Graffiti Blight

I agree,it's ugly and it's vandalism.It's not like the chalk graffiti from day's gone by.I'm hoping the railroads would spend a little on anti-graffiti coatings like they use on many European RR's. The grafitti just runs off. 

Some want to model the real world, some want to model the world as they wish it was. In my opinion both options are valid...it is a hobby, and everyone can do it as they desire.

 

I couldn't imagine having any type of graffiti on my layout, but I readily admit that my modeling vision is dosed with a large amount of cotton candy fluff and 'It's a Wonderful Life' idealism. I like it that way.

 

Jeff C

 

 

A few of my WWII era cars have chalk type 'Kilroy' stuff.....but ZERO on the  modern fleet. Can't stand it......and in my little world......my rules.  

Right on, Brother Paul!  (I'm dead serious, I totally agree.)  

How ya feel about rust?

 

Rust on what?

Andy Warhol once said that the future of art would be to just ID something 'as' art and would make it so. I don't buy into that. And yes, I did go to art school and realize that modern art is indeed art.

But this? Nah, that's not art. Think of why it exists, the vast majority of it isn't for esthetics at all, mot of it is, "look at me" nonsense of ID'ing the silly little gang the kid with the spray can belongs to.

I knew of a guy who considered even gang 'tagging' to be art...

Until the day someone painted it on his garage door.

After that, it was vandalism for him. Go figure.

So, I now counter people who think that it's art by saying, "Yeah, we'll see if you still think it's 'art' when someone does it to your house or car!"

If I modeled the modern era it would be common on my layout. I often find it fascinating, sometimes appealing, I acknowledge the effort, but on that point, I wonder just how much effort and even a few bucks for the paint (it's the entire hopper car side!) it took to do it, and do they expend that much effort on things that, oh, I don't know, actually pay money?

 

I know that many taggers are part of a subculture that I find as alien as the surface of Mars (just not as interesting), but not all of them are "ganged-up".

I know of a shortline that transfers cars leased by high value customers between UP & BNSF. The cars have armed guards in a special on sight

holding area when not in transit.

On engines NO. But on cars I can dig some of it, as long as it is rated PG.

 

Love it!  And .... dirt, grime, un/semi-repaired damage, etc

 

But, I'm another that hates graffiti .... real world and toy world.

Along the same idea that Lee posted, if it is so "Beautiful" then WHY don't the "Artists" Decorate their OWN homes and vehicles that way?

 

 If the "Canvas" is your OWN home or vehicle, call it Art, or anything else you want, if the "Canvas" is someone else's property, it is VANDALISM, plain and simple.

 

Doug

       
       
 
RUST IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL .

I know some would call this graffiti but seriously,  how long did it take someone (s) to paint the full side of a hy-cube or hopper.  I took these pics last summer when in Alliance Ne.  This had some planning done, not just some random lines and curse words.

Still vandalism in my book.

I look at threads like this as a way for us to discuss where we fit within the model railroad community in regard to our feelings and vision about what is realistic compared to idealized or just plain fantisized on our layouts, and that's where I try to draw the line. 

 

George Sellios F&SM HO scale railroad displays a level of depression era gritty realism that I find off putting in the extreme but I still admire his skills and craftsmanship. Is his modeling inappropriate? Not in the least, even though he depicts some pretty unsavory stuff. It's his layout and his choice.

Other modelers (Allen Keller  of GMR videos comes to mind) have gotten blowback for certain aspects of their layouts, which in my opinion is silly. I have a hard time seeing a decision to model a tagged piece of railroad equipment any differently.

 

I have very strong feelings about the larger issue of graffiti in the real world (pretty easily guessed when reading my initial post), but I think that sort of runaway discussion here without some sort of context tying it to model railroading will get the thread locked or zapped pretty quickly.

 

Jeff C

FWIW, I know someone who used to be a "tagger," and his house was covered with it on the inside. He also had a modified car that incorporated it in the theme. He's now reformed, and makes a killing doing graphic design. 

Why didn't he put his "Wonderful Art" on the OUTSIDE of his home as well?

 

I also suspect that he was in a SMALL minority, in that he "Decorated" his own property as well as that of others.

 

 I am Glad to hear that he found a way to put his talent to productive uses where it was WANTED, rather than defacing another's property where it WASN'T wanted.

 

Doug

quote:

I know some would call this graffiti but seriously,  how long did it take someone (s) to paint the full side of a hy-cube or hopper. 

 

Unless the individual(s) had permission to paint there, its vandalism.

Some cities have an ordinance that if graffiti gets painted on your house or garage, you will be ticketed unless you remove it at your expense. 

I don't like graffiti on cars or engines, also on the other side of the coin I don't care for shinny engines and cars which Lionel does on some models.  I tend to like the finish on MTH and other mfg's equipment, which seems more realistic on a model railroad. 

 

Jack

Golly, is it time for another graffiti thread already?

 

Pete

Quite a few interesting responses. Graffiti is a reality. Some of the guys in my club model subways. Some of them like to be contemporary and model subway cars with graffiti. All well and good. It is up to the individual modeler to decide what they want to do. My dismay is seeing graffiti on brand new engines which in all probability could have been avoided to some extent.