Two Trains Running, by Lucius Shepard ***1/8

This collection of sorts contains three connected pieces, centering on the concept of hobos riding trains in the modern American West. The first piece is actually an article Shepard published for Spin Magazine, intended to uncover information about a hobo gang called the NTRA which was presumed to be responsible for a number of deaths on the rails. To gather information, Shepard interviewed a number of different riders, including some members of the gang, and did some train riding himself. The resulting expose paints a fascinating portrait of train riding, including both the glorious and the dismal aspects of the experience. Shepard also tears apart some of the myths about hobos and homelessness along the way.

Shepard's research and experience about train riding provided the inspiration for the other two pieces in the collection, both of which are original stories that use train riding as a starting point. The first of the two, called "Over Yonder", is a novella-length masterpiece that starts out with a hobo jumping a train and ending up someplace I couldn't have fathomed at the outset. Shepard's use of the fantastical would have been amazing in any context, but it seemed particularly poignant given the fresh understanding of the mindset of the hobo that Shepard provides in the article. To many hobos, there is something magical about train riding, and Shepard's story finds this. There are also clearly some horrifying and frightening aspects to the life as well, which Shepard also illuminates. This is a wonderful story, beautifully written (as always with Shepard), extremely emotional, and highly inventive. I really didn't want it to end.

The final piece is a shorter story (20-some pages) based more in the real world. It's a solid story as well, showcasing the grittier side of hobo life, though I didn't find it nearly as magical as the novella. It's still a worthy story, and it makes the collection a bit more substantial (the whole thing is only 125 pages), but I'll always think of "Over Yonder" when I think of this book. In total, this was a good collection about a lifestyle both attractive and depressing, many different aspects of which Shepard is able to portray sensitively in these three pieces. As somewhat of a daydreamer myself, I can understand the simple allure of jumping on a train and taking it wherever it might go. Shepard recognizes this allure himself, but doesn't simply romanticize it - he manages to make magic while keeping it bitter and nasty and frightening and sad.
(Spring 2006)

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