NYC Comedian Tells of His Many Attempts to Hop a Freight Train Out to Montauk, Long Island

Jeff Seal, a comedian, filmmaker, urban explorer and self-described idiot, hilariously recounted his spotty history with train hopping, his subsequent brushes with the law and his fruitless attempts to make it all the way out to Montauk, Long Island via freight train.

I wanted to make this trip ever since my friend told me about it. I liked the idea that I could catch out somewhere that was near a subway stop and then just make it back it home the same or next day. Normally, if you train hop somewhere it’s a huge journey and you can spend days waiting for a train—in this case if a train didn’t come I’d just take the subway home and try again another day. Also, I honestly wanted to go to Montauk; I hadn’t ever been there or anywhere in Hamptons and I thought riding in a freight train would be a cool way to see it for the first time.