nocalfr8tr Posted December 13, 2001 Share Posted December 13, 2001 The real question is why? Why do we paint on trains? For some, they just want to feel impotant within a circle of friends. To prove how much of a bad ass they are. Great. Others, they want the fame, man. They want to be in mags and see their flicks pop up on websites. Again, I say great. But for some, maybe a select few, it's something deeper. Regardless if you're from the suburbs (which I am, but the city is in my veins) or from the Slums, the feeling that comes with painting a freight, the adrenaline of entering your yard, the sounds and smells of the yard, are intoxicating. I'll be personal here, I had been doing graff for a few years before I painted freights seriously, I had a girl friend and good friends that weren't into graf. But in what was one of the worst months of my life, I lost them all. All I could do was remember the trainyard. I had done about 25 trains before all this, and i could vividly remember each train, color scheme, who painted with me, what part of the yard I painted it at. Each one was like a child. Anyways, I had never really been involved in the "scene", and still could care less, all I want is to see fresh pieces each time I'm in the yard or at a railroad crossing. I don't do this for the scene, I do it for the love I have with the entire experience of painting trains. Now, I've got too many floating around to remember them all, and it saddens me. What's worse, is that other writers are convinced it has to be a lifestyle and if you haven't painted a thousand throw-ups that you consider pieces, then you suck. It is a lifestyle for all of us or we wouldn't do it. We wouldn't dream about it. We wouldn't give up opportunities of a lifetime to remain in a place where you know trains will be forever. It's just a little different for each individual. My whole point is that I want everyone to really be honest with themselves and evaluate why you're out there. I want you to explore your position of longevity. For me, I'm in love with freights, I can't be denied my dosage regardless of what can stop me. What made you fall in love? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG T Posted December 13, 2001 Share Posted December 13, 2001 when i looked into that boxcars eyes and i felt all warm and fuzzy inside it knew it must be love, so i painted all over it... when did this happen???? shit i cant remember what i had for dinner and that was 2 hrs ago!:D :D :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cracked Ass Posted December 13, 2001 Share Posted December 13, 2001 It was more like falling in love with someone you'd been friends with for a long time. I was prowling yards for years before I started writing, and the sounds, sights and smells were all second nature. Oddly enough, graffiti on the trains didn't really make much of an impression - I didn't notice pieces, or wasn't impressed or intrigued, maybe because I was too close. My favorite thing was scouting yards, walking between lines and seeing what kinds of chemicals were in the tank cars, being a halfbreed chemistry/rail buff. Up close, a lot of pieces look like random splashes. Also, there wasn't nearly as much stuff running when I was walking tracks from '88-'96. Finally, after picking up writing, I saw this one Dest train. (I've mentioned this on here 3 or 4 times, someday I'll get a scanner and show everybody this flick.) It was parked by itself in the wide open, at the edge of a yard. Everyone who parked at that strip mall had to look at it, a nice burner with flames and a demon character, menacing the whole parking lot. I started taking freight flicks that day, and was thinking, "I can't touch that, but maybe someday." Then I got into putting my name up real small - streaks and odd little block things - still without really comprehending who was who, what was what, and what was possible. I still had a toy mentality despite knowing freights rather well. I never really got a grasp on the scene as I understand it now until I met some other writers who gave me some perspective, and was then able to integrate my background knowledge with an approach to piecing. Somewhere along the line the fact that trains WENT places with your stuff on them really hit home, and I've been hooked since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaesthebluntedwonder Posted December 13, 2001 Share Posted December 13, 2001 ...well, one thing lead to another, and..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.T Boy Posted December 13, 2001 Share Posted December 13, 2001 i always had trains close to home, and we played around then as kids, they led me to graffit, i remember seeing alot of the high five on them and saying i wanna do that, and i fell away from graff for about half a year or more, then i kept seeing trains and was like damn, ive sure been missing out on alot..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Average White Railfan Posted December 14, 2001 Share Posted December 14, 2001 i fell in love with trains when i got my first train set. maybe 6 or 7yrs. i fell in love with writing around 14 or 15 yrs old. freshman year in hs. writing on trains...im still falling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*SIZEROKS* Posted December 14, 2001 Share Posted December 14, 2001 MY GIRL FRIEND SAYS "TRAINS ARE YOUR TRUE LOVE"........ITS TRUE IN A WAY.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blahblahblah Posted December 14, 2001 Share Posted December 14, 2001 Originally posted by *SIZEROKS* MY GIRL FRIEND SAYS "TRAINS ARE YOUR TRUE LOVE"........ITS TRUE IN A WAY.... i got that once too so i beat the shit out of her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taper Posted December 14, 2001 Share Posted December 14, 2001 ive been intrested in railroding industries barges all types of industries like that since i was little. i love the smell of railroad ties and the sound of the gravel. i love seeing thes big rollin canvases all unique in their own way. the adreline rush and the satifaction of the end result. the friends you make, lose, and all the adventures, chases, and encounters that are what we call paninting freights. they stand truly alone in the world and only some who have a true appriciation for them . like someone said before if god made anything better than freights he kept that shit for himself.........;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boring Bastard Posted December 14, 2001 Share Posted December 14, 2001 Tomorrow................:rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EL MASKO Posted December 14, 2001 Share Posted December 14, 2001 When I was about 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dukeofyork Posted December 14, 2001 Share Posted December 14, 2001 when you wake up the next morning a train isnt as ugly... well, its an even call if youve been drinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JELO_016 Posted December 14, 2001 Share Posted December 14, 2001 good replies all... for me it was when I was a child i use to go to the yard with my pops and train sets were a must, my uncle collected them and there were numerous rail fans. I try to do the same my dad did and take the kids to the yard to show them the trains.... bottomline even if i wasnt painting i would still be there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pukey1 Posted December 15, 2001 Share Posted December 15, 2001 i got a pic of me an my dad when i was 2 on the front of a BNSF locomotive. ive been in love with trains always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fu Posted December 15, 2001 Share Posted December 15, 2001 WELL THE TRUTH IS... I fell in love with graff b4 i could even have slight clue of how much trains would have an impact on me.