I assumed that sharing railcar graffiti I found at work would be a recurring feature here, but I didn’t expect to get a fresh batch so soon! I’d have held off publishing them, but my folder of unfinished posts keeps growing and I’m impulsive. In that spirit, here’s some more railcar spotting.
My first post went into more detail, but the factory I work at is the only one of my company’s thirteen plants equipped to receive raw materials by rail. At our facility, CSX changes cars two or three times a week. I take a picture whenever I see some interesting graffiti in the yard.
As the production planner, I’m responsible for scheduling 48,000 tons of plastic compound production every year. We make pellets that get melted down and molded into parts by appliance and automotive customers, and you probably have some of our materials in your house! I started about a year ago as a lab technician and quickly mastered the job. I became the planner in April.
I work with railcars every day, but I wasn’t really interested in trains as a kid beyond some cut-out picture books and the Brio tracks I turned into roller coasters. I’ve appreciated the Valley Flyer run between Connersville and Metamora from a distance every time I’ve been down there, but I’ve admired the graffiti on the rolling stock we receive up close. There’s a lot of interesting art to be found!
I’ve never added to the collection myself, but I see a lot of it since my office sits next to part of our yard. I pass them every day, but I only got the idea to take photos of the most impressive cars back in May. I wish I could provide some commentary on the merits of each piece, but I don’t know anything about graffiti or the artists who paint it.
I don’t have any credibility when it comes to critiquing graffiti. If I tried, I’d be as out of place as Frasier Crane at a continental breakfast! I haven’t looked into the meaning of the art I’ve featured if there is any, and I’m certainly not qualified to rate or interpret it. All that’s to say that it’s an honest mistake if I missed something.
Our yard consists of three tracks. My first post only featured photos of cars that faced our building on the most easily-accessible line, which is surrounded by a fence. I was wary of bending and ducking to reach the second and third tracks after some surgery I’m still recovering from, but I threw caution to the wind and went for it after we received a couple big deliveries.
My facility holds about sixty railcars when we’re at capacity. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean we can access them with our unloading system. We communicate with CSX to try to get each car placed in a way that makes sense, but it’s like playing Tetris by telegram. Things usually work out, but we’ve been forced to stage some cars at our recycling plant next door.
A retired engineer buddy of mine told me that railcar graffiti is more prominent now than it was twenty years ago. In years past, he said, railroads and their corporate interests valued brand identity more than today. They repainted cars more often and kept a larger corps of railroad police to keep the ruffians and their spray cans away.
Our rail yard is unlikely to be this jam-packed again, at least in the near future. Most of these cars will be gone soon, and I’ll slowly compile pictures of the best graffiti on our newest as our oldest get sent back towards yards in Anderson, Indianapolis, Avon, and parts unknown. This might be my last update for a long time!
Nevertheless, I’ll keep my eyes open for new entries to this railcar spotting series, and I’m looking forward to snapping away as we receive new ones.
