It's not the image that is created that makes it right or wrong, it's whether the image was created legally. A person can paint a picture on the side of a building, or a wall, or even a railcar, with the owner's permission, so it's art, and it's legal. The same person and picture, painted on any surface without permission, is graffiti, and a crime. We shouldn't confuse or conflate the two. The former should be adored, no matter how flawed. The latter decried, no matter how splendid.
I guess I am 'old' and therefore old fashioned. I consider the tagging of anything to be vandalism and embracing that only leads to more vandalism. There are some pieces of 'wall art' which I am not as offended by as long as it is tastefully done and okayed by the owner of the property. I seriously doubt that is the case with railroad equipment. While many of the graffitied rolling stock have impressive... umm... 'artwork ', I think some stuff is 'trashwork'. Now... the railroad companies have been very lax in maintaining their equipment in presentable condition... often leaving them as rust buckets which would be improved with some tastefully done graffiti. I have a few weathered rolling stock and graffitied ones too. These are done usually by Micro-trains. I am not a fan either since it seems to send the wrong message about lax maintenance and vandalism I will now retire to my 'old curmudgeons' rocking chair.
I have to chuckle at the notion that graffiti guys tag railroad cars so their 'art' can be seen by the masses.... 2 guys railfanning.... 1st guy..."Wow did you see the awesome graffit on that car ?" 2nd guy..."Nah it went by to fast!" 1st guy..."I wonder who the 'artist' was?" 2nd huy..."I didn't see that either!" 1st guy...'Bummer!" 2nd guy..."Uh huh!" Which makes one wonder....do grafitti 'artist' actually sign their works ??? "Yes law enforcement my tagger name is 'Ten Can Terry'....what boxcar did you say I tagged?" .
The real interesting shame is there are now at least 4 law firms dedicated to "protecting" the work of these artists as intellectual property, and they are in the process of "cease and desisting" anyone who uses the art as a salable item. If there is any push back from the producer, they then file a lawsuit. It gets rather expensive, so accurate prototypical graffiti might become rather scarce in the MRR market!.
Running around out side naked will be the next norm i cant hardly wait to see all them ladies running around every where and some not so much
The thought crosses my mind that manufacturers could simply create and copyright their own artwork. Yes. I know that your own is actually (supposedly) automatically copyrighted. But taking that extra step would surely make arguments far more difficult. There is so much of that trash out there, who would know it does not match a "prototype"?
When I was boat racing, I went up against some fellows in my class who had modified the Chevy and the Buick V6 motors. There were two using Chevy and really could go fast. But the one with the Buick (Stage II) just ran away from everyone, almost every time out.
They are nothing to ignore. The Chevy is essentially a 305 minus two cylinders. The Buick Stage II was intended for racing and has been used in many such functions- Boats, cars. Even used in NASCAR and Indy cars.
