Not to be confused with Wong Side of the Tracks, a similarly named side mission in GTA Liberty City Stories.
Tenpenny:
“
That's right Carl. I got my eye on you.
CJ:
“
And? Like I give a fuck.
“
All we had to do, was follow the damn train, CJ!
— Big Smoke to Carl Johnson if player fails in this mission by losing the train, perhaps one of the most memorable lines throughout the entire GTA series.
Wrong Side of the Tracks is a mission in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas given to protagonist Carl Johnson by Grove Street Families member Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris from his home in Idlewood, Los Santos, San Andreas.
Mission[]
Tenpenny and Pulaski are seen leaving Big Smoke's house by the garage. Carl arrives and Smoke tells him that they have to go to the train at Unity Station.
When the pair arrive, Smoke explains that the Vagos and San Fierro Rifa are "cutting some kind of deal", and intends to crash the meeting. However, it is actually an ambush and the Vagos attempt to escape by train. Carl and Smoke use a yellow Sanchez parked nearby to chase down the train to kill all four Vagos thugs, whilst avoiding obstacles such as oncoming car blocks and incoming trains going the opposite direction. If successful, Carl and Smoke will have eliminated all Vagos before the train reaches the Frederick Bridge, connecting Los Santos and Las Venturas. The two then clear the scene, and CJ takes Big Smoke back to his house.
Mission Objectives[]
In order to complete the mission the player must:
- Drive to Unity Station.
- Get on the motorbike with Big Smoke, chase down the Vagos gang members and take them out!
- Keep up with the front carriage of the train so Big Smoke can shoot the Vagos gang members.
- You left Big Smoke behind go get him! (if Big Smoke falls off the Sanchez.)
- Take Big Smoke back to his house.
Rewards[]
The reward for this mission is increased respect. The mission Just Business is unlocked.
Transcript[]
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Walkthrough[]
Tenpenny greets CJ and asks him if he's still getting himself involved in criminal activities.
CJ says that Tenpenny knows him and should already know the answer to his question.
Tenpenny aggressively says that he indeed knows everything about CJ.
Tenpenny pokes CJ while he says this and CJ tells Tenpenny not to touch him.
Tenpenny reminds CJ that he's watching him.
CJ says that he doesn't care.
Pulaski backs up what Tenpenny said, throws his cigar at CJ and walks off.
CJ insults Pulaski for showing such disrespect.
Smoke comes up to CJ and asks him what's up with him and C.R.A.S.H. arguing.
CJ changes the subject and asks Smoke why Tenpenny and Pulaski were at his house.
Smoke gives the same excuse he gave previously and says that C.R.A.S.H. keeps showing up and getting into Smoke's business.
Smoke says that he can't do anything without Tenpenny showing up and trying to find out all about it.
CJ says that he believes Smoke.
CJ changes the subject and asks Smoke what he wants to do today.
Smoke says he wants to go for a ride.
Smoke says that C.R.A.S.H. did tell him about something during their visit.
Smoke says that what they told him could help GSF out.
CJ agrees to go with Smoke.
As CJ and Smoke head out, CJ asks Smoke where they're heading.
Smoke tells CJ to go to Unity Station.
CJ and Smoke making their way to Unity Station.
CJ and Smoke arriving at their destination in Unity Station in El Corona.
As CJ parks the car, he asks Smoke what they should look for.
Smoke tells CJ that he heard some Vagos should be making a deal with San Fierro Rifa boys.
CJ is surprised to hear about San Fierro gangs doing business in Los Santos.
CJ says that he was under the impression that the Mexican gangs from the different cities don't get along well.
Smoke says that he's just as surprised to hear about it.
CJ notices the gangbangers that they're supposed to be looking for standing above a tunnel.
Smoke says that they're too late to intercept the deal.
The Vagos members jump onto the train passing the station and try to escape.
Smoke says that they need to chase the Vagos and kill them.
CJ and Smoke must now use a nearby motorbike to chase the Vagos on the train.
CJ and Smoke begin chasing the train.
Smoke says that CJ should keep close to the train while he shoots at the Vagos.
Smoke tells CJ to drive fairly close to the train so he can get a clear shot.
CJ driving next to the train while Smoke shoots at the Vagos.
The chase eventually leads the Vagos, CJ and Smoke into a tunnel heading to Las Venturas through Red County.
As the train, CJ and Smoke approach the end of the tunnel, it appears that the right side of the road is blocked. Smoke tells CJ to take the dirt track on their right.
CJ and Smoke chasing the Vagos on the track above of the rails.
After returning to the track near the train, Smoke finishes off the Vagos members.
