Alternative transportation

[exlrrp]

recent discussions got me to thinking of alternative transportation and herein may be a good topic.
Anybody ever ride the side door Pullman? I been doing this since I was a kid, hopping freights altho not much in the past 10 years.--its sorta guerilla transportation at its finest, motorcycling ain't in it for constant risk, plus illegality.
The towns where I grew up, Richmond, El cerrito and berkeley had two railroads--the Southern Pacific and the Santa fe. (the western Pacific came into Oakland--now its all UP and BNSF)
the Sp roared thru town on A big triple track speedway but the Santa fe sorta skulked thru towns backyards at about 15 mph, dropping off a flat of lumber here and a gondola of gravel there-I was not raised on the wrong side of the tracks, I was raised in The Richmond Annex, literally, between the tracks.it went right close to my HS and JHS and the afternoon peddler freight went right by school to El Cerrito Plaza, then a state of the Art mall. there was a propitious S curve where a vigorous lad could hide and nail the freight as it went by, it always had empty gons, hop off at the Plaza for some after school girl ogling.
Ive never been thru the Panama Canal on a ship but I crossed it in a boxcar (troop movement)
After the Army I traveled around, hitchhiking and riding freights--some notable rides: Roseville to Reno over Donner Pass on the SP, Salt Lake City to Pueblo on the DRGW, Redding (CA) to Portland on the SP, The Feather River Canyon (CA) on the WP.
Amtrak has passed its drop dead deadline, they'll be cancelling long distance trains this year. I'm going to ride as many as I can before theyre gone, but my days of the side door Pullman are over.

James

happy just to be alive