idiot rides on top of hopper car

[trainman1980]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibTgR9V0oOc

 

[hamltnblue]

Dangerous stuff. Back in the 80's a good friend of mine became manic depressant and disappeared for months. Turns out he hopped freight trains across the country. Apparently it's pretty common for that mental illness

 

[suprduc]

Couldn't find a passenger train so she hopped on a freight train instead? Just kidding.
Probably not the brightest thing to do.

 

[vato loco]

Back in the late 40's early 50's My Uncle Elmer and his friend Jughead!(Yes you read right.... Jughead) Jumped on trains headed west to get to California. Needless to say they made it and took pic's of there jorney along the way! I got a couple of old BW pic's of them on top of a Box Car! I got to hear the stories....why they did it? Elmer told me, "Cause we can!" and So they did!

 

[UP2CSX]

I can't really tell but it appears like the person on top of the covered hopper is a female. Back in the days of sliding door box cars, "riders" were fairly common, and a major job of the railroad police was getting these people off the trains. There aren't a lot of cars left now that are easy to hop, and a covered hopper certainly isn't one of them. I'm told, however, that empty covered auto racks are a pretty comfortable ride, and it's almost impossible to see a person inside from trackside. One of the problems with trains coming from Mexico is that it takes hours to clear them, because the Border Patrol officers have to walk through each auto rack, looking for illegals.

 

[Beachbum]

I was trackside one day at lunch watching the BNSF. Train stopped as there was a control point not too far away and a guy popped up from a stack car. Asked me what town he was in.

I was surprised because I thought most stackers had cutout floors.

 

[MGWSY]

Even with boxcars still on the rails today all doors are required to be closed so that no one can jump in or the door doesnt fall off. If we go to pick up empties at a customer and the doors arent closed then we dont pull the empties and spot new loads. They have to wait till the next day to get spotted.

 

[railBuilderDhd]

Times are defiantly different and you can't ride the rails like you did before. I just think about how much trouble one can get into for just being in the yard or near tracks to get photos yet almost all cars now have elaborate graffiti. Some that must take a long time to paint or someone can ride a car for miles.

Anyway, Mark, what is "spot" or "spotted" cars?

Dave

 

[MGWSY]

Spotting a car just means delivering the cars to a customer at a specific location or unloading point. Just RR terminology we use. So as an example I can call customer service and tell them I spotted CN 405234 at door 4 on track 786 and they know what it means Or if i just shoved a car onto the track and haven't spotted it I just tell them I set the car out on track 786. Once a car is actually spotted for loading/unloading the customer has a certain amount of time to load/unload the car before he starts getting billed for storing the car. Now that is only the case if the customer doesn't lease the cars , if he does then they can sit at their location as long as they want. Lots of different rules for RR owned cars vs private cars out there when it comes to billing.

 

[railBuilderDhd]

Thanks Mark, you helped me and I thank you. I like learning about real operations as I spend time in the hobby.
Dave

 

[vato loco]

Spotting a car just means delivering the cars to a customer at a specific location or unloading point. Just RR terminology we use. So as an example I can call customer service and tell them I spotted CN 405234 at door 4 on track 786 and they know what it means Or if i just shoved a car onto the track and haven't spotted it I just tell them I set the car out on track 786. Once a car is actually spotted for loading/unloading the customer has a certain amount of time to load/unload the car before he starts getting billed for storing the car. Now that is only the case if the customer doesn't lease the cars , if he does then they can sit at their location as long as they want. Lots of different rules for RR owned cars vs private cars out there when it comes to billing.

You got my curiosity peaked...Stupid Question? Now do you have to call Customer Service Very time you spot a car, right when you spot it or do you wait till the end of the run then call up and report the cars you spoted and picked up then? Seem like a paper work nightmare. also who's job would it be to sit on the dang phone/radio all day calling this crap in? I hope CS picks up on the first ring dang I would get PO'ed if it was like dealing with DELL computers tech support! Also Is a train crew payed by the hour, day, or how? It just seem like you do more paper work than running the train? Sorry for the dumb question just wondering?

