View allAll Photos Tagged rustoleum
San Bernardino Santa Fe / BNSF Yard with Keith of "Railroad Fans of the Cajon Pass" @cajonpassrailroadfans @railfanscajonpass
Overcast, and weather reports said it was going to rain, but let's be real, I live in Southern California, and rain isn't something we see on a regular basis.
Met up with Keith at 9AM out in front of the depot. The plan was to take him on a little tour of the museum there, as it's only open on Saturdays between 10am-3pm. Walking across the parking lot towards the museum, there were a whole lot more cars than usual. Well, they were having their railroad swap meet deal. Dozens of folding tables full of model trains, and all kind of other train related stuff. Cool.
After a half hour of looking at all the cool model trains and the museum, we finally got out trackside to watch the real trains. We were out there for a few hours, saw a lot of great trains. A few autoracks rolling through and I'm sure Keith was catching some cool video of the freights and the Metrolinks' for his YouTube.
About 3PM? it started sprinkling a little bit, and then it started coming down pretty hard. On the platform there's a couple little covered benches with gutters, etc. We hunkered down, and the rain let up pretty quick, and then it started again, then stopped and started. This went on for the rest of the time we were there.
Overall, pretty fun day. Caught a lot of great pieces rolling by and got to hang out with Keith for the day (Sans Buddy).
Honestly, I prefer to be out there by myself, but it's a nice change to be out there with someone else to talk shop with and share stories.
As always, thanks to the writers for giving me something to go out and hunt. *Man Hugs* & Thanks to the Santa Fe Depot for being cool with people hanging out and catching freights on "film".
Arrived at my spot around 10:30AM, left at 6:10PM.
A little over 80F. and a light breeze. Perfect weather for hanging out for a few hours. There were a couple cars there, but I didn't see any people besides one guy who kept getting in/out of his Jeep. Okay, whatever.
10 minutes after getting there I heard the first train coming around the bend, and what a train it was, couple engines, and 78 autoracks in a row! What a way to start of my day.
15-20 minutes after I got to the spot, I messaged my friend Keith @railfanscajonpass that I was out there, he said he was on his way, he got there an hour or so later. By that time I'd already flicked 7-8 trains. One of the busiest days I've had in a long time. They just kept coming up and down the hill. I had planned to hike up the hill to look for a couple other spots to shoot from, but the trains just kept coming.
There's also some great under the bridges graff out at this spot, and I just didn't have time to hike over to it and flick it. There's also a spot close by that the RR stores ties, track, and equipment, I wanted to get some shots of that, again, no time.
Anyway, RRfans,(Keith) & Buddy hung out for another 5-6 hours until the sun dipped behind the mountains at about 6:00pm, and it was starting to get dark. Spent the day waiting, and listening for the engines chugging up the hill, or the horns blaring in the distance so we could finally jump up and do what we were both there to do. Him to film the trains and give his commentary, and me to get my flicks. He's a good dude to hang out with, good conversation, talk about life, problems, trains, etc.. Time just goes by so quick until the next train and we both get to work.
Saw lots of trucks, motorcycles, and loads of Jeeps drive through to go out exploring the local trails only to leave within' 20 minutes or so. There's miles and miles of trails out there, but it seems people get bored fast...
Had a great time, saw pieces from some of my favorite writers, and some writers I talk to occasionally.
It was a great day, and day I really needed personally, I've had a rough last few weeks, and I haven't been trackside in over a month. It was great to get out to the familiar sounds and smells of being out there next to the trains.
Backgrounds at this location are kind of boring, but the amount of freights and great pieces that come through here is crazy.
================
If you can, pick up a copy of my first photo book: SoCal Freight Benching: Graffiti on Freight Trains - Vol.1 Here: smile.amazon.com/SoCal-Freight-Benching-Graffiti-Trains/d...
Every little bit helps. Thanks!!
[Sorry I haven't posted in a while, spent a lot of time working on the book]
I had a weird, disappointing, and ultimately good time out trackside today.
Got to my spot about 10:00 AM or so, then 20 minutes or so to hike out to my spot. Immediately the freights started coming. One after the next for a little while.
After a few freights, I texted my friend @railfanscajonpass that I was out there. This is a friend who benches 5-6 days a week, so I figured he was probably out somewhere close. He was, he pulled up like 20 minutes later and we hung out for an hour or two, and then he was off to hit up another spot.
After a while it seemed like the freights slowed down and I had some time before the next one. I hiked over I would guess 1/4 mile to a bridge spot that always has new graff. That spot also has one throw up that I always shoot because everyone who comes through there signs it. White outline and the black fill has probably 100 smaller (in size) names written in the fill. Every time I come up here there's new names. I've been flicking this for a couple years now. This time however, someone buffed and went over the entire piece and a piece next to it. What the hell ?!
Look, I'm not even a writer, but damn. Even I know that this wasn't right...
========
Later, I was at a different spot, and two dudes were acting super sketchy really close to where I was, which weirded me out enough that I hiked further down the tracks and this lead to something, I found another good view to catch the freights from. A little something different you might notice in today's photos. Turns out one guy was painting under the trestle, and the other guy kept coming up by me as a lookout. Whatever... I get out there to be away from people. So, I did. And found a new spot!
Caught a lot of great pieces today, got to hang out with my friend, and didn't get bit by any rattlesnakes! In the end, it was a good day.
========
Pick up a copy of my book if you can. Every little bit helps me out.
SoCal Freight Benching: Graffiti on Freight Trains - Vol.1
www.amazon.com/SoCal-Freight-Benching-Graffiti-Trains/dp/...
[Sorry I haven't posted in a while, spent a lot of time working on the book]
I had a weird, disappointing, and ultimately good time out trackside today.
Got to my spot about 10:00 AM or so, then 20 minutes or so to hike out to my spot. Immediately the freights started coming. One after the next for a little while.
After a few freights, I texted my friend @railfanscajonpass that I was out there. This is a friend who benches 5-6 days a week, so I figured he was probably out somewhere close. He was, he pulled up like 20 minutes later and we hung out for an hour or two, and then he was off to hit up another spot.
After a while it seemed like the freights slowed down and I had some time before the next one. I hiked over I would guess 1/4 mile to a bridge spot that always has new graff. That spot also has one throw up that I always shoot because everyone who comes through there signs it. White outline and the black fill has probably 100 smaller (in size) names written in the fill. Every time I come up here there's new names. I've been flicking this for a couple years now. This time however, someone buffed and went over the entire piece and a piece next to it. What the hell ?!
Look, I'm not even a writer, but damn. Even I know that this wasn't right...
========
Later, I was at a different spot, and two dudes were acting super sketchy really close to where I was, which weirded me out enough that I hiked further down the tracks and this lead to something, I found another good view to catch the freights from. A little something different you might notice in today's photos. Turns out one guy was painting under the trestle, and the other guy kept coming up by me as a lookout. Whatever... I get out there to be away from people. So, I did. And found a new spot!
Caught a lot of great pieces today, got to hang out with my friend, and didn't get bit by any rattlesnakes! In the end, it was a good day.
========
Pick up a copy of my book if you can. Every little bit helps me out.
SoCal Freight Benching: Graffiti on Freight Trains - Vol.1
www.amazon.com/SoCal-Freight-Benching-Graffiti-Trains/dp/...
Wasn't going to upload these for a couple days, but had a slightly disturbing conversation with my Father tonight about a previous neighbors immanent demise, and I realized that I may not live forever, so here you go.
Last day of the first month of 2021. Got out to the depot/yard at 10AM. Beautiful weather. The night before I'd invited my Nephew to come out benching with me. He'd never been out and I'm sure didn't know what to expect.
Well, I brought him to the yard because I thought it would at the minimum be interesting to him watching the crane operators loading the containers on the cars. Well, when I got there the nearest tracks were loaded with freights blocking most of the view, and half of the cranes weren't operating anyway. Didn't really bother me because as an active bencher I'm used to waiting for something interesting to happen.
