Interviewer – David M
Morton
I read Hunter Thompson's book on the
Hell's Angels this spring. He writes of the “angst” felt by the
WWII vets who came home feeling at odds with the “prewar pattern”
of “college, marriage, a job, children.”
This uneasiness that created the famed
biker gang, as Thompson writes, had happened before. After the Civil
War, veterans began hopping trains headed west. They were the hobos
or hoe-boys (farmhands) or Ho, boys! Or hobohemians.
I felt HCR's Highway Life issue needed
a voice from the rails. Tracking down a train hopper online was like
eating soup with a stick. But, by damned, and at last, I found Aaron
Dactyl, a born Kentuckian who now lives in Eugene, Oregon. Aaron is a
train-hopper who created Railroad
Semantics, a zine about rail culture.
INTERVIEWER
I had the image of sunlight on cowboy
boots inside a freight car one time when I was bedded by depression.
There was something about freedom in that image. It still comes to me
at times. It seems American. I don't know if you consider yourself a
hobo or not, but what is your ideal image of a hobo? What does that
word mean to you?
AARON DACTYL
It's a nostalgic term more than
anything, but also a bit of a paradox. I don't think anyone can
really label themselves a hobo nowadays, it would be too pretentious.
The word as a verb however is applicable—one can hobo about,
meaning (to me) to travel from town to town or specific destinations
in search of sustenance and work. To me that implies living bare
bones, hand to mouth, and off the technological grid, and goes hand
in hand with the railroad. Without trains there is no hobo.
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(all
images by
Aaron Dactyl)
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INTERVIEWER
I read an interview of yours about
hopping trains and how it makes you feel. You say it makes you feel
more alive. Our summer edition of HCR is about traveling or being on
the road. D. H. Lawrence wrote about Walt Whitman and that his main
philosophy was traveling down the Open Road, encountering whatever
comes and not knowing what will come as a person travels it. What do
you think this urge comes from?
DACTYL
It comes from one's integrity.
Traveling in a particular way and remaining true to that requires a
certain amount of integrity that can be all too easily compromised by
convenience. I don't see a lot of integrity in renting a car to
travel, or purchasing tickets for a bus or train. That doesn't appeal
to me. I'm too independent minded to have to have places to stay or
accommodations everywhere I go. I'd rather sleep in a tent or on a
rooftop or loading dock than someone's couch and I'd rather hop a
train and wait for hours than pitch in money for gas.
INTERVIEWER
What do you eat? Do you stop at diners
or get fast food or pack?
DACTYL
I eat a lot. But no fast food. Bread
and hummus and sandwiches. Granola bars keep the blood sugar up and
whiskey keeps the body warm and aids sleep. Aside from that it's
great to subsist on what's wild around you during the intransient
times: almonds border the train yard in Chico, apples are easily
picked in Washington, oranges in California, blackberries all along
the mainline in Oregon. I also usually travel with a simple water
pump in order to drink straight from rivers. Water is usually the
heaviest thing I carry so this excuses a lot of weight, but also most
train lines run along watercourses so I never run out of water.
INTERVIEWER
How are the modern day bulls? What
comes to mind for me is the Ernest Borgnine character in Emperor of
the North with his chain and hammer. Probably not so true, and he was
a conductor not a bull, but nevertheless I get that image when I
think of hopping trains and it scares the shit out of me.
DACTYL
Shack's a great character, and I'm sure
he was based off a real-life RR bull, but that was long long ago when
there was not as much oversight and times were just really different.
The bulls today are vigilant still but not necessarily violent, as
far as I've experienced or known. But then again everyone has their
stories. The railroad's main priority is to discourage trespassing
and keep you off trains in the first place. But if you happen to make
it aboard one it's more than feasible to stay on and out of sight.
I've always said that getting into and out of a train yard is the
biggest risk.
INTERVIEWER
For me, the one book that made me want
to ride the rails was The Dharma Bums by Kerouac. Do you read
books as you ride or wait to ride? If so, what are some of your
favorites?
DACTYL
I'm an avid reader, but lean more
toward journalistic narratives. I stumbled across some late-nineties
train-hopping "zines" a few years back that really inspired
me to document my own travels, zines that didn't even have names of
acknowledged authors. I also enjoy reading historically about places
I'm familiar with and can relate to. One book that inspired me
immensely was Timothy Egan's A Good Rain, about the Pacific
Northwest. His writing is full of energy and wonder and he really
makes appear magical the subjects he's writing about—rivers,
mountains, salmon runs.
INTERVIEWER
What advice would you give to someone
who wants to train hop? What type of character is best if you want to
give it a go?
DACTYL
There can be a lot of downtime to
riding trains, but that should be embraced equally alongside the
action of catching-on and catching-out. The long waits and sparse
hours help to emphasize the adventure that riding trains is. You
might spend an entire day stuck in some obscure town—and that can
seem like an eternity—but then in the blink of an eye you're gone
and on your way somewhere else entirely with no turning back.
INTERVIEWER
And what are some of your best
experiences riding? Who do you remember? What is the best part of it
from your experience?
DACTYL
The best part from my experiences is
certainly the plethora of stories I have to tide me over for years to
come, along with the photographs I've captured and the characters I
have met and spent time with in passing. Also I cherish all the
places I've been, the little insignificant towns I've stopped through
and farmland sidings and river stretches where I've spent countless
hours, that I know I will never see again.
For more by Aaron, visit Railroad Semantics.
Great read.
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