 

[tomustang]

There aren't a lot of cars left now that are easy to hop, and a covered hopper certainly isn't one of them.

Actually they're one of the easiest, they have 2 ladders on each side, and one full ladder on each end

 

[MGWSY]

You got my curiosity peaked...Stupid Question? Now do you have to call Customer Service Very time you spot a car, right when you spot it or do you wait till the end of the run then call up and report the cars you spoted and picked up then? Seem like a paper work nightmare. also who's job would it be to sit on the dang phone/radio all day calling this crap in? I hope CS picks up on the first ring dang I would get PO'ed if it was like dealing with DELL computers tech support! Also Is a train crew payed by the hour, day, or how? It just seem like you do more paper work than running the train? Sorry for the dumb question just wondering?

Well 90% of the time you fill out your paperwork and send it in at the end of the day and call customer service to verify they received everything. But if we are on a road job and spot a customer en-route we just call it in as its quicker. For locals and switchers its different as they do a lot of customers so it gets done at the end of their shift. There is a lot of paperwork to fill out as there is the switch list, switch position form, time sheet. Mind you I worked on a shortline RR so CS always picked up the phone, LOL.

As for pay it depends on RR and job as some jobs get payed by the hour, some by the trip, others by a set day rate. Everything depends on how the unions negotiated the contract. Where I worked it was just by the hour for every job with a guaranteed 40 hrs a week pay which means if things were slow and you worked 30 hrs one week you would get paid for 40hrs no matter what. But yes there is a lot of paperwork to do and sometimes it takes over an hour from start to the time you fax it to CS. Usually thats the conductors job though LOL.

 

[RCH]

Actually they're one of the easiest, they have 2 ladders on each side, and one full ladder on each end

I tend to agree. Because they have to be loaded from above, access to the roof is required. Since most other types of freight cars aren't manufactured with roofwalks anymore, and those still left over from the 60s or 70s that still have them are exceptionally rare, covered hoppers almost stand alone in terms of roof access. It would be much harder to get atop an autorack or FBOX boxcar, for example.

 

[Trouble]

Seen that a lot. First one i saw was on a near-freezing, drizzling day. We passed an eastbound coal train and, while watching for defects, saw some poor fellow wrapped in clear plastic, getting sprayed by coaldust and freezing rain, pretty much exposed. We felt too bad for the guy to call it in, if he wanted to travel that way so bad, let him. As for the stack cars, the wells are mostly open with bracing and a lip around the edge for the containers to rest on. I've heard the hobos just lay plywood or whatever will fit across the bottom to keep from falling through. And on rare occasions people will sneak into the trailing units, which is why many guys carry a spare knuckle pin or hammer or something while walking through the engines, just in case

 

[ChevelleSSguy]

I can imagine some of these idiots trying to ride a freight across country and not prepaired enough for the weather, say the jumped on in Arizona in January and ended up going through the rockies and on into the midwest only to freeze thier you know whats off because they were only dressed for the southwest weather.

I think this is another reason tank cars do not have railings on the sides anymore as well.

 

[vato loco]

Well 90% of the time you fill out your paperwork and send it in at the end of the day and call customer service to verify they received everything. But if we are on a road job and spot a customer en-route we just call it in as its quicker. For locals and switchers its different as they do a lot of customers so it gets done at the end of their shift. There is a lot of paperwork to fill out as there is the switch list, switch position form, time sheet. Mind you I worked on a shortline RR so CS always picked up the phone, LOL.

As for pay it depends on RR and job as some jobs get payed by the hour, some by the trip, others by a set day rate. Everything depends on how the unions negotiated the contract. Where I worked it was just by the hour for every job with a guaranteed 40 hrs a week pay which means if things were slow and you worked 30 hrs one week you would get paid for 40hrs no matter what. But yes there is a lot of paperwork to do and sometimes it takes over an hour from start to the time you fax it to CS. Usually thats the conductors job though LOL.

Thanks I was wondering...Thank God we don't model The paperwork side of it! Although it would be nice to get paid