I remember visiting New York in 1987 and was waiting for a subway train late at night, and I remember thinking that the opposite wall looked incredibly dirty, being totally covered with graffiti. Then it started to move, and I realized it was a train . . . .
I'm from NYC, I'm glad we are past the era of graffiti subway cars, nowadays it is super rare to see subway graffiti IRL except on the news. The only things I've seen are just little scribbles inside or etched, scratched windows
I have noticed that even in Germany, graffiti painters have even targeted the ICE trains for some time too. One person has even got creative and decided to blend in his creations with the existing design of the ICE.
@@khidorahian i have yet to come across one of these, if DB hasn't removed all of them by now. Look up "Razor Graffiti ICE" and you will see some of these designs.
I know a local tagger here in Edmonton who's been in the game a long time. She's told me that in the last decade or so the culture of tagging freight cars has gotten more respectful on each side of the fence. According to her artists actively avoid painting over car information and company logos now, and artists in the community that do are given a lot of shit. In return railroads let it stay up on an unofficial basis as long as its art and not just quick tags. This is just coming from one source though so it might not be super accurate.
Ive a who lived in Seattle and would tag in freight yards who said something similar. Once, a conductor inspecting the consist spoke to him and made sure he was being safe and wasn’t just a thug. The conductor let him continue and so the friend went as far as to repaint the number board since it was a little fadded
This is exactly how it should be in my opinion. Don't cover the important information or the logos, and as long as you don't get inappropriate it'll stay up.
This is actually super faithful to the subculture, all pretty spot on info. I like how you don't just immediately dismiss graffiti as "dirty" and "bad" like a lot of other railfans do. Also love the Jet Set Radio soundtrack
The thing is, everybody and their dog are now scribbling gobshite everywhere. The surface isn't even yours and all you're doing is put some squiggles on it like a toddler with a crayon. Sometimes even covering windows making riding the train unpleasant. I'm not even going to debate whether or bot the style is art as that's subjective. If you've got permission to spray somewhere, go have fun. It's the unsolicited plastering that gets me.
the problem isnt that there art is dirty and ugly or whatever. its that they sometimes cover information on train cars especially freight trains so it gets annoying for the workers and they just make their shit job even harder
Thanks AmtrakGuy365 for making this video when my parents were growing up they used to see graffiti on subway cars these days they’re pretty rare but I’ve seen some new subway cars with graffiti
On its own I don’t have too much of an issue with graffiti anymore. Some people make whole art pieces while others just tag, the spectrum is wild! Never really guessed the movement started in New York, despite horror stories from my parents about how bad the graffiti was in the subways when they were first built. As long as it doesn’t cover anything like the car number and reporting marks; it’s fine. Railroads don’t exactly pay for most of their cars to be “clean” anyway these days so glad someone else gets some artistic use from them.
Since you're obviously a 'train guy' I'm going to assume you more or less 'dashed off' your comment since you're surely aware they started building the first European and American subway systems (including NYC) around the turn of the 19th/20th centuries - unless of course you were referring to _your parents_ being 'built' in the 1970's, which would be an interesting way of putting it, I guess!
I remember the first time I saw graffiti on a train… In my home state of Western Australia, we don’t get as much of a “Canvas” for artists in terms of rolling stock, as the freight trains are simply limited to Iron Ore, Coal, and grain hoppers, or Container freight. These days this type of freight is mainly handled by Aurizon or WA’s farmers co-operative group CBH who run the grain trains primarily with their own engines And like the reasons you stated here, it was common place for the freight trains to be standing still for large periods of time, particularly in the outer suburbs of Perth, Geraldton and other regional centres. Hence, the Iron Ore hoppers and Grain hoppers run by Aurizon and CBH have become accustomed to being graffitied, which exposes peoples artwork to those who see the trains pass through their towns, or to all the Farmers and CBH workers at the grain silos. CBH have combatted this, as have Aurizon, cleaning up their cars at least once per season/year. It’s not exactly a common sight up on the Karara line anymore, but in places further south along Ex-Midland Railway trackage it’s still a common sight, especially around Towns like Moora, Northam and others I first saw such art around 2013-14 period when these grain cars were being shifted up north in preparation for the grain season from Perth, which is where people out in the regions got their own ideas Recently however, CBH has actually encouraged graffiti on their grain cars to promote rail-safe messaging so long as they don’t cover up important information about the hopper.
