called the Hopo was older. 386 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:23,359 Speaker 1: You know that clack clack clack on the railroad text 387 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 1: it's called the Hogo is lullaby. Yeah right, it's one 388 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:43,160 Speaker 1: of the best, one of my favorite songs. Every Dalbo 389 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:55,359 Speaker 1: love as beautiful as Thomas makes it sound. Chain hopping 390 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:57,879 Speaker 1: isn't easy. You really have to want it to go 391 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,479 Speaker 1: through the gauntlet of this world, getting caught by the cops, 392 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:04,359 Speaker 1: running out of food or water, traveling with Google's who 393 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:06,480 Speaker 1: slowed you down, or being stuck in a car with 394 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:08,920 Speaker 1: a gas leak. These were just some of the risk 395 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:10,760 Speaker 1: you could face once you got in the box car. 396 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:14,560 Speaker 1: But getting on the train and surviving the trip are 397 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:18,280 Speaker 1: just steps one and two. The final step was knowing 398 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:23,880 Speaker 1: when and where to get off. Experienced writers have insider 399 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:27,080 Speaker 1: dollars that helps them navigate and time their journeys just right. 400 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:31,160 Speaker 1: There's a guide, a document passed from hand to hand 401 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 1: among veteran riders, and I really wanted to copy. Wog's 402 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:37,600 Speaker 1: like me are not supposed to be let in on 403 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:56,240 Speaker 1: those secrets, but hell, I'm going to try. Hey, I'm 404 00:25:56,280 --> 00:26:00,879 Speaker 1: getting back stuff out of the trunk, I'm gonna go 405 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:08,720 Speaker 1: in there. And after my trip to Roosevelt with Zoe, 406 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:11,080 Speaker 1: it was clear I wasn't cut out for the hobo life. 407 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:13,560 Speaker 1: And even if I had gotten up in the box car, 408 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,000 Speaker 1: my conversations with travelers like Thomas Wolfe showed me just 409 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:21,200 Speaker 1: how difficult it was to survive. Most of the time, 410 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:29,720 Speaker 1: I just walk past the mailbox right say it's a 411 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:31,760 Speaker 1: lucky there when I think the chances that are it 412 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,800 Speaker 1: is in there. But there was a book only held 413 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:37,960 Speaker 1: by a few that could give me that insider knowledge. 414 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:40,800 Speaker 1: It was the secret map to the City of the Rails. 415 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:50,639 Speaker 1: Lucky recipient. A copy it would be elusive, the much desired. 416 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:53,920 Speaker 1: For a week, I've been checking my mailbox waiting for 417 00:26:54,000 --> 00:27:05,960 Speaker 1: the package to arrive. I'm hoping it in my head. 418 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:15,560 Speaker 1: Finally I had it, The Crew Change Guide. I can't 419 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:21,760 Speaker 1: open it here in the bobby. It's a suit of 420 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:28,879 Speaker 1: the moment. M M. I suppose how small it is. 421 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:32,760 Speaker 1: On my way up to my apartment, I anticipated what 422 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:36,119 Speaker 1: I'd find in the pages of this guy. The Crew Changes, 423 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:39,960 Speaker 1: a sacred document, both cherished and scoffed at. Many of 424 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:42,399 Speaker 1: the hoboes I've spoken to had strong opinions about it 425 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,000 Speaker 1: one way or the other, and certainly that's something an 426 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:48,040 Speaker 1: outsider like me often gets to say. But here I was. 427 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:52,119 Speaker 1: It's got to stab if I holding a beat up 428 00:27:52,160 --> 00:28:00,240 Speaker 1: old copy. Wow is that really tiny? Type? Wow? YEA. 429 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:04,600 Speaker 1: From what I've been told, the Crew Change contained practical advice. 430 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:08,080 Speaker 1: For example, Morgan told me about a time she used 431 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:10,200 Speaker 1: the Crew Change to figure out where to jump off 432 00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:13,680 Speaker 1: before her train entered the yard. I've never felt something 433 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,800 Speaker 1: the way I felt when I completed my first train ride, 434 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 1: and I was a little nervous because I had to 435 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:22,840 Speaker 1: jump off on the fly, which means while it's still going, 436 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:25,119 Speaker 1: then you're supposed to run right when your feet in 437 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,320 Speaker 1: the ground with the direction of the train. So I 438 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:30,520 Speaker 1: remember throwing my pack and I just knew right in 439 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,480 Speaker 1: that moment I had to go right then, and I jumped, 440 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:38,520 Speaker 1: and it's it's like I knew I was supposed to run, 441 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,480 Speaker 1: but I couldn't, and I just tumbled, tumbled, tumble, tumble, 442 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:46,160 Speaker 1: tumble down, and it was all bruised up. What happened 443 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:48,000 Speaker 1: next felt like a scene straight out of a movie. 