Combining drunk college students and heavy machinery. Literally nothing could go wrong here.
... and I found on arrival that hopping was a huge part of the local college culture there. This wasn't a secret -- before I started class, my mom warned me repeatedly not to go near the train. I promised her I wouldn't. Obviously, I wound up hopping my first train during my first week at school. The track ran right between my dorm and my classes, so I would hop on it in the morning as a shortcut. This probably sounds insane to most of you, but I was 17, and the train goes very slowly (never more than 6 miles an hour through town), so it's a great transit option for kids who: A) have no car and B) are invulnerable teenagers who will never, ever die.
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It's also perfect for those looking to lose their freshman 15, like, immediately.
Not that it's purely a practical choice -- kids would treat it like a moving jungle gym. Some would grab on and ride next to the train on their skateboards, or they would hop on if they saw a friend walking along the train tracks so they could smack him in the back of the head as it went by. I remember one time the train was transporting a bunch of airplane parts, so, of course, kids couldn't resist climbing around in that. It looked fun, and I wanted to be a part of it. What could possibly go wrong?
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