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{{random roadsNote|''Note that this website is mainly about [[hitchhiking]], another free form of transport, which is much more legal and especially more safe.''}}{{Disclaimer}}[[File:Freighthop.jpg|right|250px]]'''Train hopping''' (also called '''train surfing''', '''train hitching''' or, in parts of the United States, '''catching out''') is a riding on the outside of a train or another rail transport. In a number of countries, the term '''train hopping''' is often confused with the term '''freight hopping''', which means riding on the outside of a [[freight train]], while train hopping can be practiced on any type of a train. This type of travelling can be dangerous and even life-threatening, because there is a risk of death or serious injury from falling off a moving train, electrocution from power supply (overhead lines, current collectors and resistors), colliding with a railway infrastructure (bridges, tunnels, platforms, traffic lights or other trains) while riding outside off structure gauge on the side or on the roof of a train, or unsuccessful attempts to jump on a moving train or off it.
==Freight trainsAdvantages of train hopping =='''Freight hopping''' became [[File:JumpOnER2.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Jumping on a moving commuter train ER2]][[File:Sapsan meets trainsurfers.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Roof riding on a common means of transportation commuter train in Russia]]* Riding on the United States following outside is a much more exciting (and potentially deadly) way to travel by train than riding inside of it. You can feel the American Civil War as wind and observe your train during it's motion.* Extended view of surrounding area. If you ride inside the railroads began pushing westwardtrain, you can only watch a small part of countryside and railway infrastructure through a side windows, especially among migrant workers who became known as hobosif windows don't allow you to protrude from it. If you ride on the outside, you have a 180-degree or 360-degree panoramic view, which can be much more wide than a view from train driver's cab. It continued * Opportunity to travel by train for free, without having a ticket.* Opportunity to ride in a comfort when a train is extremely crowded or there is a strong heat inside railcars. For example, local and subway trains in a number of countries can be widely used by extremely overcrowded during the destitute rush hour, that makes riding inside of them very uncomfortable; moreover, in some cases it's impossible to get in a crowded train. Riding outside of it allows to travel with a comfort.* Opportunity to ride on a train, which does not provide transportation of passengers and those unable does not allow to afford other transportationenter it. For example, in most cases you are not allowed to get into a freight train, a service train or a locomotive, especially during times but you can ride on the outside of widespread economic dislocation such as the Great Depressionit.* Opportunity to hop on or off a moving train. Thain hopping allows to catch a departing train or jump from an arriving train at low speed before it's complete stop.
First of all, your best option is to find your nearest train yard or big train station and spend some good long hours waiting and watching, ecpecially if you don't have a good experience of travelling on the outside of trains or if you want to ride in an unknown region. Keep an eye out for the different types of cars, what looks rideable, what doesn't, and keep track of the timetables and frequencies. Practice сlimbing on different types of standing train cars and try to find the most comfortable places before the real rides. If the railway line is electrified, try to determine the type of electrification (AC power lines and trains usually have bigger insulators than DC), and be very careful if you want to ride on the roof of a train under an AC power line. Research of the area is vital beforehand, but also while sitting by the tracks in the cold dark night, the wind and rain blowing into your face. You'll need passion and an adventurous spirit to keep you there, but once you find your ride, you will be heavily rewarded.
=== Basic safety rules ===* Have your brain lucid (no alcohol or drugs) during all time of trip.* Analyze different parts of train and avoid hanging and grabbing on shaky parts of car (like rusty handles, mirrors, wipers and etc.), which could be broken by weight of a human.* Take the most comfortable and stable posture during the ride. Always have 3 fulcrums while riding on front, back or sides of train car (stand on two legs while holding with one hand, or hold with two hands while standing on one leg) and maintain weight of your body to different parts of train to avoid falling off it in case of breakage of handle or emergency stop.* Keep the safe distance from electric catenary, currents collectors, busbars and dynamic brake resistors of a train. Note that height of catenary can vary during the ride; for example, it's much lower under bridges or inside tunnels. There's very high risk of getting electric shock on roof of a car if you are closer than a half of meter to AC power line or electric equipment of a train: for example, in case of 25 kV power line, an electric arc can occur at a distance of 10 to 45 cm, depending on the weather conditions. If you keep the distance more than one meter from electric currents, you get an acceptable level of safety even if you ride during the rain under an 25 kV AC power line, however, roof riding under a power line is not recommended during a thunderstorm due to high level of air ionization* Watch out for bridges, traffic lights, tunnels, platforms, and other trains if you ride on side or roof of a train and keep the safe distance from them, or immediately get into the loading gauge of train if there are too close. If it'Train hoppings impossible to ride inside a loading gauge of train, check the railway lines for close railway infrastructure before rides. For example, the structure gauge in many subways is too close to loading gauge of train, so attempts to ride on it's roof or side can be deadly in case of collision of rider with a tunnel infrastructure.* Do not ride on the outside of trains without handles and other structures that allows you to hang on the train and ride in comfortable posture, if you have no special equipment, which allows you to attach yourself to the train. For example, to ride on back side or between carriages of high-speed trains ICE, train hoppers use ring bolts and vacuum lifting pads in couple with safety belts.* Do not try to jump on or off a moving train, if it moves faster than the speed at which you can run. Before jumping on a moving train, make sure that the car has a handle and a footrest, than run with a train and hang on a handle, and jump onto a footrest, otherwise you risk to fall down. If you want to leave a train during it's motion (for example, to avoid a catching by the police at the station), get to the lowest footrest of car, face forward to direction of movement, than jump to the side off the train and run after a contact with land surface. Don't try to jump if you ride between carriages, because you can fall under the train. Start practice of jumping on or off a moving trains at slow speeds (lower than 10 km/h), and then gradually try to jump at higher speeds.* Riding on the outside of trains is illegal in many countries, so the police, guards and railway workers can try to catch you if you will be detected. Some railway guards, train engineers, conductors and other railroad workers can be train hoppers can be very rude with train hoppers and even can come to blows or with them. If you don't want to be detected, you have to hide at lower parts of a train before a railway crossings bridges and especially large train stations. For example, a person who locates between carriages of passenger train or inside a gondola car of freight train is fess visible, than a person on a roof or side of train car. Also, wearing a clothes with the same color which train has or dark clothes can help you to not be spotted.
