Rail Sailors

"Chicago was the rail capital of the nation & an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 hobos were in & out of the city annually." "There are 4,500 miles of railroad track within the Chicago District. This notable district contains 400 square miles of which 30,000 and 40,000 acres are in railroad yards, in addition to private and individual tracks owned by some 2,500 business houses. There are 525 receiving stations in the same area—325 passenger and 201 freight stations. There are 70,500,000 passengers handled in Chicago every year— an average of a train a minute arriving or departing for every minute of the twenty-four hours. There are approximately 7,500,000 freight cars handled annually in this city—more than a thousand an hour for every hour of the twenty-four."

https://chicagology.com/transportation/railroadcenter/

"A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps & bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; a bum neither travels nor works." 

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/last-great-american-hobos-180971913/

Generative AI Overview & Wikipedia: 

"The term "hobo" originated in the United States after the Civil War to describe a homeless wanderer who may beg or steal for a living. The term may have come from "homeward bound" or "homeless boy", or it may have originated from "Ho, beau!", a greeting used by railroad workers. Hoboes were often migratory laborers who would take long holidays but eventually return to work. They were often more independent, militant, organized, and political than tramps. Hoboes became prominent again during the Great Depression." Hobo code 'heiroglyphics' helped them find resources & avoid danger. 

https://www.openculture.com/2018/08/hobo-code-introduction-hieroglyphic-language-early-1900s-train-hoppers.html

Hobo slang: 'jungle' = communal hobo camp, 'crumb boss' ran the jungle kitchen, 'hundred on a plate' = can of beans, 'bindle' = bedroll, 'poke' = wallet, 'bulls' = railroad police, 'flyers', 'hotshots' & 'red balls' = fast freights, 'catching out' = hopping the train, 'catch the westbound' is to die. 

https://www.hobonickels.org/terms.htm

Many legendary figures emerged in hobo camps, such as Leon Ray Livingston (1872–1944) "A-No.1" & "the Rambler", James Eads How (1874–1930), "Millionaire Hobo", Joe Hill (1879-1915), Harry Kirby McClintock (1884-1957) "Haywire Mac", Ben Benson (1885-1963) “Coast to Coast Kid”, Queen Emma Bertha Link (1897-1976) “Boxcar Betty”, Joseph Leon Ben-Morris Cohen Segal Lazarowitz (1905-1967) "the Jewish Hobo Champion", Maurice W. Graham (1917-2006) "Steam Train Maury", Bruce Todd "BGT", "Hobo King" Jeff Davis "Emperor of the Knights of the Road”, "Reefer Charlie" Fox, Quadhosh Ajada "Hobo Lump", Robert Joseph Silveria Jr., aka "Sidetrack", serial killer with 34 victims, but none as resourcefully creative as Dale & Gail Hale, the Rail Sailors. 

https://hoboarchive.lib.uiowa.edu/

Like many of their peers, the Hales adopted hobo life for its freewheeling adventure lifestyle by choice. Dale was a jack-of-all-trades who loved tinkering with machinery & Gail had a knack for herbs & knew her way around the weed patch. They held 'stone soup' parties while making homespun music on Gail's harmonica & Dale's hobo cigar box fiddle. 

The recipe for communal 'stone soup' is fairly simple. Put a clean stone in a pot of water over a fire or stove. As guests arrive, they may add what they can, a few carrots, potatoes, onions, cabbages, peas, celery, tomatoes, sweet corn, rice, meat (like chicken, pork & beef), milk, butter, salt & pepper. Gail might toss in some lamb's quarters, bittercress, wild spinach, chickweed, dandelion, broadleaf plantain, clover, garlic mustard, purslane, curly dock, wood sorrel, stinging nettle, cattail, milkweed, cleavers, compass plant or violet. 

