Why Isn’t Michigan More Popular With Vagabonds and Trainhoppers?

Editor's Note: This article focuses on the illegal and dangerous act of train hopping and is not recommended.

There's a fascinating subset of humanity, the people known as vagabonds. Those that travel - um, less than legally - via the nation's fright trains. In a bygone era they would have been called hobos or tramps. The lifestyle certainly still exists, but just how prevalent is it in Michigan?

The subject came up recently on Reddit in a forum dedicated to vagabonds asking why there aren't many trainhoppers in Michigan.

A top answers are all not surprisingly related to the state's geography.

READ MORE: At This Bizarre Northern Michigan Railroad Crossing, The Trains Must Stop for Cars

Because the state exists as two peninsulas and there is no train crossing at the straits of Mackinac, the state is a dead end for freight trains. There are railroad crossings to Canada at Sault Ste Marie, Port Huron and Detroit, and that's it for through trains.

Because of the terminal nature of the state's rails, there are not major railyards and switching locations as in other states. The northernmost east-west continental routes pass just south of the state's borders with rails from Toledo through northern Indiana cities like Elkhart on to Chicago bypassing Michigan.

Finally, the state is in the north, so for a vagabond who is living unhoused, the area is not conducive to being outside in winter.

Some uses, however has visited the state and say, yes, vagabonds and trainhoppers do exist in Michigan.

No major stations, but Michigan has cool routes. I hopped out the Grand Rapids yard a few years back, took a while to get a train but it’s doable. Ride gets really pretty once you hit Lake Mich. hang around any yard long enough you’ll find people

And that may just be it. Hang around anywhere enough and you'll find your people. But remember, don't take this is recommendation to hit the rails. Those railroad cops, the bulls, and local authorities do not generally look kindly on trainhoppers.

A one famous, now largely forgotten, singer from Michigan once lived the vagabond life and went on to record novelty records in the 1960s as Omo the Hobo: