# Coal train john



## railroadron (Sep 24, 2012)

Northtown has always been a hot yard as far back as I can remember. As a matter of fact besides Interbay, it was the only hot yard back in the day on the entire "highline" where we d actually play a little fun cat and mouse game with the bull. Actually I do think he rather enjoyed it too. LOL. These were the days when BNSF was just BN..the Jolly Green Giant of the North and very hobo friendly. Back in the mid to late 80 s the General Assistance program referred to simply as GA, was at the time typically a western thing only offered in select cities. Of course some cities were easier than others and Minni was back then the easiest. Before the internet allowed information to be shared between states most of us riders actually pillaged the taxpayers by getting GA and Food stamps (paper back then) in multiple cities using different ID s which were easy to come by. There were these little photo ID and passport places that offered real Laminated IDs from many different states for a small fee. Seattle and PDX had many of them. Before ID s became all high tech with homeland security shit and holograms, most states had no clue what real I D s looked like from far away eastern States like Mass. or Delaware. The rails were freakin crawling with travelers I tell ya, everyone movin about they re buisness to make the "Rounds" and get the checks. Especially around the first of every month. I got 6 checks in 6 cities.. so on or about the 25th of the month I d leave wherever I was posted up, (usually between Bend, Pasco, Vancouver or Wenatchee) and begin my rounds starting with PDX. Next I d bus over to Vancouver and collect my second, then to Seattle, Minni, SLC and finally Sacramento..my hometown. This took about 2 weeks depending on how drunk you stayed and believe me..everyone was drunk. There was no flyin signs back then and panhandling wasnt as common as it is today. No need with about 300 bucks per city.
My favorite train across the Highline back then was a hot piggy train that was identified by the orange nose and black stripes on the lead we called tiger stripe. It also had a fuel tender in the power consist and when I say it flew..I meant it made record time. You could literally grab it in Everett or Interbay and be in Minni in about 25 to 28 hours cause it never stopped. It changed crews on the fly! You ever tried taking a crap on a moving piggy? Only draw back with ol tiger stripe was that you approached Minni from the north via Detroit lakes and Staples which meant bailing off before Northtown which wasnt always pretty or graceful. It also meant a long walk to Hennipin which was where government offices were and the post office where my check along with most tramps checks were awaiting in PO boxes. Do you know what its like to be eatin alive by freakin mosquitoes? Pure torture!! I swear its the state bird! There was no relief from the pesks and I tell you, you were a mosquito buffet should you bail off at night and begin your walk which you did if you were smart cause there was no place to hide.
Catchin out was always fun. You did have alternatives depending on where you needed to go next or how fast you needed to get there. CNW was an option which you had grab in "Pigseye" and it would get you west into Iowa, or SOO which you snagged just south of northtown where the tracks went over BN on a tressle. But that was a sloooooooooowwwwwww route to Minot. My God, it d take a day and a half almost two days because it stopped for freaking snails to cross the tracks. And dont forget!!! Mosquito. Yes they kept pace with the train..takin turns tag teaming you with every stop. The trick to gettin out of Northtown back then was darkness, so it was common to see many groups of riders all along the right-away just outside yard limits. I myself preffered the shade of boxcars found in an old Milwaukee Road grave yard in Columbia Heights near the SOO line crossing and Wye. The grave yard was full of old Orange rusting cabooses and U-boats along with bad order boxcars baking in the sun and groaning for dismantle. I also like to roam amongst the relics of the past as if paying homage to a long lost friend who once was a mighty railroad that died before my time. 
One afternoon I was walking between some old boxcars in the graveyard that had obviously seen many a party and heard music from a transistor radio blarring a familiar song from CCR. Gravitating towards the music I ran into a clean cut tramp and offered to share my quickly warming case of Hamms which he obliged me. After some small talk and learning we were headed in the same direction we smoked a few dog legs and talked out our plan to hit Northtown. As I was sitting there and reading the different tags that littered the car I saw the very familiar Coal train John insignia and got up to examine it. I could never figure out who this mysterious tramp was or what he used to tag cars that seemed to never fade. Touching it i discovered it was still wet. I said " Wow...Coal train was here recently"! Then he started laughing and said "I'm Coal train " "I'm the one who draws that picture. It was a thrill to meet such a legend but at the same time a bit disappointing because he did not resemble the picture he drew of a bearded man with a pipe. He didnt smoke a pipe or have a beard. Shit...I dont even recall a hat. Anyway he was one cool and trusted fella. That night he and I made a break for a northbound which were easily identified by the crummy s on the end of the train. We booked it double time under the flood lights and right past the tower which we heard over the scanner he carried ..a call to the bull about us. Too late, by the time he got to that area, we were deep in the muck of departure tracks and aboard a train which took off a few hours later. On that particular trip he and I parted in Libby MT after hanging out there a week or so...He knew all the great dumpsters in that town..there was a regional Sara Lee bakery that always threw out pies. John and I rode together from time to time..sure would like to see him again. For those of you who do or dont know..John Easley is his name..he used to tag that before his famous Coal Train.


----------



## Kash (Sep 24, 2012)

Cool story man, I really enjoyed it


----------



## kokomojoe (Sep 24, 2012)

I see a few coaltrain tags every so often, interesting story.


----------

