I may chat about my books, what I'm writing or reading, or just general thoughts. You may read posts about my cats or just my crazy life in general. Comments are welcome, if anyone wants to interact with me. Maybe we can share war stories, whether it's writing related or just about life in general.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Railroads and Hobos


Railroad tracks - Public Domain Photo


Growing up on the farm, we lived about a mile from the railroad tracks, maybe less. I’m not too good at distance. Our grandparent’s house was just off the highway and beyond that were the railroad tracks. Our house was further away from the highway, down a winding gravel road.

In our childhood games, we would walk to the highway and look across the road to watch the freight trains coming down the tracks, so we could wave to the man in the caboose. I wonder what he thought about a bunch of dirty, barefoot farm kids standing there waving like mad. He always waved at us, and I imagine we weren’t the only ones to do this. We were always looking for entertainment.

Caboose

We spent the night at Mamaw’s house several times during the summer. We would lie in the bed and watch the reflection of light that ran across the walls, left by cars going down the highway. We heard the wailing horn of the freight trains across the road, as they passed by the house.

Every year, we would walk across the highway to the railroad tracks to pick the wild blackberries that grew there, taking ladders with us to throw over the brambles of berry bushes that grew in large clumps, dense as a thicket.

Blackberries - Public Domain Photo

However, the scariest things to us were the hobos. In those days, they travelled by riding the boxcars, jumping off and wandering to the farmhouses in search of a meal. At first, we didn’t know what to think. They scared us to death, scruffy old men in need of a bath and a shave. They were dressed in shabby clothes and worn out shoes, carrying the typical stick over there shoulder with all they owned tied up in a bandanna or worn-out rag, just like something out of the movies on TV.

Hobos - Public Domain Photo

Mamaw would never turn them away. She made them wait at the gate to the yard, or at the bottom of the porch, if they ventured into the yard. She would scrounge up something to give them to eat, even if it was leftover biscuits. She used to tell us they were down on their luck, and the right thing to do was to help them. She had a big heart that way.

Old Boxcar - Courtesy of Wikipedia

On the other hand, she always made sure we stayed in the house, until they walked back to the highway to hop the next train going by.

12 comments:

  1. I've read that train hopping hobos were down on their luck too. Some were probably the equivalent of some of our street people today. Your Mamaw was a kind soul.
    Jagoda

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jagoda,

      Yes, Mamaw was a kind soul always ready to help out anyone down on their luck. I imagine that these guys were a lot like our street people today.

      Thanks for reading and leaving a comment.

      Sunni

      Delete
  2. I also lived near the trainline,out in the country as a child but the trains had stopped running and the line was closed. I enjoyed your post greatly wishing you well for the rest of the alphabet from fellow challenger Becs

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    Replies
    1. Tales from Tedium

      Thanks for visiting my blog. I'll have to visit yours.

      The RR tracks in the country are still in use today. One of my brothers lives out there. I took Amtrak to Houston a few years ago, and I went down the same train tracks past the farm we lived on as children. That was kind of neat.

      Sunni

      Delete
  3. She sounds like a good woman!

    I was almost killed pretending to be a hobo once. We were hopping trains and I slipped...

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    Replies
    1. Laeli,

      My grandmother was a good farm woman.

      That is very dangerous hopping the trains. I'm glad you weren't killed.

      Thanks for checking out my blog and leaving a comment. I'll visit yours.

      Sunni

      Delete
  4. I totally used to want to hop on a train like a hobo- it seemed like such a fun life!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Clean Slate,

      Thanks for reading. I'm sure you'd see a lot of different country and meet some interesting people as a hobo, but I bet it's a rough life.

      Sunni

      Delete
  5. Fascinating post, Sunni. Takes me back to when I was a brakeman on freight trains in the 1970's for Santa Fe Railroad.

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nouveau,

    Wow! You used to be a brakeman on the Santa Fe Railroad? As kids we were fascinated with the trains that went by across the highway from our farm.

    Thanks for reading and commenting.

    Sunni

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kindness and safety too... smart Mamaw! :)

    #atozchallenge, Kristen's blog: kristenhead.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Kristen,

      Thanks for reading. My grandmother was one-of-a-kind.

      Sunni

      Delete

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comment on my posts. I appreciate it.
Sunni