I heard from my brother in law who's from Western North Carolina that Asheville had such a bad tagging problem that they bought a small section of yard from NS, got them to put old cars there, and for a small fee and a permit, you could tag away on cars in that area of the yard
The amount of graffiti here in the UK on trains is generally dependent on where the trains are berthed, and how bad that area is (the presence of 750V third rail doesn't seem to deter them in South London). Also it seems to be an issue in Germany; I recall seeing footage of a Munich based class 423 EMU that had been effectively repainted blue, windows and all.
I personally don’t mind as long as the equipment is not anything like a coach I like seeing art on boxcars it gives it a nice look sometimes the art is really good and it’s hard not to enjoy it
Whenever I see a freight train and I don't spot any graffiti on the freight cars passing by, I always feel as if something crucial is absent. Also, I freakin' adore the Team Fabulous 2 reference: 4:55
As someone living in NYC, I think as long as graffiti isn't on the windows, doors, or important vents/lights its fine, especially because I hate how boring modern NYC subway cars look without any liveries. I also don't love if it's inside the train, unless it's really small and the train isn't covered in graffiti. It's a really cool art form though and I wish more people appreciated it.
As a railfan, I’ve only seen a few graffiti-free freight cars. Some people go out of their way to paint rail equipment, the most ridiculous one I’ve seen was the UP Rail Beast. I even saw a picture of a UP heritage unit with a tag on it.
Great video! One of my favorite things about American trains is the graffiti I see on them. So many amazing pieces of work, seeing a train go by can be like viewing a mobile art gallery, I love it! One thing I'd have added is that even some model train manufacturers are now producing models of rolling stock that have actual graffiti on them (literally the same graffiti that's on the real car with the same road##). Which I think is really cool too.
I enjoyed this video that you’ve put together! I would like and hope you would do something like this in the future but it’s ok if you choose not too. Graffiti is form a art which I can behind. It allows you to express yourself via putting graffiti as a way of expression and showing messages through your art, however, it still sets a dangerous precedent since it encourages ppl to essentially vandalize the subway while doing so at least in my mind. Great video, btw 👍.
This is also quite big here in britain as well. I remember seeing multiple aggregate trains that cut through my town have graffiti on several wagons. Passenger trains rarely if ever get any.
Graffiti especially on freight cars, gives a sense of identity as there was this one autorack train car that was in the rail yard for weeks that I recognize because it has the word "SPACE" graffitied on the side.
I found this very interesting. I'm against graffiti because it's vandalism and illegal but at the same time too, I, as someone who is an artist, find some of it very interesting and rather impressive. Ever since I've started doing hand painted graffiti and street art on some of my HO-Scale trains, I've been kind of amazed by some of the graffiti and street art out there. I'm definitely not in favor of it but at the same time too, it's kind of cool to see some of the work these artists do.
@@IndianaNorthWestern it’s vandalism. Some people enjoy things that aren’t screwed up by everyone else because they were bored and wanted to show their “art” to everyone
Great video as always! As someone who lives in NYC, it's always a shame I never really grew up in the era of big subway tagging. It always seemed so interesting and fun, and it helped artists who may not have had much exposure get their work to others. It's always a treat to me personally to see the odd bit of graffiti on subway cars today, even if it is just a small sticker or a simple tag. Adds more life and soul to the boring grays and blacks of subway cars, and makes for a more interesting look than the copious advertisements lining the car interiors.
