What did it mean to ride the rails during the Great Depression?

During the Great Depression, people went across the country in search of work. But without a job, they didn’t have money to pay for transportation. The only way to get across the country, and potentially get the job, was riding the rails. This is how the hobos of the Great Depression lived from day-to-day.

What does riding the rails mean and who did it?

Riding the rail (also called being “run out of town on a rail”) was a punishment most prevalent in the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries in which an offender was made to straddle a fence rail held on the shoulders of two or more bearers.

Why did many unemployed people ride the rails?

In the Depression Era of the 1930s, the unemployed took to the rails to try and find work – crossing vast stretches of land in an open grain car, or huddled inside a box car – hiding from the “bulls”, as the railroad police were called.

How was riding the rails different for girls?

Females rode the rails in far fewer numbers than boys and men. For safety reasons, such as fear of sexual assault, they often disguised themselves as males and traveled with others.

What was the purpose of riding the rails?

Some left to escape poverty or troubled families, others because it seemed a great adventure. At the height of the Great Depression, more than 250,000 teenagers were living on the road in America. Many criss-crossed the country by hopping freight trains, although it was both dangerous and illegal.

What problems resulted from riding the rails?

Thousands of transients were killed or injured each year as a result of train wrecks or assaults. The federal Interstate Commerce Commission reported that about 25,000 trespassers were killed and 27,000 injured on trains or in railroad yards during the Great Depression between 1929 and 1939.

Is riding the rails still a thing?

Very few people ride the rails full-time nowadays. In an ABC News story from 2000, the president of the National Hobo Association put the figure at 20-30, allowing that another 2,000 might ride part-time or for recreation. That’s a far cry from what it used to be.

What were the dangers of riding the rails?

Riding the rails was dangerous. The bulls were hired to keep hoboes off trains, so you couldn’t just go to a railroad yard and climb on. Most hoboes would hide along the tracks outside the yard. They’d run along the train as it gained speed, grab hold and jump into open boxcars.

When did people start to ride the rails?

Riding the Rails. It was 1932 in the United States. Hard times of the Great Depression had hit. Pulling into a rail yard of a small town on an early misty morning was a long freight train. Even before the train came to a complete stop, shadowy figures began jumping from boxcars to the gravel below.

Who are the songs in riding the rails?

The film features a rich soundtrack of American folk tunes of the time, including songs by Woody Guthrie, Elizabeth Cotten, Doc Watson, and Jimmie Rodgers. Jim Mitchell left his Wisconsin home at the age of sixteen.

What was the train like during the Great Depression?

Hard times of the Great Depression had hit. Pulling into a rail yard of a small town on an early misty morning was a long freight train. Even before the train came to a complete stop, shadowy figures began jumping from boxcars to the gravel below.

How many episodes of American experience have there been?

Since the program’s debut on October 4, 1988, American Experience has broadcast 342 episodes and has been a recipient of over 265 broadcast and web awards.