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How to Train Hop in New York City

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Need to get from the Queens to the Bronx but don’t want to spring for a cab or squeeze into a subway car? Maybe you don’t own a bike and are too lazy to walk?   No problem! As comedian and wannabe-hobo, Jeff Seal, demonstrates in this whimsical video, getting from Queens to the Bronx can be accomplished by hopping a freight train.

Jeff tells Untapped, “Some of the trains go all the way to Montauk so we were hoping to go there but instead we ended up in a train yard in the South Bronx and the engine decoupled from the rest of the train so we had to get off.”

Aside from the bundles of money you’ll be saving on cab fare, riding a freight train also offers beautiful views and a completely different perspective of NYC usually enjoyed only by train conductors…and Amtrak passengers. “We passed an Amtrak train right before we went over Hell’s Gate Bridge.” The train Seal is riding is run by New York and Atlantic Railway on tracks owned by LIRR and CSX.

Once you’ve mastered the 5 Burroughs, head to Pennsylvania on a CSX freight train for a real cheap weekend getaway!

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