The following is an editorial from the December 2006 issue of Railpace magazine. Note that we carry Railpace and many other fine magazines covering railroads and modeling. Also, we do not encourage nor condone graffiti like some other retailer apparently does.
Graffiti Trains
Railfans and rail photographers are becoming increasingly concerned about the growing graffiti menace that has coated nearly every American freight car, and even some locomotives, during the past decade. Kilroy Was Here white chalk markings, and Herbie scrawls on freight cars go back a century or more, but these are marginalia compared with the massive “murals” we now find covering car numbers, AAR markings and FRA reflective tape.
The latest outrage is the Enamelized Graffiti Diecast Train Collection line of toys sold by Wal-Mart, which contains a 1:137 scale (slightly larger than N scale) freight car covered with graffiti, selling for the Always Low Price of $2.97. But the real shocker is the trading card that comes with each car, glorifying the “artist” who has trespassed on railroad property for the express purpose of defacing private property. But wait— it gets worse. Each package contains a web address— www.graffsupply.com --where you can “learn more about graffiti and it’s [sic] artists,” purchase books and videos with step-by-step instructions on
“tagging” railcars, and order graffiti supplies. Did you know an “artist” can spend $55 on this site for a spray nozzle to perfect his technique? The line of Graffiti Trains is brought to you by Maisto, a Hong Kong importer based in Fontana, California. Their press release proclaims: “Graffiti keeps becoming more and more mass and diluted. To be able to use authentic graffiti and tell the stories of the artists in this train collection is a step foreword [sic] in broadening the culture.” “Deep in most inner cities, there is an artist with a collection of spray cans and a vision of getting up on trains that go across the country,” says Ralph Benitez, the influential Art Director who has launched Playerz, Pro-Rodz, and G-Rides lines of die-cast collectibles for Maisto. “This collection pays tribute to those artists that did.”
Trucking companies, container lines, and package delivery companies don’t put up with this urban pathology. It is shameful that the railroad industry has virtually surrendered to the graffiti assault— and that Wal-Mart is promoting it. One rail industry wag stated “at least someone is painting our cars, so they don’t rust!” Many of these graffiti creations involve hours of tedious work, often done by “tagger teams” -- so much for “homeland security” in our nation’s rail yards.
We wonder why the fine people at Union Pacific haven’t jumped on graffiti artists for licensing fees, as they so eagerly have done with legitimate model railroad manufactures. And why the Model Railroad Industry Association (MRIA) hasn’t encouraged Wal-Mart (and other large retailers) to carry a line of inexpensive (non-graffiti) trains, to introduce more Americans to The World’s Greatest Hobby.
Perhaps it will take rail enthusiasts and photographers to turn up the heat where railroads and model makers won’t. You can start by sending an e-mail with your views to Wal-Mart’s ethics department at ethics@walmart.com. And perhaps to your area railroad too, asking them why they tolerate trespassing and destruction of private property. The answers you get may be revealing.
-- Tom Nemeth --