My first trainsurfing (Patreon)

One summer day it happened to me to get bored. This often happens to me when my heart is not in the video editing, the apartment is like an oven, and it is not possible to go on a trip. There was nothing to do, and I called a friend so that he would resolve my difficult case. Luckily I called in time, my friend and the group of people were just about to grab onto a freight train and ride it. The weather was very good, so I found no reason for myself to refuse such entertainment. At that time I had a new Sony camera, and I just wanted to test it. Quickly gathering all my things, I ran out of the house.

The destination was outside the city, so everyone had to get there by train. One of us had the idea to ride on the roof of a train. I have done this only once, and I do not intend to repeat it. This is neither interesting nor safe. If you have already agreed to such an adventure, then you are doomed only to a boring stay at one point, crawling only from one edge of the carriage to the other. If we talk about how to get on the roof of the train in general, then you have to hook on the last carriage and climb over the handrails to the very top. The hardest part is at the top, there are no handrails, and you have to climb onto the roof yourself. It is worth recalling that all these actions should take place when the train is going since the railway workers will stop such an outrage. In addition to the employees, passers-by will certainly intervene, if they screw up in attempts to reason with stupid youth, they will definitely notify the train driver.

The decision was made, and we were going for a ride in the fresh air. As usual in such situations, I climbed into the middle of the outer carriage and waited for the train to move. There were only 6 of us, it was hard not to notice. Although people tried to drive us away, they did not succeed in their best intentions. Two of ours climbed onto the roof, and four remained below. The train did not go so fast, so it was not difficult to hold on. The riding took 2 minutes (it felt like 30 seconds). When the train stopped, I immediately jumped off and ran away from the train so that there would be no unnecessary questions for me.

I hope you didn’t get bored after reading the terms of a typical math problem because we finally got to the very purpose of the event.

And so we got to the place where freight trains were going. Now you need to wait for the time when one of them starts its route. My friends are very experienced and they have learned all the directions. Of course, we also struggle with trainserfing, so every carriage is carefully inspected. After 40 minutes of motionless waiting, I was already beginning to get bored with this whole idea, but the train moved. In order not to get caught by the workers, it was necessary to run up silently to the speeding train and hook it on the move. The freight train was on the third platform, so we had to run under the carriage. One by one reaching the train, we all landed successfully in different carriages.

There were sacks of grain in our wagons, presumably for sowing. White bags lay in rows, between which it was easy to hide from annoying railway employees. However, this should be done carefully, there is a risk of getting stuck under the collapsed number of bags

Finally, after waiting 5-7 minutes between the bags, I got out. It will be difficult to convey my feelings. It was noon and the July sun was out. But under the speed of the moving train, the heat was not felt, the headwind was pleasantly cooling the cheeks. In an open area, at an increasing speed, I just wanted to spread my wings and surrender to this feeling of flight in full.

Friends called me and brought me back to reality from my dream world. It turned out that one guy was trapped with sacks, and he could not get out on his own. Fortunately, there were many of us, and we did care, so the guy was rescued.

The first half an hour the train was passing through the forests of the Kyiv region. When the picture of the monotonous woodlands became boring to me, I took out my camera. I wanted to go down the stairs from the outside of the carriage. This is a pretty scary idea, the buffeting on such trains is very strong, and you need to hold on to the handrails with all your strength. In such cases, I just grab the ladder with my whole body so as not to fall. I have the same system on construction cranes, I hold onto the handrails very tightly and because of this, I get tired 2 times faster.

Outside the carriage, holding only the trembling rungs of the stairs, the speed of the train is felt in a completely different way. The adrenaline level has increased. The noise of the train is very strong, it drowns out absolutely everything around, so I did not stay there for a long time.

The funniest thing that can be in train surfing is the reaction of passers-by. A man is waiting for his train at the stop, and then from a passing train, the guys are shouting and having fun. Such a reaction can’t be found anywhere else. There are people who will just wave at you and look away, and there are people who will start running after the train. At the same time, it is not clear what exactly they want, whether to stop the train or for the sake of interest, it is not clear.

Well, if we talk about funny moments, then I will also mention these synchronous actions of the team. When you hear that someone is shouting the words "railway crossing" or "oncoming train", then immediately you need to hide from sight. It's funny to watch how everyone, on the command "lie down", fit between the rows of bags, and then they get out again as if nothing had happened.

Having reached one of the cities, our train began to slow down. Everyone in fear began to pack up their things and intend to run away, as we decided that they had noticed us and were already waiting in this city. I grabbed my backpack and started running towards the stairs. I came down and jumped from the train. Since we jumped before we came to the station, no one saw us. I knew that our trip would not end there and we went to the station again to look for new routes there. We tried not to attract too much attention to ourselves, but one of us wanted to climb the pole for a spectacular video. Fortunately, nobody saw it. When he was at the top, one of the freight trains started, and everyone rushed towards it. It was necessary not only to quickly climb on the carriage but also to hide inside. And again we successfully hooked on another train and continued on our way.

While we were driving away from the station, I lay on the next bags and watched the sun go down. A wonderful pacifying view. For the next hour, I was just enjoying the views and rested. The hot day gave way to a pleasantly warm evening, so it was quite comfortable to ride in a T-shirt.

In fact, nothing worth describing happened anymore. Anything didn't happen on our trip in one way. When we arrived at the final point, it was already much more interesting there. Some of us were drunk. Well, they can't trainsurf sober, and the guys started doing all sorts of nonsense. One of ours went to the gramophone (the device that announces the arrival of the train) and began to ask the train back to Kyiv. And, of course, it was in an untranslatable drunken style. The railway workers started looking for us and trying to figure out which gramophone we were talking to. This did not last long, of course. The gramophone was blocked, and they chased us.

We were able to get away from the workers, but the issue of returning home remained unresolved. No one had the money for a return ticket, so there was only one way. After half an hour, returning to the station at 2 a.m., we found a passenger train there.

Then I was seized by panic, because if it is easy to hook a freight train, then with a passenger train things are different. I tried to ask the guys, but everyone had already broken up into groups and I was left alone. I was very nervous, but there was no choice. I was instructed how and what to do, where to get up, what should not be touched. And now the X hour has come. Everyone scattered into the carriages, and I urgently needed to figure out which one to run in. I tried to do everything as quickly and quietly as possible, because if they hear me, it will harm not only me, simply none of us will go home today. I grabbed the handrails and rushed up. The whole body was trembling, and the train had not even started yet. I climbed the ladder to the middle, I had no idea if it was possible to climb onto the roof. What if there I can get electrocuted? Lacking a better solution, I grabbed with all my strength the stairs while waiting for the train to depart.

Everything around seemed to stop still and only the heart was beating wildly. We all froze in anticipation and hope for the movement of our train. And finally, very slowly, the train started. All I could think about was getting home as soon as possible. On the way, I never dared to climb to the roof and was hanging on the stairs for 4 hours. I was chilled to the bone in only shorts and a T-shirt, in a strong wind in the late evening. The first and such a difficult experience.

Arriving at the station at 5 a.m., I could not think of anything else but sleep. I literally was falling asleep on the move, but my home was far away. Fortunately, one of my friends took pity on me and let me stay overnight until morning.

This is how my first experience in trainsurfing ended. There were really many impressions for one day, it is difficult to reward this day with only one positive or negative emotion. However, I know for sure, I will repeat this experience more than once after this day.