444 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:55,320 Speaker 1: I remember going and it's in the crew change, and 445 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:57,280 Speaker 1: this was the magical. This is just one of those 446 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:04,640 Speaker 1: little magical things in the crew change. If you read 447 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:07,000 Speaker 1: where you get off at the spot, it talks about 448 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:12,440 Speaker 1: a peanut man and how there's if you walk down 449 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:15,720 Speaker 1: this road and through the trees and there's there's you know, 450 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:17,520 Speaker 1: trees on either side of you, and you you'll get 451 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:19,520 Speaker 1: to this corner and there'll be a peanut man, a 452 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:22,440 Speaker 1: man selling peanuts, and you'll go up to him and 453 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:24,960 Speaker 1: he'll know that you're a train hopper and he'll give 454 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:28,640 Speaker 1: you some peanuts and then you go here to wash up, 455 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:31,800 Speaker 1: and then and then onto the next stop. And I 456 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:35,520 Speaker 1: remember seeing that peanut man and it being like, holy shit, 457 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:41,200 Speaker 1: it feels like Lord of the Rings. Yeah, it was no, seriously, 458 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:43,040 Speaker 1: like that's what it feels like. I was on this 459 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:49,120 Speaker 1: grand adventure to nowhere. I had no actual from Morgan. 460 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: The crew change was magical. It was great luck that 461 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:54,160 Speaker 1: she had it with her, especially when she was first 462 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:57,280 Speaker 1: starting out. But Mike Bradie explained that it was actually 463 00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:02,600 Speaker 1: more practical than magical. Explains to the crew change where too, 464 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 1: how to get that train yard and naviget that train 465 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:08,480 Speaker 1: yard and what trains are going where. However, it's just 466 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:10,400 Speaker 1: a guide, so tons of people take it as like 467 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:14,040 Speaker 1: a freaking like accurate bible. So it's like weird. So 468 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:16,520 Speaker 1: it's like this cultural thing where people just like really 469 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:20,760 Speaker 1: think it's like fact. But people have just collectively put 470 00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:24,600 Speaker 1: that information together for decades. The hobos who contribute to 471 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:27,120 Speaker 1: the Crew Change report changes in the layout of yards 472 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:31,560 Speaker 1: and increases in yard security. Before the Internet, hobos communicated 473 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:34,960 Speaker 1: through symbols scrawled on the undersides of bridges, warnings that 474 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:37,240 Speaker 1: there were mean cops in the yard, or a tip 475 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:39,000 Speaker 1: for a house close by where you could get some 476 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:42,280 Speaker 1: food or use the telephone. My favorite is the one 477 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:45,640 Speaker 1: that let other writers know sad story will get you dinner. 478 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:49,880 Speaker 1: That's me. Some of those marketings still exist on the 479 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:52,560 Speaker 1: edges of train yards, like the graffiti tanker I saw 480 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:55,600 Speaker 1: with Zoe, but the Crew Change is much more specific, 481 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:59,440 Speaker 1: and national writers like Mike send these yard updates to 482 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:01,880 Speaker 1: the Crew Chage List ser a digital version of the 483 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:05,320 Speaker 1: same network. But even though he's contributed to the crew Change, 484 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:10,680 Speaker 1: Mike says he's outgrown it. I have the new change 485 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:13,480 Speaker 1: guid yea because I contributed to it. Oh wow, I'd 486 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:15,720 Speaker 1: love to see it. I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do 487 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:17,520 Speaker 1: a video though, where I light it on fire. So 488 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,320 Speaker 1: I don't because next time I go train hopping, I'm 489 00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:22,440 Speaker 1: not bringing it. I don't need it. You can probably 490 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:25,040 Speaker 1: tell where this is going. We'll give you send me 491 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 1: a copy of it. I'll make you a copy. Okay, okay. 492 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:34,240 Speaker 1: If the Royal Road name is underlined, it indicates a mainline. 