What's The Best Way To Catch Out?

Hi All
You can never be too careful so i'd like to state that I realize freight jumping is dangerous and technically illegal but i'd just like to ask on behalf of a mate of mine. He will be taking a trip to the US/Canada this year and would love to hitch a ride on a freight somewhere as it's been on his bucket list for quite a while. Where he ends up doesn't matter it's more the experience itself. With this in mind could anyone recommend anywhere on the east coast (pref speaking from experience) where he could catch out from? To be more specific he'll probably be travelling around the NY - Detroit area while in the US and the Windsor - Toronto area in Canada. He's been told railyards and sidings are your best bet but is one easier than the other? Are they hard to find? Any specific yards in that area where you've done it without much trouble? He'd imagine that there may be more workers and bulls around railyards so should he try to jump on a train as it's leaving the yard rather than trying to sneak in? Also is one country better than the other for trying this in terms of ease? Finally does anyone have any ideas what the penalty may be if he gets busted?

From my personal experience, err, I mean the personal experience of my friend, who's called... Jonny... Table Lamp... yes, Jonny Table Lamp... well Jonny says that the way he worked out the best place to catch a train was by looking at Google maps and finding the entrance / exit of the biggest freight yard.

Tell your friend that finding trains is pretty simple. They generally stay on railway tracks, which are clearly marked and hang out at freight yards, which are massive and very easy to see ;)

So Jonny Lamp mainly only hops from exits and entrances of train yards? I have taken your advice and ordered a rail atlas that has the timestables and really look forward to learning how to use it. Does it say where trains stop to allow other trains to pass or does that occur in random locations?

There's freight timetables available to order online? That's new to me. I always thought that the timetables were some big secret which you had to work out for yourself or have someone else tell you once you've proven your worth.

And are you asking me if the timetables say where the trains stop for crew changes? I don't know. You're the one who ordered it! You tell me! :P

Rail atlas? Such a thing exists? How would one go about tracking a copy down?

Not asur about the USA but here in Canada you can obtain all you need from here:

www.bytownrailwaysoc... ...side-guide

"He's been told railyards and sidings are your best bet but is one easier than the other?"

Small yards and sidings are easy. the larger yards have a high degree of security. I avoid them like the plague. Ive heard rumour that the very big yards even have thermal equipment (not for train hoppers but work for that nonetheless )

One of the most simplest things I already learned was wearing black when catching out during the night. Dave was wearing a black outfit (even a facemask) top to bottom to get around almost any rail yard in Canada. It is important to learn what is safe and what to avoid if you ever try catching out at night.

Canadian tracksidw guide like mentioned above is a huge help, showing you crew change points, mile markers, maps, etc etc. Scanner is also very very handy, some of it is rail lingo however a lot is just regular talk...including if they may have spotted a rider, reasons for delays all sorts of stuff....also it picks up the "hotbox" relays which essentially can tell you where the train is if you sitting at a catch out spot waiting.

Is catching out at night a better way to go? Obviously it'd be more fun during the day when you can see the countryside whizzing by but if it's a lot easier at night maybe that's the way to go. Like the low visibility would be good but is there otherwise much difference? Also are there more trains at night compared to during the day? Here in Aus there are very few rideable trains in my area and the ones that do run tend to go at night

If you catch out at night you'll almost certainly still be on the train by the time it's light. And then some. The first train I rode in Canada, I caught it at about 9pm, in the dark, and I was on that bastard for around 17 hours. So don't worry about not being able to see the scenery.

Catching out the in the dark has obvious pros and cons. An advantage is that you're very unlikely to be seen. A disadvanatge is that you're more likely to trip over something and fall under a wheel.

Also, if you have enough trains to choose from that you can decide what time of day you're catching out then you're not doing badly. The chances are you'll take whatever you can get, regardless of the time of day :P

I prefer catching out at night especially if your catch out location is near any population centres or yards. I also prefer riding at night as i can be more exposed and less hidden. Normally once the day rolls around i rarely step out of my cubby hole or whatever it is I'm riding so that i won't be seen.

In Canada in my years of riding i haven't noticed any difference between the amount of trains at night or day.

There is this yard in the outskirts of Brunswick that might be easier to catch out than I thought! Other than a massive number of bugs and gnats during the summer, there are hideouts outside the Golden Isles Terminal yard that I would use to my advantage, even during daylight. If I get there at the right time, I would have to wait hours until I notice a worker placing a red box device (FRED) in the back, then within 5 to 10 minutes, maybe sooner, a train would pull out and most of them are empty autorack bound for Macon. But I would personally wait about 2 minutes tops as the worker starts walking away from the FRED and that should be enough distance for me to sneak on board from behind, I would still double check everything first before I make my move.

