this post was submitted on 03 Dec 2023
58 points (100.0% liked)

urbanism

22496 readers
73 users here now

This was supposed to be c/traingang, so post as many train pictures as possible.

All about urbanism and transportation, including freight transportation.

Home of train gang

:arm-L::train-shining::arm-R:

Trainposts highly encouraged

Talk about supply chain issues here!

List of cool books and videos about urbanism, transit, and other cool things

Titles must be informative. Please do not title your post "lmao" or use the tired "_____ challenge" format.

Archive links for reactionary sites, including the BBC.

LANDLORDS COWER IN FEAR OF MAOTRAIN

"that train pic is too powerful lmao" - u/Cadende

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
 

10/10 would not recommend because it's dangerous and irresponsible, but boy that was a hell of a ride. All I want for Christmas is more trains of every kind FrogPog

top 9 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 23 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Rail hopping is on my bucket list, but in the sense that it also might be what causes me to kick the bucket

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago

It was for me too. Go with someone you know who's done it before if you get the chance.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago
[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)

As a mod here, I would like to point out that freight hopping is extraordinarily dangerous, and is inadvisable. If you want to do it, you need to know what you are doing, understand the risks, and be aware of the potential consequences.

That all being said, how was the trip? What kind of rail car did you ride? I've heard hoppers are the way to go since boxcars are locked closed now.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

We had it real comfy and rode a midunit locomotive 🤪 with comfy seats, heating, floor space to sleep, windows that open, and even a kettle and outlet on the way back. To top it off I didn't take any days off and told my company I was sick so I could WFH on the way.

As for riding car, the old grain hoppers tend to be the best but they're fewer and farther between nowadays. Boxcars are almost always locked so your best bet is a car with a fully solid floor with some well space at the end, or an intermodal car where the box comes right up to the edge so you're not exposed to the tracks. A buddy of mine got lucky twice with an open freight full of mattresses one time, and a generator car that was spitting out some heat another time when it was cold.

Never ever hop onto any of these without someone experienced telling you it's viable.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Damn what a ride!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago

I used to do that around PNW Lovely, gritty, dangerous and fun AF. It's probably much more dangerous these days with deregulation and police violence

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Last I remember learning about this is that there was some kind of underground listing of the train timetables or something that got passed around. I dunno if that’s just bullshit but it seems like the history and community behind hopping is really interesting. It’s definitely something I considered doing when I was younger

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Yeah there are schedules floating around in the community, and it's an interesting subculture for sure. The whole tagging system is cool too.