Anyone ever rode a freight train (in a boxcar etc, not a locomotive) ? What is it like?

Question

I was thinking.......
This fall, my girlfriend is going to be out of town for a week or so, and I have some time off work.
I was thinking it might be cool just pick up a freight train and ride it....wherever, for a few days, then go back home.
I would probably need some warmer clothes, a sleeping bag, some food, power bars, camp stove, money, backpacking guitar, etc.....what else?
Are there gangs around freight yards, and would I need a gun?
Where is a good freight yard not far from NYC?
Any tips from someone who has done this before?
How do we know which trains are going where?
Any interesting stories?

I know this sounds like a stupidass, over-romanticized, fantasy, and maybe it is, but it would be wicked cool if I could get it to work.

Of course, depending on where I end up, I might just end up flying, taking the bus or Amtrak back home, but that's ok!

Yeah, I know it is dangerous, and it is illegal (tresspassing etc), so save the sermons.

Answer 1

I've hopped a freight train, when I was a young dumbass in high school. I'm sure security is a lot tighter now, so it might not even be possible, which would be a good thing.

Anyway, one night a couple of us were camping out and a somewhat slow train came through the area, and we thought it'd be a hoot to jump on it. Of course, it was dark and we ended up running through some brambles, but we didn't care.

Well, there were four of us that tried to jump on. Three of us made it, with the plan to jump right back off. I was the lucky one, and landed on a nice soft patch of gravel. My friend landed in a barbed wire fence and broke his leg on a fencepost. The third one decided the train was going too fast and got off when the train stopped, which was in the next state.

The friend of ours that didn't get on fell under the train and lost his left arm.

How's that for an interesting story.

Answer 2

Bad idea, RR employee are to report people to the police because of the new Homeland Security Laws.
Also you will not know where you will end up. Some train may go a few mile and then sit on a siding for days.

Answer 3

It is stupid, I know. You DON"T want to be carrying luggage if your jumping freight trains. Put $40 in your shoe and hope for the best.
And yes, all kinds of nasty people hide out at yards. You want to jump off at the outset of a town when it slows down, don't wait for it to stop.
Also, you never know where the train is heading. It may head north and be cold as hell.

Answer 4

What happens if you're not paying attention and somebody closes the boxcar door on you? They don't open from the inside, and they're not checked.

http://www.greatbend.com/weller/ca2.htm

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,964976,00.html

Answer 5

Boy..what a dumb**** of an idea.

You might as well just go pick your feet in Poughkeepsie.