What Brought Up the Topic of Freight Train Graffiti?

I live a few blocks from train tracks that have been here since this area outside of Houston was mostly rural and not gentrified suburban. Yes, you can still find an old-time ice house a few blocks away from a Whole Foods. I don't mind the occasional train whistle or horn or even the earth-shattering rumble of the tracks. I barely notice inside my house, but when I'm outside, I admit that the sound can get distracting.

Still, the sound of trains has always reminded me of travel, adventure, and maybe even romance. Of course, these worn freight trains hardly look romantic or adventurous. So, this morning I got stuck at the tracks while I was driving home from a pleasant breakfast with my friends and found the obstruction annoying at first.

The only time I mind trains is when I get stuck like this. See, the old street near my house curves, so even when the gate rises to let me cross the tracks one time, I still have to go around a curve and usually wait again. Still, this time I enjoyed a treat.

The train carried a virtual modern art museum of freight train graffiti on its many cars. Sadly, I didn't think to pull my cell out to snap a shot until the train had nearly vanished, so the shot below is the only one I got and hardly the very best of the lot.

A Shot From the Tracks

Source: My phone camera in the car

What Does This Freight Train Graffiti Mean?

Inspired, I hit Google as soon as I got home. I just had to understand what all of these scrawled letters and images could possibly mean. Were they messages from the underground or even the Mother Ship?

Well, I love a good conspiracy as much as the next Steemit blogger. Still, here are the "facts" I learned about train graffiti:

Train Graffiti Apparently Originated in NYC

Source: Pixabay

The dusty train tracks in the picture are a long way from NYC, but apparently, the movement to paint trains started in NYC with subways. What's clear today from my research is that the movement moved on to freight trains. Really, spread just like the moving trains as they rumbled around the country, the activity of train writing also spread all over the place.

I found articles about it from papers in Minneapolis, Dallas, and many other large and small cities. As the NYC artists watched their rolling canvases move away, I wonder if they knew that they were actually sending inspiration all over the country.

It's Illegal But Mostly Tolerated Because Graffiti Artists Are Polite

Once in awhile, I found articles from the kinds of authorities who post such things about the fact that defacing trains is illegal. It often requires trespassing onto train years, which could be dangerous. Still, the graffiti artists are polite in their vandalism.

The artists appear to know that they shouldn't cover up any of the official lettering or marking on the trains. So even though the activity is strictly prohibited, it's not like anybody has gone to war over the whole thing. Apparently, so long as the art doesn't get the RR industry in trouble with the government or their customers, they have accepted their decorations.

Trains Are Deeply Embedded in American Culture

Even those of us in the Southwest and South who don't regularly ride trains have our notions about them. They remind us of old Westerns and hobos during the Great Depression. They remind us of travel to faraway cities and winning the West. Meanwhile, the lettering on most of the freight train graffiti is more likely to remind of us the Psychedelic 60s. When we see these painted trains, it's like were seeing a roving art and history museum all meant to entertain us as we're stuck at the RR crossing.

What Other Unique American Art Captures Your Imagination?

I guess I like freight train graffiti so much because it reminds me of the city sending a message to the country and then having the country send it back again. Is there anything you'd like to add?

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