Anarchist Archive 9 Our Collections 9 Camas Books Fonds/Collection 9 Train-Hoppers Collection

Train-Hoppers Collection

Administrative History

The tradition of hopping trains to travel through North America has a long history in the anarchist community going back to the early 20th century, when itinerant I.W.W. anarchist-syndicalist unionists used it to travel from town to town. In the 1970s there was a revival of train hopping among anarchist punks. The Toronto Active Resistance Anarchist Gathering of 1998, for example, screened a feature film on train-hopping and anarchist ecological protests which was packed with people who had train-hopped to get to Toronto.

Camas Books and Infoshop is a social space for anarchists visiting Victoria many of whom have or are planning to hop trains. A few years after the founding of Camas (2007), a number of local anarchists established a resource library for train hopping. Over the years, ‘veteran’ train-hoppers who were living in Victoria or passing through took or left various items to facilitate train-hopping, so as to aid others. The materials were discovered in storage. They are well-used and show evidence of it. This box is a ‘time capsule of anarchist/punk train-hopping which reflects the routes taken by those passing through or traveling from Victoria.

Scope and Content

The collection includes train-hopping manuals and guides, time tables, maps, and books.

Train-Hopping Manuals

  1. The Train Doctor, A Basic Guide to Railroad Crew-Change Points and Jumping on Friend Trains in North America (2003).
  2. Todd and Lee, When I Hear That Ole Train Whistle A’Blowin: A Conversation of How To’s (n.d.).
  3. Canadian Operating Rules: Canadian Pacific Railways (2002): signed “Chris Halstead” with extensive highlighting and notes—”velocity slow”; “all lights on, nobody there!” — for planning how and when to hop a train.
  4. Entertainment ‘on the road’: A Punk Bands Zine.
  5. Afterthought/Part of their Plan (Vancouver, c. 2000): handmade with photos, poems, reflections produced by two bands. In a brown envelop, labelled.

Small Timetables

  1. Timetable No. 3 (1972) for US trains.
  2. Kansas City Time Table 1 (1989-1999).
  3. Rocky Mountain Region Timetable 7 (2005).
  4. Coops Guide to Railroads and Railroad Museums Southern and Mid-Atlantic US (2001).
  5. Coops Guide to Railroads and Railroad Museums Northeastern North America (2001).
  6. Coops Guide to Western Railroads and Railroad Museums (1996).
  7. Coops Guide to Northeastern Railroads and Railroad Museums (1996).
  8. Northeastern Region Timetable 7 (2003).
  9. West Colton (1996).
  10. Roseville Yard (2001).
  11. Coops Guide to Railroads and Railroad Museums West and Great Plains (2001).
  12. Coops Guide to Railroads and Railroad Museums Great Lakes Region (2001).
  13. Southwest Region Timetable 5 (2004).
  14. Canadian Pacific Railway Northeast US Delaware & Hudson Timetable 3 (2001).
  15. Union Pacific Amtrack Time Schedule (2003): missing cover.
  16. Texas Region Timetable 1 (2002).
  17. Eastern Region Timetable no. 6 (1971): “for the government of employees only”.
  18. Amtrak Schedules Greater Kansas City Operating Area (1999): no cover.

Folio Timetables

  1. Professional Railroad Atlas of North America (1998).
  2. Canadian Pacific Railway Ingenuity Southern Ontario Service Area Timetable 81 (2004).
  3. Canadian Pacific Railway Ingenuity Vancouver Service Area Timetable 61 (2003).
  4. Canadian Pacific Railway Ingenuity BC Interior Service Area Timetable 51 (2003).
  5. Canadian Pacific Railway Ingenuity Saskatchewan Service Area Timetable 31 (2004).
  6. Canadian Pacific Railway Ingenuity Alberta Service Area Timetable 41 (2004).
  7. Canadian Pacific Railway Ingenuity Montreal Service Area Timetable 71 (2004).
  8. Canadian Pacific Railway Ingenuity Northern Ontario Service Area Timetable 11 (2005).
  9. Canadian Pacific Railway Ingenuity Northern Ontario Service Area Timetable 10 (2002).
  10. Canadian Pacific Railway Ingenuity Manitoba Service Area Timetable 22 (2005).

Maps

  1. Map of Canada and the US, printed in Germany with some route markings.
  2. Map of the Northeastern US, printed in Germany.
  3. Map of the US, printed in Germany.

Books

  1. American Shortline Railway Guide (1989): with Michigan owner’s address.
  2. Official Railway Guide: North American Freight Service Edition (1980).
  3. Andrew M. Modelski, ed. Railroad Maps of the United States: A selected annotated bibliography of original 19th century maps in the geography and maps division of the Library of Congress (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1975).
  4. Northern Rails: A complete guild to the railroads of Maine-New Hampshire-Vermont (1967).
  5. George Drury, ed., Compendium of American Railroad Radio Frequencies (1987): train hoppers sometimes have radio scanners to listen in on train communications.
  6. The official 2005 Locomotive Rosters & News (2005).
  7. Cockman, E.G., Discovering Preserved Railways (Shire Publications, UK: 1985).
  8. Oliver, John W., Tales of the Railroad in the Sky (Self-published, Southwest PA, 1983): signed by author.
  9. Steffes, Charoels F., The Life and Times of a Locomotive Engineer (Old World Publishers, CA: 1992).

Photocopied Guides, Ring-Bound

Multiple copies were left for train-hoppers to take.

  1. Rand McNally Handy Railroad Atlas (1988); no cover, heavily used, stamped “Quebec”. Original.
  2. Rand McNally Handy Railroad Atlas (1988); photocopy, ring-bound with plastic (rain protection).
  3. Maps of Railway Junctions and Routes Across Canada: ring-bound with plastic (rain protection). 3 copies. One includes photocopied maps of Canadian Pacific Railway routes dated “Nov/03” (papercliped).