After Smoke takes out all of the Vagos, he tells CJ to head back to Smoke's house.
CJ must now drive all the way back to Smoke's house in Idlewood.
As CJ drives Smoke back to his house, he decides to talk to Smoke about current state of Grove Street.
Smoke is confused and asks what CJ is talking about.
CJ tells Smoke he's asking about the state of the hood. He asks Smoke if it's the drugs that's corrupting the hood.
Smoke tells CJ what he thinks.
CJ tells Smoke that he was asking him because he doesn't know how to feel about it.
Smoke tells CJ to ask a fool instead of a wiseman.
CJ says that he was doing and in turn calls Smoke a fool.
Because of this indirect insult, Smoke stops the conversation and says that he won't talk to CJ anymore.
CJ and Smoke returning to Los Santos.
CJ and Smoke returning to Smoke's house.
Once they return, Smoke tells CJ that he should leave.
Smoke says that he doesn't want C.R.A.S.H. to start bothering him too.
CJ agrees and reminds Smoke to be careful when hanging around Tenpenny & Pulaski.
CJ and Smoke say goodbye to each other and go their separate ways.
Mission passed.
Video Walkthroughs[]
Gallery[]
Officer Tenpenny and Pulaski leaving Big Smoke's house from the garage.
Carl Johnson using a Sanchez to chase the Los Santos Vagos gangsters on the Brown Streak train, whilst Big Smoke attempts to kill them.
Gangsters ashooting at Carl and Big Smoke.
The infamous line Big Smoke delivers upon failure of the mission.
Trivia[]
- If the player fails the mission by losing the train, Big Smoke will shout "All we had to do, was follow the damn train, CJ!". Due to the difficulty of the mission, leading to many players failing it multiple times, this line became very famous among fans of the Grand Theft Auto series, to the point of becoming an internet meme.
- In the open-world sandbox game Minecraft, there is a splash which reads "Follow the train, CJ!", which is a reference to this mission.
- In Red Dead Online, the name of the mission The Right Side of the Tracks is a reference to this mission.
- Even if the player kills the train driver before entering the red marker on Unity Station, the train will still depart from the station during the cutscene.
- It is possible to use Big Smoke's Glendale to chase the Vagos, however this is not recommended as the Glendale can barely handle off/road well as the Sanchez and it is too big and it could be prone to being hit by a train if in a wrong area.
- In the beta version, when chasing the train, CJ would complain that the bike wasn't built to take so much weight, and claimed that people don't call Big Smoke BIG Smoke for nothing, to which he angrily replies that he was born big.[1]
- Also in the beta version, another objective would have been to retrieve a package from the dead Vagos.[1]
- This is one of the first missions to take Carl out of Los Santos and into Red County.
- If the player abandons the Sanchez after killing the Vagos, it will still appear in the mission's final cutscene.
- It is possible to kill the train driver using a Sniper Rifle by which the train will stop. Strangely, however, if the player comes close to the train, it will accelerate and move even if the driver is dead.
- The Vagos in this mission are more durable than normal, as they take nearly four times the shots taken normally.
- Strangely, if the player fails the mission just as the Vagos crosses the bridge and looks closely, the player will see that the train will pass through a barrier as if it weren't there.
- There is a scene in Rockstar's Manhunt with the same title, Wrong Side of the Tracks.
- This mission is referenced in the Gold-medal objectives for the Grand Theft Auto V mission Derailed, where the player has to follow a train on a dirt bike. If they manage to land on top of the train on their first attempt, they will achieve the "Better Than CJ" objective.
- The name of the mission may be based on the phrase "the wrong side of the tracks", meaning a poor area of a city.
- If the player fails the mission within close proximity of the moving train, all of the Vagos on top of it will become invisible. Their weapons will remain visible. The first three Vagos will be explosion-proof. The fourth Vago is fully-immune, and can't be killed.
- If the player manages to kill all the Vagos before the train hits the broken down Glendale, the car will not explode when the train hits it as scripted and will simply be pushed away by the train.
- It is possible for the second and fourth Vagos from the front of the train to mysteriously die, leaving only the first and third to kill. If driving correctly, they can be killed before meeting the oncoming train in the tunnel. The player can see their guns land on the tracks if looking back quick enough (tested in PS4 version).
- In Cyberpunk 2077, next to the dead body of JC and Little Smoke, the player can find dialogue that refers to dialogue in this mission.
- During the chase segment after CJ and Big Smoke pass the red rail bridge, there is a Glendale driven by a driver which has the appearance of a Vagos member attempting to cross the rail tracks.
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ If Big Smoke falls off the Sanchez.
