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Cool Graffiti (I hope this isn't a touchy subject)

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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, June 27, 2004 5:24 PM
DROP THE SUBJECT!
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, June 27, 2004 6:48 PM
Weather or not we want to admit it, grafitti IS part of railroad history and culture now. Yes, it is illegal, and most of it is terrable, but some of it is well done, or has a usefull message (Ive seen many that say "Stay in school". Somethimes there could even be a funny story behind it, like the gentleman here in Brunswick that was arrested while spraying his company's name on an autorack while drunk.

Why drop a topic that affects us whenever we railfan. we can discuss what we see, because we can, and because it exists. will dropping a topic stor the action from taking place? NO. whats done is done, and authough its better to not be done, the railroads can handle it without our bickering over weather it should be discussed or not.

(And just to put it in....I saw an autorack that said "Ed for President" along the whole leanght of it)

Just my 2 cents
THG
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, June 27, 2004 6:56 PM
Negative Captain- I refuse, and mark that down in your blue book, to drop the subject-

I expected a whole bunch of you to suddenly wantr the subject to be dropped- Wrong approcah

Please don't parent your children using such an approach, it leads to Children with insufficent bonds with their parents, and they will tend to hide a lot of stuff from you, if you use this approach.

pressing matters should not be swept under the rug unless you define ayourselves as one of these:

A) insuficent to deal with current and pressing matters

B) Afraid of the outcome-

Or C) just plain ignorant.

This issue is a pressing what as it is becomming more prevalent in today's society,

The fact that so many of you want this issue dropped somewhat scares me-

Is it your nature to not talk about pressing issues?

if so, you really shouldn't be on this forum, and you may want to take up an alternate life style that would involve more community awareness, so you might actually realize community issues, and problems that surround this world

I don't directrly deal with Freight cars, but people seem to enjoy spray painitng the F word on our passenegr cars like it is going out of style.. or drawing beautiful looking, but wrong stuff, If ther artist like it soo much, why don't they choose their own property to do so?

exactly my point, if the artist like it.. put it on your own car, garage door, and sport it around, it might become a trend..

No they choose unprotected property, to display their art..

NICE! just what we should all be advocating.

Is it worse to advocate screwing up other peoples property, or to advocate this topic be eliminated?

"too be or not to be, that is the question...."

A wise president once said, "the only way to discover new oceans, is to leave the comfort of your own shore"

I find many of you never do, your own island is how the world workes right?

Wrong.

this whole thing we call earth yealds many secrets.

And i'm not going to lie to you, msot of them are bad... if your shocked by this, which may appear as a startling revolution, your really in serious reality issues.

for those of you who really want this issue to die

TOO BAD!

learn to deal with current matters, support your legal system, and help take a bite out of crime,

or as the latest exercise adds put it,

"GET up, and GET OUT!

Learnm to deal with issues, talk with your children, talk with your friends, socialize with a community, STOP sweaping things under the rug

your not in the emerald city! your not in a magical land where nothing bad happens,

your on eartth, surrounded by crime of every type, and you have to face the music on ocasion.

don't play chicken, it's a dangerous game.


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Posted by tree68 on Sunday, June 27, 2004 7:34 PM
[soapbox]

The following points have thus far been been presented in Graffiti on railroad car threads:

[2c]Some graffiti is pretty good, worthy of praise on another medium.

[2c]Some graffiti is obscene.

[2c]Some graffiti just isn't art.

[2c]All graffiti is vandalism.

[2c]Those that tag should receive stiff penalties. Death has been suggested.

[2c]Taggers have a variety of motives.

[2c]You wouldn't want it done to your property.

[2c]The railroads are pretty much powerless to stop the activity.

[2c]Most people either feel that graffiti on railroad cars is either
A. A really bad thing, or
B. A part of the landscape anymore, so what the heck?

If I missed a talking point, it is probably contained in one of the following threads:

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4187

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3349

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11272

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12463

If someone has something new to post about graffiti, have at it. Otherwise it's all been discussed before, sides have been taken, and nothing has changed. Of course this thread can go on forever just discussing whether we should be discussing graffiti, but that would just be running up the participants post counts...

Off [soapbox]

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 29, 2004 8:55 AM
I agree it is vandalism. Yet, it is another aspect of this wide-ranging hobby/obsession.
I and others spend time looking and filming "Smokin Joe" grafitti.

Does anyone else out there look for Smokin Joe grafitti?

On a side note, what about a discussion on collecting railroad hardware that we see daily along the rails. To pick this up is it theft? Is it theft if we find it along abandoned rails?
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 29, 2004 9:21 AM
is it theft if its laying in the road thats right beside the rails?

No, I don't recall seeing the "Smokin joe" grafitti, but I have seen a few that used the names or letters on the cars as part of the grafitti's text. that can get funny.
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Posted by TH&B on Tuesday, June 29, 2004 10:00 AM
Grafitti is like the suface RUST on railcars and the WEEDS along the track or the dirt and filth many railcars are covered in, all part of the character of it all.

