Train graffiti/artwork

Hey everyone,

I am kind of curious, but what kind of train graffiti/artwork have you seen? (This is mostly for us 'muricans. I don't know if this happens with our neighbors across the ocean. ) Have you seen something cool, or funny, or maybe was it something that was really bad? Here you can describe the artwork you have seen or you can post a picture of it, if you have one. I will start with one I remember seeing. I saw it a few days ago while being stuck at a crossing. Someone had painted a bunch of different cartoon characters mainly a couple loony toons characters and I think maybe there was spongebob, but I can't remember, we were in a hurry. It actually wasn't that bad. The train was moving slow enough that I could have gotten a picture, but I didn't have anything to take a photo with. I wish I could have gotten one. So what have you seen?

Fortunately in Ireland defacing public property isn't a widespread pastime. Let's just call it what it is, the word is "vandalism". It isn't acceptable and neither is it encouraged.

Mostly it is vandalism, that's right. But I must say, there are places which do look less depressive with some colour. Again, most of those are still unacceptable due to not being possible to make without trespassing tracks; but in some spots it might even do some good for the overall look to make them legal spraying spots. As a matter of a fact, there already are a few such legal paintings. E.g. the railway bridge at the end of Frankfurt Galluswarte stop, above the corresponding tram stop, would be a very dull beton place if it weren't for this great mural by Friedel Deventer created in the 1990s to prevent graffiti. This worked for surprisingly long, however sadly it has partially been destroyed in recent times by "bombers", "taggers" and paroles by militant antifascists (who in my eyes (which are left themselves) aren't really any better than their real and putative adversaries):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/a_l_gawith/5353106716/in/set-72157625817139918/lightbox/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/a_l_gawith/5352505465/in/set-72157625817139918/lightbox/
http://www.bahnbilder.de/name/einzelbild/number/387156/kategorie/deutschland~dieselloks~br-201-dr-v-100-ost-dr-110.html
http://www.drehscheibe-online.de/galerie/bilder/k2_15772-99d6d00be.jpg
http://www.bahnbilder.de/name/einzelbild/number/386592/kategorie/Deutschland~Dampfloks~BR+01.html
http://img.fotocommunity.com/photos/292454.jpg
Also a lesser part of it was on a pedestrian tunnel not existant any more. However that seems to have been already known to happen soon when the painting was created, as the artist "only" paintend some generic landscape like with other parts of the painting which are in less accessible and less seen wall parts:
https://2img.net/r/ihimizer/img824/9246/bruecke.jpg

In Berlin's S-Bahn station "Friedenau" on the other hand DB didn't engage a special artist but simply allowed sprayers to use several walls. Again, the effects are quite nice:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:S-Bahnhof_Friedenau_Eingang_D%C3%BCrerplatz.JPG
http://img.fotocommunity.com/images/Architektur-Fotografie/Tunnel-Tunell/S-Bahnhof-Berlin-Friedenau-a24738798.jpg

Another type of paintings are those, which are definitely vandalism and yet still that well devised that it even makes a railwayer smile:
http://www.abload.de/img/image_3b74749e55293a28t8p5.jpg
http://www.abload.de/img/image_070a75de218a8bddzmvk.jpg
http://www.abload.de/img/image_2a6a7274ffa96ba7fvuk.jpg
Did you spot what the matter is? ;-) "TAPS" stands for a graffiti group who specialize in railway vehicle graffiti. For example they made a historical paint for a carriage: Those carraiges looked like this in the past. The group repainted such a DB-red carriage in the old colours:
http://www.drehscheibe-foren.de/foren/file.php?3,file=27505
I don't have any detail photos, but I've been told they did it with a very great detail level; starting with non-destruction of technical inscriptions, via the "peacock tail feather eye effect" of the sides (see here) and ending with the fitting historical information pictograms.

graymac wrote:Fortunately in Ireland defacing public property isn't a widespread pastime. Let's just call it what it is, the word is "vandalism". It isn't acceptable and neither is it encouraged.

Yes, I know it is. It is illegal because it is vandalism and also would be considered trespassing on private property, but people still do it anyway. Quork, I'll check out those photos sometime.

I know for a fact that 22014 (Class 22000 that you can download from Gray's website) was badly vandalised this week (Monday night) when it was in Dublin. Quite messed up, but only to the bodywork - not to the underframe. Can't find a picture, but do know about it

Sounds pretty bad. The poor thing.