Oh that reminds me. On average how long do you think you'd sit around waiting for a train? I guess it'd depend on the size of the yard but like ball park figure? I'll have limited time before flying out so don't want to waste days sitting at a yard only to find out that it's disused or no longer running freights. Also i've seen on a couple of forums and youtube vids people will sometimes ask the rail crews about where the trains are headed etc while others say to steer clear of the crews. What are your thoughts on this? Would you recommend steering clear of them or is it worth running the risk?

Can vary quite a bit. Sometimes you'll get several trains an hour on the main lines. That being said i have spent over 17 hours in my catch out location on the main line and not a single train rolled by. I personably stay clear of asking crews for that information, they often report you. Your best bet is to research the hell out of it and gain experience first hand.

Ok so quick update. I'm currently in Canada. Initially I wasn't planning on catching out from here but going to try from somewhere in the New York area in a month or so but I was passing Jasper BC and decided I'd take a look at the local station since I'd noticed quite a few rideable trains heading through the Rockies on my way up. I sat there for about half an hour and no kidding I saw about 3 trains in that time just roll up, sit for about a half hour then taking off again. It was a little way back from the station and wasn't technically a yard per se so security was minimal (I saw 1 camera at the exit. That's it). I actually had the chance to jump on a few cars and check out hiding spots etc. I was so tempted just to pack my bag and jump on the next one but had other things I had to do before I get to try this. My question is would it be worth me travelling back here to catch out rather than New York State? I mean it was literally that easy. Pick a train, jump on, hide, done. I'd assume it wouldn't be this easy in a train yard? I mean there'd be more security and less trains right? Also the Canadian wilderness would be an awesome backdrop for something like this. So what do you think? Should I change my flight to New York back to jasper or would I still have a relatively easy time finding a ride in the states? Obviously it'd probably cost me a bit extra but I'd be damn near guaranteed a ride so wouldn't mind the extra cost. Having said that if you guys think it'd be that easy in most places I'll just carry on to New York

I remember looking up Jasper on Google Maps and thinking that the scenery looked awesome!

I think you'll find easy places to catch out wherever you go. At the end of the day, trains and yards are massive so staying hidden is pretty easy if you've got the slightest bit of common sense. So it comes down to where you want to ride. I'd say that the Canadian wilderness and the Rockies wins every time ;) Just make sure you really pack well for it! Don't get caught out if you're going to be in the middle of nowhere!

Oh yeah and take pics and post them. Good luck!

I learned how to ride while living in jasper. The yard is easy. There are in fact three cameras, one at each entrance and one near the station. There is a bull as well. His response time is about 3 minutes haha.

But a full fledged train yard has much higher security. some yards (this is a rumour) have IR cameras.

Success! Decided to take it over the border into Canada and caught a ride out of Toronto on a grainer. ended up jumping off at a junction just outside of Sunbury Ontario about 7-8 hours later. Would have stayed on longer but I was nearly out of water and as anyone who is familiar with ontarios humid summer will know you sweat buckets so I didn't want to be riding long periods without fluid. It was one of the most awesome experiences of my life and I totally want to catch a few more rides while I'm here so I'm going to head back to the junction in a day or 2 to catch another one that's passing through. During the ride though I had a thought. Obviously jumping off at a junction is easy but what would happen in the case of a yard? Would you stay put hoping it's just passing through or would you bail as its pulling in to avoid the high security? And if you did stay put and the train stayed there would you wait until night to try make it out? That happened to you didn't it BD? It'd make for a boring god damn day

Good work, man! Did you take any photos or video? If not... why the hell not??

When I rolled into a yard at night I ended up staying on the train and waiting it out because I had no clue where I was and I was pretty deep in the yard. Plus I didn't need to be anywhere. But usually when you roll into a yard you want to be getting out of there pretty quick. The chances are the train isn't leaving for a while and the longer you're there the higher than chances of being seen. Also you probably need more supplies by that point and if you stay on the train you might end up being on it for another 15+ hours so you're best off getting into town and taking a break.

As for being boring, I have always found it interesting how time moves at a different pace when you've not got anything to concentrate on other than riding a train or hiding. I was in one yard at night, waiting for a train to be built so I could jump on and it took hoooours and at one point I thought I'd missed it and that it had left without me. I was 100% prepared to lay underneath the old engine where I was hiding for another 24 hours if I had to. I had some food and water and that's all I needed. The thought of lying on the ground not doing anything for 24 hours in normal life is ridiculous but when I was freight hopping it didn't seem like too long. It was like "Meh, if I have to do it then I will, no big deal".

I think being tired all the time helps. When faced with a 12 hour wait it's okay because I'll just try and snooze as much as I can. It's not like I have anything more important to be getting on with :P

No photos yet. It was about 8.30 when the train rolled out and being in a built up area I decided to stay hidden until there were less people around but unfortunately by that time it was dark and the old iPhone camera doesn't take very good outside shots in the dark. Like I said there'll be other opportunities though. It's nowhere near as populated here so I'd like to try during the day tomorrow hopefully. I'm also thinking I'd love to ride one of those big long intermodals since as I understand they go east to west coast? Obviously I couldn't stay on it that long but it'd be good to know you're in for a long ride. Fingers crossed but I'm just going to take what I can get

Is that a fact, that empty intermodals go all the way East to West? I don't really know anything about that sort of thing. All the trains look the same to me but someone who knows what they're on about can probably tell a lot about where the train's heading just from the sorts of cargo it's pulling.

