Billy Cougar White
Well-known member
It was March of 2021, I had spent the winter living in a shack in the woods close to the Nova Scotia/New Brunswick border. After spending the winter there, my mental health was not the best and I needed to get out there and do something to reboot it. Too much time in the woods makes one go a little stir crazy. So I just needed a place to go, a reason to go there, and a way to get there. I decided to take care of two goals of mine in one trip. The 1st goal was to return to Halifax, where I had been for a visit in 2019. My reason for wanting to return was to go to a take out joint called Willie's. They have in my opinion the best Poutine outside of Quebec. So now I had a where and why, I just needed a how. I decided that I would hitch hike to Halifax spend 2 days there and to return home after I would hop a freight train. For many years I had been wanting to try hopping a train, and I decided this would be a good time as I had heard this route was doable for a rookie train rider.
I asked my cousin to take my dog for a couple days since I didn't feel it would be safe or smart to sneak on a freight train with a dog. After dropping my dog and his favorite toy with my cousin, I was on the side of the road with my thumb out, ready for a new adventure after a long cold winter, and the isolation and depression we all experienced during 2020. With it being my first major hitching trip since covid changed the world, I was unsure how people would be about picking up a hitch hiker, but I made my way towards halifax fairly quickly, until I got dropped of at a terrible hitching spot just outside of Truro. I was there for about 2 hrs before a nice new puck up truck pulled over and the guy said he knew it was a bad hitching spot and he was feeling kind. I thanked him and asked where he was headed. He said "wherever you are, I'm bored and have nothing to do today anyway" I told him I was headed for halifax, and he drove me there and dropped me off right downtown. After relaxing in the cool March sunlight, I decided I needed a doobie and some poutine.
As is often the case traveling by thumb, I was short on funds, so I found a recycling bin, got a piece of cardboard and made a sign that said "need $ for doobies and poutine" About 10 minutes later a loud happy young Newfoundlander read my sign and exclaimed "come with me, I need to drop of this form and we will smoke a couple joints after." We exchanged names and stories as we walked and after dropping off his forms we made out way to his "shack". You see, my new friend much like myself most of the time, was homeless. He was living in a small shack about 3x7 feet. His little shack was built directly downtown in Halifax beside the old library. A building long closed and abandoned. It was one of 2 shacks on the property, and one of several around the municipality. A group of "anarchists" calling themselves Halifax mutual aid had building them for people without housing, who were exposed to the elements.
In edition to the two shacks there was a couple tents on the lawn of the old library. As we sat by his shack and talked, my new friend told me about the little community of homeless people that were forming there and how they helped each other out. During the evening I helped my friend make sandwiches for everyone and someone else supplied some granola bars and drinks. We all talked and laughed. I was amazed by the love of this little community i was seeing. That night we decided to go for a walk, and we found ourselves in possession of a couple dozen roses, so we became the best salesmen in the city and quickly sold out of the roses, while making people laugh with our antics, including standing outside the nightclub telling guys that out roses contained genuine "pussy magnets" and telling the ladies that if her boyfriend loves her, he will buy her a rose. At the end of the night we each had one rose left unsold, so we each found a beautiful person who looked like they needed a rose, and changed their evening by handing them a rose and walking off before they could even say thank you.
The next day I found my way to the freight yard and after a night of watching trains, found a rideable car and climbed on just before the train left the yard, and rode off into the sunset.
I arrived at the Halifax train yard in the afternoon, and the reality of attempting my first train hop was starting to hit me. I eventually found my way to a spot where I could see the goings on of the yard, while keeping myself out of sight. That first night, I couldn't find anything good to ride, but I wasn't giving up. 24 hrs later, and a couple walks to Tim Hortons later I saw a rideable car, so I climbed on an intermodal and rode off into the night.
