Jumping a freight train will transform you: it offers a personal catharsis and a shift in perspective. You experience the juxtaposition between industrial power and expansive sky, between clamoring movement and monumental landscape. You discover intoxicating freedom and encounter trying hardships. Poets and thieves will offer you advice. You may be a student, a lawyer, a migrant worker, but on the rails you become a transient, a voyeur, a patriot.

A 90-minute documentary film, "Hobo Jungles" will take audiences on a journey by freight train. Guided by five characters who represent the diverse community of rail riders, Hobo Jungles will uncover the legacy of the Hobo experience which survives on the freights today. Viewers will witness the tedious experience of waiting in the yard for a ride, feel the exhilaration of the train speeding toward the horizon, and sense the frightening power of thundering engines. Venturing into a sub-culture that is unknown to the average American, viewers will be exposed to the values and opinions, hopes and dreams, motivations and inspirations of each character. Traveling by freight through the cities and empty spaces of the United States "Hobo Jungles" will explore the unique freedom and the inherent dangers of hopping freights.

In the yards and on the freights today, the presence of the traditional Hobo is dwindling. While migrant workers still ride the rails to harvest apples in Eastern Washington and gather grapes in the Napa Valley, they share the freights with tramps and recreational riders. But the rails still offer an alternative to mainstream America: computer executives converse with tramps and college students ponder the wisdom of old-timers who were educated on the rails. In "Hobo Jungles," audiences will meet a young rail rider, a migrant fruit picker, a tramp couple, and a "yuppie" hobo. By documenting the lives of a diverse group of seasoned train hoppers, "Hobo Jungles" will compare and contrast various experiences. Despite dramatic differences in lifestyle, the characters in "Hobo Jungles" have in common a fierce independence, an outlaw spirit, and a fascination with the adventure of riding the rails.

Shooting in 16mm color film, we will capture footage of mountain wilderness, churning white water rivers, the sheer cliffs of the southern California coast, and the desolate architecture of the desert. We will film interviews in train yards and in track side jungles. In subsequent interviews we will follow featured characters through the patterns of daily life, and conduct interviews of employers, relatives, and friends. We will visit coffeehouses, pick apples in the Okanogan Valley, collect food stamps and welfare checks, and fight traffic during the morning commute. In "Hobo Jungles," the journey will begin on the rails and continue into the hearts and minds of our characters. "Hobo Jungles" will celebrate both the physical adventure of jumping a freight and the personalities of the riders.

Join us here and watch the story unfold as we explore the legacy of the Hobo experience which survives on the freights today.