What gets me is how, having killed off graffiti on the trains, they've copied from the writers' playbook and started putting the ads on the outside! Of course there's always been a tradition of public transport being festooned with ads inside and out, but that was the buses and the trams - I think there was always this understanding that it wasn't quite 'the thing' to advertise on the outside of the trains. Indeed, I think that was one of the things that was considered so audacious about what the graffiti 'writers' were doing! In fact there's only one thing that grates on me _even more_ than ads all down the entire length of the train on the outside - and that's the _'un -_ art' that has started to manifest on train exteriors (and on the hoardings around building sites) in the last couple of decades. Back in the '70's & '80's, people would argue about whether train graffiti was _'art',_ or was it 'vandalism'; but one had to concede that for the most part, it at least had _pretentions_ to be art... When _this stuff,_ abstract to the point of meaninglessness, first started to appear, it might (at a distance!) easily have been taken for graffiti. One's heart might even quicken (more in hope than expectation, like the old saying puts it) at the thought that some 'team' could have penetrated the yards defences and managed to execute a 'Whole Train'! *>`Huh!!‘
I'm not too sure what it is about Graffiti, and Graffiti on trains, but something really clicks in my mind. Its just so cool, ya know? Being able to view these incredible works of art, for free, and seemingly everywhere you look.
I work for the Oregon Steel mill an I see tons of graffiti on railcars but most of its either ugly or amateur but, I've seen a few beautiful tags an murals an I seem to be the only one at work who admire the tag an progress of getting better at the art!
I'm a MoPac fan, so I'm familiar with Bozo Texino and Herbie. According to one MoPac fansite, Herbie was a car inspector who worked for the Alton & Southern, a terminal railroad owned jointly by the MoPac and Cotton Belt. Back in the days before computers, car inspectors would scrawl things on the side of railcars after they finished inspecting them. Herbie got creative and began doodling a little man sleeping under a palm tree while wearing a sombrero on the cars he inspected.
Nowadays, Union Pacific crew members put SP or SSW dirt graffiti initials (enscribed within the dirt by using their fingers) on the dirty locomotives used on the Sunset Route. What's more interesting, is how some repainted ex-SP units even receive a nice little homage to their previous number (such as SP #146).
CSX is actually pretty good with graffiti, Railpool boxcars and branded CSX stock is usually pretty clean, even shiny sometimes. Though when its some leasing company or a BNSF grain hopper, they are absolutely covered. Weirdly enough, old railcars like Conrail Autoracks have no graffiti at all, which is crazy to think about. I always love seeing boxcars painted just to piss off foamers.
I remember as a kid in the 80s and 90s traveling alot on trains and seeing graffiti all along the rails. My dad didn't like it at all. To be fair he had reasons not to like it. He was a firefighter and picked up parts of kids that got injured/killed from trains. My brother who works the rails doesn't like it either for the same reason. When you see what a train can do to a human it changes one mind towards graffiti. As for me I think some of the works are nice but it's not worth the risk loosing ones life for some art work.
Very informative! Railroad graffiti is interesting to see, and sometimes I pay more attention to the art than the train I was watching in the first place. You’re less likely to see the same artwork twice
I always did kinda like certain graffiti since I've seen it on freight my whole life, I'm not too crazy about the smaller tags, although I have seen some pretty creative little tags, it can be pretty cool, it's nice to hear artists have been trying to leave car info untouched too. Although in certain cases seeing older and rarer freight tagged to shit kinda sucks, I guess it makes clean survivors cooler to see though.
Came back after the MTA's new R211s just got graffiti'd just a month after arriving, and now they had to waste money repainting them. Definitely came out of the taxpayers' pockets.
There is some Graffiti out there that is absolutely amazing so much so that it's kept arond or gets enough attention in the world to become model pieces for hobbiest. Then there is stuff that's pretty lewd or in bad taste that almost always gets removed immediately. There is this one tag that Ive grown to know for years of a Monkey with a cigar on the Maryland Midland Cement cars. Absolutely love seeing those once in a while. Even saw a coal train on CSX where every car had a mini penguin next to the road numbers.
but At the same time Its starting to Annoy railroad crew And If they were to put it on locomotives It would really rUin the paint scheme of the locomotive
From what I’ve heard theres a sort of code within the graffiti art movement AGAINST tagging the important info, all that aside though-very interesting little tidbit
I always thought the MTA should set aside one set of subway cars and invite artists to paint them, but with material covering up the windows, marker lights, and all other safety equipment. Would need to set some ground rules about graphic art or cursing, but most tag artists seem to be interested in leaving their name so that probably wouldn't be an issue. "Put your talents here instead."
I hate it. Its always racial slurs, swear words, unreadable letters, and actual nice art is rare. Most of the time it blocks historic railroad cars, I remember seeing a Penn Central hopper, but it was ruined by graffiti and had all sorts of other nasty stuff on it. I like art, but this isn't how you do it.