With it being my 1st time riding freight I made a couple mistakes that ended up making my trip alot more difficult. The 1st mistake was to climb on the front side of the train car, as this left me fully exposed to the strong cold winds. Most experienced train riders will get on the back side of a car as it offers much more protection from the elements and from eyes of those going past. My 2nd mistake was underestimating how cold the ride would be. I was well bundled up with insulated overalls and 2 jackets, which I assumed would be enough as it was not as cold as some of my adventures. The temperature was holding steady at 0° Celsius, however I soon realized that 0° doing 90kmh exposed to the elements is damn cold. If it was any colder, it could have become unsafe, but I got through it ok.
My original plan had been to hop off the train as it passed through a small town near where my cousin and my dog were. Usually the train slows to a crawl as it goes through this town, but of course, just my luck the train highballed through town at over 70kmh. I realized we were passing through my destination as I saw the local brewery blow past me. I knew I wasn't going to jump off the train, but I also knew that it would stop for a crew change and to drop some cars at the Moncton yard. Unfortunately I also knew this other yard was about 2 hrs further down the line, but there was nothing I could do, so I lit a joint and bundled up in my blanket, mentally preparing myself for the next couple hours.
As the train finally made its way to the Moncton yard, it began to slow down. I thought it was going slow enough for me to hop off, so I tossed my pack off first. Any experienced train rider will toss their pack off before they get off. This is done for two reasons, the main reason is so no straps or anything else on your pack catches on the train as you dismount. Riders have died because of this mistake. The second reason is it allows you to judge the speed alot better as you see your pack bounce. It was the 2nd of these that got my attention. My pack bounced hard and bounced many times, at which point I realized I couldn't get off yet. I rode another 1/2 km or so before deciding to jump. Unfortunately there was a fresh layer of snow on the ground and as I jumped my feet got caught in the snow, and I faceplanted hard into the snow bank.
As soon as I shook the cobwebs out of my head, I began walking back to get my pack, and to make my way out of the train yard. It was 2am, cold and snowing. I walked for about an hr through snow and wind, until I saw a church. There was nobody around the church and the entryway was protected from the snow and wind, so I laid down my tarp and sleeping mat, and crawled into my bag to try to at least get a little bit of sleep and warmth.
I woke around 7am and emidiatly made my way to the side of the road and stuck my thumb out. Shivering, cold and ready to be anywhere but here. Luckily a mom driving by with her kids took pity on me and dropped my off at Tim hortons and got me coffee and breakfast. I used the wifi to message my cousin and ask her to bring my dog and come pick me up.
Once off the train and back in the woods I felt re-energized by my trip and was ready for more, although I wasn't sure when more trips would happen. I knew more adventures were coming my way. It sure didn't take me long to find them though.
I asked my cousin to take my dog for a couple days since I didn't feel it would be safe or smart to sneak on a freight train with a dog. After dropping my dog and his favorite toy with my cousin, I was on the side of the road with my thumb out, ready for a new adventure after a long cold winter, and the isolation and depression we all experienced during 2020. With it being my first major hitching trip since covid changed the world, I was unsure how people would be about picking up a hitch hiker, but I made my way towards halifax fairly quickly, until I got dropped of at a terrible hitching spot just outside of Truro. I was there for about 2 hrs before a nice new puck up truck pulled over and the guy said he knew it was a bad hitching spot and he was feeling kind. I thanked him and asked where he was headed. He said "wherever you are, I'm bored and have nothing to do today anyway" I told him I was headed for halifax, and he drove me there and dropped me off right downtown. After relaxing in the cool March sunlight, I decided I needed a doobie and some poutine.
As is often the case traveling by thumb, I was short on funds, so I found a recycling bin, got a piece of cardboard and made a sign that said "need $ for doobies and poutine" About 10 minutes later a loud happy young Newfoundlander read my sign and exclaimed "come with me, I need to drop of this form and we will smoke a couple joints after." We exchanged names and stories as we walked and after dropping off his forms we made out way to his "shack". You see, my new friend much like myself most of the time, was homeless. He was living in a small shack about 3x7 feet. His little shack was built directly downtown in Halifax beside the old library. A building long closed and abandoned. It was one of 2 shacks on the property, and one of several around the municipality. A group of "anarchists" calling themselves Halifax mutual aid had building them for people without housing, who were exposed to the elements.
