graffiti

Graffiti, whether it's called art or vandalism, is a fact of modern railroading. But it didn't always look like what we see on the trains passing us today. Railroad graffiti has evolved over the past century and a half from simple chalk marks left by railroad workers to notify other workers of issues to marks left by hobos to vanity tags made in permanent ink to the elaborate and often enormous painted "pieces" (as they're termed by those who create them) of today. Let's take a look at how these markings were developed and, for those interested, how to model them.

Not all graffiti on railroad equipment is a gang symbol or overtly offensive. I found this bit of graf on a tank car in San Pedro, California, over last Thanksgiving weekend. The signature next to the ladder is likely that of the person who left the message. If you see this car in your railfanning adventures, leave a comment so we can watch where it goes.

Sometimes when a graffitist sprays a freight car, he will paint the reporting marks in a location that doesn't interfere with the main part of the tag. On this car, it looks like the same white paint was used to reposition the car number as was used in the tag. From the patches of blue bubble shapes above the tag, it also looks like the black and white colored tag is covering up a more colorful tag in the same location.