The Omniverse is crisscrossed by patterns of intersections where the vibrations that hold reality together overlap, which are known by some cultures as Songlines. The beings who can hear the Omniversal Song are compelled to travel along these paths and add to the music to strengthen and renew the Song. Throughout history different peoples have known that some roads were more special than others. The Chaco road system tied together a ritual landscape. Australian songlines let modern men walk in Dreamtime with the gods. The Camino de Santiago across northern Spain, the Hieros Hodos between Athens and Eleusis, and the ritual ambulations of the Hajj brought pilgrims in touch with the holy ones of their faiths. And in America the National Road and California Trail pulled people away from the Atlantic Coast to be a part of the country's the Manifest Destiny. The people who walked these paths (and others) not only reinforced the sanctity and added to the power of these paths but were also able to take away some of the paths' power with them. In the late 19th century, a new sacred way came into prominence in America, the nation's railroad system.
Many people (mostly, but not entirely, men) took to the 50,000 to 60,000 miles of railways looking for work or just a better situation. By the 1890s these men were known as hobos, and they became icons in American culture. Not everybody rode the rails looking for material gain, though. Some, lured originally by the call of freedom, felt the power in the Rails themelves. They could touch it, draw it out and use it to keep the sacred flowing and the country strong. These men were the first Hobomancers.