FC's Journal #9 - April 30, 2003 - 10:15 am
Hahaha... I'm so cool. I've now ridden all seven major lines. We rode CSX from Birmingham to Nashville last night. It was a beautiful ride. Too bad it was mostly at night and we slept most of the way after dark. We rode these crazy grainers that are almost like well cars... I've never seen them before. We met a tramp and he rode to Decatur with us. He was a really cool guy... Until he decided that he'd just break into a loaded boxcar and ride with the products... Hehehe... Um, yeah, we'll take a different train. Yeah, but other than that, he was nice. I gave him ten bucks and he promptly spent it all on alcohol. Oh well... In Birmingham we hung out with a couple cool tramps from the west coast... One of them continually said 'Loch Ness Monster' over and over again... Never could figure out why. Then there was some dude who claimed to be FTRA who sorta' freaked me out... He kept asking to buy my Carharts from me, and when he went to do a bunch of Meth, I decided it was time that he and I parted ways... So that night I slept down by the train yard again. When we left the 'Satanic Circle' park in Birmingham, the cops showed up not ten minutes later and proceeded to harass and possibly arrest Pops and Wolfie and some of the other locals. That sucks. Ari thinks it's 'cause of the immediate effect of no longer being protected by 'Ari luck'.
So, we are now in Nashville. The plan as it stands now, is to try and make it to Memphis and then continue out west. We'd like to make it Dunsmir for the annual trampfest there, but if we don't make it, it's not that big of a deal. So, we have two weeks to make it to Northern California... We should be able to do that. Bart and I have communicated a little... He may try and meet up with us at some point in our trip and start traveling with us. That would be rad. Hmmm... What am I forgetting? Last night we rode for a while on top of the grainers... It's a little bit dangerous (sorry Mom), but it's a hella' awesome way to see the country. We got a bunch of things we want to do this summer, and I'm not really sure if we'll get to do them all, but we're having a bunch of fun just tramping around as it is... Ari wrote up a list of all these crazy things she wants to do this summer... One of them is to try and not hitch-hike at all. If we want to go anywhere, we're gonna' try and do it by train only. Sounds crazy. Well, so far, we've had fairly good luck. It's taken us a while to get rides (14 hours to get out of New Orleans, and about 26 hours to get out of Birmingham), but other than that, it's been pretty easy. The weather has been pretty good, with only a little rain. Well, that's probably about all I can think of to write right now. I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, and I'll remember it as soon as I sign off. Well, I hope all is well. ---FC
FC's Journal #10 - April 31, 2003 - 10:26 am
Not much to add this time... We waited all night in a CSX yard, or rather just west of the yard. We were hoping to catch a train leaving the yard on the fly. Therefore we wouldn't have to deal with the yard security and workers and all that... Well, we were a little confused as to where the yard was... We got a ride with a woman who took us right to where we should be, but we sat around for about ten minutes or so to try and confirm that we were in the right spot before we walked up to the line... ...And just as we got up the embankment, a CSX train came rolling by... Unfortunately, we weren't on the best side of the train to try and get on... So we didn't get on it. That sucked. If we had gotten up the embankment just two minutes earlier or if we hadn't fucked around before going up, we might have caught it. Oh well... Several hours later another train came by. By now we had positioned ourselves in a better area to get on... Still the train was coming really fast, and besides, there wasn't anything ridable on it... Nothing but auto racks. Even later another train came by, but it was UP, not CSX, so we waited still longer... After waiting all night, we decided to ditch our gear and head into the city. After we get some food, we're gonna' head back out and try our luck some more... It should just be a matter of time though. Hopefully we will be in Memphis by sunset. By the way, for those of you who ride... I decided to look at www.mapquest.com to see if I could find the CSX yard... Well, not only does it show the yard, it shows the individual lines in the yard, and gives the name of the lines. This rules! That's how we figured out where to wait in the yard last night. I'm gonna' always check yards out in mapquest before I go to them now... Okay, that's just about all that's new here... We are gonna' hop to Memphis, and then (hopefully) to Denver, where we'll hang out with my old skool buddy, K. I haven't seen him in a about a year and a half (I think), so it will be good to hang out in his stomping grounds... Hope to see you soon, K. Hope all is well. ---FC
