The other day I had a closer look at those TTX autoracks. All of them were covered in graffiti. But what surprised me the most is that these autoracks are build in such a way that when graffiti is painted on their sides the paint will spray inside. And inside there are usually brand new and expensive cars! I don’t think dealerships will be very happy go get cars with overspray of graffiti paint on them.
Unless there is some unspoken rule among graffiti painters to never bomb loaded autoracks [:)]
How come autoracks aren’t designed with solid walls on the lower level to prevent paint spraying inside.
Its not like the cars are in there so tight there is little room. Theres some space. I think atleast 2 mirrors worth of room between the car door and rack wall. Plus the only overspray i know that would reach that far is cans with the NY fatcaps. Even that may be a long shot and if the spray made it that far it would hardly be visible to the naked eye.
…also, autorack trains are like unit coal or grain trains. Most of the time they are moving with little time sitting in yards(at least that ive seen). They do however sit for a period of time after unloading and before reloading…so thats where the time to paint comes into play.
Sometimes the paint gets to the car , but it is very rare .
The sides have holes to allow ventalation of exhaust fumes , inside the it is tight quarters , and in the summer the heat can be 10’ degrees warmer than the outside temps .
So while they offer some protection they also give some ventalation .
Carknocker is spot-on. The perforations are to enable constant ventilation. Otherwise gasoline fumes could accumulate and create an explosive atmosphere. This is absolutely critical otherwise the cars would have to be 100% drained of gasoline. Also to ensure adequate heat transfer, and to enable firefighting should the cars catch on fire anyway.
RABEL…I believe you are correct…It’s called a recirculation system in the fuel system and technically recirulates the fumes to be sent back to the engine to be burned off.
Not trying to sound like the devils advocate here, but prior to working with UP, I worked in collision repair for many years. Overspray especially from a rattle can, wipes right off clear coat like dust. Spray paint has to adhere to material that is scuffed up and prepared. Even the tires and wheels, over spray just rubs right off. It was my job at the body shop to remove overspray, so I do know what I am talking about…
If a vehicle inside the car was fully involved (fire), there is no way an FD could get enough water through those tiny little holes to extinguish the fire. What little water that did leak through would evaporate from the intense heat and never touch the car.
I had my Silver 79 Mustang Indy Pace car at my buddies place for work in an enclosed area. In the next room he painted some car red. Between the 2 rooms was an opening the size of 2 large house wall bricks. Red overspray got on my Mustang in tiny little specs all over. Man was I mad. So I could see overspray in auto racks as a big problem. In the 3 level car versions you cannot stand up inside unless you are very short. Driving a car off of the top (3rd) level and down the portable ramp feels like driving a car off the edge of a cliff as you can only see sky.
I would think that they would have at least some sort of cloth cover over these cars as protection, if not a thick water and chemical proof one (like a tarp.) otherwise they could probably get scratched or, yeah, maybe get paint on them or whatever.
Yes there is a problem. It is creating artwork on perforated material. Visually, it is a field that contains a lot of little indelible black dots. So it gives you a field of gray as a starting background even if you paint the metal white. You end up with a muddy painting unless you can make the gray work for you in the painting; a night scene for instance. If you painted a bluish-white disc, the dark holes would give you just enough gray to make a nice moon. But if you are painting a sun, I would suggest taping over the holes in the sun before laying in the white.
Yea as a matter of fact it is a problem! Graffiti is vandalism, the autos are someones property the railroad is responsible for them while in transit, they get damaged the RR pays for the damage or clean up, My brother in law used to work for the Chicago Central & Pacific and theives broke into the auto racks in Chicago and stole what ever they could get out thes cars, mostly as the were interchanged at Markham with th IC
