Train Distance
By Devin Tolman
27 Oct 2009
My name is Devin Tolman and I have been looking for a place to write this story for almost a year now.
Last year on the 29th of November I was visiting a friend of mine in Eugene, Oregon for a weekend of skateboarding, partying, and pictures. I got to his apartment around 3:00pm and we hung out for a little while and decided that since it seemed to be the only day it had been sunny all winter we would go out skateboarding and bring our cameras in hopes to take pictures.
First place we went was right outside the campus to ride a bank that was under an overpass. We shot there for quite awhile until we moved out from underneath to ride more on the back road behind campus. After awhile we started to get bored and sat down to look at what we had been shooting during our little adventure out. Theau noticed a train coming slowly but surely across the tracks about 100 yards before the overpass and jokingly asked if I wanted to get on it and take a picture. I'm all for adventure so I took off sprinting to catch up to the train and Theau was not far behind. We got our skateboards on and I jumped on a ladder that was on the side of a flat bed carrying large steal steaks (used for laying concrete and numerous other things around construction sites) and Theau made the leap of faith and jumped on only a few feet before the bridge where we had been skateboarding and the train picked up speed. Initially we thought it was hilarious as we laughed I made my way over the side of the train climbing like a monkey to get to where Theau was. As we got settled in I looked over to where we were and Theau's roommate Taylor was standing there on his bike giving us the finger wondering where and what we were doing. We waved, both lit cigarettes, snapped a few more photos and away we went.
Since we had no clue where we were headed we both checked our phones and Theau called his brother to let him know we would need a ride whenever we had a chance to get off. Neither of us had a lot of battery power in our phones so I turned mine off. Theau didn't have much battery either but he had more than I so we kept his on. We rode the train for about 15 minutes and just continued thinking the train would slow down in the next town as it did in Eugene where we jumped aboard. We were dressed casually in a t-shirt, a long sleeve, and jeans and as we strayed further and further away from the town and into the shadow of the mountains and really started to shiver and feel the cold. The train continued along a main road where we went through numerous intersections and passed cars in which we waved at and tried to gather their attention to have them call someone and get us off the train. The tracks curved and we went into the mountains away from what felt like safety from the main road.
I remember seeing what looked like the end of the world directly before we went into the woods. We had been riding next to a big lake that had a giant cloud sitting on top of it. The cloud was so thick that I didn't even know it was on top of a lake until after our adventure. So when I looked at it all I could see were marks on the waters edge from the water levels slowly decreasing over time and one that looked a bit darker than the rest and the giant cloud on top of that. It looked as though the land stopped and that was the end of it. When i saw this I quickly wanted to share it with the world and shivered my way into my bag to get my camera. I looked down to create the photograph and my batteries died and almost simultaneously all I saw were trees and we had entered the forest.
Theau and I were not very scared at this point because all though we were cold, we were still positive we would slow down in another town and be able to jump off. It got quiet for an hour or so and neither Theau or I said anything. We really didn't have anything to say and i'm pretty sure we were both realizing this was getting sketchy. No one said a word until I noticed a puddle that was frozen solid and told Theau that we must be climbing in elevation.
What I remember most and what put the most fear into me was when we would go through these dark tunnels that would be so dark and loud that all we could do was blink and hope to see something in the dark. The noises in those tunnels were of the worst. Pistons working hard and pressure being released all around us. We would stay in these tunnels for just a moment at a time and each time we came out of the tunnel and back into reality it got a little more dark outside and a little more cold. What started as one puddle being frozen had turned into snow being scattered all around us.
Theau and I started to realize that it was getting serious so we started to climb around the train to try and find a box car that was closed and away from the wind. We franticly scrambled around what was near and found nothing. We sat back down and it was back to the quite.
It was not completely dark yet and we started going back into rows of those dark loud tunnels. What was different about these tunnels was that they had holes in the walls, almost like windows, just to the right of where I was sitting. The train was moving so fast that the windows seemed to create a perfect image of what was outside. All I could see for miles were snow capped trees. Trees, trees, and more trees. I was at such a point that it made me almost numb to stare out at the world and be afraid for our lives. It seemed like just out of the movies because I was really losing myself in thought out of these windows and we slammed out of the tunnel and back into reality. The sky had turned almost completely black and the ground a total white out.
Snow was everywhere and it was almost completely dark. The snow that was on the ground gave a lot of light so it really was not too hard to see and our eyes adjusted quickly. We had lost service on both of our phones and to pass the time we thought about what everyone else back in Eugene was doing. I never thought I would be seriously tempted to spoon with another man to survive before but I pushed that thought aside and just sat and tried my hardest to stay out of the wind (impossible) The train at times would slow down and we thought more about jumping off but also thought about what we would do once we were off and had no cell phone service, thin canvas shoes in the snow, and being miles and miles away from anything. At one point the train slowed just as it did in Eugene and our excitement grew. We could hear another train coming the opposite direction, so we jumped up and started waving our arms to get the attention of the driver. The driver drove past without even a second glance at us. Our train came to a complete stop to let the other train pass safely so we jumped off and frantically ran around trying to find shelter from the cold upon the train. We started yelling because we found nothing and the train was again picking up speed. We had no other choice but to get back on the train. The moment I sat back down and sat close to Theau I really wanted to cry because I was in a situation where I really couldn't do anything to help myself.
