RAILROAD SEMANTICS #1
Aaron Dactyl (Microcosm)My exposure to zines dealing with the culture of train hopping is limited to... well, this zine right here. In Railroad Semantics, author Aaron Dactyl describes his short hops on freight lines in Washington State between "Eugene, Portland, Pocatello and Back" as the zine's subtitle states. In his depictions of these travels, Aaron writes as if he were talking to fellow hobos (my term, not his). He uses railroad terminology as if we, the readers, were also intimately familiar with the differences between a EEC and a DPU. This is less a detraction than the added weight of authenticity, and it makes the pictures he paints of the Pacific Northwest, and the isolation of solo train travel, no less appealing. Like the markings on rail cars that train hoppers leave for each other, Aaron is simply sending a message to later travelers, warning them what to look out for by relating what he's encountered in different yards—Chris Auman
Always read Reglar Wiglar!
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