a must visit if you like rail graffiti. these guys have a lot of cool stuff and an instagram. been following them for a while. https://www.tinygiants.us/
The only way a tagger, or their work, is going to appear on my layout, is if the tagger is in handcuffs, being stuffed into the back of a patrol car. I don't care how "beautiful" their work appears, it is vandalism without the permission of the owner of the property being tagged. Why do we want to glorify that? How would they like it if I spray painted "Go tag yourself" on their front door? My layout, my rules. Your mileage may vary.
Agreed. It is not art. It is a criminal act of destroying someone else's property for their own selfish entertainment. It usually is two offenses. The first is trespass, then comes vandalism. Even the most plain of freight car paint schemes is many, many thousands of dollars, destroyed. This is one reason North American fleets look so ratty, is the owning companies are unwilling to spend any money to repaint what they know will swiftly be wrecked.
I used to agree with the conservative approach to graffiti and rail cars. I am pro law enforcement and I have zero problem with the law coming down on them if they are caught. That said, it has sort of become part of the culture and to be honest, it led me into this hobby full time. Some of it is garbage, some of it is amazing and some in between. There is good and bad graffiti in terms of quality. Just scrawling a tag is trash. Doing a full on throwup and taking time and putting effort into it is art. If the trains didn't travel state to state or if the railroads took if off more quickly they wouldn't do it. The biggest enemy to graffiti is quick removal. The Showtime documentary shows both sides and was really good. ===> I don't think anyone is saying you have to put it on your layouts. Some of us appreciate the art. That's all.
Hmm- sounds like the railroad bulls will be handing out beat downs on some of our layouts to vandals! Officer Harris here practises zero tolerance.
I hope Mr Ness got something a little faster than a model A. Think he had a Chrysler. Got a lot of pre WW2 model autos in N gauge.
Uh oh, looks like you touched a nerve in Ms. Dee Rayle. Hmm... I swing from tree to tree... what do I know about cars...?
Really?! So this degenerate behavior is the railroad's fault?! The biggest enemy to graffiti is a jail cell, or community service removing or covering graffiti.
I never said it was the railroad’s fault. I said if the trains weren’t traveling so far the incentive would be less or nill. I have defended UP in their case against Los Angeles County and Gascon not going after the looters - It’s law enforcements job. I simply stated WHY graffiti artists do what they do. They want the work to be seen. Trains provide exposure. It doesn’t mean you are blaming the industry. I am simply stating the facts.
For me, the worst part of railroad graffiti is it reminding me of the degeneration of American society/culture. Doug
Another one that doesn't permit graffiti on their layout. Besides a lot of times graffiti interferes with the car data reading system.
Sorry, I mistook your stating of others' ideas as your own. Nevertheless, the idea is, if railroads only shipped locally, or immediately took tagged railcars out of service (and revenue) to clean/repaint them (at their own expense), then the taggers would not deface the railroads' property. That's kinda like saying "if the banks didn't have so much money, or the stores didn't have so much merchandise, they wouldn't be robbed." Who was it that when asked "Why do you rob banks?" answered, "Because that's where the money is!" I flip that around and say, if people had more respect for each other and their property, this wouldn't happen! If these "misguided artists" had intelligence and respect to match their talent, they would find someone to publish their work, and maybe even get paid for it. But these degenerates don't care how much or whose property they damage, just so long as their crap will be seen by others. Apparently the penalties for doing so are not nearly strong enough to deter them.
Again - I'm not rationalizing the defacing of property - I'm simply stating why they do it. It's a hard crime to catch - they do it in the dark, they do it with lookouts, they are hard to catch. You are free to have the strong stance you do and that's respectable. I simply tried to explain what the motive is for graffiti artists when it comes to trains. Why the trains are targets: 1. The nature of travel of trains gives the artists noteriety in their community 2. It's easy to get away with it 3. The railroads don't clean it off quickly or at all 4. Little fear of getting caught I simply said I like some of the art - if that makes me a criminal for thinking that so be it. For some rail fans, foamers and model railroaders like me, the graffiti brought me into the hobby. That may not be what others link to it is, but for me that's how I got into it. That and my cousin is an engineer for CP in Wisconsin.
Many of them are making money doing it legally - many are doing murals in cities all over the country. Some do legal and illegal work. Some just do legal work. The thing a mural or wall doesn't give them, is the "moving canvas" that a train car does. I think if the railroads wanted to deter it, they'd be better off making it too easy and invite the graffiti artists into the yard. Part of the allure is the fear of getting caught, the adrenaline rush of doing something taboo. Again, not rationalizing, just explaining the though process. I'll even admit this, I used to have the very opinions you do. Then I met one of them about 19 years ago. He was an artist who lived in my building and he was not only a graffiti artist, he was a train hopper. His explaining of riding a rail car through the big sky country in the pitch dark and looking up at the stars - that sounded appealing. I'd never do it, but it sounded interesting. 19 years ago, graffiti and muralism was frowned upon. Now cities are embracing it and bringing in world renowned artists to revitalize areas like Wynwood Miami, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, almost every city on the east coast I've been to has murals and a thriving business and art community - and it's largely because of the murals. People want to spend time in these neighborhoods. To some, they hate it, they think it's gentrification.
