6 July 2009
No Ticket to Ride
Self-proclaimed "yuppie hobos" aren't
in it to save money. It's
for the thrill of the ride - and the rush of flouting the law.
Somewhere in Canada - The first time Patrick Thompson
hopped a train, it did not go as planned.
He was trying to make the long trip to Vancouver from Ottawa with a friend.
But instead of catching a Toronto-bound freight, they found themselves headed for Montreal.
They also picked the wrong type of train, winding up on a slow-moving chemical car that made their eyes itch as they
chugged through the rain.
Yet despite the cold and wet, the experience thrilled Mr. Thompson. "When you get on, even if you're only moving five miles an
hour, there is a sense of jubilation and accomplishment," he says. "You're doing something that you shouldn't be
doing."
As the weather warms, the number of people doing what they shouldn't be doing on the rails increases.
Summer is peak train-hopping season, when stealth travellers wait in train yards to score a free - and illegal - ride.
But what was once the purview of Depression-era vagrants and, more recently street punks, is becoming increasingly
popular with self-proclaimed "yuppie hobos" such as Mr. Thompson, who ride not to save cash, but simply for the
adventure.
"I don't do it as a money-saving way to travel," Shawn Kazda, 29, says of "catching out," as it is
known. "I've never had a huge problem with money. When I started I had none, but I always did it because I love trains and I love
travelling."
For Mr. Kazda, who works for a corporate furniture company in Ottawa, train hopping is a weekend activity that takes him across
Ontario with his girlfriend, Nina Bains.
But he plans to quit his job next spring and travel by rail all the way to the West Coast - without tickets.
Mr. Kazda was 19 the first time he hopped a train.
After hitchhiking to the East Coast, he decided to catch out from Saint John to Moncton.
Instantly, he was hooked on the adrenalin rush, a feeling he's tried to recapture with every trip since.
At 30, Mr. Thompson is also a veteran train-hopper, having hitched his first ride 12 years ago.
A painter by trade, he knows to bring a full set of supplies, including camping stove and thermal underwear, on trips.
"I don't want to suffer while I'm doing it," he says.
The experience is not just about roughing it, after all.
While on a freight train last summer, Mr. Thompson's girlfriend surprised him with a birthday dinner that included smoked salmon and
organic wine.
The meal was one of the highlights of a trip that was interspersed with anxiety.
"We had crazy highs, but we also had moments of fear and panic that we were going to get caught," he says.
Being discovered, of course, can turn a free ride into a costly one.
If caught trespassing, train hoppers face a maximum fine of $10,000 or a year in jail.
To stay secret, most make use of the crew change guide, an underground bible passed among seasoned hoppers that contains detailed
information about train yards across North America.
The guide offers advice such as which fence posts to go through in certain yards, the best places to hop on, and where to avoid search
lights.
"It could help a lot of newcomers get around, but it's not something that they'll get their hands on because it doesn't just get
given out," Mr. Kazda says.
But more risky than being caught is the danger that comes with riding trains that can reach speeds of up to 80 kilometres an hour -
and are not meant for passengers.
"They aren't designed to be sitting on, or riding on," says Inspector Bill Law from the Canadian Pacific Railway police
service. "We're talking about a big piece of metal with metal wheels on metal rails. There is a lot of opportunity for
injury."
Riders insist they take the necessary precautions.
"I value my arms and legs," Mr. Thompson says.
To that end, he doesn't board moving trains and takes his time finding a safe place to ride inside the cars where he can stay hidden.
Besides, where would the adrenalin kick come from if there were no peril involved?
"You're going against moral taboos in a sense, and the law," Mr. Kazda says. "A lot of people can't get past that, but
that's where the sense of freedom comes from."
Carla Wintersgill.
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