Train surfing (also known as train hopping or train hitching) is the act of riding on the outside of a moving train, tram or other forms of rail transport.
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Freighthopping or trainhopping is the act of surreptitiously boarding and riding a freightcar, which is usually illegal. Freight-hopping youth near Bakersfield, California (National Youth Administration, 1940)
Fare evasion or fare dodging is the act of travelling on public transport without paying by deliberately not buying a required ticket to travel (having had the chance to do so).
The era of the freight train-hopping, job-seeking hobo faded into obscurity in the years following the Second World War. Many hobos from this era have since “caught the westbound,” or died. A small number of so-called hobos still hop freight trains today.
It is absolutely not legal to ride on any part of a freight train without the express permission of the railroad. You would be guilty of trespassing and of theft of service since you would be getting railroad transportation without paying for it.
Why do we feel jerks in train? This is due to the inertia, which oppose any change in its state. When train is at rest our body remains at rest. When train starts moving, due to inertia of rest it oppose the change and wants to be at rest, so we feel sudden jerk.
All engine driven trains are likely to start with jerks because many coaches are coupled and these couplings are not rigid as explained in detail in other answers by experts . Another reason is that a train is very heavy that it's difficult to be pulled from rest at one go in case of trains driven by weak engines.
The middle of the train is by far the safest for persons. The National Transportation Safety Board does not release comprehensive data on where victims were sitting during fatal train accidents, though some details are available in individual investigative reports.