I apologized and assured him that "Any minute" a freight could roll through with some amazing pieces on it. And 3 or 4 did while he was there. I shot my flicks and talked to him about what he saw. Said he saw some really cool pieces and even mentioned some hand re-painted numbers on the cars. Somehow he already knew that the writers shouldn't be covering the numbers. He knows zero about graff, and understood this. How is it that so many writers don't understand this?? I'm not sure the Nephews' a fan of graff. I really haven't talked to him about it much. He did ask me how people didn't get caught, or in trouble for doing it. I tried to explain layups, people sneaking into yards etc. And to his credit, he never sounded judgmental. He just had questions.
Anyway.. Had a fun time, and shot some nice pieces. I used the same 7.5mm lens I've used there before but used a Lightroom lens correction to flatten the images so they don't have the fisheye effect. Not sure which I like better, flat or fisheye. Both have their appeal.. The furthest I can stand from a freight on the first rail is about 15ft. so the ultra wide angle is necessary. I can get a whole autorack in one shot. It's actually pretty cool.
As always, thanks to all of the writers!
For freight graffiti slideshows hit up my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
[Sorry I haven't posted in a while, spent a lot of time working on the book]
I had a weird, disappointing, and ultimately good time out trackside today.
Got to my spot about 10:00 AM or so, then 20 minutes or so to hike out to my spot. Immediately the freights started coming. One after the next for a little while.
After a few freights, I texted my friend @railfanscajonpass that I was out there. This is a friend who benches 5-6 days a week, so I figured he was probably out somewhere close. He was, he pulled up like 20 minutes later and we hung out for an hour or two, and then he was off to hit up another spot.
After a while it seemed like the freights slowed down and I had some time before the next one. I hiked over I would guess 1/4 mile to a bridge spot that always has new graff. That spot also has one throw up that I always shoot because everyone who comes through there signs it. White outline and the black fill has probably 100 smaller (in size) names written in the fill. Every time I come up here there's new names. I've been flicking this for a couple years now. This time however, someone buffed and went over the entire piece and a piece next to it. What the hell ?!
Look, I'm not even a writer, but damn. Even I know that this wasn't right...
========
Later, I was at a different spot, and two dudes were acting super sketchy really close to where I was, which weirded me out enough that I hiked further down the tracks and this lead to something, I found another good view to catch the freights from. A little something different you might notice in today's photos. Turns out one guy was painting under the trestle, and the other guy kept coming up by me as a lookout. Whatever... I get out there to be away from people. So, I did. And found a new spot!
Caught a lot of great pieces today, got to hang out with my friend, and didn't get bit by any rattlesnakes! In the end, it was a good day.
========
Pick up a copy of my book if you can. Every little bit helps me out.
SoCal Freight Benching: Graffiti on Freight Trains - Vol.1
www.amazon.com/SoCal-Freight-Benching-Graffiti-Trains/dp/...
Went out to the "new" spot again today.Left earlier, but still got there a little late, but I'm learning my way around shooting into the sun...
Lots of weird shit went down today, but most of it is boring, so I'm not going to go into it unless you want to hear about the foamer that almost hit me me in his car at 50MPH TWICE!!! Blue Honda driver, I'm going to find out who you are!
Pretty chill spot, but most of my spots I'm the only one there. This spot, down the road there were a bunch of railfans / foamers, and other people that come out here to try out their Jeeps and trucks in the dirt so they can tell their co-workers on Monday that they went "Off Roading" over the weekend. Totally fine, but lots more traffic than I'm used to. I'm very much used to the occasional homeless person, hiker, fellow bencher etc, but "normal" people freak me out a little. They want to stop and talk, they have questions for you, etc. I don't want it, and I don't like it when I'm trying to get away. Not that I REALLY mind it, I'm just being bitchy.
Uploading on a Tuesday night, drinking Guinness, Cheech & Chong's: Next Movie on TV, Headphones on (Grado Labs), playing Minor Threat through an Altoids tin headphone amplifier at 11. Life's Good!!!!!!
Hope you guys are having fun peeping my flicks.
Stay safe out there guys/girls. Look both ways! If you see it, flick it!!
If you like my flicks at least leave a little comment.
To see my freight graffiti videos click here: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOdGrtyTsyWVhLVHkwY0_-iu8P...
Caution WET Paint ! 1953 Wrought Iron porch railing getting a much needed paint job. The last time they were painted was in the early 80's. 😮 Only 18 feet more to paint.
Rustoleum Regal Red.
Previously painted Rustoleum's Dusty Rose
I painted the inside of the stove with gloss white RustOleum. Installed rubber bumpers at all four corners to hold the stove top slightly off the countertop.
I had some time today to get out to the tracks for about 5-1/2 hours to one of my favorite sopts. Weather was great and there was a lot of activity.
Spotted quite a few great pieces, and a few pieces from a couple of my favorite writers. Lots of autoracks today!! Most of all, had fun! And that's what it's all about. When it's not fun anymore, quit..
Will be back in a few days to ID the pieces I can. If you know a writer's ID that I haven't identified, comment below. I have a hard time with some of them. After 10k pieces it's a lot easier, but ya' know..
As always, thanks to the writers! Stay safe out there!!
To see my freight graffiti videos click here:
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOdGrtyTsyWVhLVHkwY0_-iu8P...
Windy today. Decided to not go out in the desert and be pelted by dust all day. Drove out to the Santa Fe Depot again in San Bernardino. Ended being windblown all day, just no dust. First thing I see as I get to the depot is someone I kinda' know. PasadenaSub Colin. Kid who's running a nice YouTube channel filming freights, and Metrolink videos. You should check out his channel at: www.youtube.com/c/PasadenaSubColin Also check out my man JonanJello photographing and filming freight graffiti on THE daily! 352 videos and counting!! www.youtube.com/user/jonanjello
Shot today's photos on a few lenses I ended up switching lenses between two cameras. My normal lens for freights is the Fujifilm 23mm f/2, but being so close to the tracks at the depot I mostly used the 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8. It's hard to use anything else that close and capture the pieces straight on. Most of these shots I'm between 10-25 or so feet away from the train. Much closer than I normally shoot when I'm out on a hike. Still getting used to shooting this close. The cars roll by much faster when your this close!
Cameras: Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujifilm X-E3
Lenses: 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8, Fujifilm 16mm F/2.8 & Fujifilm 23mm F/2
For video slideshows...
[Sorry I haven't posted in a while, spent a lot of time working on the book]
I had a weird, disappointing, and ultimately good time out trackside today.
Got to my spot about 10:00 AM or so, then 20 minutes or so to hike out to my spot. Immediately the freights started coming. One after the next for a little while.
After a few freights, I texted my friend @railfanscajonpass that I was out there. This is a friend who benches 5-6 days a week, so I figured he was probably out somewhere close. He was, he pulled up like 20 minutes later and we hung out for an hour or two, and then he was off to hit up another spot.
After a while it seemed like the freights slowed down and I had some time before the next one. I hiked over I would guess 1/4 mile to a bridge spot that always has new graff. That spot also has one throw up that I always shoot because everyone who comes through there signs it. White outline and the black fill has probably 100 smaller (in size) names written in the fill. Every time I come up here there's new names. I've been flicking this for a couple years now. This time however, someone buffed and went over the entire piece and a piece next to it. What the hell ?!
Look, I'm not even a writer, but damn. Even I know that this wasn't right...
========
Later, I was at a different spot, and two dudes were acting super sketchy really close to where I was, which weirded me out enough that I hiked further down the tracks and this lead to something, I found another good view to catch the freights from. A little something different you might notice in today's photos. Turns out one guy was painting under the trestle, and the other guy kept coming up by me as a lookout. Whatever... I get out there to be away from people. So, I did. And found a new spot!