The idea for a sail bogey or trolley arose by lightning strike, when a tall elm fell across a spur line near their tract home in Elgin Illinois. Dale jury-rigged a cart from old bike parts to ferry the debris to their back yard firewood pile. It ran so well that he kept making improvements. Prevailing western winds meant test runs went eastward toward Chicago. 

60-inch penny-farthing bike wheels were set on aluminum frames. A less versatile sail than on a boat had a strictly fixed directional vector. Key to low friction was mineral oil spray. Tandem equipment provided human leg power in lieu of ideal winds, normally the status quo. In time, their project drew the attention of anonymous inventors, who provided Wright wing-warping & Tesla remote controls. Escape maneuvers were required, since trains don't share their rails well. Dale & Gail had some close calls over the years. Mostly, they pulled the craft to the side of the rails, but twice they were over rivers & had to execute plan b: dangle by the trestle long scary minutes under the trains. An electromagnetic motor & 12-volt battery made it an ebike. Unfortunately, that model got stolen by rogue yeggs. 

Apparently, all that remains of the invention is this letter. 

"Mr. Albert Phenis, Special Correspondent Manufacturers' Record, New York, December 17, 1904:

Dear Sir - Replying to your inquiry of yesterday, the application of electricity to the propulsion of automobiles is certainly a rational idea. I am glad to know that Mr. Lieb has undertaken to put it into practice. His long experience with the General Electric Co. and other concerns must have excellently fitted him for the task.

There is no doubt that a highly-successful machine can be produced on these lines. The field is inexhaustible, and this new type of automobile, introducing electricity between the prime mover and the wheels, has, in my opinion, a great future.

I have myself for many years advocated this principle. Your will find in numerous technical publications statements made by me to this effect. In my article in the Century, June, 1900, I said, in dealing with the subject: 'Steamers and trains are still being propelled by the direct application of steam power to shafts or axles. A much greater percentage of the heat energy of the fuel could be transformed in motive energy by using, in place of the adopted marine engines and locomotives, dynamos driven by specially designed high-pressure steam or gas engines, by utilizing the electricity generated for the propulsion. A gain of 50 to 100 percent, in the effective energy derived from the fuel could be secured in this manner. It is difficult to understand why a fact so plain and obvious is not receiving more attention from engineers.

At first glance it may appear that to generate electricity by an engine and then apply the current to turn a wheel, instead of turning it by means of some mechanical connection with the engine, is a complicated and more or less wasteful process. But it is not so; on the contrary, the use of electricity in this manner secures great practical advantages. It is but a question of time when this idea will be extensively applied to railways and also to ocean liners, though in the latter case the conditions are not quite so favorable. How the railroad companies can persist in using the ordinary locomotive is a mystery. By providing an engine generating electricity and operating with the current motors under the cars a train can be propelled with greater speed and more economically. In France this has already been done by Heilman, and although his machinery was not the best, the results he obtained were creditable and encouraging. I have calculated that a notable gain in speed and economy can also be secured in ocean liners, on which the improvement is particularly desirable for many reasons. It is very likely that in the near future oil will be adopted as fuel, and that will make the new method of propulsion all the more commendable. The electric manufacturing companies will scarcely be able to meet this new demand for generators and motors.

In automobiles practically nothing has been done in this direction, and yet it would seem they offer the greatest opportunities for application of this principle. The question, however, is which motor to employ - the direct-current or my induction motor. The former has certain preferences as regards the starting and regulation, but the commutators and brushes are very objectionable on an automobile. In view of this I would advocate the use of the induction motor as an ideally simple machine which can never get out of order. The conditions are excellent, inasmuch as a very low frequency is practicable and more than three phases can be used. The regulation should offer little difficulty, and once an automobile on this novel plan is produced its advantages will be readily appreciated.

Yours very truly,

N. Tesla."

https://teslaresearch.jimdofree.com/articles-interviews/electric-autos-nikola-tesla-s-view-of-the-future-in-motive-power-manufacturers-record-dec-29-1904/