Trains, trains, trains
Warning – if the sound of a train rumbling down the tracks doesn’t make your heart skip a beat than this post is not for you.
My neighborhood has the good fortune to be located near both an Amtrak Station and the Port of Oakland so train traffic is nearly constant. What makes the area of particular interest is the train tracks run down the middle of the street, cars on each side. 
Cars and pedestrians are often stranded on one side of the street for a good twenty minutes or so, forcing one to pause and take in the sight.
One recent fine, sunny autumn afternoon I was fortunate enough to be walking by the tracks just as a freight train came by. A long freight train is a beautiful sight, cars stretching off as far as the eye can see, the continuous whirr of the wheels, the colors of the different cargo containers. This particular day however the train was composed completely of cattle cars. Only no cattle to be seen, the cars having been retrofitted to carry automobiles fresh off the boat from Japan or Mexico or wherever they build cars these days. A bridge from the agricultural base of yesteryear to the global economy of today, and a reminder that even in the high tech world we still rely greatly on the locomotive transport system developed ages ago. Also raising the question who’s buying all these cars.
On the aforementioned afternoon I caught the train just at the time the sun came through the window of an office building casting shadows on the
side of the train, a static picture on a flowing background. The slow moving train often awakens in me the yearning to hop the freight train. To go wherever the tracks lead, hopping off at some small town, meeting up with the other hobos, the train represents a life of freedom. The slow movement of the cars certainly opens up the possibility, but the cargo containers today don’t have the wide open doors of the old hobo life. A life I think that has mostly gone the way of the American Cowboy and cattle cars that carried cattle. Still, there’s a certain satisfaction and national pride knowing the Union Pacific 
or BNSF is hard at work carrying goods to the heartland over steel tracks laid down decades ago. It’s a comforting feeling hearing the train whistle in the middle of the night, goods are moving, people are traveling – all’s right with the world!
PS – Amtrak trains are a whole other story to be told another time.
My neighborhood has the good fortune to be located near both an Amtrak Station and the Port of Oakland so train traffic is nearly constant. What makes the area of particular interest is the train tracks run down the middle of the street, cars on each side. 
Cars and pedestrians are often stranded on one side of the street for a good twenty minutes or so, forcing one to pause and take in the sight.
One recent fine, sunny autumn afternoon I was fortunate enough to be walking by the tracks just as a freight train came by. A long freight train is a beautiful sight, cars stretching off as far as the eye can see, the continuous whirr of the wheels, the colors of the different cargo containers. This particular day however the train was composed completely of cattle cars. Only no cattle to be seen, the cars having been retrofitted to carry automobiles fresh off the boat from Japan or Mexico or wherever they build cars these days. A bridge from the agricultural base of yesteryear to the global economy of today, and a reminder that even in the high tech world we still rely greatly on the locomotive transport system developed ages ago. Also raising the question who’s buying all these cars.On the aforementioned afternoon I caught the train just at the time the sun came through the window of an office building casting shadows on the
side of the train, a static picture on a flowing background. The slow moving train often awakens in me the yearning to hop the freight train. To go wherever the tracks lead, hopping off at some small town, meeting up with the other hobos, the train represents a life of freedom. The slow movement of the cars certainly opens up the possibility, but the cargo containers today don’t have the wide open doors of the old hobo life. A life I think that has mostly gone the way of the American Cowboy and cattle cars that carried cattle. Still, there’s a certain satisfaction and national pride knowing the Union Pacific 
or BNSF is hard at work carrying goods to the heartland over steel tracks laid down decades ago. It’s a comforting feeling hearing the train whistle in the middle of the night, goods are moving, people are traveling – all’s right with the world!PS – Amtrak trains are a whole other story to be told another time.
| 21:08
1 Comments:
yep, hopping freight trains is definately a wild experience. If you ever get the chance, do it, you'll never regret it.
Funny you mention the Oakland UP yard--that's where I made my first hop. Nobody was with me, and all I had for a guide was a one-page, black and white printout of america with black lines designating the UP routes. I had read some basic safety precautions (count rotations of axle to guesstimate speed) before I did.
It took me about a day, first to decide which way to go, then to actually jump on, but I did.
Two weeks and about 14 trains later, I was in Jersey city. Most beautiful view of America can be seen from the back of a freight train. There is no liberation greater than looking DOWN on Tahoe as you wind across and through the Sierra Nevadas.
Props for the desire, now follow through.
glenn
backyardamerica.blogspot.com
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