The three of us caught a ride to the yard on a Sunday night. We crossed over a few strings of cars, climbing one to get a look at which group had power on it. We made our way to the soon departing train and found a nice Canadian style grain car. This was the first time for my two guests and as they watched me climb aboard they looked a bit troubled and perplexed. They were expecting a box car, but they are both harder to dismount at speed and less photogenic. Plus I’m always a bit paranoid that my efforts to keep the sliding door open will fail and I will be trapped.
I woke early on a cloudy Saturday morning and crammed the last bit of junk into my pack. The weather report predicted falling temps, shit tons of rain and then sleet and snow. “Pssh,” I thought as I looked at the radar, “that cell is gonna keep heading east and miss the whole state.” This is why I’m not a meteorologist. My roommate was nice enough to wake up at the crack of dawn and give me a ride to the local CSX yard. I slid out of his jeep at the cul-de-sac that bordered the tracks and said thanks. After listening on the scanner I figured out which string of cars was on its way out and found a Grainer, the type with the “V” beam and the tiny room inside. As the train slowly started to move out of the yard I pressed my pack down and myself against one wall trying to be as small as possible and not get spotted. The rain had started to fall and the now glossy surface of the tanker behind my car gave me a fisheye view of the front of the train. Before long I was rocking back and forth as the cars hauled major ass west and then southward. At a siding in Apex I moved up to a plug door boxcar which was much more comfortable. The train flew past back yards, pastures with black cows, and sprawling swamps, all of which were shrouded in fog. It was really beautiful. I spent a good bit of the time dodging pine branches that could have used a trimming.
A planned freight hopping trip for this coming weekend had to be postponed, so I’m publishing an old story of a trip I took in early June 2008. I used to have some video but somehow they never made it onto my backup CDs so all I have is a few crappy pictures.
It was early May in Raleighwood and the end of the spring semester of school. I had a couple days until my last final exam so I figured I’d catch a train up to Greensboro and explore a giant, abandoned mansion I had heard about. I hadn’t hopped any real distance before, only cross town rides. So, early on a Thursday morning I took a city bus down to the southern junction and started my wait.
Helping the time pass was a borowed copy of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six that belonged to my roomate. About 10:30 a CSX junk train rolls by, but I didn’t want to go to Hamlet so I got up and just watched it go by. I needed a Norfolk Southern. About 2 hours later I got what I needed. I was sitting in front of a signal shack and by the time I heard a horn the train was already next to me. I ducked around the other side of the shack and threw my pack on. I waited for most of the train to pass before I boarded a grainer on the fly. Unfortunately it was one of those A-beam ones with the tiny cubby hole. I rode this car for about 20 minutes before the train stopped just west of Cary.
I took this oppurtunity to get off and walk forward about ten cars to a Canadian grainer I had passed up earlier while holding out for a boxcar. I climbed into the amazingly convenient three-part compartment of the Canadian and shortly thereafter the train started rolling again. The train picked up speed and soon I was out of the city and flying through beautifully sunlit pine forests. Rolling along, I sat on the porch with my head out facing forward, and the wind blowing the smell of pine into my face. It was my first ride and it was awesome, just awesome.