Caught a lot of great pieces today, got to hang out with my friend, and didn't get bit by any rattlesnakes! In the end, it was a good day.
========
Pick up a copy of my book if you can. Every little bit helps me out.
SoCal Freight Benching: Graffiti on Freight Trains - Vol.1
www.amazon.com/SoCal-Freight-Benching-Graffiti-Trains/dp/...
Went out to the "new" spot again today.Left earlier, but still got there a little late, but I'm learning my way around shooting into the sun...
Lots of weird shit went down today, but most of it is boring, so I'm not going to go into it unless you want to hear about the foamer that almost hit me me in his car at 50MPH TWICE!!! Blue Honda driver, I'm going to find out who you are!
Pretty chill spot, but most of my spots I'm the only one there. This spot, down the road there were a bunch of railfans / foamers, and other people that come out here to try out their Jeeps and trucks in the dirt so they can tell their co-workers on Monday that they went "Off Roading" over the weekend. Totally fine, but lots more traffic than I'm used to. I'm very much used to the occasional homeless person, hiker, fellow bencher etc, but "normal" people freak me out a little. They want to stop and talk, they have questions for you, etc. I don't want it, and I don't like it when I'm trying to get away. Not that I REALLY mind it, I'm just being bitchy.
Uploading on a Tuesday night, drinking Guinness, Cheech & Chong's: Next Movie on TV, Headphones on (Grado Labs), playing Minor Threat through an Altoids tin headphone amplifier at 11. Life's Good!!!!!!
Hope you guys are having fun peeping my flicks.
Stay safe out there guys/girls. Look both ways! If you see it, flick it!!
If you like my flicks at least leave a little comment.
To see my freight graffiti videos click here: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOdGrtyTsyWVhLVHkwY0_-iu8P...
Went out to the "new" spot again today.Left earlier, but still got there a little late, but I'm learning my way around shooting into the sun...
Lots of weird shit went down today, but most of it is boring, so I'm not going to go into it unless you want to hear about the foamer that almost hit me me in his car at 50MPH TWICE!!! Blue Honda driver, I'm going to find out who you are!
Pretty chill spot, but most of my spots I'm the only one there. This spot, down the road there were a bunch of railfans / foamers, and other people that come out here to try out their Jeeps and trucks in the dirt so they can tell their co-workers on Monday that they went "Off Roading" over the weekend. Totally fine, but lots more traffic than I'm used to. I'm very much used to the occasional homeless person, hiker, fellow bencher etc, but "normal" people freak me out a little. They want to stop and talk, they have questions for you, etc. I don't want it, and I don't like it when I'm trying to get away. Not that I REALLY mind it, I'm just being bitchy.
Uploading on a Tuesday night, drinking Guinness, Cheech & Chong's: Next Movie on TV, Headphones on (Grado Labs), playing Minor Threat through an Altoids tin headphone amplifier at 11. Life's Good!!!!!!
Hope you guys are having fun peeping my flicks.
Stay safe out there guys/girls. Look both ways! If you see it, flick it!!
If you like my flicks at least leave a little comment.
To see my freight graffiti videos click here: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOdGrtyTsyWVhLVHkwY0_-iu8P...
This is the second, Rustoleum-fail repaint. Metallic orange that really pops out at you; much more-so than the photo communicates. The PPG guy for this area shot it and he's a lot more skilled than I am. Look at the clear too long and it feels like you're falling right through it. Couldn't be more pleased and now I can get back to my regular routine.
Arrived at my spot around 10:30AM, left at 6:10PM.
A little over 80F. and a light breeze. Perfect weather for hanging out for a few hours. There were a couple cars there, but I didn't see any people besides one guy who kept getting in/out of his Jeep. Okay, whatever.
10 minutes after getting there I heard the first train coming around the bend, and what a train it was, couple engines, and 78 autoracks in a row! What a way to start of my day.
15-20 minutes after I got to the spot, I messaged my friend Keith @railfanscajonpass that I was out there, he said he was on his way, he got there an hour or so later. By that time I'd already flicked 7-8 trains. One of the busiest days I've had in a long time. They just kept coming up and down the hill. I had planned to hike up the hill to look for a couple other spots to shoot from, but the trains just kept coming.
There's also some great under the bridges graff out at this spot, and I just didn't have time to hike over to it and flick it. There's also a spot close by that the RR stores ties, track, and equipment, I wanted to get some shots of that, again, no time.
Anyway, RRfans,(Keith) & Buddy hung out for another 5-6 hours until the sun dipped behind the mountains at about 6:00pm, and it was starting to get dark. Spent the day waiting, and listening for the engines chugging up the hill, or the horns blaring in the distance so we could finally jump up and do what we were both there to do. Him to film the trains and give his commentary, and me to get my flicks. He's a good dude to hang out with, good conversation, talk about life, problems, trains, etc.. Time just goes by so quick until the next train and we both get to work.
Saw lots of trucks, motorcycles, and loads of Jeeps drive through to go out exploring the local trails only to leave within' 20 minutes or so. There's miles and miles of trails out there, but it seems people get bored fast...
Had a great time, saw pieces from some of my favorite writers, and some writers I talk to occasionally.
It was a great day, and day I really needed personally, I've had a rough last few weeks, and I haven't been trackside in over a month. It was great to get out to the familiar sounds and smells of being out there next to the trains.
Backgrounds at this location are kind of boring, but the amount of freights and great pieces that come through here is crazy.
================
If you can, pick up a copy of my first photo book: SoCal Freight Benching: Graffiti on Freight Trains - Vol.1 Here: smile.amazon.com/SoCal-Freight-Benching-Graffiti-Trains/d...
Every little bit helps. Thanks!!
I think it will be a while before I go out to this spot again. It's a great spot, every time I've gone, 2-3x, there's always been other "Train people" there. That's not the issue. The way the tracks are laid out, if I want to be able to flick graff on all of the tracks, not facing the sun, it's going to be a lot of running.
I don't know how many of you follow me and also bench, but if you do, you'll understand that there's great spots, there's good spots, and then there's difficult spots. All of them can have lots of action, but some spots are WAY better than others for getting flicks. This is one of those spots where it's super chill, other train people there, but getting flicks of graff is difficult for me. We get a lot of stackers, and if shooting with the sun, the tracks are progressively lower.... Hard to explain, but this is a great spot, just not easy. I'll visit again in the coming months and see if I can get it to work for me, but as it is right now, I like to go there, I don't like to get flicks there.
Fun Story: I drove down in-between the tracks today for the first time. Everything was fine. Most people stop to watch the trains from the access road above. Probably 25ft. higher and 50ft. from the closest track. Whatever.
I'm there for maybe an hour at this point, lots of cars and trucks coming and going. One stops, some small SUV thing. Father/Son. Son about 12-14yrs. I'm about 40 yards away, but down the hill from them, and I can clearly hear everything they are talking about. Father seems very supportive of the son's interest in trains. Cool ! First train (for them) starts down the tracks and I hear a train whistle, but it's not from a train, it's from the kid. He's got one of those wooden train whistles and he starts blowing it when he sees the train.
Gave me a smile. I could clearly her the kid talking about the UP, and then the BNSF, etc etc.. Kid seemed to know his stuff. We had one NS train come through and he spotted it from a mile away. The kid filmed every train that came through while they were there, and the father was telling him something about his intro's on YouTube, so I'm sure he's a YouTuber. I really wanted to go up and talk to them before they left and see if they were from around here or not. If not, I have some fun spots they might want to check, but they left before I could.
Getting ready to leave after only a couple hours and I can see there's some graff on one of the small train bridges. Decided to check it out before leaving. F-ing cool spot. Lots of writer's monikers, and quite a few larger pieces. Had a lot of fun trudging through the weeds, and the small stream to catch some flicks of all the goodies under and around the bridges. If I go back there, it will be to check out the bridge graff.
