To all hobos, tramps, and travelers, welcome to Hobo Church

K-Bar started hitchhiking and riding trains as a teenager, and did most of his trainhopping between ages 19 and 26. He still rode recreationally until his sixties. He served in the Marine Corps and was a truck driver, construction worker, certified welder, and a degreed machinist. He graduated from nursing school in 1995 and spent 21 years as a registered nurse. He was ordained as a Christian minister in the Cypress Cowboy Church of Cypress, Texas in 2017, and was a founding member of Hobo Church at the National Hobo Convention in Britt, Iowa the same year.

Gypsy Moon, a Hobo Queen, learned of hobo history and culture by listening to the stories of her own father, Hobo Byrd. She is especially grateful for a life journey filled with remarkable characters, faithful friends, supportive family, and opportunities for travel and adventure. She is committed to dying with memories, not dreams.  

The Collinwood Kid is a retired nurse and social worker. He was dubbed “King of the Dumpster Divers” and honored with the Onion Cotton Award for his outstanding service, including maintenance of the jungle during the Britt Convention. For 50+ years, he has enjoyed recreational train riding. He resides in Cleveland with his ten cats and 200,000+ bees. 

Banjo Blue first discovered the world of hobos through Woody Guthrie’s Bound for Glory and then later from his friendship with Gypsy Moon and NorthStar. His experience of riding the rails is very limited but his love for the hobo community has no bounds. He is an avid clawhammer banjo player and an ordained minister serving in Maryland.   

NorthStar, a hobo princess, grew up hearing the early 20th Century adventures of Hobo Byrd, her father.  She is a licensed pastor who’s led over 25 global missions since 1995, and she is a railroad chaplain for southern Indiana. NorthStar believes that everyone’s life story is valuable and worthy of sharing. 

 Sunrise has a lifetime love of trains, living near train tracks all her life. She began attending the National Hobo Convention in 2001 with long-time friend Oats. She found her fellow wanderers at convention and knew she'd found "her people." Twice elected Hobo Queen, she's spent nearly 20 years sharing hobo/traveling music and hobo history around the US and in Chiang Mai Thailand. Co-founding Hobo Church with Kabar was a life changing event for which her passion never wanes. She is a hospice chaplain and part time artist.