Hey! How's it going? That's me, Jeff Seale, and I'm about to hop on that freight train
right there to my left like a goddamn hobo.
It shares tracks with the Long Island Railroad, and the goal is to make it all the way to
Montauk.
Right now, I'm in Queens.
You just gotta wait for the right moment here, and away, a wee, a go!
Oh wait, actually, hold on a second. Let's take it back a minute.
To the previous summer, so I was trying to do the same thing. Hop a freight train in
Queens and take it to Montauk. Why Montauk? I don't know, because it was there, and I'd
never been there, and I thought it'd be fun to take a freight train there.
And you know what? Sorry, let's take it back again to a few summers prior.
Okay, so again, I'm trying to hop a train in Queens and take it to Montauk. Shoot.
Sorry, you know what? This is a little embarrassing. Let me just take it back to the very beginning.
Okay, so this is the second freight train and the first boxcar I ever caught.
Right now, I'm somewhere in Delaware.
That's my friend Adam. He taught me how to train hop.
Now is actually a good time to warn the viewer, do not try this yourself. Otherwise, you know,
you might lose a limb, or worse, become a gutter punk.
Anyway, we ended up making it all the way down to Florida.
Another time I went freight hopping by myself, I started out in Newark, New Jersey.
There I am again. I think what I like most about train hopping is that you experience
and see things that so few other people do. I mean, look at that view.
Anyone can pay to go skydiving or buy a plane ticket and take a picture of themselves in
front of Machu Picchu. But you can't buy a ticket to go train hopping.
You know, it's something you have to seek out and learn how to do and it's always a guaranteed
adventure.
Anyway, finally I made it into Altoona, Pennsylvania, which used to be a big railroad town.
They did maintenance for the Pennsylvania Railroad.
And then I got caught in the train yard and arrested.
But the yard bull who arrested me let me take these photos because I told him I was a big
Houdini fan.
Yeah, I know.
Okay, back to the first time I tried to hop a train to Montauk.
What happened was is I got on the wrong train and ended up in the Bronx.
I hopped off at 149th and Bruckner and hopped a subway train back home.
Okay, back to the previous summer.
I'm determined to finally make it to Montauk.
Here I am going through Queens.
That's a JMZ line between the 111th and the 121st Street stops.
Everything was going pretty smoothly and eventually I made it into Nassau County in Long Island.
And then the engine decoupled itself from the rest of the train.
Goddamn, I was pissed off.
So I took the Long Island Railroad train back home like a goddamn average snook.
Then I went back the next weekend to try again.
Each time I failed, it just made me want to make it to Montauk even more.
But then this motherfucker shows up.
Look how stupid I look when I know I'm about to get caught.
God, I'm an idiot.
Just take the camera.
Sit down.
You all in the cops?
Yeah.
Can I just take off, man?
No, no.
Listen, if you take off, I'll press charges, right?
Okay.
Then I'll press charges, full charges.
The cops came and basically just made fun of me.
Gave me a ticket for trespassing.
Okay.
Yeah, I know, I know.
Okay.
Now back to the present.
Come on, baby.
Just got to make sure there's no one here or here.
What was that?
This is what it's all about.
Climb on a movie freight train with the camera attached to my head like a goddamn idiot.
Look at me, I'm like a pig in shit.
I'm so happy.
What was that?
It was actually a particularly beautiful day that day.
The city don't sleep, my friend.
Ain't that the truth?
What are you doing inside that train?
Motherfucker!
I don't know.
Excuse me?
I was just trying to write it for...
What you're going to do right now?
Yeah.
Okay.
I'm down.
Okay.
I'm going to step on any of these whiteboards.
Watch.
Do not touch that.
Step over that wall.
Right.
What are you doing with the camera inside the train?
Just filming it.
Have identification on you?
Yes.
Well, I never did make it to Montauk.
I suppose I could just buy a ticket on the Long Island Railroad like any other goddamn
student, but I'm not a quitter.
Maybe I'll try again some other day.
Until then, I guess I'll just keep hopping subway trains.
Motherfucker!
