I'm with the FRA and occasionally we still get a warning bulletin about a
rather sinister group known as Train Riders of America. Apparently the group
is a quasi -Hell's Angels type group that still rides the rails but due to
their criminal activity, keep a very low profile. Railroads have indeed
cracked down on "free" tickets simply because of the theft and damage to
equipment and buildings by camping transients especially due to fires. And,
in my part of the country, most riders are illegal alliens trying to get
north to work which means INS Officers are crawling all over the place
checking anything that might offer a place to ride or transport drugs. We
have heard that empty box cars and tank cars coming up from Mexico are a
favorite place for large shipments of drugs and if anyone gets a chance to
visit Laredo, look at the X-ray machine which has been installed at the north
end of the rail bridge. It once picked up a crushed coke can in a truck side
frame. On another, it not only picked up an illegal riding in the end of a
hopper car but showed a small knife in his pants pocket. Of course the guy
will probably have dead babies from now on but the thing is effective and
about half the trucks coming across at Laredo are now going through a similar
rig (but after the driver gets out). The FRA is not in the drug
interdiction role so we tend to stay out of that problem but we are very
concerned about the danger trespassers face, both to themselves and railroad
property. And, we have had a few inspectors robbed through the years in
train yards and it does concern us when we must work alone. Still, the
problem with riders appears to be extremely small compared to the early 60's
when I started railroading. We used to find entire families riding and in
winter we would often bring them back to the caboose where they kept the fire
stoked for us in exchange for a warm place to ride and a share of our lunch.
Those were the good ol' days, today is certainly different.
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