493 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:36,640 Speaker 1: But holding it in my hands, the crew change didn't 494 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:41,160 Speaker 1: look how I expected. If the railroad name is not underlining, 495 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,320 Speaker 1: I suppose Morgan's peanut Man had me imagining a booklet 496 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:47,680 Speaker 1: with mystical creatures drawed in the margins, or a steampunk 497 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:50,880 Speaker 1: aesthetic with old Western type. But the crew change is 498 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:53,400 Speaker 1: all business. How do you live things up in here? 499 00:31:56,560 --> 00:32:00,040 Speaker 1: Major long distance routs with crew change points from I 500 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:02,160 Speaker 1: understood how valuable the crew change could be to a 501 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 1: new writer, But a veteran writer like Mike didn't need it. 502 00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:08,200 Speaker 1: And there are things the crew change could never teach you. 503 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:11,200 Speaker 1: Even experienced writers might spend a few months with the 504 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:16,160 Speaker 1: older writers to pick up some tricks. Terry introduced me 505 00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:19,640 Speaker 1: to another experienced writer, her ex boyfriend, whose train name 506 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:23,040 Speaker 1: was Cheddar. Cheddar told me that after more than a 507 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:25,959 Speaker 1: decade of writing, he agreed to travel with the notorious 508 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,400 Speaker 1: hobo Dirty Mike to see what else he could learn. 509 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:35,040 Speaker 1: You know, he actually no ship you. He did definitely 510 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:40,240 Speaker 1: show me some hop out spots and showed me some 511 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:44,040 Speaker 1: good sign flying spots to make money throughout the country. 512 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:45,640 Speaker 1: You know what I mean that I was not aware 513 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:47,960 Speaker 1: of before I had traveled with him. So yeah, he 514 00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:50,800 Speaker 1: definitely took me to a few of his own super 515 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:54,280 Speaker 1: secret spots, you know, like showed like good spots to 516 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:56,320 Speaker 1: get a kicked down, good spots to make a buck, 517 00:32:56,440 --> 00:32:59,840 Speaker 1: good spots to catch a train. You know, Cheddar saw 518 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:04,320 Speaker 1: Mike's experience firsthand when they hopped off a train. We 519 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 1: get to the spot and we jump off our train, 520 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:08,800 Speaker 1: and he's like, I'll be right back, and he be 521 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:10,600 Speaker 1: lines off into the bushes and I kind of just 522 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:13,719 Speaker 1: meandered after him a little bit, and uh, he's off 523 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:16,280 Speaker 1: frummaging around in the bushes and he procures like a 524 00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:20,920 Speaker 1: barbecue grill and and it chugg of water and he's like, 525 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:23,080 Speaker 1: all right, now, we gotta go up the street. And uh. 526 00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 1: We went to this like dumpster and we dumpstered all 527 00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:28,920 Speaker 1: this food and came back and we had like a 528 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:31,600 Speaker 1: flat out like started a little wood fire and his 529 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:35,360 Speaker 1: little webbard grilling at and had a little barbecue right 530 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:37,960 Speaker 1: there next to the railroad tracks and drink beer. It 531 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:40,320 Speaker 1: was fun. It was It was a cool It was 532 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:42,720 Speaker 1: a cool impression that I got from. I was like, Wow, 533 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:46,520 Speaker 1: I see that stuff stashed all over the country, right, 534 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:49,120 Speaker 1: and he could roll into all these different spots. And 535 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,440 Speaker 1: that was my thought on the matter. I'm like, wow, man, 536 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:54,880 Speaker 1: I wonder if this guy's got it like this everywhere 537 00:33:55,000 --> 00:34:01,520 Speaker 1: you know. This was a lead level Oboeing Durning my head, 538 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:03,840 Speaker 1: a network so deep and well organized that he had 539 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:07,240 Speaker 1: barbecue stashed and major train yards across the country, but 540 00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:10,000 Speaker 1: those wouldn't be in the crew change. Only Jurning, Mike 541 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:17,719 Speaker 1: and those he traveled with would know. My journey into 542 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:19,840 Speaker 1: the rail yard started out as a search for my daughter. 543 00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:22,439 Speaker 1: I was trying to understand the life that Ruby chose 544 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:26,880 Speaker 1: and her odds of surviving. Because I learned what it 545 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:28,759 Speaker 1: takes and got to know the people on both sides 546 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:32,520 Speaker 1: of the tracks, I felt myself getting pulled in. Every 547 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:35,440 Speaker 1: question I asked led me to another question, to another 548 00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:39,080 Speaker 1: unforgettable character, and to another train yard full of secrets. 549 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:44,400 Speaker 1: My constant worry about Ruby didn't go away. But there 550 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:47,680 Speaker 1: was something else motivating me now, six months after she left, 551 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:51,719 Speaker 1: A curiosity about the city of the Rails, a curiosity 552 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:57,640 Speaker 1: that was quickly growing into an obsession. This search had 553 00:34:57,680 --> 00:35:00,480 Speaker 1: revealed a world hiding in plain sight, and if I 554 00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:03,080 Speaker 1: was going to really understand it, I knew where I 555 00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:05,879 Speaker 1: had to go next. Here's Alaska, So if I could 556 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:17,000 Speaker 1: find California, Colton, Colton West, Colton Yard is it. A 557 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:19,600 Speaker 1: lot of the hobo's I met kept bringing up Colton, 558 00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:23,080 Speaker 1: like Colton, Like who gives the funk about Colton, California? Right? 