I say that all graffiti does (as long as it doesn’t cover information on the car) is make a boring brick interesting, and give it an extra layer of paint.
Graffiti is one of the worst trend ever. When done properly it is an art. However when the graffiti obstruct train conductor windows, then it is a real treat.
I feel you could have added at the end with a future outlook. Several models of railcars now have their reporting marks and other info raised to about 10ft up the car. I could be wrong, but I believe this will be a trend to save costs repeatedly painting over graffiti when it covers the numbers. I think at this point even MTA will tell you, graffiti isn't going away anytime soon.
I think the idea of a "public graffiti wall" could be applied to transit vehicles in an interesting way, with car aesthetics designed around panels for art, ads, etc. Better yet if those panels are removable and rotated through a space at the rail yard where artists can decorate them.
I will admit I'm not a fan of equipment getting defaced/vandalized, but I will give 'em credit where it's due, some graffiti artists are insanely talented. Some works just make you go "woah" and ultimately a bit sad as eventually they're going to get painted over.
I remember visiting New York in 1987 and was waiting for a subway train late at night, and I remember thinking that the opposite wall looked incredibly dirty, being totally covered with graffiti. Then it started to move, and I realized it was a train . . . .
I'm from NYC, I'm glad we are past the era of graffiti subway cars, nowadays it is super rare to see subway graffiti IRL except on the news. The only things I've seen are just little scribbles inside or etched, scratched windows
When I vistas NYC there was no graffiti subway and I love your channel
Crafteyfoxe! You're here!
It's him!
Man, haven't seen Crafty in a while.
Oh hey
I have noticed that even in Germany, graffiti painters have even targeted the ICE trains for some time too. One person has even got creative and decided to blend in his creations with the existing design of the ICE.
There is so much graffiti in Germany. It's crazy
any photos of that?
@@khidorahian i have yet to come across one of these, if DB hasn't removed all of them by now. Look up "Razor Graffiti ICE" and you will see some of these designs.
Thankfully, at least the ICE ugly garbage and the other stuff looks better now.
I know a local tagger here in Edmonton who's been in the game a long time. She's told me that in the last decade or so the culture of tagging freight cars has gotten more respectful on each side of the fence. According to her artists actively avoid painting over car information and company logos now, and artists in the community that do are given a lot of shit. In return railroads let it stay up on an unofficial basis as long as its art and not just quick tags. This is just coming from one source though so it might not be super accurate.
So much like in Bucharest with the old Astra IVA metros.
I’ve heard this a lot from railroaders, if you keep the important stuff on they don’t have a reason really to take it off
Ive a who lived in Seattle and would tag in freight yards who said something similar. Once, a conductor inspecting the consist spoke to him and made sure he was being safe and wasn’t just a thug. The conductor let him continue and so the friend went as far as to repaint the number board since it was a little fadded
Pretty sure it’s to the point Railroads decided to just clean off the paint covering IDs and RR names and leaving the rest on
This is exactly how it should be in my opinion. Don't cover the important information or the logos, and as long as you don't get inappropriate it'll stay up.
This is actually super faithful to the subculture, all pretty spot on info. I like how you don't just immediately dismiss graffiti as "dirty" and "bad" like a lot of other railfans do. Also love the Jet Set Radio soundtrack
The thing is, everybody and their dog are now scribbling gobshite everywhere. The surface isn't even yours and all you're doing is put some squiggles on it like a toddler with a crayon. Sometimes even covering windows making riding the train unpleasant.
I'm not even going to debate whether or bot the style is art as that's subjective. If you've got permission to spray somewhere, go have fun.
It's the unsolicited plastering that gets me.
@@lillywho yeah I agree. Some of it is really nice, but it's not their property.
Some of it is actually really good.