FC's Journal #11 - June 3, 2003 - 2:14 pm
Oh man... Lot's of stories to tell... Just after the last journal update we went back to our waiting spot in Nashville. Maybe an hour later we caught a CSX train on the fly heading westbound to Memphis. That ride was hella' crazy. Let's see if I can remember all the crazy things that happened... Ari had made a list of a bunch of things she wanted to do this summer, so we tried to knock as many off as possible. I think she accomplished four of them. While we were slowly rolling through a little town we came past a gas station. I commented to Ari that a friend of mine talked about jumping off trains that were in a siding and running across the street to get food and then running back before the train had left. That was in the 60's though... Anyway, as these things tend to be, she dared me to jump off the still-moving train, run across a grassy field, buy something at the gas station, and run back. The mind of the human male is really a weak and stupid thing. We find ourselves doing almost anything to impress a cute girl... By the time I pointed out that I had no money on me, I was already committed. She handed me a five and I jumped off. I bolted across the street, grabbed a bag of Fritos and ran to the counter. The lady working commented, ‘You look like you're trying to catch a train.’ She knew what was up. I grinned and paid for the chips, then bolted back across the street to the train line. The train was still moving, albeit very slowly. I easily caught up with our grainer and hopped back on. Mission accomplished. One more thing I've always wanted to do. Later, something really scary happened (I don't really want to talk about it right now... I'll tell ya' all after I get home.).
Later that night, we stopped in a yard. The train sat doing nothing for at least five hours... I decided that I would walk up the way to the units and ask the crew what's up. I got there only find that we still had power, but no crew. I walked back and talked to Ari some. She was cold, and I wasn't exactly warm either, so we decided to go up and hop the third unit. We grabbed our gear and got into the third unit. We stashed our gear in the bathroom with the hopes that we would be able to run and hide there before the crew noticed us, once they arrived. Well, arrive they did, about half an hour later. I noticed a guy walking around in the unit ahead of us just before he started back our way. We piled into the bathroom just before he came into the unit. He moved around some, did some things and left, but he kept coming back periodically. We moved throughout the yard adding onto the string we had arrived with. They were building it up... Finally we left the yard with a string and then returned and added it to our original string. The engines were idling... We were waiting for clearance to leave the yard... It was then that I hear Ari's voice ask me to come to the bathroom for a second... She had managed to accidentally flush the toilet, but it wouldn't stop filling with water. It finally stopped just a millimeter before overflowing, but didn't lose any water... Like the moron I am, I said we should try and flush it to see if the water would drain. It burped water and overflowed. We ran. Into the woods, we ran. Now, we had just minutes to run the train and find something to ride, but we managed to get a nice platform grainer before the engines aired up and we took off. We promptly fell asleep.
The next morning we are awaked to a worker asking us where we are headed... We tell him Memphis and he tells us that's where we are going. He asks if we happened to be in one of the units the night before. We lied and said no... He said it must have been someone else and left it to that. Anyway, they cut a bunch of the train out in Jackson, and we got off. We thought we were in Memphis. We walked about half a mile down the road only to realize we were in Jackson. We ran back and got back on just before the units returned and we left. We got off in Memphis and walked all the way into town... Something like seven miles. Memphis wasn't that great so we decided to head out. We walked all over the place trying to find good dumpsters and a library. We slept under a boardwalk that night, after walking all over trying to find somewhere to sleep. The next day we walked all the way to (apparently) the only library in Memphis. Another five miles or so... I get there only to find Hotmail down... Fuckers....
