With movements like this its no wonder the public still thinks railroads are dying and trucks move everything. While the pedestrians and photographers are chased off the property the vandals continue to have a free for all! What a joke!
Jim Norton
Huntsville, AL
Otherwise, this would have been a profound photo with a modern locomotive paint scheme, two "fallen flag" boxcars and an iconic caboose.
What are you talking about?
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
Talking about what a shame it is to see modern day railroading represented in this manner. Despite the fact that the railroads are thriving they can't shake the association with graffiti and its conveyance of crime and decay. I saw this photo and found it disturbing that vandals have the power to leave such a mark.
One of his usual non sequitur rants.
Norm
jimnorton Talking about what a shame it is to see modern day railroading represented in this manner. Despite the fact that the railroads are thriving they can't shake the association with graffiti and its conveyance of crime and decay. I saw this photo and found it disturbing that vandals have the power to leave such a mark.
Glad you found the photo - none of us sees it!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Well darn. I guess it was a copyright issue despite the photographer being credited. Anyway, a pathetic train consisting of a nice CSX locomotive pulling two heavily tagged Wisconsin Central boxcars and a heavily tagged Conrail wide vision cab.
Just wanted to share it as it staggered me for a minute. Forgive the graffiti rants but its the elephant in the room that nobody wants to acknowledge. And, its to a point something needs to be done.
Were the engines not able to get the boxcars to their customers?
jimnorton... a nice CSX locomotive pulling two heavily tagged Wisconsin Central boxcars and a heavily tagged Conrail wide vision cab.
In other words, two revenue loads being picked up or delivered (or empties to be loaded or that were unloaded). The shove platform (caboose) indicates a significant shove move to make that pickup/delivery.
Odds are the only thoughts that any motorists who experienced the move had were that it was holding them up on their way to wherever they were going.
The chief reason that the general public doesn't realize how much materiel moves by rail is because they don't interface with it. Remember that between a third and a half of all rail traffic moves at night, often over stretches of track with no public interface (ie, crossings).
All truck traffic moves over the highway system. The public has no way of avoiding interfacing with it.
The cars in the picture (as described, anyhow) apparently were fully capable of handling a load, unless they were on their way to the scrapper...
Larry 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...
Yes the boxcars were able to get to the customer. But who appears more capable? The company providing the consignee with two derelict looking graffiti laden boxcars or the company providing two shiny white and chrome trailers with a pride of ownership not obscured with spray paint? Whether one believes it or not the image will eventually factor in.
The one that gets the cars there for the best price. The people making those decisions don't care what the boxcars look like on the outside.
Not everyone is hung up on graffiti.
I really don't understand the statement "hung up on graffiti" within a community of what should be rail supporters. You must not aspire to much if you find the wholesale destructiof the nation's railroads trivial. Yet, coming from a nation of slobs (look around) its not surprising!
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Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Whoelsale destruction. A bit of an overreach, I think.
jimnorton I really don't understand the statement "hung up on graffiti" within a community of what should be rail supporters. You must not aspire to much if you find the wholesale destructiof the nation's railroads trivial. Yet, coming from a nation of slobs (look around) its not surprising!
It appears the railroads are content with public relations generated from a grade crossing accident or a hazardous cargo spill. I have noticed that any time the media speaks of "hard working Americans" railroaders are never included in the list. Or "getting goods to market." Its always the trucker and never the railroaders.
The irony here is the railroads are thriving yet, nobody is noticing it. I can't think of many businesses which do not want to tell how good they are. Or, content to let the competition take all the credit.
The better question is would you eat at an establishment in a neighbor hood plasterd with graffiti?
Wholesale destruction? I'll stand by that. When you compare the cost dealing with graffiti two decades ago and today ........Well, thats millions of dollars wasted away on painting, reapplying data and stripes.
So how has UPS, Pods, Two Men and a Truck, and JB Hunt missed the mark by proudly promoting what they do? All that paint, graphics and marketing mean nothing to the end user who gets a package, rents a storage container, moves his home or ships a product. Why do they bother?
Hooters has made a reputation of what the server looks like who waits on your table! Image and public relations works real good there!
If I am not mistaken, Pullman Standard built the first Union Pacific boxcars adorned with the "automated railway" logo in 1966. This boasted computerized traffic management for UP's freight operations. Many will recall these yellow boxcars, with silver trucks, sills and ends along with the colorful automated logo as very eye catching. If the cosignee doesn't care why did Union Pacific bother proclaiming its automated railway? (hint: pride)
Anybody who thinks highway trailers are immune to, "Unauthorized redecoration," hasn't seen the ones coming out of the LA basin.
You have to remember that Mrs Volvo has no idea how the goods got to the store. For all she knows, they were delivered by helicopter. As for the raw and semi-finished materials that require additional processing before becoming something on a retail shelf or a showroom floor...
So the media don't seem to include rail personnel in their roster of, "Hard-working Americans." So what. Anyone expecting truth or fairness from the present-day crop of pundits would be just as likely to get a transfusion from a turnip. Modern mainstream reporters are simply shills for advertising. The other side of this was that I never based MY self-esteem on how much respect I got from mundanes who couldn't understand my job, never mind do it.
Chuck (Retired USAF)
No one including the railroads, thier customers, the share holders or the general public cares about graffetti. Time to move on.
http://abc13.com/news/police-arrest-spray-painting-suspect-dressed-as-tiger/362453/
Yeah...destruction of the world as we know it is just around the corner.
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Mr. Norton, please explain what you are so obsessed over graffiti on freight cars?
It's probably good that someone is outspoken about it. Yet, there's not much the railroads can do to stop this kind of vandalism. Maybe they can quit wasting money on painting their cars and locomotives in the first place. Just let everything go out with primer and basic lettering. At least they'll save a few million on paint.
My issue with "graffiti" is to wonder why it is that the railroads seem so concerned about someone reasonably nicely dressed, with a reasonably nice car parked nearby, holding an expensive camera and perhaps also with a costly radio scanner standing on public property but admittedly near railroad property lines -- while young urban vandals holding multiple cans of spray paint apparently have all the illegal rail property access they need to create their "masterpieces" (some of which clearly take hours of work).
The rail security forces seem more concerned with a responsible adult citizen taking an image of a train from along the right of way than with some punk whose motivations might by no means always be benign wandering the rail yards in the dark of night, actually touching the equipment, and carrying metal cannisters the contents of which might be paint but might not be paint.
Graffiti is proof that the nation's rail yards are not secure whatever. That should give us all pause.
Dave Nelson
jimnortonThe irony here is the railroads are thriving yet, nobody is noticing it. I can't think of many businesses which do not want to tell how good they are. Or, content to let the competition take all the credit.
You've been so busy lamenting a bit of spray paint on the sides of some box cars that you've missed the commercials being run by the Class 1's. And that's been going on for several years now.
As for "billboard" painting on cars, that's been passe for years - nobody does it any more. Reason? It costs money that could be better put to work funding service improvements.
As has already been mentioned, the customer really doesn't care what the car looks like, as long as the product is delivered in good condition, and on time. In fact, odds are the only people from a given company that actually see said box car are the guys (and gals) on the loading dock. And I can pretty much guarantee they don't really care.
And while you lament that graffiti might lose customers for the railroads, you yourself note that they are enjoying a traffic boom that actually threatens their ability to provide the service they promise. Graffiti had absolutely nothing to do with the reefer outfit that recently closed down.
As a body, I'd opine that all of those here on the forum dislike graffiti, too. But we don't see it as anywhere near the problem that you seem to.
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