Others well arn't.
honestly i think the subway looks better with graffiti, it got a little out of hand, but the trains looked pretty with all the vibrant colors
the problem isnt that there art is dirty and ugly or whatever. its that they sometimes cover information on train cars especially freight trains so it gets annoying for the workers and they just make their shit job even harder
Thanks AmtrakGuy365 for making this video when my parents were growing up they used to see graffiti on subway cars these days they’re pretty rare but I’ve seen some new subway cars with graffiti
On its own I don’t have too much of an issue with graffiti anymore. Some people make whole art pieces while others just tag, the spectrum is wild! Never really guessed the movement started in New York, despite horror stories from my parents about how bad the graffiti was in the subways when they were first built. As long as it doesn’t cover anything like the car number and reporting marks; it’s fine. Railroads don’t exactly pay for most of their cars to be “clean” anyway these days so glad someone else gets some artistic use from them.
Since you're obviously a 'train guy' I'm going to assume you more or less 'dashed off' your comment since you're surely aware they started building the first European and American subway systems (including NYC) around the turn of the 19th/20th centuries - unless of course you were referring to _your parents_ being 'built' in the 1970's, which would be an interesting way of putting it, I guess!
I'm gonna be honest, some graffiti of some of this equipment is actually really good. Despite being illegal, Great video!
I kinda dig the aesthetic
I remember the first time I saw graffiti on a train…
In my home state of Western Australia, we don’t get as much of a “Canvas” for artists in terms of rolling stock, as the freight trains are simply limited to Iron Ore, Coal, and grain hoppers, or Container freight.
These days this type of freight is mainly handled by Aurizon or WA’s farmers co-operative group CBH who run the grain trains primarily with their own engines
And like the reasons you stated here, it was common place for the freight trains to be standing still for large periods of time, particularly in the outer suburbs of Perth, Geraldton and other regional centres. Hence, the Iron Ore hoppers and Grain hoppers run by Aurizon and CBH have become accustomed to being graffitied, which exposes peoples artwork to those who see the trains pass through their towns, or to all the Farmers and CBH workers at the grain silos.
CBH have combatted this, as have Aurizon, cleaning up their cars at least once per season/year. It’s not exactly a common sight up on the Karara line anymore, but in places further south along Ex-Midland Railway trackage it’s still a common sight, especially around Towns like Moora, Northam and others
I first saw such art around 2013-14 period when these grain cars were being shifted up north in preparation for the grain season from Perth, which is where people out in the regions got their own ideas
Recently however, CBH has actually encouraged graffiti on their grain cars to promote rail-safe messaging so long as they don’t cover up important information about the hopper.
That’s probably the best way to deal with it
That is honestly awesome.
During WW2 in Europe railroad workers and soldiers would write “Kilroy was here” and a head with a long nose on USATC locomotive’s and rolling stock.
I heard from my brother in law who's from Western North Carolina that Asheville had such a bad tagging problem that they bought a small section of yard from NS, got them to put old cars there, and for a small fee and a permit, you could tag away on cars in that area of the yard
Who would’ve thought that subway graffiti would become a worldwide phenomenon
Very interesting. Thanks for the video, I learned some new info about the correlation between graffiti and the rise of street art.
The amount of graffiti here in the UK on trains is generally dependent on where the trains are berthed, and how bad that area is (the presence of 750V third rail doesn't seem to deter them in South London). Also it seems to be an issue in Germany; I recall seeing footage of a Munich based class 423 EMU that had been effectively repainted blue, windows and all.
I personally don’t mind as long as the equipment is not anything like a coach I like seeing art on boxcars it gives it a nice look sometimes the art is really good and it’s hard not to enjoy it
It’s really nice to model as well
And if someone ever tags a preserved steam engine I'm going to freak out
Great little topic, nice work with this. I kinda forgot how relatively recent the whole graffiti movement is.
I like this video, Amtrak guy 365 always fail to Disappoint, and Always Succeed at making us EnterTRAINED.
Never would I have expected this video to be created and shared by this channel. Thank you Jared.
Whenever I see a freight train and I don't spot any graffiti on the freight cars passing by, I always feel as if something crucial is absent.
Also, I freakin' adore the Team Fabulous 2 reference: 4:55
As someone living in NYC, I think as long as graffiti isn't on the windows, doors, or important vents/lights its fine, especially because I hate how boring modern NYC subway cars look without any liveries. I also don't love if it's inside the train, unless it's really small and the train isn't covered in graffiti. It's a really cool art form though and I wish more people appreciated it.
They'd probably put liveries on if there weren't retards doodling on their shit.
