They was makin’ up that midnight Hobo Express over by the sawmill in Omak. There was ‘bout ten of us waitin’ to catch out. We was sittin’ there by that sidin’ where they bring the chip cars outta the mill, lookin’ fer somethin’ to git into. ‘N they kept draggin’ these loaded cars outta the mill, nothin’ but loaded chip cars ‘n flats fulla logs. ‘N ya don’t wanna go ridin’ nothin’ like that.  Them logs move ‘roun’, ‘n no tellin’ if one of ‘em’s gonna roll over ‘n squash ya. Them logs is pretty good size, ‘n I wouldn’t wanna git caught underneath one of ‘em. Now, sometimes ya c’n ride those chip cars. Climb up on top ‘n dig yerself a little burrow in the chips, ‘n it ain’t too bad a ride. But the mill’s been gittin’ all they c’n inta them cars, fillin’ ‘em up ta the top ‘n then some, ‘n they put these nets over the top ta keep the chips from gittin’ blowed out. So if ya git up on one of ‘em, yer ridin’ in the open, most likely.

They got that train made up ‘bout midnight, ‘n there weren’t nothin’ ta ride ‘cept one grain car.  Chips ‘n logs; the rest a the train was chip cars ‘n log carriers, full up. Right off, three guys grabbed the front a the grain car, ‘n I climbed on the back, in amongst that machinery, that hydraulic stuff. The rest of ‘em was ridin’ any damn place they could. When that train pulled outta Omak, guys were hangin’ onto it in places I wouldn’t give a thought ta ridin’. I seen one guy climb b’tween the cars ‘n settle down on the grate over the couplin’. That ain’t no place to ride, ‘specially at night. Them cars give a sudden jerk forward er backward,  ‘n it’ll throw ya right off.

The train pulled inta Wenatchee ‘bout four, five in the mornin’, ‘n I got off ‘n jungled in the apple yards. Then later on in the mornin’, the word goes out that one guy didn’t make it. He fell off somewhere’s up near Malott. Some guy works fer the railroad found him lyin’ by the side a the tracks a couple hours after dawn. His leg was cut off, ‘n he was dead. Bled ta death right by the side a the tracks. Laid there all night, bleedin’. The train run clean over his leg; cut it off jus’ b’low the knee. No tellin’ how it happened.  He coulda fallen off b’tween the cars, ya never know.

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