Anyway, we take a bus back into the city and stock up with food. Instead of heading to the BNSF train yard, which is 12 miles south of the cities, we head to a signal light where BNSF and UP trains supposedly stop before crossing the river... No BN was heading the way we wanted so we holed up in a UP boxcar just before it started pouring. We decided we'd wait until it stopped raining... Well, we fell asleep, and when the train aired up and left, we decided, what the hell, we might as well just go where ever it's going.... It head west to Little Rock. That's where we are now. We are gonna' return to the UP yard shortly and head west to Tulsa. From there we are gonna' try and hop west along the Midline... Finally intermodal rides... Anyway, we are gonna' have to pass up Denver for now, but maybe we can pass that way later in the summer. We want to be in Dunsmuir, CA by the 13th for the Trampfest going on there... So we gotta' hurry a bit. It sux that we won't see K, but again, maybe later in the summer.... Okay, I really gotta' get off the computer, but I know there are things I'm forgetting to tell ya'll. Oh, Memphis sucked, but Little Rock seems nice. We got picked up a couple hours ago by the cops and they ran our IDs, but my warrant didn't come up. They most have only looked locally... Okay, that's it. I gotta' go. Talk more later... Hope all is well. ---FC
FC's Journal #11.5 - June 3, 2003 - 8:36 pm
Just a short update... We finally found the place where we will be waiting. While the spot looks like a great place to catch out from, it's a little sketchy... The CC guide fails to mention the fact that there is a police station about six blocks down from the spot, a cop-shop about a block away, and placed inside a fairly 'square' neighborhood. When we walked to it today, we were literally followed by a police cruiser. Suffice it to say, we didn't stop there to wait for trains. We did, however, find a spot in tall grass under some trees that looks like a good place to hide. So, now that it is dark out, we are gonna' try our luck at hopping to Tulsa... The next few hours will be interesting. We will either be in jail, on a train, or waiting at a truckstop, come morning... We've decided that the truckstop option might not be a bad idea if this spot looks too crazy. We passed a sign today spouting: ‘Warning, Union Pacific property, K-9 patrols in process.’ Or something to that effect... Sounds like fun. Well, hopefully we won't have to wait too long. There was a helluva' lot of traffic going through it this afternoon. Anyway, wish us luck. ---FC
FC's Journal #12 - June 7, 2003 - 11:49 am
Well, we're not in Tulsa... We waited in the Little Rock UP yard all night. Nothing came through westbound except a coal train. Although we managed to get to the yard without a problem, we felt the yard was a little sketchy. So we decided to try our luck hitch-hiking. We hitched all the way to just south of Ft. Smith, Arkansas. We went to a truck stop and found a ride with a trucker who was going north, all the way to Minnesota. We figured that if we could get to Minneapolis, we could take the highline out to the coast. So that's the plan. Later this afternoon we are gonna' go to the Midway yard, and try to get a westbound intermodal to Seattle. Last night I hung out with a few buddies... It was good to see them. Later we are gonna' try and go to the Mall of America... Ari's never been. Then we'll hang out with Axel and head to the train yard. That's the plan anyway... I don't know if we'll have enough time to do everything. It looks like we might get a bunch of rain... That really sux. Anyway, I don't have much time to write right now, and besides, I'm using a shitty laptop... Sorry jefe. So, yeah, gotta' go. Wish us luck. Gotta' be in Dunsmuir in a week... We'll see if we make it or not. If not, at least we'll be on the west coast and can maybe hang out with some friends... Okay, hope all is well. ---FC
FC's Journal #14? - June 10, 2003 - 4:36 pm
Well, Ari and I have split up. It was bound to happen sooner or later... Still, at least we left on good terms, so maybe one day we'll meet up again. Now I really don't know what to do with the rest of the summer. In all likelihood, I will take the bus to Tacoma this afternoon and try my luck at catching down to Portland. Oh, a little background... Before we went to the Midway yard we hung out with Cray and went to the Mall of America. Not as much fun as it sounds, but Ari had never been. Anyway, we stopped by Hard Times Cafe just before going to the yard. There was a couple of tramps there planning a trip to New Orleans. Well, one thing led to another, and we managed to convince one of them, N, to take the highline with us out to Portland. We then went to the yard, and quickly a westbound train appeared. We ran to jump on a bunch of ridable wells, only to discover the bull had laid a trap for us. He was sitting with his headlights off waiting for like minded tramps... We ran off. Shortly after though we started walking the train again, only to have a truck appear. We dashed into some tall grasses, and hung out while the bull and a few workers trucks perused their lost prey. N and I were all of less than ten yards away from them, but they didn't know that. In the time it took them to leave, our train left as well. Axel, who drove us to the yard (thanx Axel!), then left. We ended up waiting all night and part of the next day before we finally caught out. We took a doublestack well that was sitting on a pig train. The trip to Seattle was mostly uneventful... Upon arriving though, we were caught by the bull when we left the train... He called a couple of cops, and mostly they were rather nice. We told them the truth, that we'd been riding their train all the way from Minnesota. They just told us to get out of the yard. No ticket, no jail. Nice... So now I've been caught by BNSF three times...
