Common places to ride were inside or on top of boxcars on freight trains or in blinds, which are locations between cars on passenger trains Some would practice riding the rails at first, catching a freight train on a Saturday and riding to a nearby town and then coming back
Where did riding the rails take place?
In Louisiana, young Clarence Lee’s father told him that there simply wasn’t enough food to feed the family; the boy left home the next day All began riding the rails Peggy DeHart ran away from home at fifteen, after her father struck her for cursing at a cow on the family farm
Who rode the rails in the Great Depression?
Riding the Rails during the Great Depression Many people forced off the farm heard about work hundreds of miles away or even half a continent away Often the only way they could get there was by hopping on freight trains, illegally More than two million men and perhaps 8,000 women became hoboes
Why did they ride the rails?
During the Great Depression, people went across the country in search of work But without a job, they didn’t have money to pay for transportation The only way to get across the country, and potentially get the job, was riding the rails This is how the hobos of the Great Depression lived from day-to-day
Why did teenagers leave home during the Great Depression?
Some left home because they felt they were a burden to their families; some fled homes shattered by the shame of unemployment and poverty Some left because it seemed a great adventure With the blessing of parents or as runaways, they hit the road and went in search of a better life
How did hobos ride the rails?
Called “bo chasers” and “car-seal hawks,” they adopted extremely aggressive tactics They took it as their job to terrorize those who rode the rails, often by any means necessary In addition to bouncing out hobos on trains, they often threw stones at hobos or shot them
Is riding the rails still a thing?
Very few people ride the rails full-time nowadays In an ABC News story from 2000, the president of the National Hobo Association put the figure at 20-30, allowing that another 2,000 might ride part-time or for recreation The very first American hobos were cast-offs from the American Civil War of the 1860s
How many people ride the rails?
Many of their faces were not lined with age; they were the fresh faces of America’s youth Many were teenagers—teenagers “on the bum” They were part of an army of youthful transients, numbering roughly 250,000, who were riding the rails through America
How did hobos survive during the Great Depression?
With no job and no home, men were forced to go to where the jobs were Hitching rides in boxcars along the nation’s railways, these hobos, as they came to be known, carried their few possessions with them and lived a nomadic lifestyle
Why did 100000 Americans go to the Soviet Union during this time?
What company laid off its entire workforce during the height of the depression? What country did 100,000 Americans move to during the depression & why? Soviet Union- they were promised job opportunities & it helped to build communism What person used Germany’s economic suffering to rise to power?
What was a hobo jungle?
The hobo jungle was a place to rest and repair while on the road outside of the city Some were more permanent than others, but all shared the element of refuge, an out-of-the-way place where the hobo could eat, sleep, read a newspaper and wash himself before heading out again
Who was the most famous hobo?
1 is arguably the most famous hobo in the United States His given name is Leon Ray Livingston and he was born in 1872 and he was a lifelong wanderer He was riding the rails, and stowing away on ships starting at the age of 11 and then he began to write about his journeys He wrote about a dozen books on the subject
How long did the Great Depression last?
43
Why did teenagers become hobos?
During the Great Depression (1929-1939) many teenagers (16-25) decided to leave their families and hitchhike to California in search of a better life Most left in search of money, food, or work but some left in search of an escape or adventure in place of their boring or sometimes abused lives
What is meant by the expression riding the rods?
Slang to steal a ride on a freight train
What are railroad bulls?
Railroad police or railway police (also called Bulls), are persons responsible for the protection of railroad (or railway) properties, facilities, revenue and personnel, as well as carried passengers and cargo Railroad police may also patrol public rail transit systems
What is a female hobo called?
bo-ette – a female hobo
How did they bend railroad rails?
The rails are made of a type of steel that while very strong, are also quite pliable, and can be bent around curves simply spiking the rail to the ties at the starting point of the curve, and then pushing on it with long bars used as leverage in the old days, and track machinery in modern times, or even an off track
Is train hopping illegal in Texas?
But why would people risk their lives hitching a ride on a freight train today? Train hopping, sometimes referred to as freight hopping, is against the law in all US states “We started hitching and ended up in Odessa, Texas
Is The Hobo Code real?
These symbols, really hieroglyphs, appeared on posts and bridge abutments, on fences and outbuildings Hobos scrawled the secret language with whatever writing implements were available—a lump of coal, chalk, a nail, or even a sharp-edged rock It was a survival code
How did hobo shoestring lose his fingers?
Riding on trains is a dangerous lifestyle, Nichols admits He was hurt one time while traveling on the Kansas City Southern Railroad in Pittsburg, Kansas He fell and had a pinky and ring finger on top of the rail The train ran over his fingers
Who is the Hobo King?
Graham “Steam Train Maury” Graham (June 3, 1917 – November 18, 2006) was best known as five-time holder of the title “King of the Hobos”, and was later known as “Patriarch of the Hobos”