Why is it important to understand the dangers of train hopping?
Do you think you can be arrested?
What could happen if you make it aboard safely?
Can train hopping be stopped?
How can you stop it?
What makes it so dangerous?
What are some of the dangerous things people are doing in the videos?
Train hopping is illegally boarding a moving freight train and among one of the most dangerous things going on with railroads. Children as young as 12 and even COLLEGE EDUCATED people do it for a thrill. For them, it is a free ride to another destination without paying for it. They have scanners to listen to radio transmissions from a train. There is the cocky and smug attitude of trying to get away with it. Some don't. Some will have paid for that ride with their lives. Several videos of this illegal and dangerous activity can be found on YouTube posted by the offenders themselves. This problem is apparently ongoing nationwide with a violent gang running the trains.
One of the videos showed someone breaking into the cab of a locomotive. The people you are going to encounter train hopping will not be upstanding citizens, but violent criminals. Some of which have been convicted of MURDER and RAPE. Forget the idea of adventure and freedom. There's nothing romantic or nostalgic about hobos at all. That ride in the wrong car can cost you your life from the wrong people who don't care about the rules or the law. You run the risk of sexual assault, robbery or murder. When they're done with you, they can throw you off the train. These people will kill you and think nothing of it. The best and safest way to go on a train is with a ticket on an Amtrak or NJT PASSENGER TRAIN.
*Another hazard in train hopping is that unsecured cargo my shift in the car and either crush you or pin you in the car. You can risk having a leg or arm crushed.