I often enjoy the "layers" covering an old freight car while hauling comodities. Just enough seethru paint attempting to cover the cars original faded identity by the new owner, partialy covered by surface rust, covered again by a layer of dirt, add some scraches, now a layer of grafitti here and there, more rust, more dirt, a little more grafitti tags another change in reporting marks etc... you can still see in a carefull study by a trained eye that ultimately this was once a ROCK ISLAND car !!!
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Posted by cherokee woman on Tuesday, June 29, 2004 1:54 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by tree68

QUOTE: Originally posted by Tree68

This has been here before. Despite any artistic merits the graffiti may have, a significant number still feel it's vandalism.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Willy2
[#ditto] Yes, I think it would be a good idea to let this topic drop.
Willy

Originally posted by Cherokee Woman
Amen

[/quote

GEEZ, I thought it was agreed upon to DROP this thread[:0][xx(]
Angel cherokee woman "O'Toole's law: Murphy was an optimist."
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 29, 2004 3:49 PM
Okay. We all know that graffiti's a no-no, although three years ago, I saw some graffiti "art" covering one side of a box car (Railbox, I think) that was unique. It was a picture of a school bus (go figure) complete with driver, and passengers. I have to wonder why someone with that talent would waste it by illegally spray painting the side of a box car, instead of using their ability to get a job.
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 29, 2004 6:19 PM
I'll drop this thread when I die.


that being said,

Lwt me cut you all a deal, how does this sound.. for the people who liek spray paint sh0t all over the place, i'll cut you a great deal...

send me an e-mail, with your adress, your name, where you live, and i'll be over there faster then you can say bug-on-a-rug and i'll spray paint the side of your house, and car, and anyhtign else you want done!

What a deal...

make sure when you e-mail me to begin with "Yes, i want spray paint.... etc..."

that lines will get me out of all legal trouble.

what do you say.. if it's art and you like it so much...
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Posted by TH&B on Wednesday, June 30, 2004 11:11 AM
I once owned a big green 71 IMPERIAL with a very home made looking black paint job. I was at the time planning on gettig some local punks to tag up the car to make it look realy scary. The effect being that nobody would dare cut you off or give you the finger on the hiways, I knew I wasn't scared if you accidently bumped into me because I wasn't getting out of you way in your brand new SUV lest you get a scratch or buy ME a new car, a much cheaper way to keep others away, even Hummers scare away.

So get any old beater and have it tagged up and you'll own the road cheap, don't spend big money on expensive crap that puts holes in your pocket and still doesn't realy dominate the road.
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 30, 2004 4:24 PM
440cuin,
thats funny. I had a cadilac beater one time that I decorated with a 12 guage shotgun, It had the same effect. Im suprised I never got pulled over and hasseled over it.
come to think of it, It even had some grafitti on it too.
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Posted by rixflix on Thursday, July 1, 2004 4:43 PM
For bullet-hole decals,which are more removable and quieter in execution, go to http://www.bullsballs.com/. After you cringe or laugh at the site's namesake offerings, scroll down to the bullet-hole decals. You too can amaze your friends and arouse the suspicions of neighbors, police and the Department of Homeland Security. What their other products might arouse is purely speculative and none of my business, but if I saw them on the road I'd know I was in or near a trailer park, the Borough of Queens, or Tijuana.
You could call this self-.....or how about.....auto-grafitt!! Auto-grafitti with it's connotations of decorated sedans, book and baseball signing, biography, etc. By Jove!!! My dictionary says grafitti is the plural form of grafitto: an inscription or drawing on a rock, wall, etc. Goes back through Italian and Latin to the Greek Graphein.
Self or autografitti is ok, defacement of public or private property is not, but brazen wit is.....PRICELESS!!! The nicely blocked letters L I O N E L on a PRR girder bridge outside of Philadelphia with Paoli locals whizzing back and forth was a revelatory sight back in the early 60's. Whoever the auteur was, he set my whole view of reality careening in a new irrevocable direction, and I've never looked back. Today I am certifiably wacko. I could pause here to discuss my theory of primary and secondary reality, but my clearest example involves female breasts in two short tales and is not suitable for this forum.
Anyway, if you had a million bucks wouldn't it be fun to repaint freight cars in their fallen flag or even "American Flyer LInes" motifs? Respecting of course, the reporting marks and vital data of their current owners. You could pay the owner for the privelege. Or imagine if
you owned an extensive factory with a secluded siding. A load comes in and empty, goes out in MoPac "Route of the Eagles" livery to the applause of countless railfans across the country. Hooray!!!

Rixflix

rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.

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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, July 1, 2004 4:51 PM
I still can't understand a damn word you say...


would love to hear this theory though,

only two words i picked up on... well I let you guess

[:D]
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, July 1, 2004 9:34 PM
THAT'S WHY I GAVE UP A LONG TIME AGO.
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Posted by rixflix on Thursday, July 1, 2004 10:17 PM
Thanks for your thoughts.
I know Tree68 is disdaining the thread but we need more philosophers here
Rix

rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.

