10/10 would not recommend because it's dangerous and irresponsible, but boy that was a hell of a ride. All I want for Christmas is more trains of every kind 
Rail hopping is on my bucket list, but in the sense that it also might be what causes me to kick the bucket
It was for me too. Go with someone you know who's done it before if you get the chance.
As a mod here, I would like to point out that freight hopping is extraordinarily dangerous, and is inadvisable. If you want to do it, you need to know what you are doing, understand the risks, and be aware of the potential consequences.
That all being said, how was the trip? What kind of rail car did you ride? I've heard hoppers are the way to go since boxcars are locked closed now.
We had it real comfy and rode a midunit locomotive 🤪 with comfy seats, heating, floor space to sleep, windows that open, and even a kettle and outlet on the way back. To top it off I didn't take any days off and told my company I was sick so I could WFH on the way.
As for riding car, the old grain hoppers tend to be the best but they're fewer and farther between nowadays. Boxcars are almost always locked so your best bet is a car with a fully solid floor with some well space at the end, or an intermodal car where the box comes right up to the edge so you're not exposed to the tracks. A buddy of mine got lucky twice with an open freight full of mattresses one time, and a generator car that was spitting out some heat another time when it was cold.
Never ever hop onto any of these without someone experienced telling you it's viable.
I used to do that around PNW Lovely, gritty, dangerous and fun AF. It's probably much more dangerous these days with deregulation and police violence
Last I remember learning about this is that there was some kind of underground listing of the train timetables or something that got passed around. I dunno if that’s just bullshit but it seems like the history and community behind hopping is really interesting. It’s definitely something I considered doing when I was younger
Yeah there are schedules floating around in the community, and it's an interesting subculture for sure. The whole tagging system is cool too.
