HOBOS!
During the 1930's, because most people were losing their jobs, and because of this they couldn't afford food for their families. So most young men in their teens to late twenties left home. A great amount of hobo's left their homes, because they didn't want to take the small amounts of food their families had away from their little brothers or sisters mouths. These men did not have money to by train tickets so they jumped the trains, which was called "riding the rails." Riding the rails was very dangerous, and it was illegal. Hobo's laid boards across the brake rods under passanger cars. If they rode these boards they could be hidden from veiw. Also if they rode these boards it would be a very loud, and rough ride. Most hobo's since this was very dangerous got seriously injured or even killed. Hobo's begged for food or knocked on people's door asking for food in exchange for chopping wood.
"I still dream of riding freight trains. I can still smell trains, still feel the jouncing and swaying, still hear the thunderous rumbling from the wheels that penetrates an empty boxcar and the different types of rattling echoes…"Riding on Top: Memoirs of a Modest Master Hobo, by Gordon MacLean