CLEAN TRAINS

Just want to bring up a subject that may need clarification. Many areas have railfan groups and railroad historical societies and such that operate their own private passenger trains. Also some shortlines operate limited passenger runs as well. These trains are NOT transit. Completely different from the subway systems of ny, pa, md, nj, il, ca and such. When these private railcars get hit with graff the shit really hits the fan. Volunteers commit thousands of hours to the upkeep and conditioning of those cars so it's taken very personally. Plus the cars are usually older classic equipment so there is a lot of nostalgia connected to them. I've seen too many instances where writers have tagged or pieced on these types of cars with the mindset that they are transit/ clean trains. The end result being that you've just instantly created another 40 or 50 enemies of the graffiti culture. This makes railfans go out of their way to spot and report writers to their local pd's. Many times these passenger cars are located in areas that also contain fr8 cars nearby, so i know it may seem tempting to rock that "clean" after the boxcar but it just isn't worth it. If you really wan't to do clean trains (and i certainly understand the inclination) then just be sure to stick to the major city transit systems. Respecting railfans and them respecting us pays off for everybody in the long run. If you recall a few months back, the magazine TRAINS actually printed a photo of a nice FAVES streak on the inside back cover of it's mag. That was truly groundbreaking, taking a real risk for that editor. If you checked the letters to the editor section in the following month's issue (i was curious about what the responses might be) you would have found a letter from a very agitated individual who had just finished spending hours buffing graff off of one of those exact classic passenger cars that i've been talking about, and that he really wasn't ready to see that type of photo promoted in their magazine. Now what that reader was referring to was aerosol graff but he just grouped it right in with Faves' streak so you can see how the negative effects can be even more widespread. Anyway, please discourage all who you know from hitting any type of shortline passenger cars. Sticking to the freights and the bigcity cleans will benefit all of us. Peace

DEFINATELY A GOOD POINT NEVER REALLY THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE...I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT HITTIN PRIVATE CARS BEFORE BUT THINKIN BACK I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE IF GIVIN THE CHANCE...NOW I PROBABLY NEVER WILL...EVERYDAY I GAIN A NEW RESPECT FOR RAILROADS AND TRAINS...I THINK IM GETTIN ADDICTED..

Word to that. I think organized railfans are going to start to be an anti-graff force. In fact, I am freshly pessimistic about how long the freight culture is going to last. I may expand on that in another thread.

I Agree Wholeheartedly

At the risk of looking like I'm tooting my own horn, if a writer has a "straight up" "Clean Camp" attitude, he will not damage or steal anything in a rail yard whatsoever. It is just common sense. It's like tagging in a National Park or in a restored historic building. A writer who hits sensitive targets is tightening the noose around his own neck. To sum it up in a memorable phrase: "Don't shit where you eat."

i share you though kid. i never feel the people who like to hit old steel. unless you were already writing when tthis type of car was in service,,like a remembrance of things past,otherwise if you do ill consider you toys..period

again, good advice. i really hope more people will read this and mr. ass' thread reagarding similar issues.