And yeah, I understand about cameras being shit in low light. Case in point, my Canadian Catch Out video :P

It's what I've been told but can't confirm it. The person who told me lives in Canada and is pretty street wise regarding stuff like this but he's not a jumper so who knows

Well that would be super convenient if it were true! Though hopefully it wouldn't be non-stop: I wouldn't fancy being stuck on a train for 3 days.

So after all that i lost my goddamned phone so unfortunately there won't be any photos this time. At first my plan was to just see how far i could travel in the week and a bit i had free but i ended up getting stuck in fucking Sudbury. If you're ever over that way don't jump off in sudbury for any goddamned reason. Its the arse hole of the world. A real dump. Theres a small yard there but i swear on my life there were no goddamned rideables there it was infuriating. Anyway i decided i'd have to pay for a plane or bus ticket to a bigger town where i'd have more to chose from and try again. I wanted to get out of there as soon as i could because i was running out of time and the next plane leaving was heading back to Toronto of all places. So i was paying to go back to the place i'd just left which seemed a bit pointless but i figured at least I knew some good catch out spots there now. Had another ride south this time. Wasn't a very long one as i was pretty much out of time and had to get back to Toronto as i had a flight to Cuba booked. A little R n R on the beach after sleeping rough and riding freight trains ;). Also i knew i was close to the border and didn't know if these trains cross into the states at all so i decided to jump off sooner rather than later haha. So that was my foray into freight hopping. As soon as I got back to Aus i quit my job and decided i'd take off on the motorbike. Always wanted to do the red centre on a bike so I figured it was a good opportunity and i also heard they run Intermodals up the centre (Adelaide to Darwin) so obviously i have to check that out on my way through but i have a bad feeling i'm not gonna find any rideables in this shitty country. Otherwise I can still qualify for a working holiday visa in Canada so i've put that on the to do list since it was too good an experience to only do once. I'm thinking it would be great to work for a few months then jump a train a few towns over and repeat. True hobo style. I'd also love to know all the finer points of freight hopping because short of a little info i could find online I was pretty much guessing a lot of it. Would have been great to have a veteran guide like you did with Wyatt (That was his name right?) to show me the ins and outs but i knew enough to not get me killed so i'm happy with that

Actually I just consulted google maps and it looks like there was a bigger yard of one of the outlying suburbs of Sudbury. Shit! Pays to do your homework kids.

Sounds like a pretty cool little adventure, POD! I'll be sure to avoid Sudbury :P

Is Aus really that bad for freights? I've had it suggested to me to try and ride down there but I know nothing about them and Australia is a biiiiig, hot place.

I'm also an Aussie. In my state (WA), there's 0 rideable cars from what I could see, but I wouldn't say it's impossible.
I remember a few years back, there was a few guys that traveled by freight across the Nullarbor before being caught in Adelaide.
here's the news articles (with photos) if you're interested, Dave
www.watoday.com.au/w... ...2bl40.html

That was an interesting article! Thanks for the link.

Whenever I've read anything about train hoppers getting caught it nearly always comes down to them doing something really silly, like sitting out in the open when going through an area with people in it, or hanging out in a yard in broad daylight. The lads in the article were posting their pics and live location on Instagram! Haha.

It's pretty funny that Australia didn't have laws against freight hopping and the fine that the guys were given was half the amount they'd have got if they rode a passenger train without a ticket.

As far as I'm aware, not getting caught is pretty easy just as long as you stay alert, keep your head down and stay hidden. And the trick with social media is to post it all up online AFTER you get home ;)

Not surprising the dumbasses got caught but i guess that means there's hope. I wouldn't say it's impossible but it looks very hard. There's plenty of youtube vids of Australian freights that train spotters have taken, this one for example www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFmW9uoixpw , as you can see a majority of the cars seem to be flat trays and have no where to hide. The auto racks might be worth a try but the intermodals in Australia don't have the front or rear wells which sucks and I've yet to see a single grainer here. I'm trying to figure out if the sides would be raised enough to hide behind if you were to lie down but can't tell for sure. Also notice those first couple of cars that look like passenger cars? Didn't see any of these overseas so don't know if they have them but apparently they're for relay crews meaning no stopping for crew changes so if your train is going north to south you're in for a long, hot ride through the desert. Better take plenty of water. I'm gonna check out some yards in Adelaide on the way up north though. See if i can find anything promising

Wow, that's a pretty scary thought; being stuck on a freight that's doing a week long non-stop run through the Australian outback. When they find your body you'd be a dried-out husk, clutching a water bottle that ran out 3 days earlier.