Riding the Rails

A young boy from the state of California, named Lexy Lovell, tried to find work and a new home while battling struggles he would come up against while riding the railroads after getting kicked out of his mom and dad's house. He was in the western part of the country during the 1920-30s. He was kicked out of his house because of the Great Depression that caused a lack of money and food. This made it very hard for Lexy and his family. It was so bad that his family had to kick him out due to poverty and lack of money. This led to him fending for himself and finding work as well as not having a home. This is what Lexy said about his time, “I wanted to stay home and fight the poverty with the family, but my father told me I had to leave. It hurt very badly, but he meant I had to go. But I didn’t have it in my mind to leave until he told me, ‘Go fend for yourself. I cannot afford to have you around any longer.” That's what Lexy said about his experience. Thankfully Lexy found work is San Francisco! This is what he said about his job, “I was very lucky, I got off the train and walked for days, I ended up at a farm and they offered me a job as the swamper! This ended up working really well. After the Depression I found my way back home only to find a different family. This was very hard for me and I was forced to find new work once again. I never found a new job but lucky enough for me, the Depression was over and I found a new job and was able to find a new home. Lexy said this to summarize his experience with riding the rails, “My experience with riding the rails was not a good one at all with my dad kicking me out of my house and not being able to find a job, as well as never seeing my family or my dad again. But I was lucky to live through this time and find a new home of my own.” Lexy and many others got kicked out of their homes and were forced to ride the rails in order to find work and new homes. Sadly not everyone was able to survive the experience of riding the rails.