A-No. 1

Leon Ray Livingston, better known by the traveling name A-No. 1, was an American hobo author born in 1872 and died in 1944. He became famous for riding freight trains across the United States and for turning those experiences into popular autobiographical adventure books.

Accounts about him consistently describe him as a larger-than-life figure in hobo culture, sometimes called The Rambler. He is also closely associated with the spread and popularization of hobo signs and symbols, which were used to share warnings and practical advice from one traveler to another.

His writing helped preserve a piece of American life that was rough, mobile, and often romanticized. Even now, A-No. 1 stands out as one of the best-known voices linked to the hobo era, not just for where he traveled, but for the way he shaped his own legend on the page.