Freighthopping or trainhopping is the act of boarding and riding a freightcar without permission. This activity itself is often considered to be illegal, although this varies by geography. It may be associated with other illegal activities such as theft or vagrancy.
Train surfing is a similar activity that involves the act of riding on the outside of a moving train, tram or another rail transport, without paying a due fare.
History
For a variety of reasons the practice is less common in the 21st century, although a community of freight-train riders still exists.
Typically, hoppers will go to a rail yard where trains stop to pick up and unload freight and switch out crew. They will either board a freight car in some fashion unseen or "catch one on the fly" once it has begun to move.
Dangers
Riding outside a freight car, whether atop or underneath, is dangerous.
Today
Hopping trains happens all over the world and styles, and practices and legal penalties vary by region. Some places are more critical and consider freight hopping a crime, and other places are more
lenient.
- Europe
Freight-hopping exists in various countries and across borders, including the
Eurostar and Eurotunnel Shuttle
as a route for migrants to cross the English Channel from France into England.
- United States
Union Pacific Railroad in the United States encourages people who witness transients on freight trains to report them to its dispatch center. According to a sheriff's deputy from Lincoln County, Nebraska train hoppers no longer write symbols on trees and buildings, but there is still a network of train hoppers that occurs mostly online.
- Australia
Australia has an incredibly small community of freight-hoppers, consisting mainly of teens and young adults, who hop for various reasons, including family issues, and more. They are found mostly in the major cities, and lines, such as the Brisbane-Sydney line, and other major freight routes. The community is very tight, and difficult to get into. Most media regarding modern hopping in Australia is private, or hard to find.
- Mexico
It is estimated that yearly between 400,000 and 500,000 migrants—the majority of whom are from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—hop freight trains in the effort to reach the United States.
- Mauritania
In the Mauritania Railway, freighthoppers can ride with their cargo freely due to the lack of road between Zouérat and
Nouadhibou.
See also
Further reading
External links
-
Hobo Letters Letters from boxcar kids who rode the rails during the Great Depression