This was really well done, thank you!
Wonderful video! As a NY’er it’s nice to see our grimy trains of old in one of your excellent vids lol
As a railfan, I’ve only seen a few graffiti-free freight cars. Some people go out of their way to paint rail equipment, the most ridiculous one I’ve seen was the UP Rail Beast. I even saw a picture of a UP heritage unit with a tag on it.
The Team Fabulous 2 reference goes hard, bonus points for funny Azumanga.
Two interesting things - Bomb the Suburbs is a great books on this topic, and renown artist Keith Haring got his start as a subway "artist".
I'm loving these short videos great info in a shot time keep it up :)
Great video! One of my favorite things about American trains is the graffiti I see on them. So many amazing pieces of work, seeing a train go by can be like viewing a mobile art gallery, I love it! One thing I'd have added is that even some model train manufacturers are now producing models of rolling stock that have actual graffiti on them (literally the same graffiti that's on the real car with the same road##). Which I think is really cool too.
I enjoyed this video that you’ve put together! I would like and hope you would do something like this in the future but it’s ok if you choose not too. Graffiti is form a art which I can behind. It allows you to express yourself via putting graffiti as a way of expression and showing messages through your art, however, it still sets a dangerous precedent since it encourages ppl to essentially vandalize the subway while doing so at least in my mind. Great video, btw 👍.
This is also quite big here in britain as well.
I remember seeing multiple aggregate trains that cut through my town have graffiti on several wagons.
Passenger trains rarely if ever get any.
oh they do, just the rail authority is quick to clean it off.
Graffiti especially on freight cars, gives a sense of identity as there was this one autorack train car that was in the rail yard for weeks that I recognize because it has the word "SPACE" graffitied on the side.
But Yet again it make the job harder for Railroad crew.
@@bnsflover7062 not if it is in some bare spot that doesn't contain anything important (and is of a smaller scale, too)
4:54 I loved the Team Fabulous 2 reference.
I saw the preview on twitter and this is great
I love how he can take any subject and make it about trains!
I found this very interesting. I'm against graffiti because it's vandalism and illegal but at the same time too, I, as someone who is an artist, find some of it very interesting and rather impressive. Ever since I've started doing hand painted graffiti and street art on some of my HO-Scale trains, I've been kind of amazed by some of the graffiti and street art out there. I'm definitely not in favor of it but at the same time too, it's kind of cool to see some of the work these artists do.
I hit the subscribe button as soon as I hear the Jet Grind Radio music reference!
You covered quite a bit in such a short amount of time well done.
Some railfans biggest pet peeves
100 percent mine
Bruh
Real railfans enjoy good graffiti on rolling stock.
If you disagree you're under the age of 16 most likely.
Yes, because sometimes it's an old boxcar but I can't see the company!
@@IndianaNorthWestern it’s vandalism. Some people enjoy things that aren’t screwed up by everyone else because they were bored and wanted to show their “art” to everyone
Great video as always! As someone who lives in NYC, it's always a shame I never really grew up in the era of big subway tagging. It always seemed so interesting and fun, and it helped artists who may not have had much exposure get their work to others.
It's always a treat to me personally to see the odd bit of graffiti on subway cars today, even if it is just a small sticker or a simple tag. Adds more life and soul to the boring grays and blacks of subway cars, and makes for a more interesting look than the copious advertisements lining the car interiors.
What gets me is how, having killed off graffiti on the trains, they've copied from the writers' playbook and started putting the ads on the outside! Of course there's always been a tradition of public transport being festooned with ads inside and out, but that was the buses and the trams - I think there was always this understanding that it wasn't quite 'the thing' to advertise on the outside of the trains. Indeed, I think that was one of the things that was considered so audacious about what the graffiti 'writers' were doing! In fact there's only one thing that grates on me _even more_ than ads all down the entire length of the train on the outside - and that's the _'un -_ art' that has started to manifest on train exteriors (and on the hoardings around building sites) in the last couple of decades. Back in the '70's & '80's, people would argue about whether train graffiti was _'art',_ or was it 'vandalism'; but one had to concede that for the most part, it at least had _pretentions_ to be art... When _this stuff,_ abstract to the point of meaninglessness, first started to appear, it might (at a distance!) easily have been taken for graffiti. One's heart might even quicken (more in hope than expectation, like the old saying puts it) at the thought that some 'team' could have penetrated the yards defences and managed to execute a 'Whole Train'! *>`Huh!!‘
@@richiehoyt8487 Indeed. It's all rather bleak, if you ask me.
