The ontological properties of freight train hopping

In 2003, Philosophy professor Cliff Williams of Trinity College published an excellent book called One More Train to Ride, which I recently took in and greatly enjoyed. Therein, Williams speaks with numerous 'modern' (i.e., not only post-Depression-era but post-Reagan-era) American freight train hoppers and allows the ideologies of the anti-movement to unfold through the stories, song lyrics and art of the interviewees. Williams' detached journalism paints a full and, in the opinion of one familiar with the lifestyle and subculture, quite accurate picture of the nuanced dialectic of the ultimate freedom and addictive solitude that is train hopping. Nonetheless, after hearing that a Philosophy professor wrote a book on train hopping I am somewhat disappointed that Williams opted against including his own analysis of the lifestyle above and beyond the mostly unstated implications of the stories he collects, strong as they are. Perhaps the modern hobo lifestyle is best depicted on its own terms, and a deeper analysis of the phenomenon would crumple under the weight of the empty and overwrought terms, such as 'nihilism' and 'anarchism', that would be necessary to employ in analyzing it.

With that possibility in mind, I've begun brainstorming my own "philosophy of train hopping." (I read somewhere that Homer Simpson was analogous to Aristotle, so if you think my idea is stretching it, I direct your attention to the schlocky shelves of your local chain bookstore for far worse examples.) This thesis is forthcoming, as it will require a bit of yarn-spinning, but I will keep you posted. Meanwhile,

pay Cliff Williams' page dedicated to his book a visit. The book is a recommended to we vicarious travelers presently imprisoned in our functional and satisfying day-to-day lives while dreaming of another world filled with open skies and train grease.