As always, Had fun, and saw some cool pieces.
Thanks to all of the writers. Stay safe out there, both writers, and fellow benchers.
To see my freight graffiti videos click here: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOdGrtyTsyWVhLVHkwY0_-iu8P...
Windy today. Decided to not go out in the desert and be pelted by dust all day. Drove out to the Santa Fe Depot again in San Bernardino. Ended being windblown all day, just no dust. First thing I see as I get to the depot is someone I kinda' know. PasadenaSub Colin. Kid who's running a nice YouTube channel filming freights, and Metrolink videos. You should check out his channel at: www.youtube.com/c/PasadenaSubColin Also check out my man JonanJello photographing and filming freight graffiti on THE daily! 352 videos and counting!! www.youtube.com/user/jonanjello
Shot today's photos on a few lenses I ended up switching lenses between two cameras. My normal lens for freights is the Fujifilm 23mm f/2, but being so close to the tracks at the depot I mostly used the 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8. It's hard to use anything else that close and capture the pieces straight on. Most of these shots I'm between 10-25 or so feet away from the train. Much closer than I normally shoot when I'm out on a hike. Still getting used to shooting this close. The cars roll by much faster when your this close!
Cameras: Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujifilm X-E3
Lenses: 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8, Fujifilm 16mm F/2.8 & Fujifilm 23mm F/2
For video slideshows...
Windy today. Decided to not go out in the desert and be pelted by dust all day. Drove out to the Santa Fe Depot again in San Bernardino. Ended being windblown all day, just no dust. First thing I see as I get to the depot is someone I kinda' know. PasadenaSub Colin. Kid who's running a nice YouTube channel filming freights, and Metrolink videos. You should check out his channel at: www.youtube.com/c/PasadenaSubColin Also check out my man JonanJello photographing and filming freight graffiti on THE daily! 352 videos and counting!! www.youtube.com/user/jonanjello
Shot today's photos on a few lenses I ended up switching lenses between two cameras. My normal lens for freights is the Fujifilm 23mm f/2, but being so close to the tracks at the depot I mostly used the 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8. It's hard to use anything else that close and capture the pieces straight on. Most of these shots I'm between 10-25 or so feet away from the train. Much closer than I normally shoot when I'm out on a hike. Still getting used to shooting this close. The cars roll by much faster when your this close!
Cameras: Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujifilm X-E3
Lenses: 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8, Fujifilm 16mm F/2.8 & Fujifilm 23mm F/2
For video slideshows...
Headed out today at about 11AM. I could take the freeway to this spot, but it's a curvy scenic drive and most of the way there I can look over to my left and see the train tracks up against the side of the mountain, and sometimes cruise along with a train chugging up or down the mountain in my peripheral vision.
Arrived a little before 11:30AM. the sun was out and there was a little breeze. I want to say it was close to 70F. when I arrived, but it was probably cooler, and I didn't have a jacket and I regretted it later as the sun kept going behind the clouds and the breeze kept turning into "wind chill". Every time it got too cold for me to stay, the sun would come back out.
I seemed to be the only one up there on a rare, for me, Monday off. Some BNSF workers had trucks about a half mile down the road from me, and over the course of the day I ended up seeing them come and go a few times doing what they do to maintain the tracks.
Started off the day with one train I think and then I wanted to head over to the bridges to hide a copy of my book for someone to find. I wandered around under the bridges for 20 minutes or so, caught a few new pieces there, figured out a nice dry spot to leave a copy of the book and headed back up to the surface. Like a Morlock coming to the surface to snatch an Eloi.
This spot is pretty "railfan" friendly and I saw some people come and film trains, which seemed weird for a Monday, but.. I was out there.
Wandered down to the other end of this massive flat area next to the tracks and got some photos of the stacks of rails, ties, and other railroad related stuff that BNSF takes out of commission, and just seems to stack here out of the way.
Left at 5PM.
Got out of the house, caught some great pieces today and had some fun. Nothin' wrong with that!
Side Note: Sorry about the lack of freight uploads, work, life, and working on another book is keeping me busy.
Windy today. Decided to not go out in the desert and be pelted by dust all day. Drove out to the Santa Fe Depot again in San Bernardino. Ended being windblown all day, just no dust. First thing I see as I get to the depot is someone I kinda' know. PasadenaSub Colin. Kid who's running a nice YouTube channel filming freights, and Metrolink videos. You should check out his channel at: www.youtube.com/c/PasadenaSubColin Also check out my man JonanJello photographing and filming freight graffiti on THE daily! 352 videos and counting!! www.youtube.com/user/jonanjello
Shot today's photos on a few lenses I ended up switching lenses between two cameras. My normal lens for freights is the Fujifilm 23mm f/2, but being so close to the tracks at the depot I mostly used the 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8. It's hard to use anything else that close and capture the pieces straight on. Most of these shots I'm between 10-25 or so feet away from the train. Much closer than I normally shoot when I'm out on a hike. Still getting used to shooting this close. The cars roll by much faster when your this close!
Cameras: Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujifilm X-E3
Lenses: 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8, Fujifilm 16mm F/2.8 & Fujifilm 23mm F/2
For video slideshows...
One thing the restoration did achieve was the chance to assess the Rustoleum Chrome aerosol paint which has actually provided a quite decent metallic chrome effect finish.
Definitely worth keeping a can in stock!
Uploading these WAY late. Sorry. Moving to new PC after being on the same Win7-Pro machine for like 8+ years (I don't like change!), and it's been a mini-nightmare. Caught these a couple weeks ago at my local BNSF / Santa Fe yard.
====================
FYI.
These were shot with a 7.5mm fisheye lens because of the location, and poorly corrected so they look somewhat normal...
====================
Decided to head out to my local yard on a Saturday, got there at 9:30 and I was the only one out at the freight side platform. After a half hour I noticed someone down at the other end that I thought I recognized. Messaged him, and yep, it was him. My dude PasadenaSubColin.
We were both out there to just enjoy the day, me catching freights, and him freights & Metrolinks. He's a good dude to have around, as he lets me know when something cool is on its way into the yard, and I appreciate that he's all plugged into the grid to give the "heads up" when something's coming soon.
Well, this time I had, or rather found out, the "Heads Up" about 15 mins before he let me in on what would be the joke of the day. There apparently was a bicentennial engine coming through the depot today on its way to a RR museum in Perris, CA. The 5704!!!!! Big whoop.... One dude chatted me up asking if I knew when "IT" was supposed to come through. I had no idea what he was talking about and told him I don't follow trains. :-)
15-20 mins. later Colin messages me an FYI, that there's a "Special" train about to roll through. I've been in this situation before. I'm there benching graff, and all of the sudden 20 cars pull up and a bunch of "Railfans" jump out of their cars, run over, take a few photos of the "Special" car(s), engine or train, and when it's gone, they're gone. I feel like these are the people who only get out of bed when something "cool" is rolling through town. I really doubt they care about day-to-day operations of the RR. And honestly there's no way they give a shit about the graff.
Most people out at the tracks are cool, but there's a certain group of people who seem to have zero social skills when something "Special" is coming through, and we had at least one on this day. Some dude that kept walking past us, standing in my spot, like he was going to shoot from there when I got there at 9:30, and he got there at Noon. Walking past us by inches, and not saying a word, head down... Walking in front of cameras that were filming, hanging around my backpack and gear while I was like 30 feet away, just weird, un-cool shit. I'm not down with any of this. But I don't want to burn this spot as a bencher and didn't start any trouble, even though I wanted to punch this dude.. GRRR!
Will not be posting flicks of this special train car. Sorry. I saw it, I flicked it, but the whole experience was crap, and it was just one engine, big deal. I was there for the graff that you're seeing me post.
Was hot, no clouds, and at my end of the platform I had a 2ft. x 3ft. spot of slowly moving shade that was cast by one of the platform lights. After a while Colin and I were sharing this tiny moving spot of shade. No worries, we get along just fine.
