Graffiti and car numbers


B

BMR777

Member
I got stopped by a train today and got a chance to look at the cars real up close. I noticed that most, if not all of the cars that had graffiti on them still had visible car numbers and things like max load capacity visible. I also noticed that some of the "artwork" (if you can call vandalism art) looked like it was done in such a way to deliberately avoid marking up the numbers.

I wonder if the numbers are not covered because the railroads are real good about fixing them if they get tagged or if the numbers are not covered because graffiti "artists" know that if they cover the numbers their "work" will be covered over to fix the numbers, so they only mark the non-important part of the car knowing the RR isn't going to do a total repaint.

I have a feeling it's a bit of both going on, but would love to hear others' thoughts on the matter. :)
 
Pretty much the not getting the "artwork" removed thing.
Older graffiti covered everything until they figured that out.
 
I sometimes wonder the railroads' opinion of graffiti - it's a free coat of paint after all. It would take some work, but potentially they could turn it into a really good thing.

Take older cars that need to be repainted and strip them. Then park them in a controlled environment and provide local graffiti artists with paint requirements. When they're done, reapply identification on the car and return them to service.

A little public outreach sort of thing. "Hey if you want to paint on our stuff that's fine but do it under our terms. If you don't we will seek the full extent of the law."
 
it is a little bit of both.
before graffiti writers realized their work would get painted over if the reporting marks were covered yes, they painted everything. initially, graffiti writers would re-write the serial numbers back with the same aerosol they painted their pieces with. they quickly realized the rr would not spare their work even if they did that. so around the turn of the century, writers began to either avoid the numbers all together, carefully paint around the numbers, or use masking tape to mask the numbers off, do their work, take a photo and then remove the tape. there are still some however, that paint over the reporting marks knowing their work will get painted over. even on the NY subways back in the 70s and 80s, writers painted over the windows knowing full well that part of the train would get cleaned immediately.

I am not employed by the rr so cannot speak factually to rr companies position on graffiti. what I DO know for sure is they don’t like it. how reporting marks are repainted probably vary greatly on who is doing the repainting. ive seen some just stencil the numbers back over the graffiti so the numbers are visible again, while others paint huge squares and then repainting the numbers so they are even more clear - the latter being the most common method. A rail worker told me years ago that having reporting marks exposed on all sides of any car that is in service is a legal requirement. failure to comply could result in DOT penalties for the railroad. so the reporting marks, light/load limits and COTS box are almost always re-exposed, swiftly, to avoid these penalties. railroads have tried a number of tricks to avoid coverage by graffiti writers. one of the most clever is newer cars have the reporting marks painted high up on the car. QGRY, NCAX, and the CN family of roads have been doing this for years. but i have seen more roads trying this recently.

as for commissioned rr graffiti, that’s a fine idea. Although, I think there would be two very general challenges with that idea:

1) the NY transit authority still vehemently opposes graffiti. According to their records, graffiti on the subway of New York City never existed. it is not included in any public history recorded by the organization (museums, books, websites etc.). I would imagine rr companies have the same or similar position. they do not want to do ANYTHING to promote, or give the impression of promoting graffiti. they learned from the NYCTA (and a little common sense) that promoting graffiti, in any way, would be counter productive to the goal of preventing graffiti.

2) as a society we just are not there yet. it would probably take another 2 or 3 generations before graffiti would be viewed as an art form within the rr community. just reading this forum and others, it is clear that the rr community at large views graffiti as vandalism - period. the artistic value is never even considered because the bottom line is the graffiti writer is defacing private property, thats all. any varying opinion or sympathizer is usually called a bleeding heart liberal or the like. It often results in a heated debate that winds up getting the thread closed. Again, calm rational dialogue, respecting varying opinions and positions is a station we simply have not pulled into yet.


Cheers~
 
Graffiti or tags i dont like, but when someone does a mural on the whole side and it looks good i actually like those. For instance, ICH does alot of larger murals on boxcars or autoracks and those I like. But when you got something thats just over the bottom of the car cause they couldn't reach any higher and its just unreadable script, dont like.
 
Airslide said:
2) as a society we just are not there yet. it would probably take another 2 or 3 generations before graffiti would be viewed as an art form within the rr community. just reading this forum and others, it is clear that the rr community at large views graffiti as vandalism - period. the artistic value is never even considered because the bottom line is the graffiti writer is defacing private property, thats all. any varying opinion or sympathizer is usually called a bleeding heart liberal or the like. It often results in a heated debate that winds up getting the thread closed. Again, calm rational dialogue, respecting varying opinions and positions is a station we simply have not pulled into yet.


Cheers~
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It's a shame it always degrades into hateful comments. There is so much to talk about.
 
I quite like it, equate it to weathering. Mind you, wouldn't appreciate on my front fence.

We live opposite a public park, where the local council built a toilet block and that gets regularly "done over". They (the counci, at ratepayers expense) then paint over it within days. Paint got so thick that they had to get a guy to come and physically scrub along the joint lines in the blockwork 'cause they were getting "daggy" (anyone who farms sheep will know what I mean)
 
I wonder if an art competition for a permanent mural on the building would keep them from having to repaint it all the time.
 
NYSW F45 said:
Graffiti or tags i dont like, but when someone does a mural on the whole side and it looks good i actually like those. For instance, ICH does alot of larger murals on boxcars or autoracks and those I like. But when you got something thats just over the bottom of the car cause they couldn't reach any higher and its just unreadable script, dont like.
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that’s a quite natural reaction. part of the reason graffiti is shunned by people that don’t do it is because its purpose is not understood. very generally, the aerosol graffiti seen on American rolling stock speaks to other graffiti writers/artists around the continent. it says - look at my name, my style and the frequency that i write my name. is also an extension of the graffiti that began on the NYC and Philadelphia subways in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. not much deeper than. to some degree, it is like a secret society.

even within graffiti circles, ICH is one of the most applauded. while his traditional block buster/tick tock lettering and commonly accompanying but carefully drawn skull is awesome, the number of cars he is on is daunting. he is easily regarded as a king among graffitists.
 
Maybe one day the railroads will pass their cars over to these guys (and no doubt, girls) in primer, before reporting marks are done and save themselves the money for a paint job.
 
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