Yard Safety

[2-C+C-2]

yeah .

 

 

No body listen to this guy. He has a green name, and thats the only thing he is 100% sure about, he has not been painting long, knows nothing about freights, and will only hurt you in the long run. Posts on 12oz do not equal freight knowledge.

[Edward Orenthal Norton]

im not some expert. but shit man. i know i can have a bad habit of talking out of my ass at times. but im not a complete idiot and not everything i say is wrong. half the time im actually saying the same things cracked did to kids that are too lazy to even go back to the first page. simple as that.

[2-C+C-2]

You're circling threads on 12oz, spreading incorrect info, that you gained from 12oz, only months before.

[Edward Orenthal Norton]

well maybe youre right. but being self taught and having no other resources to learn from..i dont have many options. except for logic and trial and error.

[2-C+C-2]

True, Im just saying, dont spread stuff around unless you're 100% sure its right ya know. I dont mean to be hard on ya.

[Yo son YO!]

Whered this clip come from?

 

Our reality today is dawning on a rapid technological change that is affecting all of our lives. Information is becoming more and more accessible through a global communications revolution that gives us access to information at the tips of our fingers, 24 hours a day. When we begin to imagine the possibilities, almost anything goes. As culture embraces technology, we must stand back and take a look around, and realize what is to come. As contemporary Hip-Hop culture and traditional rail culture fuse, a pattern of old tradition remains, and new ones begin. As writing and riding on the rails continues into the next century, technology will play an important role, affecting the writers, hobos, railfans, employees of the railway, and many others.

 

Here's an interesting statistic: There are over 1.6 million freight cars rolling about North America. This includes boxcars, gondolas, hoppers, bulkhead flats, tankers, autoracks, refrigerated cars, and many others that roam over the hundreds of thousands of miles of track. Multiply that by 2 (two sides to every boxcar) and you have 3.2 million panels. In order for a writer to achieve fame on the lines, he or she must hit a multitude of trains. In order to be up on just 1% of the entire roster, a writer would have to hit over 32000 trains. Some of the most prolific writers in North America are attempting to hit as many as humanly or inhumanly possible, day & night, over and over again. Presently the most up graffiti writers on the lines are averaging under 600 burners on trains, which is a lot of time, risk, dedication, and paint fumes. When William "Upski" Wismat wrote about all the trains being hit by next summer, I think I said...dream on brother.

 

One hobo by the name of Herby had his name and drawings on more than 70,000 cars. With over 1.6 million cars x2, it seems unlikely to be seen on a regular basis, but there are ways to improve the chances of being seen. One way (Besides hopping a freight with a bag full of streaks and paint) is to be selective about which type of care you choose to paint. There are well over 2,200 different initials assigned to these trains, so choose well. The first criteria for trains are whether they are short lines (local line usually only traveling under a few hundred miles). There's a unique practicality in hitting a short line as you will be seen over and over again. A good strategy for being seen on the regular would be to you travel to different parts of the continent and hit shortlines. That way, your pieces or monikers stay in a particular area. Mostly every train yard has trains that come back on regular occasions. These are usually woodchip cars, rock carrier gondolas, and pulp related lines, as well as some chemical cars, depending on the local businesses serviced by the railway. Knowing which cars are bound to stick around, and which ones are not can improve your chances of being seeing more often.

 

There is a rule that assigns specific initials to certain regions of North America that will always, after long travels, eventually have to go back to their home regions. Some initials are so abundant that it is hard to tell where they are from or destined for. This is where the second part comes in. In an initial that is commonly used like BN or UP, a different method is used. There are thousands of cars marked simply BN, but how many of them start with he same three numbers? Usually only several hundred or more. For example tjere are series of cars used for the same purpose. CP 203111, CP 203222 and 203333 are usually headed for the same place, leased from the same company. Paying attention to the numbers in a fleet can help you know what is what. By using the Automated Shipment Location Systems provided by the railways, writers can study the patterns of these cars, and even particular series of cars, to determine what cars are going where. This would involved hitting several of the same type and series, and comparing the trace data, and waybill record. This does not give a total knowledge of the destinations, but it can help you understand what is happening in the complex world of moving freight.

 

Knowing the commodity and priority of the freight can also be useful. Intermodal trains (Twin stacks or Piggybacks), and Autotracks (Holy-Rollers) have more priority than boxcars and gondolas. These trains will make more trips, more often. By being selective, and by choosing a diverse number of initials, it is possible to archive more exposure at great distances. A burner from Alaska could be spotted in Mexico and come back with another burner on the other side. If someone from Kansas City hits a Canadian wheat train, it will eventually come back to Canada, and maybe never return to Kansas City at all. Flat boxcars may not always be the jewel in the yard. It's all in the initials and series, not the dimensions of the car.

 

There is also another way to determine a car's general destination. Take a car like RBOX. They own 12,997 cars. They do not have any track or locomotive equipment at all. They are a company that leases a fleet of railcars out to different railroads, like Conrail or CN. There are many companies that do this. One way to tell a company like this is if the last initial of the car is X. This indicates that the car is not owned by a railway. but rather a private company. This is almost always an assurance that eventually that car will leave and never come back. Sometimes this happens with entire fleets. For example an entire fleet of Canpotex hoppers (ex Santa Fe hoppers) were being used in the 80's down in Texas, but were eventually moved as a fleet to move potash in Canada. The graffiti markings form the 80's were still there, along with the newer Canadian markings when the fleet was eventually moved somewhere else years later.

