Re: Hobos?

["Rod" <comtrain@mpx.com.au>]

Eric Brown (jnr) Formerly Someone Else <croyle@bigpond.com> wrote in message
vMq_3.133$x4.315@newsfeeds.bigpond.com">news:vMq_3.133$x4.315@newsfeeds.bigpond.com...
> Has anybody ever caught a freight train hobo style in sydney or anywhere
> else for that matter?
I believe it does happen, but it is a little different in Australia.
I once departed the Ford Car Plant in Geelong with a load of vans [box Cars]
loaded with car components. We ran the train non stop at 50 mph and were
finally waved to a stand by a fettlers gang near Newport, some 50 miles
away. The outer flagman had noticed kids clinging to the steps, beside the
couplings on a couple of the vehicles. It was a cold night and the kids
could not move off the steps themselves, we had to prior their fingers from
the grab handles, and lift them onto the ground, gradually movement began to
return, and it was quite funny to see them slowly gather speed across the
paddock as they moved away from us.
Another incident saw a female tresspasser severely injured when she fell
asleep in a gondola that had a 40 ft Container sitting unrestrained inside.
The container crushed her in her sleep. I am not sure that she survived.
Today Australia seems to use a lot of container flat cars and those closed
vans, still used, are locked or sealed in such a way as to prevent entry.
Parts of Queensland and West Australia, look like the only bet here.
But be warned, tracks are very rough on the branches, and the main lines for
that matter, it would not be safe or comfortable.
Rod