Hopping Trains - READ ME 1st!

[Guest]

I have noticed that many people are trying to find out how to hop trains on this board. Please keep in mind some VERY valuable tips:

1. FIND A VETERAN:
You can read about hopping all you like, but it's not going to help you when that train rolls into a yard. Find someone to help you out on your first couple of hops.
(For example... how many sports can you read a book about, and then just become a professional at)

2. NEVER TRY TO CATCH ANYTHING GOING TOO FAST:
You must be able to cound the nuts on the wheels. If it's too blurry to count, then it's going too fast. If you try to hold on to something going too fast you can get your arms ripped off, or end up under the train, or dragged by it. Personally I don't catch anything that I can't walk faster than. Remember...there will always be another train, don't do anything foolish.

3. RESPECT
TRAIN: tons and tons of metal moving at speeds upwards of 60mph.
YOU: Human, fragile, and unable to take a train flying over you.

*BE CAREFUL*

The last thing that we need are a new rash of inexperienced hoppers getting hurt. That just brings the law down on us even harder.

[hikecrazy]

Those are all very valuable tips you've written Shawn1, and i agree that anyone who's contemplating jumping on a huge, moving piece of metal should know what they are doing and what their limits are first.

I especially like the analogy between professional sports and hopping - you're making a very relevant point. There is no subsitute for experience and nothing more valuable than a good teacher who can show you the ropes and look out for you.

You should write some of your experiences, stories and ideas here Shawn so that others can learn from you.

[KaBar]

Guest, it's not that you're wrong, because you aren't wrong. You're just rude and seem to have the personality of a bully. It's true that clueless yuppies have no business trainhopping. It's also true that people who have no respect for others encourage everyone around them to want to pull their plug. Do hardasses exist on the rails? Of course they do. They bleed red just like everybody else, and their bad attitude just makes everybody else want to hurt them.

If if you decide to catch out, learn what you're doing before you go. Keep your eyes open, don't trust strangers, don't be naive, and be prepared to defend yourself. But everybody you meet is not going to be the Railroad Killer Boogeyman. On the other hand, there are plenty of jackasses out there who imagine that they can rob, steal and rip off other trainhoppers without any negative consequences. "Wrong."

What allows yeggs to take advantage of others is the presence of the police. Honest people are reluctant to give the scumbags what they deserve because they are afraid of going to jail. But out on the rails, guess what? "The cops ain't around." So the bad guys don't get the protection of the Law, because the Law is not there. If you behave like a prick, you get treated like a prick. If you behave like a mark, you get treated like a mark. If you have never been in a serious fistfight, you probably will not do well on the rails. LEARN HOW TO FIGHT, and I don't mean in one of those BS liberal how-to-defend-yourself-against-a-mugger classes. I mean how to really fight. Just knowing how to defend yourself will usually be enough to make having to do so unlikely, but the best of all possible self-defense tactics is to avoid situations where you are likely to be at risk. If you are forced to defend yourself, "fight to win." There is no such thing as a fair fight, so don't expect any mercy, and don't give any, either. The last fight I got into, I knocked the guy down, and then beat him like a drum while he was on the ground. He did something that really pissed me off, he had an arrogant, entitled attitude, and it got him his ass kicked. I used my fists, but if I had had a stick or a bottle or whatever, I would have used that. All anyone has to do to avoid me beating the crap out of him is leave me alone. I don't harm anybody else, I don't steal, I don't rob anybody, but if somebody starts any shit with me, they are going to get what they asked for. Bullies, creeps and predators are constantly hunting for people that are vulnerable. Don't be vulnerable. "Let those who desire Peace prepare for War."

[RangerChris]

I love that quote

[HighPlains]

I also think that it is a great quote--it is part of my signature on my email.

That quote comes from the Latin:

Qui desiderat pacem, praeperat bellum

"Who desires peace should prepare for war."

--Flavius Vegetius Renatus
De Rei Militari