Hopping Freight Trains & Wandering Around

Sign in Subscribe

Brian Cray

He was on That Sheeeit (2026)

He was on That Sheeeit (2026)

I shot up suddenly in bed to the sharp sound of tires skittering over loose gravel. Brake lights gleaned in through the blinds and I looked at my phone to see what time it was, 6:30 AM. Was it Heath stopping by again to grab another miscellaneous item, a lawn chair, a cooler full of rain water from God knows how long ago, maybe a few beers, perhaps, or frozen chicken wings from the

The Train That Never Came (2018)

The Train That Never Came (2018)

A vibrant orange emerged from the calm cerulean blanket that cast out endlessly from the shoreline. It looked like a fireball stretching to the clouds, lighting up the coast as soft ripples churned below, splashing against the timber piles of a nearby abandoned wharf. I stretched my arms and watched the fiery blaze settle into a cloudless blue-sky dissipating into white light as day opened its bright eyes. Sibilance struck the air behind me and

Chaah & the Den of Pythons (2015)

Chaah & the Den of Pythons (2015)

I wiped the sweat off of my brow as the jungle sun shined its rays down upon me on a cloudless, summer day. Highway 1 continued all the way until Singapore as I walked along the shoulder of the road headed towards Yong Peng. The summer heat made the walk unbearable, but the shade from the palm trees kept me going. I wandered through Labis, Malaysia and took refuge at an abandoned bus shelter, catching

That Night Train on Canadian Grain (2019)

That Night Train on Canadian Grain (2019)

I woke to the sound of bicycle spokes zinging, bells ringing, and feet tromping as joggers stomped through the recreational path that lead to the overlook of Mount Royal. Almost immediately, I started making my way towards Angrignon in Montreal Quest wandering the busy city streets looking for Western Union and a “Pay-As-You-Go” SIM card to get service on my phone. Tourists and passersby flooded the sidewalks almost as heavily as construction equipment occupied closed

Mount Royal and the Raccoons (2019)

Mount Royal and the Raccoons (2019)

To avoid crossing the border by foot, I took a Greyhound to Montreal, which did not go smoothly by any means. It never does on “The Dog.” My bus arrived three hours late that night at my transfer in Burlington and by the time I made it to Montreal it was 1 AM. The bus station put me smack dab in the middle of a new city with unfamiliar faces, new language, and signage plastered

Ridley Island Ate My Sleeping Bag (2019)

Ridley Island Ate My Sleeping Bag (2019)

It's 5 AM. I can't sleep again for the third night on this train. It's cold. The rain finally stopped after nearly four days of intermittent pitter-patter and downpour, but the chills of the night sky linger with films of morning dew in the air. I can't help but wait for the light, a dose of sunshine to strip me of the doldrums, this miserable state, and

That Night Train to Whistler (2019)

That Night Train to Whistler (2019)

With less than twenty cars on the train, most of them unrideable gondolas with hoods, I didn't have much choice than to climb up on inside a foxhole in Squamish. Now the grainer can be a tramp's best friend at times, but also his worst enemy. In this instance, it fell in the middle. I've come to learn with age, the small bangs to my joints, knees, shins, the

How BitTorrent Brought Me to ChengDu China (2014)

How BitTorrent Brought Me to ChengDu China (2014)

Not long after my passport arrived in the mail, I pondered the idea of traveling abroad, but did not pinpoint a specific location. My job in Western New York came to a halt, not through termination or lack of work, but unfavorable weather and the notion that after five years, “Skydiving was inherently dangerous and the airport no longer condoned parachuting on its land.” I spent that summer living in a trailer. Picture one of

Wanderin' New Zealand (2018)

Wanderin' New Zealand (2018)

2017 was a down year for me. I had spent nearly all my money on getting us out of debt and had less than $100 dollars to my name before I ended up hitchhiking and riding trains back to the dropzone in WNY for work. I had worked the past 3 summers there and this was no different, except it was a down year for jumping, of course…and I needed money. There was a

One Man, One Needle & Greenhorns (2017)

One Man, One Needle & Greenhorns (2017)

After visiting the in-laws, watching the Super Bowl and getting squeaky clean in a bath tub instead of a fast food sink, I felt that itch to hit the road again after a few days of being housed up. I hit the open road, taking a free Lyft to the train yard in downtown Phoenix, where I met back up with Rooster. With a 40 in his hand, a few schwills, belches and nothing but

Speedballin', Spacebags & Sidewalk Slammers (2017)

Speedballin', Spacebags & Sidewalk Slammers (2017)

We woke up in a field. My head throbbed from the whiskey the night prior and I swore to myself I would take a night off the booze, but we all know how that goes. “Rooster ya wanna hit up Walmart?” “Fo Sho, lemme just sleep another hour...fuckin' tired bro.” I found it odd how I kept myself preoccupied so easily, but, “Without employment and little to do, why not wander in thought?

Here Comes the Rooster (2017)

Here Comes the Rooster (2017)

Bakersfield made me feel like a home bum after five days of bumming it. That last bone-chilling night, with a film of frost on my bag, waking up to a text message on the roof of a church, made me smile. My breath froze in front of me, like plumes of white smoke, as I walked to the train tracks along the dark streets to meet my road dog, Rooster from Squat the Planet. With