Why do hobos ride trains?

Some left to escape poverty or troubled families, others because it seemed a great adventure. At the height of the Great Depression, more than 250,000 teenagers were living on the road in America. Many criss-crossed the country by hopping freight trains, although it was both dangerous and illegal.



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Some left to escape poverty or troubled families, others because it seemed a great adventure. At the height of the Great Depression, more than 250,000 teenagers were living on the road in America. Many criss-crossed the country by hopping freight trains, although it was both dangerous and illegal.

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Freighthopping or trainhopping is the act of surreptitiously boarding and riding a freightcar, which is usually illegal.

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If you want to leave a train during it's motion (for example, to avoid a catching by the police at the station), get to the lowest footrest of car, face forward to direction of movement, than jump to the side off the train and run after a contact with land surface.

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This type of travelling can be extremely dangerous and even life-threatening, because there is a risk of death or serious injury due to falling off a moving train, electrocution by the power supply (overhead catenary wire, third rail, current collectors, resistors, etc.), colliding with railway infrastructure such as ...

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As far as I'm aware, there's no legal limit. Passenger trains do not normally exceed 12 cars (around 900 feet, dependent on rolling stock type), but many are much shorter than this.

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Others claim it came from the soldiers returning from the Civil War, who were Homeward Bound. Some suggest it is from the congenial greeting Hello boy that changed to Lo boy and Lo bo and finally to Ho bo. Others think it came from the word hoosier, meaning a rustic individual, a frontiersman.

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Train tracks are private property. Walking, biking, jogging and standing on or next to them is considered trespassing. With court and penalty assessments, a first-time offender may have to pay nearly $400. You Might Not Hear the Train Coming.

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