BTW: PasadenaSubColin is a FOAMER!!!!!!!! ;-p
Managed to re-flick a few cars that I caught at the beginning of the month at the other end of the valley. Anyway........ I'll be back to try and ID these pieces soon. Might take me a little longer than usual as, like I said before, new computer, new crap to deal with..
Stay safe out there homies.
And..... As always, Thanks to the writers!
For freight graffiti slideshows/videos hit up my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
Please Subscribe to the YouTube, every little bit helps.
Uploading these WAY late. Sorry. Moving to new PC after being on the same Win7-Pro machine for like 8+ years (I don't like change!), and it's been a mini-nightmare. Caught these a couple weeks ago at my local BNSF / Santa Fe yard.
====================
FYI.
These were shot with a 7.5mm fisheye lens because of the location, and poorly corrected so they look somewhat normal...
====================
Decided to head out to my local yard on a Saturday, got there at 9:30 and I was the only one out at the freight side platform. After a half hour I noticed someone down at the other end that I thought I recognized. Messaged him, and yep, it was him. My dude PasadenaSubColin.
We were both out there to just enjoy the day, me catching freights, and him freights & Metrolinks. He's a good dude to have around, as he lets me know when something cool is on its way into the yard, and I appreciate that he's all plugged into the grid to give the "heads up" when something's coming soon.
Well, this time I had, or rather found out, the "Heads Up" about 15 mins before he let me in on what would be the joke of the day. There apparently was a bicentennial engine coming through the depot today on its way to a RR museum in Perris, CA. The 5704!!!!! Big whoop.... One dude chatted me up asking if I knew when "IT" was supposed to come through. I had no idea what he was talking about and told him I don't follow trains. :-)
15-20 mins. later Colin messages me an FYI, that there's a "Special" train about to roll through. I've been in this situation before. I'm there benching graff, and all of the sudden 20 cars pull up and a bunch of "Railfans" jump out of their cars, run over, take a few photos of the "Special" car(s), engine or train, and when it's gone, they're gone. I feel like these are the people who only get out of bed when something "cool" is rolling through town. I really doubt they care about day-to-day operations of the RR. And honestly there's no way they give a shit about the graff.
Most people out at the tracks are cool, but there's a certain group of people who seem to have zero social skills when something "Special" is coming through, and we had at least one on this day. Some dude that kept walking past us, standing in my spot, like he was going to shoot from there when I got there at 9:30, and he got there at Noon. Walking past us by inches, and not saying a word, head down... Walking in front of cameras that were filming, hanging around my backpack and gear while I was like 30 feet away, just weird, un-cool shit. I'm not down with any of this. But I don't want to burn this spot as a bencher and didn't start any trouble, even though I wanted to punch this dude.. GRRR!
Will not be posting flicks of this special train car. Sorry. I saw it, I flicked it, but the whole experience was crap, and it was just one engine, big deal. I was there for the graff that you're seeing me post.
Was hot, no clouds, and at my end of the platform I had a 2ft. x 3ft. spot of slowly moving shade that was cast by one of the platform lights. After a while Colin and I were sharing this tiny moving spot of shade. No worries, we get along just fine.
BTW: PasadenaSubColin is a FOAMER!!!!!!!! ;-p
Managed to re-flick a few cars that I caught at the beginning of the month at the other end of the valley. Anyway........ I'll be back to try and ID these pieces soon. Might take me a little longer than usual as, like I said before, new computer, new crap to deal with..
Stay safe out there homies.
And..... As always, Thanks to the writers!
For freight graffiti slideshows/videos hit up my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
Please Subscribe to the YouTube, every little bit helps.
Uploading these WAY late. Sorry. Moving to new PC after being on the same Win7-Pro machine for like 8+ years (I don't like change!), and it's been a mini-nightmare. Caught these a couple weeks ago at my local BNSF / Santa Fe yard.
====================
FYI.
These were shot with a 7.5mm fisheye lens because of the location, and poorly corrected so they look somewhat normal...
====================
Decided to head out to my local yard on a Saturday, got there at 9:30 and I was the only one out at the freight side platform. After a half hour I noticed someone down at the other end that I thought I recognized. Messaged him, and yep, it was him. My dude PasadenaSubColin.
We were both out there to just enjoy the day, me catching freights, and him freights & Metrolinks. He's a good dude to have around, as he lets me know when something cool is on its way into the yard, and I appreciate that he's all plugged into the grid to give the "heads up" when something's coming soon.
Well, this time I had, or rather found out, the "Heads Up" about 15 mins before he let me in on what would be the joke of the day. There apparently was a bicentennial engine coming through the depot today on its way to a RR museum in Perris, CA. The 5704!!!!! Big whoop.... One dude chatted me up asking if I knew when "IT" was supposed to come through. I had no idea what he was talking about and told him I don't follow trains. :-)
15-20 mins. later Colin messages me an FYI, that there's a "Special" train about to roll through. I've been in this situation before. I'm there benching graff, and all of the sudden 20 cars pull up and a bunch of "Railfans" jump out of their cars, run over, take a few photos of the "Special" car(s), engine or train, and when it's gone, they're gone. I feel like these are the people who only get out of bed when something "cool" is rolling through town. I really doubt they care about day-to-day operations of the RR. And honestly there's no way they give a shit about the graff.
Most people out at the tracks are cool, but there's a certain group of people who seem to have zero social skills when something "Special" is coming through, and we had at least one on this day. Some dude that kept walking past us, standing in my spot, like he was going to shoot from there when I got there at 9:30, and he got there at Noon. Walking past us by inches, and not saying a word, head down... Walking in front of cameras that were filming, hanging around my backpack and gear while I was like 30 feet away, just weird, un-cool shit. I'm not down with any of this. But I don't want to burn this spot as a bencher and didn't start any trouble, even though I wanted to punch this dude.. GRRR!
Will not be posting flicks of this special train car. Sorry. I saw it, I flicked it, but the whole experience was crap, and it was just one engine, big deal. I was there for the graff that you're seeing me post.
Was hot, no clouds, and at my end of the platform I had a 2ft. x 3ft. spot of slowly moving shade that was cast by one of the platform lights. After a while Colin and I were sharing this tiny moving spot of shade. No worries, we get along just fine.
BTW: PasadenaSubColin is a FOAMER!!!!!!!! ;-p
Managed to re-flick a few cars that I caught at the beginning of the month at the other end of the valley. Anyway........ I'll be back to try and ID these pieces soon. Might take me a little longer than usual as, like I said before, new computer, new crap to deal with..
Stay safe out there homies.
And..... As always, Thanks to the writers!
For freight graffiti slideshows/videos hit up my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
Please Subscribe to the YouTube, every little bit helps.
Raw cast by Blackula727
Paints used:
Rustoleum metallic blue
Rustoleum flat black
Dupli-color gunmetal metallic
Testor's model paints
A.I. chip from Dustin Westaby powers the fan and LED lights.
Saturday, out on a beer run, brought the camera and ran out to one of my spots, flicked one train. I waited for another further down the line, but it was taking forever, and it was hot so I drove back home.
BUT!! It actually turned out kinda' cool, because I caught a bunch of railroad equipment on its way to repair some tracks down the line. To be dropped off somewhere in the middle of the desert, where guys in orange or green vests' in hard hats with clipboards will point at other guys to "Get to work!" and yell incoherent instructions. Was happy to see this equipment roll by on a Saturday to reminds me that I had one more day off before going back to work.
As always, thanks to the Writers, my fellow Benchers and Railroad Workers across the globe. You're all doing good work!
Stay safe out there guys!!
For freight graffiti slideshows/videos hit up my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
Instagram here: @soilentseven
SoCalFreights.com
irregularphotos.com
Out for the day at the Mormon Rocks in the Cajon Pass. Tons of trains, and nice weather for the first time in a LONG time. It was almost cold.