Working in a small railyard I see plenty of cool spray paint and chalk tags.
I love that last sentiment, the art out in the real world for everyone to see. My dad subscribes to the idea that real art is only in a gallery.
I honestly dig most of the art you see on trains these days. Saw one the other day of Bart Simpson
Ayy! JSRF music! Nice song choice for graffiti haha
This feels more like a history of graffiti than trains, it’s very very fascinating tho!
The Jet Set Radio music was a nice touch.
I'm not too sure what it is about Graffiti, and Graffiti on trains, but something really clicks in my mind. Its just so cool, ya know? Being able to view these incredible works of art, for free, and seemingly everywhere you look.
Yeah, graffiti is a classic sight on Australian railcars our very common grain hoppers are often coated in tags
I work for the Oregon Steel mill an I see tons of graffiti on railcars but most of its either ugly or amateur but, I've seen a few beautiful tags an murals an I seem to be the only one at work who admire the tag an progress of getting better at the art!
Another great video, thanks!
5:00 OSAKA?!?!
I'm a MoPac fan, so I'm familiar with Bozo Texino and Herbie. According to one MoPac fansite, Herbie was a car inspector who worked for the Alton & Southern, a terminal railroad owned jointly by the MoPac and Cotton Belt. Back in the days before computers, car inspectors would scrawl things on the side of railcars after they finished inspecting them. Herbie got creative and began doodling a little man sleeping under a palm tree while wearing a sombrero on the cars he inspected.
Nowadays, Union Pacific crew members put SP or SSW dirt graffiti initials (enscribed within the dirt by using their fingers) on the dirty locomotives used on the Sunset Route. What's more interesting, is how some repainted ex-SP units even receive a nice little homage to their previous number (such as SP #146).
Let's do this.. or not.
I love these videos! Thanks!
Really well done video
CSX is actually pretty good with graffiti, Railpool boxcars and branded CSX stock is usually pretty clean, even shiny sometimes. Though when its some leasing company or a BNSF grain hopper, they are absolutely covered. Weirdly enough, old railcars like Conrail Autoracks have no graffiti at all, which is crazy to think about. I always love seeing boxcars painted just to piss off foamers.
Speaking of CSX, have you seen that Dash 8 with a Conrail logo graffitied on it? Pretty obvious some foamer did that lol
I saw a lot one time on vacation,it was actually nice art all around,even saw Spongebob and tails around walls and blocks
I shudder to think of the sheer amount of people who have gotten killed while trespassing on railroad property for the sake of these tags…
I have seen a freight train that just sits there, and I admire the art when I pass it
Jet Set Radioooooooo!
0:55 Lovin the DKC music!
Painting the trains white is just like giving us a new canvas
I remember as a kid in the 80s and 90s traveling alot on trains and seeing graffiti all along the rails. My dad didn't like it at all. To be fair he had reasons not to like it. He was a firefighter and picked up parts of kids that got injured/killed from trains. My brother who works the rails doesn't like it either for the same reason. When you see what a train can do to a human it changes one mind towards graffiti. As for me I think some of the works are nice but it's not worth the risk loosing ones life for some art work.
the fact that I got an ad about Graffiti Remover when I clicked on this video is funny
Very informative! Railroad graffiti is interesting to see, and sometimes I pay more attention to the art than the train I was watching in the first place. You’re less likely to see the same artwork twice
I think it would be interesting to see like railroad oriented graffiti. Like a stylized locomotive or something on a car.
This is some great facts about subway graffiti especially New York
I always did kinda like certain graffiti since I've seen it on freight my whole life, I'm not too crazy about the smaller tags, although I have seen some pretty creative little tags, it can be pretty cool, it's nice to hear artists have been trying to leave car info untouched too.
Although in certain cases seeing older and rarer freight tagged to shit kinda sucks, I guess it makes clean survivors cooler to see though.
