Read time: 5 min.

I’m the production planner for an Italian plastics company’s North American operation. My factory is one of the largest of its thirteen plants- it’s the only one across four continents equipped to receive materials by rail! Our yard isn’t huge, but it provides a fun chance to see a variety of fascinating graffiti as the cars change.

I’ve never been overly interested in rail as a transportation method beyond the extensive BRIO tracks I made as a kid, but I’ve admired the graffiti on the rolling stock CSX drops off in our yard since I started working here as a lab technician almost exactly a year ago. I’ve been the planner since April, though, and understanding how rail transportation works is critical to my job: I can’t schedule a production run if we don’t have the correct materials on hand!

Unfortunately, I only got the idea to take photos of the most impressive cars back in May. I was inspired by one of my favorite blogs, which posts a recurring feature with pictures of all the old cars the author finds parked during the year. I wish I could provide similar commentary here, but I don’t know anything about graffiti or the artists who paint it. I’ve only ever tagged a Triscuit with some Cheez Whiz myself!

Although I don’t know who painted the cars or what their artwork means, I can write about the basics of rail logistics as they concern a manufacturing facility. My factory receives material in railcars that come from suppliers who ship with a variety of rail operators. Eventually, the cars arrive at the Big Four yard just south of Rockville Road in Avon. From there, they go to large yards in Indianapolis, Anderson, and, finally, my facility. 

We can fit about sixty cars in our yard, but our unloading system doesn’t reach the most distant parts. CSX has to perform an intricate dance to position the railcars so we can empty them out! Once they’re ready to be unloaded, we rely on a complicated system of pumps, pipes, hoses, and tubes to send their materials into one of eighteen massive silos we draw from during our production process.

Our yard features three tracks, and our recycling facility next door has two. All five branch off of the old Big Four Michigan Branch that runs from Louisville to Goshen. They branch from the eastbound main line just north of 38th street, which swings through downtown just south of State Road 32 and reconnects with the primary Terre-Haute-to-Union-City line southeast of the old Mounds Mall.

Depending on the density of the material, each railcar comes fully loaded from anywhere between 180,000 and 200,000 pounds of resin or mineral filler. We have a limited time to unload, inspect, and seal up every railcar we receive, but it’s pretty easy to accomplish as long as they show up on time and CSX positions them correctly.

Resin prices fluctuate wildly. When the price of a certain resin cratered a while back, we snapped as much of it up as we could. Right now, our yard is filled with cars from that order! I returned to work from surgery to find several new ones I thought worthy of a photo; the last three pictures came from that same shipment.

I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that we have more cars with great graffiti staged on our second and third tracks or even at our second facility next door. My casual approach to this little project has meant that I’ve only taken photos of the cars parked on the track closest to the factory. Unfortunately, getting to the others involves bending, squatting, and other movements I’m wary of performing until I’m closer to a full recovery.

I will do that once I’m more thoroughly healed. Even though I’m involved in planning and staging the cars we receive, I rarely have reason to examine them in person once they’re here. Nevertheless, I’ve had fun happily snapping away as we receive new ones! I’m looking forward to seeing whether “Railcar spotting” becomes a recurring series here.