Photo: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=94008
This is getting bad. Years ago, I never heard of a locomotive being tagged before. It was just railcars. Obviously wherever these locomotives were parked, there wasn’t anyone watching. I guess the only thing to be done is hire more railroad police to stop this. I have yet to see a tagged locomotive in Wisconsin. Is it just a problem in California or all over?
I agree it is horrible.
Does anyone else find that engine allignment a bit odd?
Gabe
Whoa!!! Its obvious that someone/somebody dont like the UP. Now lets see…is there a decal set of this?[:-,]
Interesting that we hear lots about police chasing away railfans like us at our favorite spots, but somebody was able to “tag” this unit to the extent they did which had to take quite a long time and nobody was around to chase them away like they try and do with railfans…interesting…I also seldom if ever see tagged locomotives in and through Aurora, IL, likely due to the fact that most railroads keep their units moving in revenue service and not sitting long enough to get tagged.
Locomotive get tied up a many outlying points where the are used by local road switching assignments. I many cases these are 5 day, one tour of duty jobs. ie. there is only a crew using the locomotive 5 days a week, and thier work day will be 12 hours or less meaning the locomotive is unattended for 12 or more hours at least 5 days a week and may be unattened for the rest days of the assignment.
Railroads have assignments that start at hundereds if not thousands of outlying points, making the railroads ability to police those sites on the off hours of the assignments a practical imposibility. The railroads do work closely with the local authorities to keep an eye on railroad property, however!!!
A while back I commented that a BNSF 70 was tagged and went west to coal country. Haven’t seen it since then and it is the only one that I saw but these hardly ever sit still.
So it does happen, not often and if you are a determined tagger - just remember not to stand still or your next!
Mook
The switch engine is an ex-SP SW1500. I thought that all of those locomotives were supposed to have been stored? Also, that most (not all, most) former SP units were also supposed to be taken out of service soon if not already.
Soooooooo, perhaps, these were stored units? SD60’s(??) stored?
Only if you want to pay UP for it, I’m sure that they already have it copyrighted and will sue anyone/anything that tries to use it[;)]
You got that right!
Aside from the graffiti, why is the paint-job on the lead unit so messed? The paint seems to be coming off, as well as the logo on the front; the paint on the fuel tank is also messed. Did the vandals do this, or is it just ware and tear?
On the peeling paint: Wear and tear. (actually it may well have been defective paint; but definitely nothing the vandal did. And I have seen such peeling on several UP SD60s.)
SW 1500s: There has been one (at least) in service in the Eugene, OR area until very recently - if not currently. (It’s been a few months since I saw it; but I don’t go by the yard often.)
These units are NOT in storage[:(!].They are in UPs small yard in Anaheim CA.(it figures!).
Not to be offensive or anything, but that’s the best UP paint scheme I have seen yet!
I have been there and agree. A couple of years ago, I saw my first MP15AC there (in person anyway). One time when I was there (2002 I think) I saw 3 SW1500s.
This is an odd yard. There is a wye with some spurs and sidings, along with an MOW building at Broadway (no bright, neon lights) and Mable Street. This is where the locomotives are parked between assignments. If you go north on Interstate 5 off to left you will see strings of cars parked on sidings. This is the yard, one or two tracks along with the branchline.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=94009 Here is another tag pic. The UP deserves to have this unit tagged after they destroyed the beautiful SP paint scheme.
Get used to it, this is just the beginning, you will soon see some pretty grotesque paint jobs in the future on locomotives, these bozos are also now tagging individual automobiles in parking structures, white suv’s and vans being the prime target along with high end cars, I guess when these guys spay paint YOUR car, attitudes toward this crime will change.
I remember a few years ago I saw an SP engine tagged.
Eolafan hit it on the head. The railroads chase railfans but can’t seem to find these vandals. The vast majority of these railfans would be the first to report vandals like these and can be the eyes and ears for the railroads, but instead fans get chased away. Maybe we’re easy targets.
A week or so ago I posted a story about a tagger that was killed while committing his crime. It still surprises me that more of these idiots aren’t killed or seriously injuried more often. When these nuts are caught, their punishment should be to clean grafitti off of railcars with paint remover and a toothbrush.
John / Wisconsin
----IS NOTHING SACRED???----
Unfortunately, I saw a nasty one today at work–a UP SD70 so covered with graffiti that you couldn’t see the flag that should have been there (it was in the 4900 series; didn’t note the exact number).