I’m the production planner at a factory that receives most of our material by railcar. Every month, I venture out into the yard and take pictures of my favorite graffiti. I never thought this would turn into a series, but I’ve shared a hundred tags since May of 2023! Welcome to the thirteenth edition of railcar spotting.
Our yard at work features three spurs that extend off the old Big Four Michigan Branch that runs from Louisville to Goshen. If everything is as it should be, we get new cars twice a week. I walk past the first row of railcars on the way to my office. Sometimes, the art is striking! The green and purple piece on this car really stuck out amongst its peers. It reminded me of Shrek, Nickelodeon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Mysterio from the Spiderman comics.
This pig is less impressive than the piece that preceded it, but I’ve been laughing at it all month. Sometimes, that’s all it takes for a piece to make it into railcar spotting! It might not win any awards for execution, but this little dude quickly became one of July’s favorites.
This expansive piece by the TVX Crew glistens and glimmers in the sun. Its letters almost look liquid on top of the blue background! They certainly match the metallic hues of our unloading equipment seen in the foreground. We rely on a complicated system of pumps, pipes, hoses, and tubes to send the material each car contains into one of eighteen massive silos.
It’s hard to argue with this car. Ozzy rules! At least up through the Diary of a Madman era.
I could have sworn I’d shared another FU5E car before. It’s possible one showed up at the yard and I didn’t take a picture of it. Only my favorite pieces make the cut for railcar spotting, and I bet I’ve deleted fifty tags from my camera roll without publishing them here. I’ve probably skipped taking pictures of a couple hundred I didn’t find compelling.
My factory holds about sixty railcars when we’re at capacity. We rarely store that many, but most of the cars we receive aren’t super compelling. The pinks and blacks of this ENKOR car remind me of Avril Lavigne, Him from The Powerpuff Girls, and all manner of scene girls with heavy eyeshadow I had my eye on during high school. Clearly, that was enough to make the cut!
ROHEK appeared just to the right of ENKOR on the same car. It was the last piece I saw out in the yard the first day I visited. I found an Instagram channel that suggests the artist may be from Los Angeles. If ROHEK ever sees this post, I’m sorry to say that his car wound up in the post-industrial corn belt.
I went back to the yard halfway through the month after we received a gigantic order. This SKUNKTAIL car was the first I saw. It’s a well-executed piece that, best I can tell, used a stencil. It’s also compact! I’d love to see s larger version cover an entire hopper car.
I’ve been long convinced I’m not qualified to read what most of the graffiti I see says. This pink piece looks like it says SUMOK, but a search of Google and Instagram don’t turn anything up.
The same goes with this one. IOLD? I must be too old! Nevertheless, it fits the “bold will hold” tattoo aesthetic I prefer. I bet this one will last a long time, especially since none of the car’s critical information has been covered.
The final railcar I discovered was this tribute to Brent. Of all the “character” cars I’ve seen, this one seems to have the most! Godspeed Brent, and well met. I’m not sure where you’re from, but we certainly know you in Anderson. The car that was tagged in your honor has rocketed to the top of my favorites. You even look like a guy I work with!
It’s July 17nd as I write this. Other than railcar spotting, I’ve been on a month-long sabbatical from blogging. I hope to come back recharged. I expect we’ll receive more cool cars out at the yard this month, and I’m excited to go take a look in August.
