Heading Out

Before I continue I should explain a little bit about the freight yards. Usually the big yards are divided up into three sections. On one end trains enter and leave. It is a maze of switches that allow them to separate the cars and line them up on separate tracks. Cars are pulled out of the front section into a middle section where they can be loaded an unloaded. Then in a third section on the other end, they recombine for the trip out. So a big freight yard could be a mile or two long.

That’s how it was arranged in Seattle as trains traveled north and south there. They came in and left from both ends of the freight yard. In some places, like Roseville, California, trains enter and leave from three different directions, making the freight yard even more complex.

So that night, K. and I entered at the south end of the yard around 9 o’clock thinking we had plenty of time to find an empty box car to ride in. Apparently freight trains don’t keep as strict a schedule as passenger trains. As we got deeper into the yard we saw a slow moving train heading out and we knew this was the one we wanted.

It’s impossible to jump into an open boxcar when it’s moving; at least it is too dangerous to try. So we started running along side an open flat car and grabbed onto the ladder leading up to the open top. It was little tricky running with a backpack on, but the train was still moving very slow.

Once we got up to the top we discovered it was filled with steel re-bar, long bundles of iron rods. Not exactly a comfortable place to make a bed for the night ride, but that was our only choice.