Could you imagine if taggers started spaying "Union Pacific," "BNSF," "CSX," etc. in graffiti style all over cars?
Came back after the MTA's new R211s just got graffiti'd just a month after arriving, and now they had to waste money repainting them. Definitely came out of the taxpayers' pockets.
Just looked at the layout&the tag'rs have hit again lol🚂🇨🇦🇺🇲🚃🎨🖌
Personally myself I both love graffiti and a railfan so to see a railfan talk about graffiti history is very cool
This is vandelism plain and simple.
I like that Scout from TF2 was in this.
There is some Graffiti out there that is absolutely amazing so much so that it's kept arond or gets enough attention in the world to become model pieces for hobbiest. Then there is stuff that's pretty lewd or in bad taste that almost always gets removed immediately. There is this one tag that Ive grown to know for years of a Monkey with a cigar on the Maryland Midland Cement cars. Absolutely love seeing those once in a while. Even saw a coal train on CSX where every car had a mini penguin next to the road numbers.
I once saw a center beam car with a giant F word on the side. I refused to film the train because of it.
My dad hates graffiti on freight cars but I love it, it makes it less boring as you wait for the train to get out of the way
but At the same time Its starting to Annoy railroad crew And If they were to put it on locomotives It would really rUin the paint scheme of the locomotive
I’ve actually noticed a bunch of tanker and grain cars with grattifi on them a few times before.
4:55 love the kitty0706 reference
great video 👍😮
I hope there is a special place in hell for people that do graffiti.
I found cookie monster graffiti on one of the trains I saw. Its the Boston and Albany one if you want to see it.
From what I’ve heard theres a sort of code within the graffiti art movement AGAINST tagging the important info, all that aside though-very interesting little tidbit
I always thought the MTA should set aside one set of subway cars and invite artists to paint them, but with material covering up the windows, marker lights, and all other safety equipment. Would need to set some ground rules about graphic art or cursing, but most tag artists seem to be interested in leaving their name so that probably wouldn't be an issue. "Put your talents here instead."
I hate it. Its always racial slurs, swear words, unreadable letters, and actual nice art is rare. Most of the time it blocks historic railroad cars, I remember seeing a Penn Central hopper, but it was ruined by graffiti and had all sorts of other nasty stuff on it. I like art, but this isn't how you do it.
I once saw a center beam car with a giant F word on the side. I refused to film the train because of it.
I say that all graffiti does (as long as it doesn’t cover information on the car) is make a boring brick interesting, and give it an extra layer of paint.
i wonder why most old pics/footages of tagged subway trains are on the A division?
Is that a kitty0706 callback at 4:57?
I talked to a guy in Durand that made graffiti decals for model trains.
There was a beautiful portrait of Marge Simpson on a railcar I saw roll through Metro Chicago. Freakin awesome.
Curious question but was have graffiti artists restrict them self to fright cars and not on passenger cars and Locomotives?
Graffiti is one of the worst trend ever. When done properly it is an art. However when the graffiti obstruct train conductor windows, then it is a real treat.
I feel you could have added at the end with a future outlook. Several models of railcars now have their reporting marks and other info raised to about 10ft up the car. I could be wrong, but I believe this will be a trend to save costs repeatedly painting over graffiti when it covers the numbers. I think at this point even MTA will tell you, graffiti isn't going away anytime soon.
6:50 even the New York City subway is still falling victim to it
Amazing Intro
Some graffiti looks amazing, but those that just write their name in a thin line or paint over every window on a train car are assholes.
I see freight train 🚃 pieces all the time here in Boston
No lie, I KCS autorack tagged with:
"I think Toy Story 3 wasn't Good"
I think the idea of a "public graffiti wall" could be applied to transit vehicles in an interesting way, with car aesthetics designed around panels for art, ads, etc.
Better yet if those panels are removable and rotated through a space at the rail yard where artists can decorate them.
Great video
It's kind of funny how hard it is to find a clean, non-graffitied freight car 🤣
4:57 a wild Osaka appears
I will admit I'm not a fan of equipment getting defaced/vandalized, but I will give 'em credit where it's due, some graffiti artists are insanely talented.
Some works just make you go "woah" and ultimately a bit sad as eventually they're going to get painted over.