Oh yes , there are some freight cars that have so little original paint that the graffiti is becoming structural. A friend used to work for a large hardware chain and apparently their industrial rubbish bins get raided at night. The company doesn't pay too much attention or care really. Spray paint vanishes quick. A national car parts chain, Supercheap, keeps their spray paint in cages and you need to provide ID to buy it. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/n...d/news-story/088bcd77f94f24ff970f4eee696354b3 These measures don't seem to do much to slow down graffiti. I guess they buy most of it.
Well, the person quoted did not allude to any socio-economic status. That being stated, I have seen and read of how many are more of the so-called "middle" class. They think it's a lark, a game, a challenge to see what they can get away with. Internally, dealing with folks from home, how liberal are your courts? If any of the offenders are from abroad, I would hope that your nation would come down on such invaders, hard. Maybe such as Singapore, (I applaud them for doing so), where they jailed and caned a visiting tagging offender from the US. And they have apparently also done the same to other visitors. Couple that to those who believe they are some sort of artist, gaining encouragement from the public who believe it is art, (encouraged by this admiration, articles such as this piece to go out and destroy even more private property, and even by manufacturers who copy and sell on their models), totally disregarding the fact it is always completely a criminal action.... I am sure the paint manufacturers are happy with the profits they are making from these aerosols, via sales they could not otherwise realize..............
I looked at those cases, and most of them are Darwin Award recipients. What were they thinking? Basically, not thinking. The rule that teens don't develop vital (survival) critical thinking skills before their twenties (some never do) seems to apply. Someone who hangs out of a moving train, especially where close clearances are involved, to spray illegible squiggles on the side of a train car, does... not... think!!! How many other teens or people traveling with them need trauma counseling to get over what they just saw? How much harm, besides degrading other people's property, do they actually cause? To their parents? Their friends? Other travelers on the train? Enough ranting. Need to go to work soon.
Good grief. We certainly live in strange times when something like this takes priority in people's lives. I'm surprised that fights don't erupt when spray-can laden tourists arrive en masse at the same siding or railyard.
I can't recall seeing any graffiti in anything other than what is supposed to be English ....... is nearly all scribble to me. We don't have a lot of tourists doing crime ..... visa overstaying will get you banned for 10 years, , that's noticeable at times. Although our government is sometimes called "liberal" a foreigner committing a crime can get them fined,........ or jailed, or deported, or fined and in jail, or fined and deported, or fined and jail and then deported ,,,, ooooooooooooorrrr deported and at the same time have a jail sentence in that order ..... I think it means come back and you instantly go to jail ! LOL ! It's an complicated system because only the states have jails ...... no federal prisons. Yet deportation is a Federal matter , states can't deport anyone. There is an invisible line around international airports (which can include motels, shopping centres, state and local council roads ) that is considered Federal land ..... only Federal police are supposed to be able to write traffic fines in these areas..... but they don't. State police quite often police these areas after a mountain of paperwork is completed. If you get a traffic fine in a Federal area from a state police officer then you have a date in Federal Court ............ confused yet ?? I used to work at Brisbane international airport cleaning planes and I remember seeing the number of people being "escorted" to a departing flight ..... there is a couple of airlines that have special customers quite often.
I am late to this party but I submit the following Y-T video that most all of you have probably seen. If this isn't the ultimate trespass and vandalism I don't know what is. I wonder if the UP ever found this group and did anything about it. The way our society thinks today, I rather doubt it. Yes, I did an N scale SD-90 in this scheme.
It looks astonishingly like your model, right down to the fangs and eyes. Personally, I find the better feat being painting such a beast in N scale.
Thanks Mike, but the eyes, nose, and mouth were decals. I did the rest and found that my 82 year old hand and finger shakes made it rather easy.
Those locomotives are stored out where it's dry, and likely very far from any regular traffic. It works for planes, so it must work for trains. Even automobiles.... I've read that this happened nearly six years ago. UP took it out of there and had it repainted in primer. What the RR press and the industry are worried about is that videos like these will encourage others to trespass on railroad property and get their thrills by damaging private property or some other dumb stunts.
I was kidding earlier that graffiti would take a twist like this. ........ either someone got a hold of the "Chessie" stencil or this is a very clever CSX publicity stunt.
This has made the rounds in fan groups, that someone could create such a perfect job in not much time. I must admit, it's quite impressive. I do feel sorry for CSX staff who may deal with some of the fallout, notably the Special Agent (railroad police) who'll likely have to invest time investigating and reporting the crime. Then there is the CSX leadership and graphic designers who made the decision to invest in and design a Heritage fleet, only to have it loudly rejected by fans. This puts a dim light on all railfans, furthering the image that we're all the same lot of obsessed trespassers.
I went out in search of that renegade Chessie unit Saturday morning and unfortunately missed it. Most people are referring to this as painted but there is speculation it may be a wrap instead which would allow for the prefect logo and lines plus would have allowed it to be done vert quickly vs the time it would have taken to paint it on that neatly. Either way, it has created a big stir within the railfan community in this area and an even bigger one with the RR employees here. What I wonder is how long it will stay like that?
If it is a wrap, it cost somebody a few dollars! I would guess it took a bit of skill to put it on as well. Cleaning the surfaces, and then doing the wrap. It would have taken several people to get it positioned and installed. And would have required a bit of time. If they are after whoever did it, backtracking to where this was first noticed, and then checking sign companies records....
Some dollars for sure. As for time. If thy were fairly good and planned it out well, 2 people could have done it in an hour or so. The other thing is if it is indeed a wrap, removing it will be a lot easier and less costly than a repaint for sure. Either way the deed is wrong but looks cool.
That's a pretty good job for graffiti... Looks way better than squiggly illegible lettering rattle-canned onto most rolling stock. Still, it's illegal, and as mentioned, can cast a bad light over us honest railfans, making our passion that much more difficult to practice.
........ the handrails are "Chessie'd" too so I'm still thinking paint. There doesn't appear to be any unauthorised paint on the walkways either as if someone was ultra careful not to leave shoe prints or paint on the soles their shoes. Next week on CSI Rail Yard !!!! .........