(bfor i knew they would come together)..growing up around trains...playing on my local track more than half my life.....which only thing that ever came threw were tankers..begging my aunt to buy me a train set in my younger days..to going to elementry school right next to tracks..to 5th grade when i seen my first dope graff writer doing a peice on the track's and i was at recess....to bombing the tracks all day everyday for like 2yrs straight...6th,7th,..then got caught up..to finally paintin my first fr8.To finding my great partner's that were in it....to benchin to scopin and lockin my area of yards....to paint my first e2e.from knowin i'm in it for the long haul i mean spent most of my time since i was like 13 doin what i love to do...to known that this shit needs to stay pure....and lately alot kids jump into it for the trend...to burning out spots...to dissing....to toys...and one thing i learned if you love something dont let it go.. because it might fall into the wrong hands. it's the most freeom expression i ever felt in america..the sound of a train.. thank you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IHATEU Posted December 15, 2001 Share Posted December 15, 2001 Originally posted by *SIZEROKS* MY GIRL FRIEND SAYS "TRAINS ARE YOUR TRUE LOVE"........ITS TRUE IN A WAY.... ive got that as well.. i have always lived with in a mile or less from trackage. and at one point on a yard for 8 years. in 92 i started realizing the signifagance of peices moving and how good that was to me. it all started on CN and CV flat side boxes...just being a idiot kid doing daytimes with a pack of 10 more idiots writing on every thing and breaking bottles. those times have changed and the respect and love i have for trains is deep... i cant even picture doing walls unless its a bomb.(and im not trying to sound like some elitest train painter) but its true. i can honestly say at times i get goose bumps at the site of particular trains or while painting. the smell and the familiar sounds of yards(desiels clicking and trains getting linked) and layups are so familiar its like perfume and music to me. i have given up alot of chances and made many "wrong" life choices for painting trains... not many people can get why one could love this activity or some "silly rusty metal box" but its me and its one feeling that is very hard to explain unless your with one of your own... i just hope the trend dies soon... it does sound goofy but fuck it ill post it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Mask Posted December 15, 2001 Share Posted December 15, 2001 Originally posted by pukey1 i got a pic of me an my dad when i was 2 on the front of a BNSF locomotive. ive been in love with trains always. you gotta be like 6 years old then....tops. you know I've been down with trains since day one....or do I have to post the pick of me at 5/6 years old flossin in my velcro shoes and big hat on the end ladder of a CN flat again? beyond that I dont have the patience to write up a big sentimental post about why I love trains...its already been covered far better by others... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KINGREAL Posted December 15, 2001 Share Posted December 15, 2001 Its seems like when i'm in a yard nothing else matters!! i forget bout everything else and am just focused tryin' to paint a car, to me in itself it is a powerful drug with is i'm sure you all know is addiktive!:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seven.13 Posted December 16, 2001 Share Posted December 16, 2001 I was visiting my Grandmother (of all people) in Florida... There is a beautiful F.E.C yard right near her house, I'd hear them humping the trains, the whistles, lines roaring through etc and became totally intrigued. Then I found out my dad worked back there in college..how cool is that. I miss that place. Some of the happiest days I've enjoyed were alone at that yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest istepdincrap Posted December 16, 2001 Share Posted December 16, 2001 when i was real real young i use to fish with my dad and there was a main line that rolled right by us where we were fishing, everytime i'd hear that sucker comming sure enough id run up to the tracks and stick that shiney penny on the rail and than watch all the trains fly by and after it was over, boom, ya got a big ol flat penny, that was when i started liking fr8s, me and my friends paint fr8s because that is who we are(most of the crew), sure we'll post stuff or what not but it dosent really matter, i rarely pick up a graf mag and i dont have flicks of more than half of my fr8s, it dosent really matter, they are in other peoples yards for other people to see and hopefully brighten they're day a tad bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Average White Railfan Posted December 21, 2001 Share Posted December 21, 2001 Originally posted by ese you gotta be like 6 years old then....tops. you can fool some people sometimes..but you cant fool ese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Mask Posted December 21, 2001 Share Posted December 21, 2001 Originally posted by Average White Railfan you can fool some people sometimes..but you cant fool ese. I was wondering if anyone would catch that! :D sent you a pack today....you should get it in early january the way things are going...let me know when it lands... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
and now you choke Posted December 21, 2001 Share Posted December 21, 2001 Originally posted by blahblahblah i got that once too so i beat the shit out of her. she's been had. join the punk rock show going hickey children and you'll see what's up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tue skinny Posted December 28, 2001 Share Posted December 28, 2001 i fell in love a minute ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~KRYLON2~ Posted December 29, 2001 Share Posted December 29, 2001 plane and simple for me: steel moves, walls dont Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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