 

Another method to figure out a railcar's movements are smaller RR markings on the car. Near the load limit stencils is sometimes another little stencil that tells us whom the car is leased by. Other times it may be stenciled in the top left corner, above the ladder. I hit a DWC (Duluth Winnipeg and Pacific), which is owned by Canadian National, but leased from the International Bank of Miami. A week and a half after marking it, I traced it to Florida.

 

In the world of freight riding, technology also plays an important role. To tell which direction a train is heading out of a yard, a rider finds where the FRED (Flashing Rear End Device) is located. This tells us which end is the rear of the train, and thus which general direction it is headed. The Automated Shipment Location Systems can also help us to know the destinations of a particular car or fleet of cars, with estimated time of arrivals and scheduled interchanges. This method could also help to determine a particular car's final destination.

 

What we are trying to accomplish is so extraordinary. We, the writers, hobos and railworkers, are contributing to the largest art gallery in the world, which is constantly moving around, almost randomly and chaotically. In that uncertain randomness, in that chaos of probabilities, we thrive for a taste of sychronicity and the bliss of seeing a marked freight roll by. We live to hear about someone seeing our designs somewhere in another far off place. It leaves us with such wonder and amazement; our souls traveling everywhere...

 

Take5

 

Body Soul Mind

Burning America

[IROKSoner]

hey lads im from melburn just wondering has anyone seen the graff dvd metal advocates if so please get bak to me

[Stotter]

^^Best post in this thread. How much % am I up if I painted 1 freight? :lol:

[_blank_]

wear your helmet, shin and elbow pads.

[KWASIMOTO]

know anything about "fast freight"?

[SATAN88]

"I'm wondering about the security measures on the New York subway system. How common are the motion sensors on the tracks? Can you know if you've set them off?"

 

You sure theres sensors on the tracks?? The only sensors or alarms ive come across in the tunnels are on the emergency exits......

[dontlookback]

im sure that article isnt currently statistically accurate. even with intermodals replacing boxcars. anybody have any recent statistics?

[-=CrAzY=-]

I love my industrial spots but its time to venture into the yards. thanks for the lifesaving knowledge

[Dee..]

^^ is this guy actually talking about his back yard?!?!?!?!!?:confused:

[Cracked Ass]

No he's a bot who crafts a vaguely relevant sentence to the topic by picking out certain keywords. Then he spams you with his site in the signature. BANNED

[peterpopoff]

intermodals taking over. bye bye boxcar

[Talkofthatown919]

so glad i read this thread from beginning to end. Learned alot more then the little bit i knew

[..romero..]

its alot eaasier to get snuck up on by trains then you would think.ive almost been hit 3 times.and ive been caught on trains when they were humping the cars and was almost thrown off.dont wear ipods and stuff on the tracks,especially active ones.and stay very alert when near bends in the tracks.thats where they sneak up on you the quickest.basically just keep your head on a swivel and check your back every once in a while.you wont know sometimes until you hear the clicking of the engine...the worst place to be is on a bridge.mad fools get hit walking on the bridges...

[Talkofthatown919]

Is there a meaning in the difference of the color of freights? ex:coal cars, tankers, hoppers and etc.

[..romero..]

not really.just depends on the company.some cars will be from the same company but different colors especially with coal cars but it doesnt have anything to do with what its carrying.its just what they decided to paint it.southern pacific is red,golden west is blue,csx is a darker blue and up is yellow.chicago north west is like a brown or faded everest green color mostly.and mopac is red also and has that nifty eagle thing goin on.

 

 

 

 

 

just offf topic my grandfather worked for mopac and his first week on the job he saw a dude get caught behind two couplings and when they pulled the cars apart he ripped in half.like some m night shamalan's signs shit.where the bitch was pinned against the tree.just you know wanted to through that in thereeee.

[Talkofthatown919]

thanks for the info i was wondering about n&s

[Schnitzel]

.dont wear ipods and stuff on the tracks,.

 

 

no seriously if you are dumb enough to do that go right ahead your future is probably not gonna be the productive.

scares me to think that people could be that daft.:eek:

[..romero..]

i think thats how alfa passed.he was listening to tunes and got snuck up on.people need to recognize how sketchy shit can be especially in the bigger more active yards.you should know what your doing around freights before you even begin to paint one..my opinion.

[..romero..]

thanks for the info i was wondering about n&s

 

ns is red.i think.we dont get muc down here but i think ive seen a couple.but honestly the only people who know whats in them is the people sending them out or recieving them.when they move freights they call ahead with the identification numbers on the side and thats how the yards identify whats inside it or what company is using it and where its getting shipped to.theres no telling whats inside these things.and why should it matter?

[Talkofthatown919]

just was wonderin cause i thought n and s was a east coast only but i was completely wrong about that. but it really doesn't matter about the color. I thought the different color cars were meant for certain areas of the country and etc.

[berdsdahwerd]

the red tacs are for idiocy

[..romero..]

just was wonderin cause i thought n and s was a east coast only but i was completely wrong about that. but it really doesn't matter about the color. I thought the different color cars were meant for certain areas of the country and etc.

 

NS is on the east coast.they deal in mainly the appalachian areas of the us.basicly everything west of missouri and they have some roots into canada.but its all over...

[..romero..]

 

 

to give you an idea of where its lines are.i think ns runs conrail too...

[Talkofthatown919]

ooh ok

[ReackOne]

So, Im a train newfag :|

 

Is there a difference between a lay-up and a yard or are they the same thing?