I also shot a time lapse video of the trains going by while I was out there, you can see it here: youtu.be/T2D8sNH_Oos
Had Fun! And that's what it's about.
This desk was so disgusting... the rubber top was so damaged (full of deep cuts, grease & grime, gum...). Here's what I did to refinish the top:
1) I peeled the old rubber off
2) Coated the bare metal with Rustoleum primer (2 coats, just to be safe)
3) 2 coats of light turquoise latex paint
4) After it dried, I poured a bartop epoxy over the whole thing!
I now have a usable, shiny new desk top - in the color of my choice! :)
Got out today, 10-09-2021 at about 9:30AM.. Hiked out to one of my spots, and then hiked out to a few spots I've never been out to before. There's so many cool areas around here. I need to find a spot where all four rails come together. As it is now, there's two busy rails, one kinda busy and another that many one or two freight roll by during the time I'm there. Two tracks together, one about a 1/4 mile away, and another about 1/2 mile away. I can't just be running between all of them. I'm too old and slow. Caught some wall graff I hadn't seen before, and also hit up a bunch of my usual spots, and saw all the changes that had taken place since the last time I'd been out there. Reminder: Pick up your fucking cans/trash. Keep throwin' your shit out there and they'll start crackin' down! It's a beautiful area. Let's keep it that way.
After straightening and fixing photos from the 9th, it's already 10-21, and I'm doubting I'll be able to get out again before the end of the month. Is this what happens when you're back to work. Benching once a month? This sucks.
As always, thanks to the writers! Stay safe out there!!
For freight graffiti slideshows/videos hit up my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
Sunday December 20th 2020
Out for the day to see some trains and some amazing art roll by. All of the "Fisheye" 7.5mm shots the time is off by one hour, as I forgot to change the clock on the Fujifilm X-E-3 when we "Fell" back.
Arrived about 10:15AM, pulled up to the trailhead parking lot, into the first space next to the handicaped parking space and immediately noticed that there was a cargo type van, pulled off of the blacktop, and there were a couple guys with cameras filming into the back of the van. Hmmm... When I got out of the car I noticed that there was a guy in the back of the van, tied up, and had tape accross his mouth. I figured they were filming some sort of project and asked if I should move my car as I was only one space away from where they were filming. No, you're fine. Ok, and a hiking I would go. Out to my favorite benching spot. My favorite place to go to graffiti, and have graffiti delivered to me via the rails and locally.
It doesn't take long to get to my spot, but the spot is magical. Weird rocks, desert, not to hard to get to, and trains all day...
I go out there by myself, but see tons of people rolling through on their quads, jeeps, and $20k side by sides with flags and music blaring out into the desert. Always some crappy music. Nothing that makes me feel like I'm out in the desert alone. The Jim Morrison vibes when you're out there alone are real. It can be scary, friendly, hot or cold. The desert can be inviting one minute, but when you're running low on water harsh in the next. I've been to the beach maybe a handfull of times in my life, but have been to the desert hundreds, and it's my comfort spot.
Saw a ton of amazing pieces today and captured most of them. Had fun, and didn't get bitten by anything. All in all, it was a great way to spend the day.
Turns out the people filming the guy tied up in the van were filming part of a music video. Had a nice 5 min. conversation with them and home I went to look at the treasures I'd captured.
Stay safe out there !!!!
To see my graffiti photo/video slideshows on YouTube: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
Sunday December 20th 2020
Out for the day to see some trains and some amazing art roll by. All of the "Fisheye" 7.5mm shots the time is off by one hour, as I forgot to change the clock on the Fujifilm X-E-3 when we "Fell" back.
Arrived about 10:15AM, pulled up to the trailhead parking lot, into the first space next to the handicaped parking space and immediately noticed that there was a cargo type van, pulled off of the blacktop, and there were a couple guys with cameras filming into the back of the van. Hmmm... When I got out of the car I noticed that there was a guy in the back of the van, tied up, and had tape accross his mouth. I figured they were filming some sort of project and asked if I should move my car as I was only one space away from where they were filming. No, you're fine. Ok, and a hiking I would go. Out to my favorite benching spot. My favorite place to go to graffiti, and have graffiti delivered to me via the rails and locally.
It doesn't take long to get to my spot, but the spot is magical. Weird rocks, desert, not to hard to get to, and trains all day...
I go out there by myself, but see tons of people rolling through on their quads, jeeps, and $20k side by sides with flags and music blaring out into the desert. Always some crappy music. Nothing that makes me feel like I'm out in the desert alone. The Jim Morrison vibes when you're out there alone are real. It can be scary, friendly, hot or cold. The desert can be inviting one minute, but when you're running low on water harsh in the next. I've been to the beach maybe a handfull of times in my life, but have been to the desert hundreds, and it's my comfort spot.
Saw a ton of amazing pieces today and captured most of them. Had fun, and didn't get bitten by anything. All in all, it was a great way to spend the day.
Turns out the people filming the guy tied up in the van were filming part of a music video. Had a nice 5 min. conversation with them and home I went to look at the treasures I'd captured.
Stay safe out there !!!!
To see my graffiti photo/video slideshows on YouTube: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
Uploading these WAY late. Sorry. Moving to new PC after being on the same Win7-Pro machine for like 8+ years (I don't like change!), and it's been a mini-nightmare. Caught these a couple weeks ago at my local BNSF / Santa Fe yard.
====================
FYI.
These were shot with a 7.5mm fisheye lens because of the location, and poorly corrected so they look somewhat normal...
====================
Decided to head out to my local yard on a Saturday, got there at 9:30 and I was the only one out at the freight side platform. After a half hour I noticed someone down at the other end that I thought I recognized. Messaged him, and yep, it was him. My dude PasadenaSubColin.
We were both out there to just enjoy the day, me catching freights, and him freights & Metrolinks. He's a good dude to have around, as he lets me know when something cool is on its way into the yard, and I appreciate that he's all plugged into the grid to give the "heads up" when something's coming soon.
Well, this time I had, or rather found out, the "Heads Up" about 15 mins before he let me in on what would be the joke of the day. There apparently was a bicentennial engine coming through the depot today on its way to a RR museum in Perris, CA. The 5704!!!!! Big whoop.... One dude chatted me up asking if I knew when "IT" was supposed to come through. I had no idea what he was talking about and told him I don't follow trains. :-)
15-20 mins. later Colin messages me an FYI, that there's a "Special" train about to roll through. I've been in this situation before. I'm there benching graff, and all of the sudden 20 cars pull up and a bunch of "Railfans" jump out of their cars, run over, take a few photos of the "Special" car(s), engine or train, and when it's gone, they're gone. I feel like these are the people who only get out of bed when something "cool" is rolling through town. I really doubt they care about day-to-day operations of the RR. And honestly there's no way they give a shit about the graff.
Most people out at the tracks are cool, but there's a certain group of people who seem to have zero social skills when something "Special" is coming through, and we had at least one on this day. Some dude that kept walking past us, standing in my spot, like he was going to shoot from there when I got there at 9:30, and he got there at Noon. Walking past us by inches, and not saying a word, head down... Walking in front of cameras that were filming, hanging around my backpack and gear while I was like 30 feet away, just weird, un-cool shit. I'm not down with any of this. But I don't want to burn this spot as a bencher and didn't start any trouble, even though I wanted to punch this dude.. GRRR!
Will not be posting flicks of this special train car. Sorry. I saw it, I flicked it, but the whole experience was crap, and it was just one engine, big deal. I was there for the graff that you're seeing me post.
Was hot, no clouds, and at my end of the platform I had a 2ft. x 3ft. spot of slowly moving shade that was cast by one of the platform lights. After a while Colin and I were sharing this tiny moving spot of shade. No worries, we get along just fine.
