# Do "Train-Riding" Hobos Still Ride The Rails? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 3, 2003, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-train-riding-hobos-still-ride-the-rails/185984 "2003-07-03T10:10:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-train-riding-hobos-still-ride-the-rails/185984/1 "2003-07-03T10:10:26Z")
Where I live isn’t too far from the railroad tracks which run right through the center of town, and I often lay awake on the nights when I’m off, reading, listening to the crickets outside my window and hearing the whistle of the occasional freight train at about 4 am. It’s a lonely sound and I often wonder about the men and women who may still be catching illegal “rides” in freight cars. Who they are/were. What brought them to their unfortunate circumstance, and where they might be going. Of course, I’m an incurable romantic with my head in the clouds most of the time and the “freight train rides” may not even be the case anymore. I have always considered Hobos to be the homeless who are doing something about their plight, and I am fascinated by the accounts of their inventiveness, their “speak” and their signals to each other. This question isn’t meant for just the US. I would like to read your answers no matter where you post from. Thanks Q ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-train-riding-hobos-still-ride-the-rails/185984/2 "2003-07-03T10:18:21Z")
They’re a great way for serial killers to roam the country anonymously. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-train-riding-hobos-still-ride-the-rails/185984/3 "2003-07-03T10:38:53Z")
Apparently there still are rail riders in the US. 1998 news items, [here](http://users.snowcrest.net/bndlstif/kcstar.html) and [here](http://users.snowcrest.net/bndlstif/register.html). [ABC Wolf files](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/WolfFiles/wolffiles76.html) [Hobo Gathering, Amory Mississippi, 2002.](http://www.geocities.com/hobotramp/amory.html) ---
**Author:** ![zen101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c68b51/32.png) [@zen101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zen101)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-train-riding-hobos-still-ride-the-rails/185984/4 "2003-07-03T10:52:28Z")
they do exist and they have been the focus of several recent television investigations. One notorious group the FTRA (Freight Train Riders of America) is a haven for the killers Eleusis mentioned. Although not all of them are killers, there are enforcers in that particular group whose primary responsibility is killing. Mostly they live by stealing the freight they ride along with. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-train-riding-hobos-still-ride-the-rails/185984/5 "2003-07-03T10:54:49Z")
Eleusis: Thank you. Your point is well taken. I had forgotten about that case. And thank you also, **Icy** for the links. :Quasi offers a wry smile: Reality is a suckeroo, ain’t it? Q ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-train-riding-hobos-still-ride-the-rails/185984/6 "2003-07-03T11:54:50Z")
Quasimodem, If you want a real fun read about a cool guy, check out Robert Mitchum’s biography [Baby I Don’t Care](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312285434/qid=1057233482/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-4612044-6149512?v=glance&s=books) and see how he spent a few of his teen years riding rails and getting into trouble. I’m with you on that romanticism with trains. As far back as I can remember, train whistles in the night are like calls from another world.