Legendary Trainhoppers Tickets

Trainhopping, the act of illegally boarding and riding freight trains, has been a cultural phenomenon for over a century. It has been the subject of music, books, and film. But it also has deep roots in the world of theater.

Legendary trainhoppers, such as A-No.1 and Boxcar Bertha, inspired playwrights and actors to create characters based on their experiences. These characters, from classic plays like "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Of Mice and Men," to modern productions like "Sweat" and "The Flick," are often depicted as rugged, adventurous drifters who live on the fringes of society.

But trainhopping is not just a source of inspiration for the stage. In recent years, theaters across the country have begun to incorporate trainhopping into their productions. From immersive experiences that take audiences on the rails themselves, to plays that explore the culture and history of trainhopping, trains have become a central focus for avant-garde theater.

One of the most notable examples is "The Great American Trailer Park Musical," a raucous comedy about life in a Florida trailer park. Trainhopping is central to one of the musical's main characters, a drifter named Duke, who takes the Amtrak from place to place and provides much-needed comic relief.

Similarly, the New York theater company The TEAM created an immersive production called "Mission Drift," which takes audiences from Las Vegas to the Alberta tar sands by train, exploring America's quest for power and wealth along the way.

Even non-theater artists like musician Tom Waits have been influenced by the world of trainhopping. His song "Big Joe and Phantom 309" tells the story of a truck driver who gives a lift to a ghostly hitchhiker, inspired by the classic trainhopper tale of A-No.1 meeting his own spectral counterpart on the rails.

Trainhopping may seem like a dangerous and reckless pastime, but it has also contributed to the American cultural landscape in significant ways. Whether in literature, film, or theater, trainhoppers have left their mark on the arts and provided endless inspiration for generations of creative minds.