== Geography of train hopping ==Riding the rails, hoboing, or jumping a freight train (train-hopping), although most commonly found in the United States, can be done in most parts of the world. If there are freight trainswith handles and footrests that allows to climb on a car, then there can be hobostrain hoppers. While there is a vast amount of information online regarding the U.S., practical guides for [[Europe]], [[Asia ]] and [[Oceania ]] are few and far between. A zine called 'EuroHobo' exists for European adventures but can be difficult to obtain.
Riding by freight trains in this country has a long history in art, music and culture and became a common means of transportation following the American Civil War as the railroads began pushing westward, especially among migrant workers who became known as hobos. It continued to be widely used by the destitute and those unable to afford other transportation, especially during times of widespread economic dislocation such as the Great Depression. In more recent times, the practice of train hopping in the United States has distinctly reduced in comparison with the first half of 20 century, and now it has evolved into an underground movements of railfans, thrill-seekers, hobos, bums, tramps, punks and anarchists, or just a poor lonesome traveler with no money. These people can be found throughout the United States, hanging out in 'Jungles' by the side of the tracks or near a freight yard.
There is a mailing list for train hopping. Send a mail to [email protected] to join.
==LIRR=[[Asia]] ===[[File:Biswa_Ijtema_Dhaka_Bangladesh_24012010.JPG|left|thumb|150px|An overcrowded passenger train in Bangladesh]][[File:ID_diesel_loco_CC_201-47_050711_9284_krgdl.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Children ride a freight train in Indonesia]]Asia is a paradise and a native part of the world for millions of train hoppers. The practice of travelling on the outside of trains in South and South-East Asia is very common phenomenon due to a high population density and overcrowding of trains. In India, Indonesia and Bagladesh it's much more common than in any other part of the world: thousands of people can ride outside a single train. A lot of people in these countries travels by hopping on passenger trains every day. Freight hopping is also practiced, but in a lesser degree. Most railways lines in Asia has no electrification, however, average speeds of trains on these lines are much slower. In the recent years, railroad companies of these countries started campaigns against riding on the outside of trains. The police and railway guards can be found at big train stations, sometimes they may organise raids against train hoppers, however usually nobody cares about people on the outside of trains.
==NJ Transit[[Australia]] ==[[File:Australia_rail_networks.png|thumb|right|250px|Australias Rail Networks]]A huge country with big distances between cities, lots of rails and trains, no bulls, little security... sound like hobo heaven? It is! Well, almost. First of all, you will be fined for 293 australian dollars if get caught. Also there's little information to be found about times, destinations and yards, so several hours will have to be spent scouting out the system and your nearest rail network. Different gauges are used for different states, which means certain trains can only operate within their state. Pacific National runs through most of the country, with routes to and from Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. QLD RAIL covers Queensland and for hopping out of Brisbane, the Southbound yard can be found at Acacia Ridge, while for Northbound trains Bowen Hills is your best bet. Tasmania has its own rail network, going from Hobart up through the middle of the island. Note there is no rail service to Tasmania!
==PATHExternal Links ==* [http://briancray.net/train-hopping-101/ Brian Cray's Blog] has articles and a guide on train hopping.* [http://oli.org/ Operation Lifesaver - Rail Safety Education].* [http://thespoon.com/trainhop/train1b.html How to hop a freight train at thespoon.com]* [https://squattheplanet.com/threads/the-stp-guide-to-train-hopping.17771/ Squat the Planet] has a guide to train hopping.* [http://http://northbankfred.com/ http://northbankfred.com] has a lot of useful information about train hopping in the United States.* [http://lurkmo.re/Электричкинг/Трейнсёрфинг Train surfing at Lurkmore wiki] — basic guides for riding on the outside of train (in Russian), a lot of videos and pictures.* [http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Трейнсёрфинг Train surfing at Russian Wikipedia] (in Russian language).* [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Train_surfing Train surfing on Wikimedia Commons] has a lot of pictures about riding on the outside of trains.* [http://liveleak.com/view?i=bc9_1355201524 Riding on the outside of high speed train Sapsan in Russia (video)]* [https://www.facebook.com/groups/405928106111662/ "Dirtytrainkids" Facebook group]* [[:moneyless:travel-trains-without-spending-money|Travel trains without spending money on moneyless.org]]
{{stubbased on|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freighthopping Wikipedia]}}
[[Category:Trains]]