Later that day (today) we went to an onramp to spange. I'm not really down with 'flying signs' so I quickly decided that the time was right to talk to Ari about splitting up. She and N had become fast friends so I didn't think I was ditching her. Anyway, we talked about maybe meeting back up in Dunsmuir, if we all make it there. So anyway, that's where I'm at now. In a moment I'm gonna' check the bus schedules about getting a bus to Tacoma, and hopping BN down to Vancouver (Portland). From there I really have no idea what I'm gonna' do. Maybe I'll go to Dunsmuir, maybe I'll try to hang out with some friends, maybe I'll try to get a job and move in with John, maybe I'll go home... I really don't want to go home now though. I see that as mostly a deadend street. I'm old enough that I should be living my own life... Maybe Portland would be a good match for me. I dunno' though. In all likelihood, it's probably more bullshit, and I'll fold as soon as the chips are down. Hahaha... Oh well... I don't really have enough money left for a Greyhound bus ticket either... So if I want to go home I'll have to catch the highline back east. Okay, well, that's pretty much where I'm at now. Wish me luck. ---FC
FC's Journal #13 - June 19, 2003 - 6:24 pm
I guess I missed #13, so here it is. Sorry I haven't written in a while, but I've been doing some mad hard travelin'... I also gotta' keep this really short. I'm mostly gonna' focus on what has happened in the last 48 hours. The real update for the last week and a half will have to wait until later. Okay, to bring you up to speed: I caught down from Seattle to Portland, then down to Dunsmuir for Hobofest. It was fun. Afterward about eight of us (and one dog) hopped north. All was great until the Klamath Falls crew change. We got caught. We went to jail. We were charged with criminal trespassing. We all plead guilty and were released. One of the stipulations of our release was a six month probationary period in which we were to not be arrested on a train. Hehehe... I got arrested again this morning.
Long story short: we saw the rail cop and fled into the golf course (here in Portland). He caught us at gunpoint, but was nice enough not to charge us with fleeing an officer (that would have made me a felon... Hehehe... Life is fun.). Seeing as our probation paperwork hasn't even been filed yet, he didn't know we had just broken probation and he ticketed us and let us go. Hahaha... So, in less than forty-eight hours, I go from having a perfectly clean record, to having a misdemeanor conviction, a soon to be warrant in Oregon, and just missing becoming a felon by inches... The bull said that if we get caught on UP property again, it will be a felony. Hahaha... Oh yes, this is fun. I'm laughing at myself right now, but really I am terrified. I don't know if I should turn myself in and accept whatever I have coming or if I should get the fuck out of dodge and hope that the warrant is non-extridictable. The problem is that I love Oregon and I have hoped to move to Portland someday, so I have to take care of this eventually. Seeing as this is my first conviction (or stems from my first), I hope they will go easy on me. Even so, I might be facing 90 days in jail or a nice fine... Shit, I don't know. I'm no lawyer. And speaking of which... I went to see one today and they turned me away.... So, now I have no idea what to do. I'm gonna' try and find some Portland based friends to hang out with so I can think all this through. I am really thinking of turning myself in though. I figure it's what's best at this point. Fuck man, I'm in trouble. Hahaha... Riding trains really is a lot of fun until you start going to jail. Okay, sorry for the short email, but I gotta' search the net for legal advice now. Hope all is well, or better than I am anyway. The odd thing is that I'm really not that scared or freaked out yet... I'm sure I will be when I turn myself in. Hahaha... Stay in school kidz and eat yer' Wheaties and maybe you won't be such a fuckup like FC. ---FC
FC's Journal #15 - June 20, 2003 - 8:49 pm
Okay, I'm thinking a bit more rationally about all this now. I hung out with John yesturday and today. It's good to see old buds. Everyone I talk to seems to think I'm in less trouble than I'm making this out to be, so I'm starting to think so as well. One possibility would be to simply flee for now and come back and take care of this later, like when the weather gets shitty out. Or I could try and take care of this now and hope that it isn't too severe. Last night we went to a show and I met a cute girl from Oakland. We swapped information. She said that if I ever come through that area, I should look her up. Mos' def'... I'm still gonna' have to wait on giving the real journal update about all my recent travels, but I'll give that as soon as I can. Okay, I gotta' help John make some food. Hope ya'll are well. ---FC