Riding the Rails

One of my great-grandfathers used to ride the rails to South Texas to pick fruit during the Depression. He was a hobo, a migrant worker, in those years, though he retired from the packing house up in Fort Worth. I did not learn of his hoboing days until he had long since passed. I can only imagine what kinds of stories he had to tell. I can only wonder if stories like Woody Guthrie or John Steinbeck might have told were resting on his tongue.

Here is some rare footage of Jimmie Rodgers, the Father of Country Music, playing "Waiting for a Train." I love this old song's storyline.