I have seen loads of graffiti on trains lately during my trainwatching sessions and I want to give y'all some advice on how to do it so that your graffiti will last longer. Removing graffiti is costly for railroads so they don't do it unless they have to. Personally I love graffiti on railcars because the artwork is always so cool. But I have seen way too much graffiti lately that is done in a way where it will be removed. First thing, I think this is common knowledge already because lots of the graffiti I see does this but I want to restate DO NOT COVER UP MARKINGS. Any letters, numbers, words, or even colored stripes you see on the side of a train car are important to the sorting and arrangement or cars in a consist. Covering markings is a surefire way to get your markings removed within a couple days if not hours of it being marked. But if you do cover up markings be sure to put them back on afterwords in bright colors so that they stand out from your artwork. Second, don't mark on passenger cars or locomotives, passenger services like to keep a clean appearance, not only is it going to be removed 100% of the time, but in some cases it can be dangerous. On intercity trains the driver sits inside of the front car. And if you cover up windows (even passenger windows) the engineer won't have good sight-lines, I see this happen most commonly on subways but I have seen it happen on light rail as well. Third, and finally, be safe, not really tips on spray painting per say, just tips on how to actually do the process of painting. If you hear a whistle get away from the train, pulling signals are different depending on the railroad so always step away from the train if you hear a whistle. Don't go near the couplers or wheels, obvious stuff but the wheels and couplers are dangerous, wear short clothing as to avoid stuff getting stuck and don't put your fingers, feet, arms, legs, or any part of your body for that matter near the train when it pulls. When a train pulls there is an effect called slack action that can knock you off your feet if you are touching or in the train at the time.
I love graffiti on freight trains, just be courteous to rail workers, don't cover markings, and be safe.
Personally Ashland, Elkhart, Kearney and Fort Madison are my favorites.
Amtrak is one of my favorites though and I really wish I could see the West Davisville cam, which is premium... :(
Link to the channel if you don't know what I'm talking about and is interested in watching
I've been fascinated with trains all of my life, but even though my life is very much in the dumps (I plan on running off once I turn 18), I'll probably never hop one. Now, railroad workers from what I've seen hate most railfans. Callin us "foamers" and shit. Do y'all hate us too?
I've seen some pretty varied opinions on train hoppers amongst the community. Some folks love them (one time I saw a railfan make a tribute to Stobe), others seem to see them as an oddity, like seeing a specially painted engine at the front. I'm sure, though, given how much railfans all seem to hate graffiti on trains, that a lot of them hate you guys.
I highly doubt any railfan is ever gonna get punished as harshly as a trainhopper when caught, but we do have some beef with the bulls. Many railroads, especially passenger ones I've seen, are convinced that someone taking pictures of trains is probably preparing for a terrorist attack or some bullshit. I've actually had someone threaten to call the cops on me because I was hanging out by the tracks.
So, how do y'all feel about folks like me? Are we your friends, are we completely irrelevant to y'all's struggles, or are we allies of the bulls in your eyes?
Hi all,
I work as a provider for an individual who loves trains. I work with him on Sundays, and was wondering if anyone knew of any good spots to go railfanning on Sunday's in NE Ohio? We went to the Berea depot and caught a couple trains. Also went to Sterling, OH a couple weekends ago, but didn't see anything. Any help would be appreciated.
This video is a little longer than 45 minutes. That's a long video, but there is a lot of good information in it for newbies---some Florida railroad history, some insight into foamers (you'll encounter railfans if you ride trains very much) and their attitudes towards graffiti writers (and by extension, trainhoppers) shots of car knockers doing their jobs, some video of couplers in action, brake hoses and their "glad hands" separating, a brief shot of a boxcar being "flat switched" and impacting a string waiting to be made up, signals, manual switches being thrown, radio traffic between the hogger and his dispatcher and so on. If you don't know much about railroads and how train transportation is done, this wouldn't be a bad place to get a glimpse.
It's a complicated subject. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j9jbUSRUPQ
Making this thread to see if there's anybody here who's a railfan in the area. I'm trying to start a thread to get more awareness in the Lowcountry Area, as we're trying to form a small community on FB and I'm trying to reach out on each platform possible.
If you happen to be a trainspotter, railfan, or railroad photographer, comment down and talk about anything railroad-related in the Charleston area! If you want, you can join the Charleston Area Railfans FB.
What are your favorite in the DMV area... go