BTW: PasadenaSubColin is a FOAMER!!!!!!!! ;-p
Managed to re-flick a few cars that I caught at the beginning of the month at the other end of the valley. Anyway........ I'll be back to try and ID these pieces soon. Might take me a little longer than usual as, like I said before, new computer, new crap to deal with..
Stay safe out there homies.
And..... As always, Thanks to the writers!
For freight graffiti slideshows/videos hit up my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
Please Subscribe to the YouTube, every little bit helps.
Today started out early. I went out to a spot that's not too far away but takes some effort to get out to. This really is a great area, and one of my favorite places to be. For just hiking around, or for benching. It's an amazing place. It's almost surreal how big and crazy the rocks and landscape are here.
Arrived at 9 AM, and after a short hike out to the tracks, the trains started rolling by. One after another, it was a super busy day. I've never seen so many autoracks during a session. Autoracks, at least for me are like rare birds, but today, they just kept coming! Caught pieces I hadn't seen before from some of my favorite writers, and that always makes for a great day out. Weather was great, I'm guessing 80F, but the wind.... The wind kept things pretty cool out. Almost cold, but not quite. Just about
perfect.
I saw a deer!! I've never seen anything larger than a lizard when out here. While waiting for the next train I looked over and saw something kinda' hopping over a double set of tracks about 75 ft. from me. At first I thought it was either some kinda dog, or a coyote, but it was big. I looked over at my bag, in case it ran towards me and I needed to grab it and run, and looked back to see it hop over the tracks, down an embankment about 15 ft. high, onto the access road which is about 20 ft. wide and with two
hops it was gone into the bushes. Really cool !!
Ended up leaving at around 4:30 PM, so a little over 7 hours. With longer days, and the way the sun travels here, it's almost better to show up later. There's a time around noon where no matter which side of the tracks your on, the lighting on the trains sucks. But hey, I'm out, away from society, seeing nature, seeing trains, graff, getting exercise, fresh air, and just plain getting away from my regular life..
Some people do yoga, some people meditate, some go to therapy. This is how I wipe away my daily life a couple times a month for a few hours.
Just wanted to throw in, I know every piece I flick isn't a banger, but I'm documenting graff. Today's toy, may be tomorrows king. And I'll have proof that he or she also was once a toy! Solid Gold!! :-)
As ALWAYS, thanks to the writers!
Writers, fellow benchers, and railfans, stay safe out there!!
For freight graffiti slideshows/videos hit up my YouTube here: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
Instagram: @soilentseven
As usual, I'll be back in a few days to start going through and tagging my flicks with the the writer's names that I can figure out.
================
Oh, also as I'm finishing up editing photos from last weekend, heading into this weekend, I'm watching "Martha a picture story" Documentary about Martha Cooper, one of the OG's in documenting graff with high quality flicks years ago. One of the original authors of the Subway Art book. If you can swing renting it online to watch, or picking up a Blu Ray from Vinegar Syndrome, do so, it's a great film. vinegarsyndrome.com/products/martha-a-picture-story-utopia/
[Sorry I haven't posted in a while, spent a lot of time working on the book]
I had a weird, disappointing, and ultimately good time out trackside today.
Got to my spot about 10:00 AM or so, then 20 minutes or so to hike out to my spot. Immediately the freights started coming. One after the next for a little while.
After a few freights, I texted my friend @railfanscajonpass that I was out there. This is a friend who benches 5-6 days a week, so I figured he was probably out somewhere close. He was, he pulled up like 20 minutes later and we hung out for an hour or two, and then he was off to hit up another spot.
After a while it seemed like the freights slowed down and I had some time before the next one. I hiked over I would guess 1/4 mile to a bridge spot that always has new graff. That spot also has one throw up that I always shoot because everyone who comes through there signs it. White outline and the black fill has probably 100 smaller (in size) names written in the fill. Every time I come up here there's new names. I've been flicking this for a couple years now. This time however, someone buffed and went over the entire piece and a piece next to it. What the hell ?!
Look, I'm not even a writer, but damn. Even I know that this wasn't right...
========
Later, I was at a different spot, and two dudes were acting super sketchy really close to where I was, which weirded me out enough that I hiked further down the tracks and this lead to something, I found another good view to catch the freights from. A little something different you might notice in today's photos. Turns out one guy was painting under the trestle, and the other guy kept coming up by me as a lookout. Whatever... I get out there to be away from people. So, I did. And found a new spot!
Caught a lot of great pieces today, got to hang out with my friend, and didn't get bit by any rattlesnakes! In the end, it was a good day.
========
Pick up a copy of my book if you can. Every little bit helps me out.
SoCal Freight Benching: Graffiti on Freight Trains - Vol.1
www.amazon.com/SoCal-Freight-Benching-Graffiti-Trains/dp/...
Uploading these WAY late. Sorry. Moving to new PC after being on the same Win7-Pro machine for like 8+ years (I don't like change!), and it's been a mini-nightmare. Caught these a couple weeks ago at my local BNSF / Santa Fe yard.
====================
FYI.
These were shot with a 7.5mm fisheye lens because of the location, and poorly corrected so they look somewhat normal...
====================
Decided to head out to my local yard on a Saturday, got there at 9:30 and I was the only one out at the freight side platform. After a half hour I noticed someone down at the other end that I thought I recognized. Messaged him, and yep, it was him. My dude PasadenaSubColin.
We were both out there to just enjoy the day, me catching freights, and him freights & Metrolinks. He's a good dude to have around, as he lets me know when something cool is on its way into the yard, and I appreciate that he's all plugged into the grid to give the "heads up" when something's coming soon.
Well, this time I had, or rather found out, the "Heads Up" about 15 mins before he let me in on what would be the joke of the day. There apparently was a bicentennial engine coming through the depot today on its way to a RR museum in Perris, CA. The 5704!!!!! Big whoop.... One dude chatted me up asking if I knew when "IT" was supposed to come through. I had no idea what he was talking about and told him I don't follow trains. :-)
15-20 mins. later Colin messages me an FYI, that there's a "Special" train about to roll through. I've been in this situation before. I'm there benching graff, and all of the sudden 20 cars pull up and a bunch of "Railfans" jump out of their cars, run over, take a few photos of the "Special" car(s), engine or train, and when it's gone, they're gone. I feel like these are the people who only get out of bed when something "cool" is rolling through town. I really doubt they care about day-to-day operations of the RR. And honestly there's no way they give a shit about the graff.
Most people out at the tracks are cool, but there's a certain group of people who seem to have zero social skills when something "Special" is coming through, and we had at least one on this day. Some dude that kept walking past us, standing in my spot, like he was going to shoot from there when I got there at 9:30, and he got there at Noon. Walking past us by inches, and not saying a word, head down... Walking in front of cameras that were filming, hanging around my backpack and gear while I was like 30 feet away, just weird, un-cool shit. I'm not down with any of this. But I don't want to burn this spot as a bencher and didn't start any trouble, even though I wanted to punch this dude.. GRRR!
Will not be posting flicks of this special train car. Sorry. I saw it, I flicked it, but the whole experience was crap, and it was just one engine, big deal. I was there for the graff that you're seeing me post.
Was hot, no clouds, and at my end of the platform I had a 2ft. x 3ft. spot of slowly moving shade that was cast by one of the platform lights. After a while Colin and I were sharing this tiny moving spot of shade. No worries, we get along just fine.
BTW: PasadenaSubColin is a FOAMER!!!!!!!! ;-p
Managed to re-flick a few cars that I caught at the beginning of the month at the other end of the valley. Anyway........ I'll be back to try and ID these pieces soon. Might take me a little longer than usual as, like I said before, new computer, new crap to deal with..
Stay safe out there homies.
And..... As always, Thanks to the writers!
For freight graffiti slideshows/videos hit up my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
Please Subscribe to the YouTube, every little bit helps.
