Anyway, I am building a pretentious project I have dubbed "The Greatest Hobo Jungle In America" Being constructed near my home yard of Ogden, UT I will provide photos, if I can figure out how to (Upload) photos to the computer.
(Damn I was born in the 20'th century for petes sake.)

    This jungle will initially accomodate 15. It will provide a real nice place to stay before heading back out on the road.   It ought to be something when done. I'd like to have a gathering of sorts when it is ready.

    The jungle will be a throwback to how camps used to and should be, but nicer. Foot tramps and real roadsters are welcome. Homebums and others who can't contol their bad habits are not.

    Looking for volunteers to help. Feel free to post on your website. I'll keep you posted as to the progress.

     Well, here's my short summery on Dante, Hobo King of 2011 – 2011.  As most of you know Dante is living in Tucson, AZ, temporarily.  He's at a home for disabled veterans where he's undergoing many tests at the VA Hospital to find out why his equilibrium is out of whack and why he's falling so often.  Like most Hoboes, he really doesn't want to use a wheel chair where he's got two legs of his own.  I think it's called "Independence".  We, as humans, all want the same thing.  Oh well, we just all have to learn to accept what comes our way.

     For my own life, I'm moving either to the east coast, or back to Montana, this coming May.  I'm now beginning to feel more inclined to moving back to Helena, mostly because of the time frame it would take me to get into a Senior High Rise. That's right, I said, "Senior".  Yeah, come March of 2012 I become part of The Elite Senior Group.  I still feel like I were eighteen but, I'm just not as agile as I w

     Hope all are staying warm and healthy.  I want all of you to do that throughout 2012.

     I'll quit here.  If things change with Dante I will let you know.  I remain

I am sad to report NY Slo Freight caught the Westbound.  He will be missed
by the hobo community.  Our sincere sympathy to Elaine and his
family....hugs, Mama Jo

 This is John L Peterson writing on behalf of my father, John, aka W2FMX,
aka NY Slo Freight. I am writing to let you know that my father passed away in
 the morning of January 6th as a result of metastatic cancer, primarily in
 the liver and bones. It progressed rapidly, as he mentioned to some of you
 he went for a CT in November, then had a biopsy in mid-December. The
 official diagnosis was not until Dec. 27th, at which point he had been
 bedridden for a couple of weeks.

 Arrangements are pending via the Waterville Funeral Home
 (http://www.burgessandtedescofuneralhomes.com/home.html), and details will
 be published in the Waterville Times next week, as well as the Utica O-D.

 I will provide contact information below. We will monitor this email as
 well, but if you wish to be in contact with my mother, my brother, or me,
 please feel free to contact us directly. 

 My mom's address is Elaine Peterson, 1956 State Route 315, Waterville, NY
 13480. Her phone is 315-841-4724. Her email is elnpete2@gmail.com. I can be
 reached at johnlpeterson@hotmail.com, and my brother Dan can be reached at
 dano72@embarqmail.com. Dan and I will be at my mom's through most of this
 month.

 Kind regards,

 John L. Peterson

With a deep heart, I inform you that Santa Fe Jack  has caught the Westbound.

hello frank.. im trying to get out some info about my uncle (sante fe jack).. he took the westbound yesterday 10-4-11 and i wanted to get the word out to all his hobo family.. uncle loved all you guys and dedicated his retired years to traveling around in his sante fe van with his dog choo choo chewy.. can you help me get the word out .. my name is dan hayslett.. 9132446500 is my number.. the family would love to hear some stories about his life as a hobo.. he will be burried in atchison kansas sometime in the next few weeks.. please let me know if you can help.. the only names i have been able to reconize is liberty justice on your website that i remember him talking about.. thanks

Hobos not 'homeless,' but more like a family
By Gregory Tejeda
Times Correspondent  | 

  Dan Shelton | The Times

 Do you want to offend a real-life hobo?

    If so, calling them a "tramp" or a "bum" will hurt. But dismissing them as merely more "homeless" people will truly get under their skin.

    "We're not homeless!" said one such man, who identified himself Sunday merely as "Grandpa." He was one of 14 hobos who convened at the Pullman State Historic Site on the city's Far South Side for Hobo Fest. The annual event at the site where George Pullman's company once made railroad cars pays tribute to the culture and contributions to American society of hobos.

    "Many of us (hobos) have homes. We just like to move about a lot," said Grandpa, who added that the true hobo is always willing to work for his meal. "We're not looking for a hand-out."

    The Hobo Fest held both Saturday and Sunday inside the remains of the Pullman factory consisted of various programs meant to educate people as to hobo culture. Arrangements also were made with the state, which owns the site, to allow the real-life hobos who came for the event to camp out on the grounds for the weekend.

    Events included a hobo/folk music concert on the grounds Saturday night, and a Sunday afternoon event known as "Hobo
College," in which skits were performed by actors intent on portraying historic details accurately as to the lives of those people who chose to ride the rails to travel from place to place, while dodging railroad detectives and other law enforcement determined to see them as nothing more than vagrants.

    Paul Durica, one of the actors, said he thinks hobos deserve respect rather than denigration.  "These people were really migrant workers who did some serious labor," he said. "Many of the roads and bridges we still use are the results of their work.

    "They are unsung heroes," Durica said.

    Tom Shepherd, who helped organize the Hobo Fest, said he has noticed one trend from the many years that the event has been held in the Pullman area: There are fewer and fewer of them making the trip to the event.

    This past weekend, only 14 legitimate hobos were present, out of the roughly 200 people who attended, although some of them came dressed in garb that was their impersonation of what they thought the hobos of old would wear.

    Shepherd compared that decline to the similar decline of military veterans from World War II.  "They're getting older, they're dropping off. Soon, there won't be any hobos left," he said.

    Even among those hobos who came to the event, only a couple actually rode into Chicago on a train -- most came in campers or other recreational vehicles.  "They call themselves 'rubber tire hobos,'" Shepherd said.

    Grandpa said he thinks of hobos as good people, regardless of how they travel about. "It just feels like a family reunion when we get together with hobos," he said. "It's a sense of belonging that you just don't find in many other places."

Tim Holt, a Dunsmuir resident, and writer/musician, and organizer of
Rail Road Days, called to ask me if I could help him
 get the word out that Dunsmuir would like to have the Hobo Community 
know they are welcome at next years
Rail Road Days. I told him I'd send out the word and email him some
links. His email is -- tim holt <
timothyqholt@gmail.com>

Who will wear the crowns in 2012?