HEADING EAST FROM LA:
Like mentioned above, take a bus to riverside. I don't think there is one anymore from LA. You have to go to Orange County. To the city of Orange specifically. OC is just south of LA county. Take the blue line to Long Beach, then the OCTA bus #50 to "The Village at Orange", then transfer again to RTA bus #149. Take it to "The galleria at Tyler", which is in Riverside. You can hitch the 91 east onramp, usually getting a ride through Riverside, and to 1-10. By now, you've spent a few hours on buses and about $4. Sucks, but its really the only way out of LA east.
If you have a lot of time on your hands, and $5, you can keep taking buses. Transfer at the Galleria to RTA line #27. Take this all the way to the end of the line, in Hemet at "Florida/Lincoln". Hitch highway 74. You can just start walking, maybe a half mile or so you can begin hitching. One of my favorite hikes, goes through the mountains and into Idywild, then Palm Desert. I figured this way out by accident once, trying to hitch to San Francisco from where I live (near Palm Desert)....if you're still heading east, take the 111 sunline bus east to indio, last stop about 45 minutes. There's a few decent onramps in Indio, maybe 20 minute walks. And a train yard, which doesn't get much traffic stopping there unfortunatly.
If you're in Palm Springs, Indio, Coachella Valley area and want to get to LA, Orange County, or west Colton
, take the 111 bus WEST to palm Springs, last stop. Start walking with a sign to LA. After a mile or so it gets pretty good for hitching. I always take this way to head ANYWHERE. If you're lucky, you'll get a ride through LA if thats your direction. Umm, it gets really really windy sometimes just to warn you. And hot as all shit in the summer. Like 115-120 on a bad day in July. I love it though.
There's a lot of other things I could say about SoCal. Buses connect from San Digeo, to NCTA (north san diego county bus), to OCTA (orange County bus) to metro (LA), then there's transfers to oxnard, ventura, santa barbara. But you might as well hitch, it gets easy at this point once north of there. Still kinda cool that buses run so damn far, like 250 miles just on locals.
TRAINS: As in freight. I've only hopped once (Fresno to W Colton) I do know that west colton is a major yard to very far north (Portland) and very far east (Florida). LA has some yards too, ask around.
