Eastern Railroad Discussion > RIP Mark Nichols AKA Shoestring Hobo

The body of Nark Nichols, Shoestring was found floating in Boone Kajem Johnson City, TN

Hobo Shoestring Dies: Missing Tennessee YouTuber Mark Nichols Found Dead In Boone Lake, Johnson City (msn.com)

I was about to post this. I watched some of his videos.  I do not condone trespassing, however his videos were quite interesting. 

He caught his last train to the sky. RIP Shoestring. 

Michael Fair
Royal Oak, MI

Like said earlier I didn't condone his actions but found myself often watching his videos. He showed although illegal an interesting perspective of what it would be like to ride the rails all over the country. God Bless Shoestring.  

Loved watching his videos, yes what he did was illegal but he never endanged anyone. Lot of railroad crews respected him and they would tell him which cars to get on to reach where he was going and even give him care packages. He was very knowlegable about rail operations and he would tell facinating stories about his experiences. He's even talked about how foamers would report him, for why I dont know. RIP Hobo Shoestring, may your signals always be green.

Posted from iPhone

I also enjoyed watching his videos and really liked his practical knowledge of railroad equipment and the "ergonomics" of riding in various types of freight cars.  While many would disagree, hobos and frieght train riding are as old as roading itself.  And on the contrary, I enjoyed watching his content to show that I did NOT want to live like the average hobo or drifter.  I'm sad that his life ended prematurely, and it seems like the silver lining is that he did not die in a train related incident.  It is upsetting that his mental health may have played a part in his death, but hopefully he is at peace.

-Sean

bigmc83 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I also enjoyed watching his videos and really
> liked his practical knowledge of railroad
> equipment and the "ergonomics" of riding in
> various types of freight cars.  While many would
> disagree, hobos and frieght train riding are as
> old as roading itself.  And on the contrary, I
> enjoyed watching his content to show that I did
> NOT want to live like the average hobo or
> drifter.  I'm sad that his life ended
> prematurely, and it seems like the silver lining
> is that he did not die in a train related
> incident.  It is upsetting that his mental health
> may have played a part in his death, but hopefully
> he is at peace.
>
> -Sean

There's a lot of rumors and they're not always very nice, and none are firsthand knowledgable. Not accusing you of this Sean, but the cesspool that is FB has beeen rife with all kinds of nasty speculation that must be hurtful to his surviving family.

But after watching many of his more recent videos my sense was his physical health and his many  medications for them may have been the root cause that led to any mental health issues that may have developed. But that's not firsthand either, just my speculation from what it seems his personality was like (at least for his videos). He was an alcoholic years ago and has been sober since, and it just didn't seem like him to fall off the wagon. He struck me as a gentle kind soul.

Well he did his life his way!   adios


he sure got around



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/24 12:21 by dan.