Freighthopping
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Freighthopping or train hopping is the act of surreptitiously hitching a ride on a railroad freight car. In the United States, this became a common means of transportation following the American Civil War as the railroads began pushing westward, especially among migrant workers who became known as hobos. It continued to be widely used by the destitute and those unable to afford other transportation, especially during times of widespread economic dislocation such as the Great Depression in the United States. Today, the practice is forbidden by statute in all fifty U.S. states.
In modern colloquial usage, though not very common, hopping a freight train is also known as "catching out" or "hopping out."
Many railroads take a strict view of people hopping freights, and employ railroad police, also known as "bulls", in an attempt to prevent the practice. Among other duties, railroad police are charged with preventing trespassing on railroad property, which includes freighthopping. They will typically be found on patrol in utility trucks, SUVs ("bullmobiles"), or even standard police cruisers. Railroad police are certified police officers and can enforce state and federal laws anywhere the railroad owns property.
[edit] Decline of freighthopping
In recent decades, the traditional role of hobos as itinerant workers has fallen off, largely because of increasing prosperity; even most itinerant workers nowadays have cars and drive between jobs, or use bus or airline transportation (or pay their way on commuter trains), and live in motels or temporary housing.
Increasingly, as seasonal agricultural work became the province of illegal immigrants, and other seasonal work became increasingly lucrative, freighthopping became mainly used by the homeless population, by thrill seekers, kids who have adopted the lifestyle as an expression of rebellion against society (or just a way to travel for free), and people who enjoy traveling across the countryside under the open air.
Consolidation in railroad ownership has eliminated many of those railroads which were more tolerant of riders, and today most railroads follow a strict policy against freighthopping. According to some new-age freighthoppers, however, the decline of freighthopping has lead to a considerable decrease in security.
In recent years there has been an increase in crime targeted at the rail-riding homeless population and other freighthoppers by other itinerants. Retired Spokane police officer Bob Grandinetti attributes this largely to the rise of an itinerant gang calling themselves the FTRA or Freight Train Riders of America. Whether the FTRA is as violent as claimed by Grandinetti is in some dispute. Other increases in crime targeted at freighthoppers can be attributed to the general increase in violence and urban gang activity around train yards in such locations as Los Angeles.
