Freight Trains and the Uncertainty of Direction

Photo of the Big Rock Candy Mountain, Marysvale, Utah (source: unknown)

It takes patience and some effort to hop a freight train. There are the obvious obstacles: the fences, the ‘No Trespassing’ signs, the ‘bulls,’ and the local police as well. But to avoid these and to go in the needed direction one also has to play scout, intelligence gatherer, and have the patience to stare at freight as it goes by time and time again. It is not as easy as orientating oneself of the tracks’ directions upon arrival and then hopping on the first train that passes. Some tracks continue in the paths they show at the terminal; others can veer as much as 90 to 135 degrees in various directions. Some freight lies uninspected as it is not worth a thief’s time to break into or security’s time to patrol. Other freight is highly valued and sought after like those carrying automobiles. Thus, if one has a certain direction and commitment to hopping freight, it is necessary to put one’s bags down and walk the tracks for a few miles back and forth, to watch the routine of the brakemen and engineers and wait for night to draw closer in order to board an outbound freight train that runs little risk of inspection and change in direction.

Once someone is on a train, it is a major commitment. To make sure one is going in the needed direction, it is advisable to ask local people, particularly the elderly, where the trains go. If that is not possible at least a quick visit to a public library and map search is advisable to make a calculated choice. If one wears corrective lenses, bring them. Even if one has perfect vision, bring a small pair of binoculars. It is best to take hours and observe the routine of a train yard before choosing than to desperately hop on a train after a few minutes without knowing the workers’ routine and rhythm of the place.

To change one’s mind and try to hop off after the train is in motion is not advisable at all. For one to hop off when a train slows for curves or turns is still taking a risk of serious injury. There is also the uncertainty of how far one has to walk before they reach a settlement or even side of a highway for assistance. Some train tracks follow interstates and state routes; some are completely cut off from major thoroughfares. This point, of course, is moot if one can see the highway from their vantage point. But to hop off is still a major risk.

The ride is over when the train halts; the engineer turning the motors off, or, if the train stops and then goes in reverse – stop – forward, and vice versa repeatedly (this is a sign that they are detaching the freight cars). There are sometimes stops in train yards to add cars or detach them but this is often recognizable by the pause and ‘crash’ that one feels when freight cars are pushed into others. If it is a busy yard the train has pulled into, there is sometimes a delay before the train continues on its path but the engineers do not turn off the engines.

It is not recommended to ‘buddy up’ with other people when doing this. Unless one is with reliable, trusted people, it is best to keep this activity as a solo project. To place trust with someone immediately, especially if the person offers liquor or to stand guard while one sleeps, is a great risk. People can be territorial about their cars and places on trains so it is best to avoid others altogether. There are probably a few more things omitted here, but it is a start to finding the big rock candy mountain.

Photo of the Big Rock Candy Mountain, Marysvale, Utah (source: unknown)

Different Towns; Different Methods

Different towns across the North America, Europe, East Asia, and Oceania and other economically booming regions throw away perfectly good food and/or other household products because of dates printed on the packaging, the packaging being damaged, or simply to make space on the shelves. The tragedy of this practice, aside from the waste, is the other people living in regions like the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, and other territories less integrated into the global economy could use these products, more so than the landfills that are consuming food, furniture, and other household goods.

I am traveling at the moment but this does not stop me from foraging from bins, dumpsters and other refuse areas around stores, strip malls, and shopping malls on the road. This is, in fact, how I feed jmyself as I journey across the United States. Some sites are lucrative, where the employees do little to hide the food they throw out, it is easy to spot, and realitively clean to pull from the refuse bins. Some places go to some effort to 'sabatoge' the food but in the end leave it manageable to salvage goods (as depicted in the photo above by the plastic bags containing pretzels and graham crackers). There are a few places to intentionally destroy the food when throwing it out by opening up liquids and pouring them onto the foods or breaking things. What matters is persistence and understanding the routine and nature of the store and local environment, which needs accounting for very quickly if one is on the road. 

One last concern regarding the people who do 'glean' or 'forage' or 'dumpster dive,' etc. There are those who are very poor and check these bins to subsist in the industrial countries. Poverty is an issue that was never dealt with wholeheartedly in the societies of the industiral world and continues to be a specter everywhere. Then there are the middle class kids, academics and activists who appraoch the bins for various nuances of social justice. Who has the right to take advantage of local economies of waste? This is perhaps a resource that needs better logistics in its distribution to people who need it, instead of a commons that is exploited by those who profit  and those who live day-to-day by what they find.