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Posted by rixflix on Thursday, July 1, 2004 10:22 PM
And Kev, 2 out of about 400 isn't too bad for you, but you should put more effort into your studies!!!
Rix

rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, July 2, 2004 6:44 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by rixflix

Thanks for your thoughts.
I know Tree68 is disdaining the thread but we need more philosophers here
Rix


I do stop in from time to time to see if anyone has anything new to say. So far no surprises.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

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Posted by rixflix on Monday, July 5, 2004 3:12 AM
Again, what if a Katy flat car with TTX reporting marks rolled throuh your 'burg?

Is there good grafitti?

Rix

rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.

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Posted by traingeek087 on Monday, July 5, 2004 7:07 PM
I went to railroad days in Galesburg Illinois this year and there was 10 CEFX cars with reporting plates that were less than a month old and had grifiti written on the side, the same on each car.

I took a photo of them, and the closest cars number was 84198. Althought they were not in consecutive numbers because the next one was a 82000 series. I also have a photo of the grifiti.
Rid'n on the city of New Orleans................
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, July 6, 2004 7:50 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by rixflix

And Kev, 2 out of about 400 isn't too bad for you, but you should put more effort into your studies!!!
Rix


Hey rick, i'll whisper this so you only you can hear it.. it's better then your Zero...

i'll take my two out of 400 thanks..

oh and when you get your first book published send me a copy....

Yes, I was joking.

and post Script: numbers below ten must be spelled out, and even i know that.
one..two..three.. see the pattern?
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Posted by rixflix on Tuesday, July 6, 2004 8:41 PM
Hey kevin, the second tale tells all about making nipples stand up through a long shoot.Works for guys too!!!

rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.

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Posted by Modelcar on Tuesday, July 6, 2004 8:51 PM
Rix....Doing any exploring around on the old South Penn or East Broad Top this summer....?

Quentin

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Posted by rixflix on Tuesday, July 6, 2004 9:14 PM
No. not lately Q!! But I'm travelling with my son this summer and may get out that way.
Guess I've raised him right 'cause he wants to revisit EBT!!!
I'm long due there myself. If you are coming East from Indy let me know, and we'll try to find some Welsh Rarebit at a HoJo on the pike!!
Knock Jean Shepherd and Indiana into your pad and join the bugs on Indiana lakes.
Yer pal Rick/

rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.

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Posted by Modelcar on Tuesday, July 6, 2004 9:56 PM
...Gee that sounds familiar...HoJo on the pike...They were the best. Sorry places now compared to the originals. I'm out of EBT a loooong time too. Last time there was 1960...! But it was fun...We rode in the car with the wicker furniture.

Quentin

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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 6:04 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by rixflix

Hey kevin, the second tale tells all about making nipples stand up through a long shoot.Works for guys too!!!


I suppose you would know

Wanna hear the third tale rick?

it's about a guy, well nevermind.. you know it.
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 6:35 PM
OH boy.... now Graffiti sometime may look cool but if you noticed on some cars some jobs were takened a little too far?[:O] on a rack car painted from top to bottom with the words "G-UNIT" even on one car "...Or Die Tryin!"[xx(][8][B)][(-D][(-D] same thing on my fictional lines reported a BBE hopper car with paint top to bottom sayin "The Lone Byrd Lines..... They really taste like Chicken![dinner][(-D][(-D][(-D][:-^]
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Posted by rixflix on Thursday, July 8, 2004 10:00 PM
Quents, Welsh Rarebit was one of those signature HoJo things you could buy at the cashier station on your way out. It was a melted cheese type thing served on toast and packged in a can for take-away. It was great, and along with PRR navy bean soup, a tasty blast from the lamented past.
My dad tryed to order one in the late 60's and after describing it to a clueless waitress got mayonaisse and ketchup mix on toast,.

rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.

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Posted by UPTRAIN on Thursday, July 8, 2004 10:16 PM
Somebody wrote on an old UP SD40-2 ZACH IS BACK in huge blue letters, everyone thought I did it....I'M INNOCENT!!!! (really) [:D]

Pump

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Posted by rixflix on Thursday, July 8, 2004 10:20 PM
Kevin, tale two is about imagining a cold rainy day (imagine yourself in a duck blind in March) and the application of hair spray or artist's fixatif on each nip. It's good for hours, even under hot studio lights.
Tale one is about amazing, bountiful (fill in what you are thinking) parts of anatomy hovering above your glazing eyeballs.
Tale three is jest ol you living vicariously!!!
Can't report any cool grafitti recently, but am always on the lookout and may have a Fall project of my own. The PRR paint in my area could be freshened up a bit. Conrail and Amtrak haven't touched the stuff since 1976.
Faithfully, Rix

rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.

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