Seems to me more than one hobo tried riding the monkey deck of a cab forward over Donner, but usually didn't survive to try it again, having been asphyxiated in the snow sheds. Regards, Spen

Actually the title is "Boxcar Bertha". Once again the star is David Carradine, along with his then paramour Barbara Hershey.

Riding the rods was a very very dangerous thing to do. If there was a wreck or any kind of derailment you were "Chopped Liver". If you were on a car or in a car you had some chance of surviving. But

TRY "Box Car Berta" One of the Cardines get nailed to a side of a box car.in this one.. WJK

Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. You will see exactly how it was done. You will also see how NOT to do it ... like always keep one hand on something metal ... a sandwich won't give you much to hang on

Pieter Roos wrote: Or at one end of flat car loads (as long as they don't look prone to shifting). Advantage of a flat car is that most have wooden decks, far better to sit on in cold weather

Looks to me like an Express Reefer in a passenger train... maybe Harriman Baggage Cars ahead? Charlie Vlk

I recall an article on modeling hobos; I thought by Al Westerfield in RMC around the late 1970's, but I can't seem to find it in the Kalmbach on-line index. As I recall, the author used Weston's

Charlie- Thanks for the corrections/clarifications. I didn't pull out my examples of the cars to compare when I made the post. The Helium cars (in both HO and N) were pretty decent trainset RTR

Dean Payne please contact me off list. Dick Bale

Dean - Go to Blockbuster and rent a copy of "Emperor of the North" with Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. You will see exactly how it was done. If the boxcar doors or roof hatches were locked,

Hi Charlie The lower height framework car is a model of the two ESPEE calcium carbide cars.It looks identical to, and is numbered for one of them. The other three paint jobs were fantasy schemes, It

The one he's sitting on appears to be a refrigerator car in ventilator service; but what's the *next* car, the one with the broad featureless roof? Al Brown, Melbourne, Fla. men on term

I can't say much on this topic, but the only photos I've seen show men on top - like this one: - search using the number 30928 as a search term at this sight.

Thanks to all who replied so quickly! Stefan Lerche Duncan, BC

Dean, On the narrow gauge truss-rodded cars, a board was often placed through the turnbuckle loops and pinned in place to prevent the turnbuckles from rotating. It was a board narrow enough to go

Hi Richard, Then you get someone like a friend of mine who wants the book, but refuses to purchase it because the reprint is a scan of the original. Just as bad! Tom Olsen 7 Boundary Road, West

I had a friend, who used to sing on the folk circuit back in the 60's, who asked me about "ridin' the rods". His understanding was that a hobo would put a board (?) across the truss rods and ride on

Hi: Can someone provide me with a decent reference or set of references on meat reefers in general, or Cudahy Packing and their reefers in particular? Thanx, KL

James F. Brewer wrote: . . . According to this reference, this group of cars had the seven-panel Creco, later known as Superior, welded steel panel door. Jim, if I understand the history