# My first trip and last train ride (so far)



## Matt Dawg (Nov 30, 2014)

So I'm headed back to Nashville, Tn from Cleveland, Oh. Not a very long trip but I was having trouble hitching out. No one was stopping to pick me up, the truckers were conveniently all headed north, and cops had told me to stop hitching several time and were keeping a very close, very annoying, eye on me.

For 3 days I'm stuck at this truck stop (I think it was a TA) and I'm getting pretty annoyed. But it was a Sunday, and little did I know that the truck stop had a church gathering. So around 8am the preacher walks up and asks me my story. I tell him I'm trying to head south, but I'm not having any luck with it. So he tells me, "How about this: You come to the church service with me and I'll get you a greyhound down to Cincinnati!" I reply with a very eager "Hell yea!"

Now... I'm not religious... at all... But now that I'm in a church service with a greyhound ticket on the line, you can bet I was singing the loudest out of all the lonely truckers in there. My hands were raised in the air, and hell, I even asked if I could read a few of my favorite scriptures. (in hindsight, maybe I was trying to hard to sell this act...). But sure enough, I get the ticket and take a ride down to Cincinnati.

So now it's 5am in the middle of January, I'm sitting at the Cincinnati greyhound trying to figure out my next move. I go outside for a smoke and I hear the sound of a train whistle not too far away. Now every other night it's been around 10 degrees at night. Freezing fucking cold. But for some reason, tonight was around 70 degrees. I'm not sure how the weather could work like that, but whatever, I'll take it. I figure if I wanted to hop a train, tonight would be my last chance for a while.

I take off around 6am or so down the road following the sound of whistles and engines. I manage to find the tracks, and a small group of trees just big enough to hide myself from people passing by on the road. It's kind of a small hill next to a small tunnel that I'm sitting next to, and I have to grip one of the trees to keep myself from sliding down while I wait. I look across the track and sure enough there's a train parked a few tracks away facing South. I couldn't run to hop on it just yet because I was right beside the front cab of it while there was someone sitting right in the window just staring off in the distance. The sun was starting to come up and I didn't want to take the chance of being spotted by him while I made a run for it.

About 30 minutes later, the train starts to take off. The front cab in out of sight and if I want to get on, it's now or never. So I make a run for it. I end up running beside a grainer with a nice porch on it, throw on my backpack, then climb aboard.

The ride only lasted for about 4 hours. But It felt a lot longer. I was mostly passing through small towns and factory areas like the town I grew up in; but even still, from the perspective of that train it all looked so new to me. I had heard once that it was like being in a another country, and I always thought it was an exaggeration until I experienced it. I really hate to use the word "magical" to describe things, but I can't think of another word to describe it. One of the best times I've had.

I end up jumping off in a town called Danville, Ky. I find a small gas station near the tracks and the owner asked me if I just hopped off the train. I look at myself and realize how dirty I got from those few hours. I tell him I did, and he tells me he gets kids like me in there all the time. He then offers me a couple donuts, which I eagerly accept, and I go on my way. I ended up hitchhiking the rest of the way to Nashville with this mom and her son who just got home from serving in the army.

That happened about a year and a half ago, and I can't stop thinking about it.


----------



## Kal (Nov 30, 2014)

Cool. Keep on traveling and be free.


----------



## CelticWanderer (Nov 30, 2014)

god damn. Was that your first time hopping? 
I've always wanted to but i've no idea how it works and the thought of jail time or getting stuck in some train yard freaks me out. 
Cool story though


----------



## Corinne (Nov 30, 2014)

what a magical experience!!!


----------



## Matt Dawg (Dec 1, 2014)

CelticWanderer said:


> god damn. Was that your first time hopping?
> I've always wanted to but i've no idea how it works and the thought of jail time or getting stuck in some train yard freaks me out.
> Cool story though


Yea, that was my first time hopping. And really with it being my first time, I consider myself lucky I didn't get caught.

There was this one instance when I was passing by another train while it was sided. I wasn't paying attention and I didn't duck out of the way when I went by and I could've sworn the driver saw me, because I had the brilliant idea to poke my head out and look back, and I thought I saw the outline of the driver kinda hanging off and staring back right at me.

That was about 10 minutes before I pulled into the yard at Danville, Ky; which is why I got off there. I thought for sure they were slowing the train down getting ready to pull me off.


----------



## CelticWanderer (Dec 1, 2014)

Damn, that sounds sketchy as fuck. I've always wanted to catch a train to town down augusta but the yard there is fenced in an theres always people about .


----------

