Your definition of a VP addict

[redietz]

Hey, slob, quick question. I think I was in Laughlin maybe 12-13 years ago, and one of the casinos was hosting a railriders' convention of some kind. I checked it out, and I seem to recall it was people who rode the rails both full-time and as an adventure hobby. It was fascinating stuff -- lots of injuries on the rails. Am I remembering things correctly?

I grew up about 100 yards from tracks in Frackville, PA, which was a hard-coal mining town. What people often don't realize is how moment-to-moment dangerous moving rail cars are. It looks easy to hop on /off at slow speeds, but the tracks are on built-up slopes of loose stones that you don't see in movies, and the footing is treacherous.

[slobdinger]

Hey, slob, quick question. I think I was in Laughlin maybe 12-13 years ago, and one of the casinos was hosting a railriders' convention of some kind. I checked it out, and I seem to recall it was people who rode the rails both full-time and as an adventure hobby. It was fascinating stuff -- lots of injuries on the rails. Am I remembering things correctly?

I grew up about 100 yards from tracks in Frackville, PA, which was a hard-coal mining town. What people often don't realize is how moment-to-moment dangerous moving rail cars are. It looks easy to hop on /off at slow speeds, but the tracks are on built-up slopes of loose stones that you don't see in movies, and the footing is treacherous.

I left Laughlin in May 2002 never to return. That was about 13 and a half years ago. I always figured to return but never did. So I missed that hobo's convention. To bad. It would have been interesting. There's a hobo convention in Britt, Iowa every year. But I've never been to it.

HOBOS are pretty colorful people. I qualified as a hobo because I worked everywhere I went. A TRAMP don't qualify as a hobo because all he does is travel from town to town working the homeless services. A BUM is to lazy to either work or travel. He just sits in the same town all his life asking for handouts.

Most of us eventually get to old to ride the rails. I'm one of the lucky ones I guess. If not for my gambling career I might still be out there. When a hobo dies we say that he "caught the westbound." One of these days I'll be catching the westbound but I'll never forget my drifting days.

Probably the most famous hobo was Jack Dempsey. He rode the rails working from town to town. He became a smoker fighter which eventually turned into a ring career. He was called the "fighting hobo" early in his ring career. The movie, Hard Times, with Charles Bronson, was based on Dempsey's life before his ring career.

Merry Christmas