Hobo Train

The Hobo Train didn’t actually carry hobos. It carried miners to Glace Bay from surrounding communities.

As coal mines shut down in communities like Port Morien, Donkin and Birch Grove, the Dominion Coal Company needed to transport its miners from those places to Glace Bay, where it needed their skills and experience in the mines it continued to operate. Since these villages were connected by a rail line, the Sydney & Louisbourg Railway started a free train service, subsidized by Dominion, to transport miners and other residents of those areas.

David R. MacLeod wrote an article in 1974 that explained the history of the Hobo Train, which ran from the 1920s to the early 1950s. It was, he wrote, “part of a transportation service by the S&L Railway. It operated daily, on different shifts, taking miners from outlying communities back and forth to work.”

The train was “provided free of charge, a reliable and dependable method for company employees to get and forth to work, or anyone else who wanted a free ride to Glace Bay…The cars, or Hobo, pulled by the steam engine were about 50 feet long or so, had two hardwood benches the full length of the car for seats, and a long bench in the centre for a foot rest or to brace themselves in the event they fell asleep and get tossed off the bench. Steam pipes beneath the benches heated by the engine kept the Hobo warm.”

Miners often smoked on the train and “the smoke was strong enough to walk on,” according to MacLeod.

“The Hobo was never in a hurry and made quite a few stops,” according to MacLeod. “After a long, hard day miners still enjoyed a little humor, in the washhouse, or on the Hobo. Coming home one evening on the night shift, the Hobo made one of its many stops and a miner shouted, ‘Your stop Neil.’ Neil, nearly asleep at the time, jumped off the Hobo only to discover that he was over a mile for home, and had to down the track in the dark.”

MacLeod wrote, “when you consider the bad roads and scarcity of automobiles at the time, the coal company provided a good service to their employees and the public. The railway provided homes with domestic coal, they hauled coal cars from the mines, they delivered freight, they moved empty cars around the mines, they operated special church or Sunday school outings to Mira or Louisbourg, and on Saturday night they operated a passenger service. Only a very severe storm could halt S&L traffic.”

The Hobo Train was reestablished as a tourist attraction by the Cape Breton Development Corporation (Devco) in the 1970s. Devco’s mandate was to manage the eventual shutdown of Cape Breton’s coal mines while diversifying the island’s economy.

The word “hobo” is often considered offensive today because it is sometimes used as a synonym for a “bum” or “tramp.” However, its original meaning was different. The word first appeared in the United States in the late 1800s, and it referred to men who travelled, usually by train, for work. In fact, many of the original hobos were United States civil war veterans who took jobs doing railroad construction. They travelled west on the trains whose tracks they built, continuing to work on the country’s expanding rail networks.

Economic depressions in the 1870s and 1930s led men to travel far and wide on freight trains in search of work, often in mining and lumber camps. Hobos were workers, travelling to wherever work was available.

The origin of the word is not known and several theories have been put forward to explain it. Some say it comes from "Hoe Boy" because many migrant workers traveled with a hoe or other farming tools. Others claim it came from the soldiers returning from the Civil War who were "Homeward Bound." Some suggest it is from the greeting, "Hello boy," which got shortened to "Ho bo."

It is possible that the name of Cape Breton’s “Hobo Train” was a bit tongue-in-cheek. Its riders were travelling to work, but only as daily commuters, unlike the original hobos, most of whom travelled long distances and for long periods.

David R. MacLeod was born in Donkin in 1916. He worked for the Dominion Coal Company and served during WWII as an air force training instructor. He later worked for Devco.

He served with his local fire department, the legion and the Cape Breton District School Board. He was also an amateur historian, documenting the history of his community, including its mining roots.

MacLeod passed away in 2007.

The Hobo Train exterior..

The Hobo Train interior..