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Train hopping, or freight hopping, is the practice of secretly boarding trains to hitchhike to their destination. It has been around for as long as trains, but is dangerous and illegal in most regions. The practice was popular in the 1930s and experienced a resurgence in the counterculture movement of the 1950s and 1960s, but declined due to containerization and the rise of planes and trucks. Train hopping is still practiced by some tramps and anarchists, but they must avoid railway police and crews.
Train hopping is a practice in which people secretly board trains, usually freight trains, to hitchhike to the train’s destination. It has been around for about as long as trains, with documented cases of people hopping trains home after the conclusion of the US Civil War, suggesting that the practice was well established. Many people associate this practice with the hobo community, and many train hoppers are hobos or hobos. This method of transportation is extremely dangerous and illegal in most regions of the world.
You may also hear train hopping referred to as freight hopping, referring to the types of trains classically used by train hoppers. To get on a train, people generally familiarize themselves with the routes and trains in an area so that they can choose a train that will move them along the route to their destination. Trains are classically boarded before starting to move for safety, although some hoppers jump onto a moving train. Once the train leaves, the train hopper stays hidden to avoid detection and tries to stay hidden until the destination is reached.
In the 1930s, train hopping became a very popular method of transportation. The global economy was in a slump, leading some people to seek work as itinerant workers, and especially in the US, workers had to traverse a lot of terrain to find new jobs. Getting on a train used to be one way to do that, and the practice has spread, with thousands traveling illegally on the tracks every day.
The train also experienced a resurgence in the 1950s and 1960s as members of the counterculture movement began to see it as a form of self-expression. However, it started to go into decline after this period for several reasons. One of the key problems has been the advent of containerization: there’s nowhere to stow away on a container. The boxcars traditionally used to load goods were abandoned, reducing the boxcars available for stowage. The use of trains for freight also went into decline with planes and trucks coming into widespread use thus reducing the number of trains available for hopping.
This method of train travel still stands; though it’s not as widely practiced as it once was. Tramps continue to train in some regions of the world, and anarchists sometimes even travel by train, expressing solidarity with the tramp lifestyle. In both cases, train hoppers work hard to avoid the railway police officer, also known as the “bull”, and are increasingly avoiding railway crews as well since the crews are not as supportive of the practice as they once were.
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