03-02-2016, 10:03 PM
Hi T.
Looking for a way to generate some lively discussion!?
I'm guessing here but I'd imagine the appeal of rail cars to "taggers" is that they provide a large canvas that is readily available in many locations that, once painted, then goes on a tour of the country for lots of people to see. Must be a bit of an ego trip for them.
I cannot condone painting graffiti on railroad equipment. It is vandalism. A lot of it is an absolute mess on the cars but the interesting thing is that some of the work is amazingly elaborate and could be considered "art" were it painted on a building wall as part of a community sanctioned project. I don't know what percentage of taggers would find that option appealing...perhaps some..perhaps others would miss the sens of it being illegal, counter-culture, and potentially dangerous.
My Penn Central era had very little graffiti on cars as DVD collections of PC roll-bys attest. I like that. I have for fun, however, added some graffiti on a couple of cars to reference friends who will see the cars go by during visits. They don't have as much of a sense of era regarding my layout so they think freight cars ALWAYS had graffiti. There have been some changes in peoples understanding of boundaries and personal responsibility over the years. Graffiti is certainly one example. The other that really bothers me is how automobile carriers went from completely open frames to completely encased to protect cars from vandalism..something that apparently was not an issue up to the early or mid 1960's.
Looking for a way to generate some lively discussion!?
I'm guessing here but I'd imagine the appeal of rail cars to "taggers" is that they provide a large canvas that is readily available in many locations that, once painted, then goes on a tour of the country for lots of people to see. Must be a bit of an ego trip for them.
I cannot condone painting graffiti on railroad equipment. It is vandalism. A lot of it is an absolute mess on the cars but the interesting thing is that some of the work is amazingly elaborate and could be considered "art" were it painted on a building wall as part of a community sanctioned project. I don't know what percentage of taggers would find that option appealing...perhaps some..perhaps others would miss the sens of it being illegal, counter-culture, and potentially dangerous.
My Penn Central era had very little graffiti on cars as DVD collections of PC roll-bys attest. I like that. I have for fun, however, added some graffiti on a couple of cars to reference friends who will see the cars go by during visits. They don't have as much of a sense of era regarding my layout so they think freight cars ALWAYS had graffiti. There have been some changes in peoples understanding of boundaries and personal responsibility over the years. Graffiti is certainly one example. The other that really bothers me is how automobile carriers went from completely open frames to completely encased to protect cars from vandalism..something that apparently was not an issue up to the early or mid 1960's.