Mike Brodie: Documenting America's homeless train-jumpers
Mike Brodie began hopping trains at 17 and spent five years crisscrossing the US.
He rode the trains and slept rough, seeing the country and meeting others doing the same.
Brodie became known as the Polaroid Kidd for documenting his travels on film. Now those images are part of a book entitled A Period of Juvenile Prosperity.
Today he lives in California - he says he misses the travel but is happy to be settled - and talked to the BBC World Service about his time on the railroads and the fascinating teen subculture of which he was part.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22350646 includes video
A Period of Juvenile Prosperity https://www.twinpalms.com/?p=recently_released&bookID=185
Train hopping: Why do hobos risk their lives to ride the rails?
Train hopping is a long-established tradition in the US, particularly popular in the Great Depression when the jobless took to the rails to find work. But why would people risk their lives hitching a ride on a freight train today?
Train hopping, sometimes referred to as freight hopping, is against the law in all US states. But the practice continues.
Homeless hobos, immigrant workers, mostly from South America, and thrill-seeking US citizens surreptitiously all hitch rides, despite the increased use of electronic surveillance and tightened security around rail yards.
"My name's Tuck. I rode the trains for like 25 years, man, 24 hours a day."
Tuck is one of those who went in search of work, and ended up seeing the world.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20756990
