I just viewed an auto rack train passing through Rochelle and many of the rail cars were tagged with graffiti. With ventilation holes on the sides of these cars does the spray paint ever damage any automobiles that are being transported?
Cars are wrapped in plastic to protect them.
Plastic wrap common on transported vehicles. Sealed for freshness, I guess.
Having worked in auto transload facility sometimes there is some over spray on autos usually however it was buffed off with little issue
Aren’t new cars coated with a waxy substance that the dealer removes?
My experience with spray paint (general use - I don’t tag RR cars) is that after a certain distance it no longer covers like paint, but like sticky dust. It’s usually very easy to get off.
Given the distance between the tiny holes now used on the racks and the cars, I’d opine that would be the case.
At any rate, I would think that it would be empty cars that sat around long enough unattended to be tagged. Loaded cars are probably in motion a fair amount of the time.
Automobiles are shipped without any side protection, fresh off of the assembly line. Some manufacturers may use wrap guard on the horizontal surfaces to protect the paint from fallout and rail dust. When you purchase a new automobile, it might be fresh of of the rail car and truck. They are washed and the wrap guard removed. No special washing is required.
A redesign of the auto rack’s bottom panel would go a long way in discouraging graffiti vandalism. Doing so would make the car a less desirable target (discouraging trespassing) and less of an opportunity for overspray on new autos. Larger diameter openings offer less paintable area. The opening needs to be only large enough to stop a rock!
The railroads have gone from open to enclosed, to fully enclosed, with side screens and various diameter ‘vent’ hole to the fully enclosed Automax with no holes. If there is a can of spray pint and a person with too much time on his hands and larceny in his soul, railcars of any type will be tagged. Even paint formulas do not help in making the panels non-stick. Parents, do you know where your kids are and what they are doing. I know it isnt the dishes or the lawn.
Not larger opening or smaller opening.
What would stop the painters is a new design where the bottom panels of the auto carrier have a deeply corrugated surface. A surface with too many corrugations to provide a suitable canvas for painting would also work.
True, to a point, but there was that rack I saw that had the whole side painted… Blue, as I recall. I forget what it said, but it took up the whole car, end to end, top to bottom…
That would be called a wholecar. That’s what I’m always after when I’m trackside…
This discussion reminded me of what I have seen on numerous cars: not just on autoracks. Four come to mind and took place over the past 3-4 years. In order, I have seen:
Cheektowaga, NY:
An auto rack that had a good sized Chilly-Willy
A year and a half later same location, I witnessed an Avatar type character that had very “accurate” body art. Its the first time I was truely embarrased to have seen graffiti. Ironically, it was on a reefer.
Westfield, NY
Last year, the CSX local had going back to Dunkirk a head shot only of Michelangelo or Leonardo(for those who don’t know these are two of the main named characters of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). This was on a covered hopper.
And more recently, I saw a full image of Invader Zim(a short lived Nicktoon) on an auto rack.
All of these are perhaps the more family friendly “ideas” I have seen.
However, since this is about auto racks the most viscious I encountered was on an auto rack that had a 6-7 ft reitteration of the r-word. And sadly it was the first ledgible piece of tagging I ran across.
Take care all
Andrew: You are on to something there with an irregular corragation of the panel. I am sure there are certain surface configurations that would discourage graffiti vandalism.
My concern is the railroads will surrender the auto rack fleet to vandals just as helplessly as they did the boxcar fleet. At least with the racks, there are options to make the car less apt to being vandalized, hence, less appealing for trespassing.
Today I saw a 50 foot all door boxcar with ‘WTF’ covering almost all of one side.
The paint often covers the reporting marks and road number. This means that they have to rely on the electronic identification tags more than the the paint or decals used for the reporting marks and road numbers.
There has to be a thin film covering or vacume formed acrylic shield that can put over the important data on the sides of the flat cars and racks.
I recall reading a while back that some of the “artistes” have realized that if they leave the reporting marks and data alone, their “masterpieces” remain untouched much longer.
And I do see a lot of cars where the marks and data are left uncovered, as opposed to being repainted by the railroad (and others). And there are those where someone has repainted the reporting marks - with a spray can.
[quote user=“tree68”]
Andrew Falconer
The paint often covers the reporting marks and road number.
I recall reading a while back that some of the “artistes” have realized that if they leave the reporting marks and data alone, their “masterpieces” remain untouched much longer.
Its a sad day when vandals, not the railroads, are establishing the terms of their destruction. My gripe with this type of vandalism is it equates railroading to having the value of a ghetto or a back alley wall.