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I’m a little sorry to say that railcar spotting for June was a low-key affair. Only eight new pieces of graffiti made the cut! Despite that, one was a real show-stopper and two more provided a great surprise. The yard’s been quiet as we head into the summer months, but welcome to another edition of railcar spotting!

I’m in charge of planning for a plastics factory that receives raw materials by rail and I’ve been taking photos of my favorite graffiti on our cars for more than a year. I’ve shared photos of eighty-nine tags since May of 2023! I’ve never added to the collection myself, but I’ve been tempted. Fortunately, I wouldn’t know where to start. Something like this “MUST” piece seems pretty straightforward, but I’d probably get in trouble. Thus, I refrain.

Some consider graffiti a scourge, while others think it’s legitimate public art. I stand firmly in the middle, but I can’t help admire intricate pieces like this one. I wish I could provide some commentary on the merits of each tag, but I know very little about graffiti or the artists who paint it. I can say that the black, gray, rust, and blue of this tribal-looking piece made it really stand out amongst the other cars in our yard.

I’d ventured through the railyard for a couple minutes before I ran across this car. I’m terrible at translating graffiti, but I’ll go to my grave thinking this one says “OSiL8,” or oscillate. That’s a pretty cool sentiment if you’re a fan! I love the bold colors and 3D outline of RST’s creation, but what really shocked me came a few cars down on a different spur.

RST must have his art down to a science or a stencil since another OSiL8 car graced our yard! Sometimes a Google search helps tell the story of a specific artist or a piece associated with them, but nothing popped up for RST or OSiL8. If the artist is out there, I hope they see this post and know I appreciated both cars that showed up at my factory all the way in Anderson, Indiana! If someone in Muncie drew it, well, I still found your piece one town over.

Two OSiL8 cars were cool to see, but June’s initial show-stopper was this car parked in our second spur. I can’t begin to translate it, but the gradient on the left side, its dark outlines, white highlights, and partial yellow stroke indicated that some serious time was spent in designing and executing the piece. The right half is the one that really tripped my trigger. It echoes some of the citrusy notes I discovered back in May, and the crisp lines and lens flares really drive it home as a landmark piece of graffiti.

Four new cars arrived five days after the first batch. Only one of them featured notable graffiti, but it was extensively scrawled upon. In fact, it was too much to fit in a single shot! From left to right, here’s the first piece. I see Team Party represented in a signature, but I wish I knew what the rest of the tag said. The color scheme reminds me of early MTV.

Team Party was back at it with the next piece. The jagged yellow lettering reminds me of another TV property from the eighties and nineties, Nickelodeon. I would have loved to see this piece parked next to the Aaahh!!! Real Monsters car we got back in April! It was one of the finest “character cars” I’ve seen so far, and the lettering would fit it perfectly.

Speaking of “character cars,” this pompadour-sporting skull is the best I’ve seen in a while. He appears to be emerging from lettering that suggests some kind of tentacled hellscape, which makes me think it didn’t come from Team Party’s spray cans. I love cars like this!

That last car was hidden, and I would have missed it if our quality manager hadn’t alerted me to its presence as he was testing raw materials. I was glad to see it, the OSiL8 cars, the tribal design, and even that MUST car I profiled at the beginning. I don’t expect any more cars over the next few days, but I’m making room for a gamut of graffiti to be delivered in July. I can’t wait.