Is there a solution to the graffiti problem?

Photo by Payson Wild.

Graffiti on railroad equipment is epidemic, of course, in the early 21^st Century. If there is a graffiti-free freight car anywhere in the US, Canada and Mexico, it has been just released from the manufacturing plant or repair facility. It will not be long before it is “tagged.”

Unfortunately, graffiti on freight cars has replaced the old slogans the public use to see including such monikers as “Route of the 400s, Way of the Zephyrs, Santa Fe all the way” etc. Those freight car advertisements, coupled with railroad operated passenger trains, gave the public a close connection to railroads in the first decades following World War II.

Those days are gone, of course. Today the public perceives the industry largely as Amtrak and tagged rolling stock. The railroad freight industry in North America is largely invisible in the public eye except when viewing heavily graffitied freight cars. Other than investors, who is really aware of the railroad industry’s post-Staggers era of efficient and profitable operations and increased market share?

Yes, fighting graffiti is a constant battle. Few taggers get caught and the problem continues with the public image of the railroad industry taking a hit. There could be a solution, however, or at least a partial solution to the railroad graffiti matter. That solution may be that “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

Yes, tagging freight equipment is criminal but some graffiti is actually quite artistic and clever. Perhaps there is a way of encouraging genuinely clever and good artists to come out of the shadows and develop designs that can be approved by railroads and car owners and applied to their rolling stock, either directly and/or by shrink-wrap.

The artist known as “Banksy” has developed quite a following in London and New York with his gifted art. Why not permit equally good graffiti artists to have legitimate canvasses and outlets for their work while applying approved and clever artistry and messages to rolling stock? Doing so would cut down on the preponderance of gang tagging while, perhaps, reincorporating positive railroad slogans and messages. Those messages, contained in owner-approved and well-done artistry could include railroad and car owner logos in a manner that would generate positive public interest and publicity.

Would a program allowing truly gifted artists to apply their art to railroad rolling stock, either in direct applications and/ or by shrink-wrap for large orders, be a positive solution to a negative situation? Let’s see:

• Railroads develop approved and attractive designs and messages while reducing gang and other mundane graffiti. Reduced graffiti clean-up costs might help to underwrite the application of good art on rolling stock.
• True artists create their art through legitimate means on “canvasses” that travel throughout the country and across borders. They receive significant public awareness and recognition for their creativity.
• Public perception of railroads gains positive traction (no pun intended) and becomes more widespread through both public and social media exposure. The industry reconnects more closely to the public and regains closer ties to the communities through which railroads pass. Instead of ignoring freight trains, public viewing of them might become more inspirational as the art rolls by. Better public perception of the industry could provide for more political capital, especially as railroads fight attempts at re-regulation.
• The railroad industry becomes noted for helping communities, especially in urban centers, with outlets for gifted young talent that has been latent while dealing effectively with a problem that has been expensive to prevent and to clean-up.

Why not let good art replace bad art on rolling stock while enhancing the positive image of railroads and creating legal outlets for truly gifted artists, all in one endeavor?