Mainlining God’s SPEED (The Trip)

Oh we started in Pocatello, just me and one other fellow
We started the trip with one simple flip of a coin in god we trust
While walking down the line we saw the headlight shine
It was headed west, so we did our best, to catch out on the fly
As she picked up speed, Gus he yelled to me, “We’d better ride on top.”
So we took a chance for a graceful dance with a train that wouldn’t stop

We rode atop a tanker ’til some time the wind blew by
Somewhere in the darkness, our train pulled to the side
We climbed down to the ground, a box car we soon found
And though it was noisy, we stretched out until Boise

In Boise we scrambled beneath the lines of cars
Back and forth, on and off ’til we found which one was ours
This train pulled out slowly, double stacked up for the sea
In front of the office lingering, we lied still as could be
The brakemen didn’t notice, the bulls they didn’t see
As though we were invisible and this trip was meant to be

We rode until a siding were we found a well to ride
It was the perfect hiding place, it was the perfect ride
It seemed that luck was with us, in Portland we’d soon stand
But then lady luck betrayed us, we got thrown off in LaGrande

The cops, they sent us to the road to hitchhike out of town
So we laid low to catch again, once the sun went down
We started to board in darkness, but much to our dismay,
The bull he was approaching, his headlights shown our way
We hid above the wheels, which soon began to turn
We now were leaving old LaGrande with another lesson learned

We rode atop a steel shelf, the air brake screamed and cried,
Until we reached a siding and another place to ride
This time was a flat bed, man the wind did blow.
But we ended up in Portland as the sun began to glow

Although we reached the west coast, our journey didn’t end
We got thrown from Everet, but in Seattle caught again
We hid out in the darkness to catch out on the fly
Soon enough we did so and the land all rolled on by

We traveled through the Cascades, the moon it shown so bright
We must have reached Montana by the early morning light
We found a well to ride in, other riders were in view
Then there was the eight mile tunnel we went through
Gus and I got off in the town of Columbia Springs,
Giving up for now our diesel powered wings

When two months passed, I rode again
I rode alone this time
I caught the last car on a train from Portland down the line
The Cascades passed me through the night
And when the sun did show, California touched my feet
In Dunsmir I let go

A Greyhound back to Portland, where I met again,
Who else but Gus, my freight train hopping friend
We road again to California, this time further down
We both jumped off in Stockton where our bodies hit the ground
There we met a man on his way to Vietnam
He rode with us to Richmond and then he was gone

Our next catch took forever, we went from town to town
Got kicked out of Oakland, but it didn’t get us down
We caught one night in Roseville, a yard complex and vast
We climbed aboard a box car to ride again at last

This train turned East at Keddy, through the Sierra Nevada chain
Then Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, where Gus for now remained
We both got off at Green River and at Rock Springs I got back,
Aboard the same red box car to continue down the track

I traveled through the prairies to Nebraska’s fruited plains
When I reached the North Platte yard, security was insane
They say it was some terrorists that foiled my Eastward run
Now I wait in New York state
My riding is not done