In edition to the two shacks there was a couple tents on the lawn of the old library. As we sat by his shack and talked, my new friend told me about the little community of homeless people that were forming there and how they helped each other out. During the evening I helped my friend make sandwiches for everyone and someone else supplied some granola bars and drinks. We all talked and laughed. I was amazed by the love of this little community i was seeing. That night we decided to go for a walk, and we found ourselves in possession of a couple dozen roses, so we became the best salesmen in the city and quickly sold out of the roses, while making people laugh with our antics, including standing outside the nightclub telling guys that out roses contained genuine "pussy magnets" and telling the ladies that if her boyfriend loves her, he will buy her a rose. At the end of the night we each had one rose left unsold, so we each found a beautiful person who looked like they needed a rose, and changed their evening by handing them a rose and walking off before they could even say thank you.
The next day I found my way to the freight yard and after a night of watching trains, found a rideable car and climbed on just before the train left the yard, and rode off into the sunset.
I arrived at the Halifax train yard in the afternoon, and the reality of attempting my first train hop was starting to hit me. I eventually found my way to a spot where I could see the goings on of the yard, while keeping myself out of sight. That first night, I couldn't find anything good to ride, but I wasn't giving up. 24 hrs later, and a couple walks to Tim Hortons later I saw a rideable car, so I climbed on an intermodal and rode off into the night.
With it being my 1st time riding freight I made a couple mistakes that ended up making my trip alot more difficult. The 1st mistake was to climb on the front side of the train car, as this left me fully exposed to the strong cold winds. Most experienced train riders will get on the back side of a car as it offers much more protection from the elements and from eyes of those going past. My 2nd mistake was underestimating how cold the ride would be. I was well bundled up with insulated overalls and 2 jackets, which I assumed would be enough as it was not as cold as some of my adventures. The temperature was holding steady at 0° Celsius, however I soon realized that 0° doing 90kmh exposed to the elements is damn cold. If it was any colder, it could have become unsafe, but I got through it ok.
My original plan had been to hop off the train as it passed through a small town near where my cousin and my dog were. Usually the train slows to a crawl as it goes through this town, but of course, just my luck the train highballed through town at over 70kmh. I realized we were passing through my destination as I saw the local brewery blow past me. I knew I wasn't going to jump off the train, but I also knew that it would stop for a crew change and to drop some cars at the Moncton yard. Unfortunately I also knew this other yard was about 2 hrs further down the line, but there was nothing I could do, so I lit a joint and bundled up in my blanket, mentally preparing myself for the next couple hours.
As the train finally made its way to the Moncton yard, it began to slow down. I thought it was going slow enough for me to hop off, so I tossed my pack off first. Any experienced train rider will toss their pack off before they get off. This is done for two reasons, the main reason is so no straps or anything else on your pack catches on the train as you dismount. Riders have died because of this mistake. The second reason is it allows you to judge the speed alot better as you see your pack bounce. It was the 2nd of these that got my attention. My pack bounced hard and bounced many times, at which point I realized I couldn't get off yet. I rode another 1/2 km or so before deciding to jump. Unfortunately there was a fresh layer of snow on the ground and as I jumped my feet got caught in the snow, and I faceplanted hard into the snow bank.
As soon as I shook the cobwebs out of my head, I began walking back to get my pack, and to make my way out of the train yard. It was 2am, cold and snowing. I walked for about an hr through snow and wind, until I saw a church. There was nobody around the church and the entryway was protected from the snow and wind, so I laid down my tarp and sleeping mat, and crawled into my bag to try to at least get a little bit of sleep and warmth.
I woke around 7am and emidiatly made my way to the side of the road and stuck my thumb out. Shivering, cold and ready to be anywhere but here. Luckily a mom driving by with her kids took pity on me and dropped my off at Tim hortons and got me coffee and breakfast. I used the wifi to message my cousin and ask her to bring my dog and come pick me up.
Once off the train and back in the woods I felt re-energized by my trip and was ready for more, although I wasn't sure when more trips would happen. I knew more adventures were coming my way. It sure didn't take me long to find them though.