I turned my cell phone on, which of course had no service and I wrote down my girlfriends phone number on my hand. My phone battery beeped at me so I turned it off to save what battery I had left. I sat, shivered, and stared at my hand hoping to somehow get off the train and call her. The tunnels started up again and they got longer and longer with every one we went in. Water would drip from the ceiling of the tunnel and when we would exit them the water that dripped upon our skateboards would freeze. I started to lose consciousness when we would go into the tunnels and Theau would have to kick me and push me to keep me awake in the dark tunnels.
Theau went to boot camp a few years before this and he knew in extreme cold situations that you were not to fall asleep, so he did everything he could to keep me awake. He had a camouflage OSU hat on that he would take off and put on my head and it actually is what I think saved my life. We had been in the cold so long we were no longer shivering and entering the first stages of hypothermia. The hat for some reason was comforting and every time I had it I felt okay.
After almost 6 hours of being on the train we were having a lot of trouble staying awake, staying coherent, and we needed to get off. Theau turned his phone on and we were going to call 911. Theau didn't have service and we both felt a huge hollow feeling. I turned my phone on and it too didn't have service. After another 20 minutes or so we saw in the very distance the Willamette Pass ski resort. It was about an inch long because it was so far away. I looked back down at my phone and realized I was fading in and out of service. I got Theau's attention and we planned what we would tell 911. We decided we would make it seem better than it was so we wouldn't get helicopters or anything expensive like that to come get us and make a huge scene. It is safe to say we both felt pretty stupid as it was.
Theau called and began to tell the operator what had happened and where we thought we might be. Just as she was telling us what she was going to do, the phone service cut out and we didn't get it back for another few miles. When we got service back we kept telling the operator to hurry because our phones were dying and we would have no way to return to the call. She had told us she was going to contact the train driver and tell him where we were, what happened, and to get us off and inside the train. She had told us she would call us once she had talked to the train driver and although hopeful Theau and I didn't think our phone batteries would last long enough for her to call back. Miraculously after staring at my phone praying it wouldn't die, she called back and told us that she had talked to the driver and to hang tight. We were excited but not out of it yet. We sat on the train for almost 40 more minutes before the train slowed down and came to a stop just as it did when the train passed us the time before. We jumped up and noticed another train coming. We had one more cigarette, so we lit that and paced around in circles trying to warm up. We couldn't move very well so we sat on the trains edge and felt the wind from the on coming train. Theau stood up and started to wave the train driver down who this time managed to see us. The train passed us with tremendous speed and a long gust of wind.
Our train started to move again and we got really nervous. All of a sudden my phone (which I thought died already) rang and it was the police telling us that the driver was going to stop and we should stay put until he walked back to get us. The operator explained to us that the driver didn't know who or what to expect walking back to us so we were to stay put. The train started to slow again and came to a quick halt. I remember laying down flat on the middle of the flat bed and staring straight up into the sky and seeing more stars than I have, or will ever see in my life. No lights for miles, just snow and trees. I looked over at Theau who still had a worried face on and we sat next to each other and warmed our hands with his lighter.
It took 10 or so minutes for the driver to walk back but when we saw his flashlight in the distance walking toward us we knew we were going to be safe. When the train conductor came to where we were, we gathered our things, jumped down and started telling our story to him. He explained to us that we would be arrested and that he didn't plan on coming to get us on the back of the train until the train that passed us called and told him that we were not dressed to be outside and needed to be rescued. He talked to the police operator and planned on ignoring her because he thought we were just trying to catch a ride.
During the long walk to the front of the train I was watching our feet for the most part, reflecting on what had just happened. The snow beneath our feet was not even snow it was frozen solid and a foot deep. When we got inside the train car we sat with the 2 operators of the train and drank water. The second train driver came back to where we were just to see us and see that we were still alive. He told us that with the wind chill it was -10 below 0 and he has found more than one dead body on his train making the same trip. He stressed to us the importance of not being inside those tunnels. He told us that when we drove toward them, they have black clouds billowing out of them and the trains can overheat inside and if that happened we would have surely died from the smog.
Theau and I sat on the train for another 30 minutes or so until we came to the town of Chelmut, Oregon. As we stepped off the train we were arrested and put into the police car. He listened to our story and felt bad for us and figured we had endured enough punishment and gave us the minimum punishment of Criminal Trespass 1 and a court date a few months later. I didn't have my wallet so I had no money to eat and I was starving. Theau had five dollars so we told the cop to drop us off at the gas station in town. When we got to the town we couldn't help but laugh at its size. No stop lights and you could literally yell from one end and be heard on the other. We bought the essentials of cheap smokes, PB&J, and milk. We walked across the street to the only motel for miles and used the owners phone to call Theaus mom who wired us the $32 dollars we needed to stay in a room. You would have thought we had enough of spooning with each other but nope; we ended up having to sleep in a small bed together, where we laughed about what had happened. I brought my battery charger for my camera so I plugged it in and went to bed. When we woke up we had to figure out a way home. Once again it was mommy to the rescue and she drove 7 hours to come get us. I had my camera charged so I went around snapping photos of where we were and where we had stayed. Theau's mom showed up a few hours later and hugged the both of us and cried that we were both okay.
As we drove back we really didn't have much to say because we were both so amazed staring out the window at the mountains. The drive back to Eugene came quickly and without calling anyone we burst back into Theaus apartment and everyone ran over to greet us. I walked into the other room to call my family who had no idea what had happened. They were frightened to hear about what I had to say, but so thankful we were alright. The next day I drove myself home where I showered and met my worried girlfriend. While I was at home I sat with her and looked down at my hand where her phone number was written and it all really hit me. This ended up being the one and only time I have and will ever cry in front of a girl.
Oh yeah, and I gave the pictures I took to my tattoo artist and she drew me up a tattoo of the train.
