"Stowaway" on California Zephyr

[TinCan782]

The Galesburg Virtual Railfan camera captured a stowaway crouching in the rear door opening of the California Zephyr #6(10) as the train was departing Galesburg this afternoon (7/12)

 

[desertflyer]

For me, the most surprising part of this is that there is a transdorm on the back of the Zephyr.

 

[George Harris]

Chances are he will be seen by another train's crew who will then get on his radio. Subsequent to that there are 2 possibilities. 1, he will be brought inside by the conductor and either passed off to police or simply deposited at a station or handy road crossing. 2. He will be left where he is and then at an appropriate location either deposited on the ground or handed over to the police. An unlikely third would be to simply be taken inside and parked in a coach seat for the duration of the trip. It is highly unlikely that he will not be noticed, or if noticed not be reported.

 

[zephyr17]

Chances are he will be seen by another train's crew who will then get on his radio. Subsequent to that there are 2 possibilities. 1, he will be brought inside by the conductor and either passed off to police or simply deposited at a station or handy road crossing. 2. He will be left where he is and then at an appropriate location either deposited on the ground or handed over to the police. An unlikely third would be to simply be taken inside and parked in a coach seat for the duration of the trip. It is highly unlikely that he will not be noticed, or if noticed not be reported.

3. Fall off.

 

[Cal]

3. Fall off.

That's what I'm thinking.

 

[Cal]

They were stopped for at least 15 minutes just outside of Galesburg (the two light tan dots). Probably kicked off there.

 

[mikewrite]

Probably about as comfortable as sleeping in one of those upper sleeping-car berths.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

I'm not surprised at this- there are tons of videos online made by people who hitch rides on freights and are able to go fairly long distances.

 

[Agent]

For me, the most surprising part of this is that there is a transdorm on the back of the Zephyr.

For some reason, the California Zephyr has been leaving Chicago with all the Superliner cars in reverse order. This started earlier this week. So it wasn't just this train running like this.

 

[GAT]

Ahhh . . . . The romance of riding the rails.

 

[TheVig]

Waaaaaaaayyyyyyy back in the day, there would have been a good chance of him getting kicked right off the back, as the train was rolling along its merry way.

 

[Cal]

For some reason, the California Zephyr has been leaving Chicago with all the Superliner cars in reverse order. This started earlier this week. So it wasn't just this train running like this.

The Chief has also been running with reversed consists recently.

 

[alpha3]

I'm not surprised at this- there are tons of videos online made by people who hitch rides on freights and are able to go fairly long distances.

Ahhh . . . . The romance of riding the rails.

He's probably a journalist going to write a documentary on train travel in the US........

 

[Big Iron]

Waaaaaaaayyyyyyy back in the day, there would have been a good chance of him getting kicked right off the back, as the train was rolling along its merry way.

Emperor of the North Pole.

 

[Big Iron]

Ahhh . . . . The romance of riding the rails.

The stowaway is just channeling his inner Hobo Shoestring.

 

[Paniolo Man]

The stowaway is just channeling his inner Hobo Shoestring.

He'd never be that dumb.

 

[cirdan]

Chances are he will be seen by another train's crew who will then get on his radio. Subsequent to that there are 2 possibilities. 1, he will be brought inside by the conductor and either passed off to police or simply deposited at a station or handy road crossing. 2. He will be left where he is and then at an appropriate location either deposited on the ground or handed over to the police. An unlikely third would be to simply be taken inside and parked in a coach seat for the duration of the trip. It is highly unlikely that he will not be noticed, or if noticed not be reported.

And all that will take insane amounts of time leading to a multi-hour delay, not to mention the paperwork.

 

[Skyline]

I'm not surprised at this- there are tons of videos online made by people who hitch rides on freights and are able to go fairly long distances.

You might be thinking of YouTuber "Shoestring?"

 

[TinCan782]

The Chief has also been running with reversed consists recently.

I've heard talk that the "wye" in Chicago is out of service (undergoing maintenance) and is currently unavailable to properly turn the trainsets.

 

[joelkfla]

The Chief has also been running with reversed consists recently.

Are they rotating the coach seats to face forward?

 

[Devil's Advocate]

He'd never be that dumb.

Shoestring has implied that he took a lot of risks and got into many scrappy situations in the past. I'd wager much of what kept OG hobos alive came in the form of shared advice from other hobos. If you're on your own it's easy to make a lot of rookie mistake.

You might be thinking of YouTuber "Shoestring?"

There use to be a lot more but over time youtube has been demonitizing and delisting many hobo videos.

 

[Cal]

I've heard talk that the "wye" in Chicago is out of service (undergoing maintenance) and is currently unavailable to properly turn the trainsets.

Oh that makes sense. Nice to know.

Are they rotating the coach seats to face forward?

No idea.