559 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 1: Like like what the fund is West Colton? But to 560 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:32,880 Speaker 1: a train rider, West Colton is the capital city, you 561 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:38,080 Speaker 1: know through West Colton is a capital city for tramps. 562 00:35:38,239 --> 00:35:41,560 Speaker 1: It is. There's a capital city for tramps. I've got 563 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:45,239 Speaker 1: to know more. There's so many big railroad cities like 564 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:49,960 Speaker 1: Chicago and Minneapolis. Why was Colton the capital? Pretty much 565 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:52,680 Speaker 1: every hobo I met had some crazy story about Colton. 566 00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:55,320 Speaker 1: From what I was hearing, it sounded more like the 567 00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:57,800 Speaker 1: Wild West. The bullet passed in and out of my 568 00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:00,680 Speaker 1: hat twice and grazed my head and the other one 569 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:03,720 Speaker 1: went through my back, Like you're a girl by yourself, 570 00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:05,520 Speaker 1: what you're gonna do about it? And I was like, 571 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:08,880 Speaker 1: oh yeah, I'm And I yelled dirty my name. She 572 00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:12,160 Speaker 1: comes growning up. So David Colton, he's the proof of 573 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:14,600 Speaker 1: the adage to live outside the law, you must be honest, 574 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:19,080 Speaker 1: at least with each other department. No suspects were contacted. 575 00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:21,040 Speaker 1: So there's a lot that's missing here. There's a lot 576 00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:24,960 Speaker 1: that's redacted. What exactly is going on in Colton and 577 00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:27,520 Speaker 1: why on earth is this the capital city for tramps. 578 00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:31,040 Speaker 1: I've never heard that in the years I've been here. 579 00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:40,239 Speaker 1: Um doubt. Does South Side Colton Gang exist? Yes, that's 580 00:36:40,320 --> 00:37:08,680 Speaker 1: next episode on City of the Rails as well be 581 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:19,239 Speaker 1: drinking gastle, Look what you've done. The City of the 582 00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:22,040 Speaker 1: Rails is hosted and written by me Daniel Morton and 583 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:25,879 Speaker 1: developed in partnership between Flip Turn Studios and I Heart Podcasts. 584 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:28,800 Speaker 1: I think we got it all wrong? Call in and 585 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:32,799 Speaker 1: tell us at seven oh seven six three oh three, 586 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:36,120 Speaker 1: three nine and leave a message. That's also the place 587 00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:40,000 Speaker 1: for questions, comments, criticisms, original songs. Whatever you think we 588 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:43,319 Speaker 1: should know, we might use it on the show at 589 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:47,040 Speaker 1: I Heart. Our team is executive producer and showrunner Julian Weller, 590 00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:50,960 Speaker 1: Senior producer and editing master Abouza far and our excellent 591 00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:55,200 Speaker 1: producers Emily maronof Shina Ozaki and Zoey Denkla, with production 592 00:37:55,239 --> 00:37:59,440 Speaker 1: support from Marci to Pina. Excellent original music every episode 593 00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:03,360 Speaker 1: by Aaron Kaufman. Our theme music is Wayfaring Stranger, performed 594 00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:07,080 Speaker 1: by Profane Sass thanks to Scott Michaud at Flail Records. 595 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:10,920 Speaker 1: Our logo is by Lucy Quingtonia and uses a photograph 596 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:14,960 Speaker 1: by Mike Brody. Thanks to Thomas Wolfe for your stoicism 597 00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:18,120 Speaker 1: and for your poetry, and to Danny Dean for quite 598 00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:21,360 Speaker 1: a colorful story. Zoe. I couldn't have done it without you, 599 00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:25,640 Speaker 1: and I didn't even do it, Alexei. You're right, there's 600 00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:29,760 Speaker 1: got to be something better than this garbage. Our executive 601 00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:32,600 Speaker 1: producer at flip turn is Mark Healey at I Heart. 602 00:38:32,719 --> 00:38:36,480 Speaker 1: Thanks to Nikki Tore and Deathann Michalouso. If you want 603 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:39,760 Speaker 1: to follow along, find us on Instagram at flip turn Pods. 604 00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:43,080 Speaker 1: We'll be back next week in Colton, California, The Hobo 605 00:38:43,239 --> 00:38:53,480 Speaker 1: Capital on the City of the Rails, the story of 606 00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:57,840 Speaker 1: making it through the story of nearly dying. Okay, I 607 00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:01,960 Speaker 1: think that's enough choices, Julian, or you can Frankenstein it 608 00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:05,439 Speaker 1: and say, well, hey, these two words from over here 609 00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:11,480 Speaker 1: and this pause from here and this inhalation from here 610 00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:13,520 Speaker 1: and call it a day.