Riding the rails refers to using rail transport as the primary means of travel, historically associated with the Great Depression when many people rode trains illegally to find work. The railroad system in America changed the country, making distant places accessible. Riding the rails had a romantic allure but a harsh reality, with many young workers subject to abuse. Today, riding the rails is a safer way to travel and is often used by high school graduates traveling to Europe.
Ride the rails is a popular expression for traveling by rail or other mass transit rail systems. It usually involves consistent use of this mode of transportation, rather than taking a train occasionally or for a short distance. Riding the Rails is often used in reference to the Great Depression of 1920s America, when many people chose to sneak aboard trains to look for work or opportunity in a distant location.
In the 19th century, railroads swept across the United States, bringing new business and communication opportunities to small towns across the country. While in the 18th century, travel to the distant coast had involved detours of slow-moving ships or wagons, the rail system has narrowed the nation to a manageable distance. Instead of a six-month journey by carriage, rail travel in 18 could cross the United States in about four days. The railroad system in America has changed the whole country, and places that small-town people would never dream of visiting have become accessible.
With the stock market crash in 1929, America entered a severe economic depression that forever altered the country. Jobs that had been around for decades were simply no longer available, and teenagers and men were forced to seek work far afield to feed their families back home. In the 1930s, historians estimate that more than 250,000 teenagers rode the rails, traveling illegally from city to city in search of romance, adventure and a meal.
Riding the rails had a romantic allure but a harsh reality. Broken and often starving, this culture of frequent train travelers had no roots or protection from danger. With child labor laws in their infancy, young workers were often paid far less than adults and subject to many forms of abuse. As depression worsened, many older teenagers were either asked or forced from their homes by family, who could no longer afford to feed them. Yet railroad life also appealed to those drawn to wanderlust, who wanted to see the world and experience it.
The term “hobo” is often used to describe those who have made their living riding the rails. Typical representations of hobos show a scruffy person in tattered clothes, sipping alcohol while hiding aboard a train. Of course, these destitute travelers were met with suspicion and derision, and were often forced to keep going, either out of necessity or an inability to give up a transient life.
Today, riding the rails is used as a generic expression for using rail transport as the primary means of getting around. It still conveys some of the wanderlust and romance of the early days, although it generally involves much safer circumstances. A longstanding tradition of high school graduates is to travel to Europe and take advantage of Eurail passes, which allow unlimited travel on rail systems across the continent for a short period of time. Riding the tracks is a great way to see the country and get a feel for the distance and scenery between stops in big cities. Though for the most part it has lost the impetus of financial despair that drove so many to ride trains in the first place, it retains its romantic image of an adventurous way to travel.
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