Hobos?


I would not romanticize their contemporary descendants. They are probably better described as "transients", potentially very dangerous people with criminal records, drug and mental issues. Yes, they're still around.
 
truth be known , im sure the original hobos had the same traits as modern day homeless. they stole, commited murder, mentally defecient and were not able to be responsible people
 
I have a little hobo camp on my layout.

IMAG0287.jpg Why not. They were quite a part of railroad history.
 
im 61 now but when i was 15 i ran away from home in va and made my way to california, in the midwestern states i met some hobos on a train i jumped, they treated me well for 2 days and i carry the memory of things they told me
 
unkaboose said:
truth be known , im sure the original hobos had the same traits as modern day homeless. they stole, commited murder, mentally defecient and were not able to be responsible people
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Some documentaries from the 40's would not bunch the whole gang into one group. Although I am sure the bad element as mentioned above represented a group of them, other's were dealt a difficult hand.

Little was known of mental illness. The natural wander lust of some individuals was not necessarily nefarious.
 
In the book, "A Treasury of Railroad Folklore" there is a chapter on hobos, etc. There were different classes of them. The higher class ones simply liked the life of a vagabond, travelling from place to place for the fun of it. Although they sometimes stole (usually chickens :p ), most would work for food and shelter before moving on. OTOH, there were those who had definite problems, just as many of today's homeless do. So far as hobos and the railroads are concerned, I would imagine it is much harder to "nail a drag" than in the 20th Century. The configuration of modern equipment probably makes it tough. In addition, there may be means of surveilance of passing trains that make it harder to hop a freight.

I don't have photos, but just outside of "Galesburg", on my "Grashhook, Galesburg & Western Division of the Burlington Route, there is a hobo jungle, with several 'bo's resting around a campfire, hoping the "bulls" (railroad detectives) won't see them! Of course, on my railroad, the "bulls" are instructed to be as gentle as the actions of the knights of the road will let them be, mostly just telling them to move on from railroad property! ;) A few blocks away, in the alley behind the main drag of Galesburg, there are a bunch of "gentlemen" kneeling in a group. One has his hand in the air, and appears to be shaking it, prior to throwing some small objects against the wall! Around the corner, a traffic cop is obviously unaware of these scofflaws! :p
 
If you're romantic about 'bos, watch the movie Emperor of the North. The TV show Longmire had an episode wherein modern 'bos played a big part.
 
The depression put many a good man out of work, with little or no social safety nets. I imagine that was, for lack of a batter way of putting it, the "hey days" for hobos.
 
Bruette said:
The depression put many a good man out of work, with little or no social safety nets. I imagine that was, for lack of a batter way of putting it, the "hey days" for hobos.
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Many of these men, out of work, looking for a job, any job, often made their way west, hopping freight trains. Among those who travelled with them, some by necessity, some by virtue of their political philosophies were Woody Guthrie and Will Geer (Papa Walton in the T.V. series, much later). Whether these homeless men could be considered hobos or not depends on your definition, I guess.
 
Some of them ("many a good man out of work") would travel town to town asking for odd jobs for food or old clothes. Hobo is a pejorative term. Other terms were used by the men themselves.
 
Another amazing story is Once a Hobo by Monte Holm. I met him once at his museum in Moses Lake, WA. He has since passed, but if the kids ever read his book they probably won't complain about anything again.
 
Forum:

In the early 60's as a teen growing up in a rural area of Wisconsin, I remember neighbors talking about the possibility of a hobo camp nearby along the SOO main lime. We lived in area near the SOO mainline which was a few miles from the Du Plainville diamond which was an active railroad area. At Du Plainville, hobos could jump a train and travel by rail north, south, east or west, an ideal junction.

I used to spend my summer vacation days as a kid roaming the woods with my .22 rifle and generally spending each day all by myself. One day I was near the SOO line and found a small patch of woods adjacent to a farmers corn field. In the woods I found a rock lined campfire and a iron poker that someone must have used to tend the campfire. A small pile of wood laid next to the campfire. The ashes in the fire pit showed that there was a recent fire.

I realized I had found the rumored hobo camp and wondered how many unknown men shared this spot at night during their travels.

A spring was located down the tracks perhaps a quarter mile and would have provided a source of fresh, cold water for those who camped at this spot. The spring had a excellent crop of water crest that would have provided a good source of fresh greens for the travelers.

The entire camp site was very clean with no debris or trash to be found. The site was well hidden in the woods without any neighbors nearby to see a campfire at night.

I kept my discovery a secret from the neighbors, but visited the site several more times during the summer. On each visit there were signs of activity at the site.

I remember my grandmother who lived next door telling us of the "bum' who stopped by one day looking for work. I often wondered was if he one of the hobos who used the camp? I'll never know.

This is my story about railroad "hobos".

Thanks.
 
There used to be or still is a website the had images of hobo & trainmen "monikers" mostly done in chalk that was NOT graffiti. Anyone know the link to that site?
 
Don't know the link, but here at Norris Yard in Irondale, Al. the city has set up a couple of observation platforms to watch the trains. They've even set up some picnic tables on the larger ones, for people to sit, eat lunch at, etc. Many times, after dark, there can be as many as 3 "travelers" waiting to hop a train. Sometimes they're rousted by the Police, but most of the time they're left alone. Whether or not any of these guys are "regulars" there, IDK. They may sit there an hour, or two, but generally a slow moving train starts out of the yard, and before you know it, they're gone. Did they hop one or not, again IDK. I didn't see them hop one, and I do know that they kinda "walk off", when a train is close to moving. They may have a favorite place to get on one, away from the "public".
 
I pulled a hobo off a CSX train in the late 90s. A officer in a town to the West spotted him as the train rolled through town and called the railroad. The railroad stopped the train in the town where I was working and we arrested him for criminal trespass. The nearest CSX police officer was about 90 miles away in Evansville IN. He asked us to hold him because he wanted to question him. About 3 hours later I called the CSX officer back and asked if he was still coming. The CSX officer apologized, said he got tied up with some other business and wouldn't make it over. I asked if they still wanted to press charges and he asked what kind of car he was riding on. I told him that he was riding on the back of a covered hopper. The CSX officer then told me to cut him loose, he was really only interested if he had gotten into an auto rack.

I gut the hobo loose and as far as I know he hopped the next Eastbound train through town.
 
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