It's been over a month since I've been out benching. Damn, I've missed being out by the tracks. Went out to my local yard and benched for 5 hours. 20+ freights rolled through while I was there. Missed a few others
because they had one parked on a closer track for a couple hours. Born and raised in Southern California, but the heat kills me, I swear I shoulda' been raised in Colorado, or some other cooler state. Weather was OK. Hot (90+f), but there was a breeze. If it gets any hotter here, I'm going to be going out maybe once a month for the next few months.. Benching naked is frowned upon around here, and I don't want to get my
bits sun-burned.
Fujifilm X-E3 with 23mm F/2.0 lens & Fujifim X-Pro3 and 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8 fisheye lens.
Hope you guys/girls enjoy checking the flicks as much as I enjoyed being out there spotting them!! I saw a lot of great pieces, and a lot of not so great pieces, but I was happy to be out there.
As always, thanks to all the writers ! Stay safe out there !
=====================
To see the rest of my freight graffiti flicks click here:
www.flickr.com/photos/siamesepuppy/collections/7215771678...
For freight graffiti slideshows hit up my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
Windy today. Decided to not go out in the desert and be pelted by dust all day. Drove out to the Santa Fe Depot again in San Bernardino. Ended being windblown all day, just no dust. First thing I see as I get to the depot is someone I kinda' know. PasadenaSub Colin. Kid who's running a nice YouTube channel filming freights, and Metrolink videos. You should check out his channel at: www.youtube.com/c/PasadenaSubColin Also check out my man JonanJello photographing and filming freight graffiti on THE daily! 352 videos and counting!! www.youtube.com/user/jonanjello
Shot today's photos on a few lenses I ended up switching lenses between two cameras. My normal lens for freights is the Fujifilm 23mm f/2, but being so close to the tracks at the depot I mostly used the 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8. It's hard to use anything else that close and capture the pieces straight on. Most of these shots I'm between 10-25 or so feet away from the train. Much closer than I normally shoot when I'm out on a hike. Still getting used to shooting this close. The cars roll by much faster when your this close!
Cameras: Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujifilm X-E3
Lenses: 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8, Fujifilm 16mm F/2.8 & Fujifilm 23mm F/2
For video slideshows...
Arrived at my spot around 10:30AM, left at 6:10PM.
A little over 80F. and a light breeze. Perfect weather for hanging out for a few hours. There were a couple cars there, but I didn't see any people besides one guy who kept getting in/out of his Jeep. Okay, whatever.
10 minutes after getting there I heard the first train coming around the bend, and what a train it was, couple engines, and 78 autoracks in a row! What a way to start of my day.
15-20 minutes after I got to the spot, I messaged my friend Keith @railfanscajonpass that I was out there, he said he was on his way, he got there an hour or so later. By that time I'd already flicked 7-8 trains. One of the busiest days I've had in a long time. They just kept coming up and down the hill. I had planned to hike up the hill to look for a couple other spots to shoot from, but the trains just kept coming.
There's also some great under the bridges graff out at this spot, and I just didn't have time to hike over to it and flick it. There's also a spot close by that the RR stores ties, track, and equipment, I wanted to get some shots of that, again, no time.
Anyway, RRfans,(Keith) & Buddy hung out for another 5-6 hours until the sun dipped behind the mountains at about 6:00pm, and it was starting to get dark. Spent the day waiting, and listening for the engines chugging up the hill, or the horns blaring in the distance so we could finally jump up and do what we were both there to do. Him to film the trains and give his commentary, and me to get my flicks. He's a good dude to hang out with, good conversation, talk about life, problems, trains, etc.. Time just goes by so quick until the next train and we both get to work.
Saw lots of trucks, motorcycles, and loads of Jeeps drive through to go out exploring the local trails only to leave within' 20 minutes or so. There's miles and miles of trails out there, but it seems people get bored fast...
Had a great time, saw pieces from some of my favorite writers, and some writers I talk to occasionally.
It was a great day, and day I really needed personally, I've had a rough last few weeks, and I haven't been trackside in over a month. It was great to get out to the familiar sounds and smells of being out there next to the trains.
Backgrounds at this location are kind of boring, but the amount of freights and great pieces that come through here is crazy.
================
If you can, pick up a copy of my first photo book: SoCal Freight Benching: Graffiti on Freight Trains - Vol.1 Here: smile.amazon.com/SoCal-Freight-Benching-Graffiti-Trains/d...
Every little bit helps. Thanks!!
Uploading these WAY late. Sorry. Moving to new PC after being on the same Win7-Pro machine for like 8+ years (I don't like change!), and it's been a mini-nightmare. Caught these a couple weeks ago at my local BNSF / Santa Fe yard.
====================
FYI.
These were shot with a 7.5mm fisheye lens because of the location, and poorly corrected so they look somewhat normal...
====================
Decided to head out to my local yard on a Saturday, got there at 9:30 and I was the only one out at the freight side platform. After a half hour I noticed someone down at the other end that I thought I recognized. Messaged him, and yep, it was him. My dude PasadenaSubColin.
We were both out there to just enjoy the day, me catching freights, and him freights & Metrolinks. He's a good dude to have around, as he lets me know when something cool is on its way into the yard, and I appreciate that he's all plugged into the grid to give the "heads up" when something's coming soon.
Well, this time I had, or rather found out, the "Heads Up" about 15 mins before he let me in on what would be the joke of the day. There apparently was a bicentennial engine coming through the depot today on its way to a RR museum in Perris, CA. The 5704!!!!! Big whoop.... One dude chatted me up asking if I knew when "IT" was supposed to come through. I had no idea what he was talking about and told him I don't follow trains. :-)
15-20 mins. later Colin messages me an FYI, that there's a "Special" train about to roll through. I've been in this situation before. I'm there benching graff, and all of the sudden 20 cars pull up and a bunch of "Railfans" jump out of their cars, run over, take a few photos of the "Special" car(s), engine or train, and when it's gone, they're gone. I feel like these are the people who only get out of bed when something "cool" is rolling through town. I really doubt they care about day-to-day operations of the RR. And honestly there's no way they give a shit about the graff.
Most people out at the tracks are cool, but there's a certain group of people who seem to have zero social skills when something "Special" is coming through, and we had at least one on this day. Some dude that kept walking past us, standing in my spot, like he was going to shoot from there when I got there at 9:30, and he got there at Noon. Walking past us by inches, and not saying a word, head down... Walking in front of cameras that were filming, hanging around my backpack and gear while I was like 30 feet away, just weird, un-cool shit. I'm not down with any of this. But I don't want to burn this spot as a bencher and didn't start any trouble, even though I wanted to punch this dude.. GRRR!
Will not be posting flicks of this special train car. Sorry. I saw it, I flicked it, but the whole experience was crap, and it was just one engine, big deal. I was there for the graff that you're seeing me post.
Was hot, no clouds, and at my end of the platform I had a 2ft. x 3ft. spot of slowly moving shade that was cast by one of the platform lights. After a while Colin and I were sharing this tiny moving spot of shade. No worries, we get along just fine.
BTW: PasadenaSubColin is a FOAMER!!!!!!!! ;-p
Managed to re-flick a few cars that I caught at the beginning of the month at the other end of the valley. Anyway........ I'll be back to try and ID these pieces soon. Might take me a little longer than usual as, like I said before, new computer, new crap to deal with..
Stay safe out there homies.
And..... As always, Thanks to the writers!
For freight graffiti slideshows/videos hit up my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
Please Subscribe to the YouTube, every little bit helps.
Uploading these WAY late. Sorry. Moving to new PC after being on the same Win7-Pro machine for like 8+ years (I don't like change!), and it's been a mini-nightmare. Caught these a couple weeks ago at my local BNSF / Santa Fe yard.
====================
FYI.
These were shot with a 7.5mm fisheye lens because of the location, and poorly corrected so they look somewhat normal...
====================
Decided to head out to my local yard on a Saturday, got there at 9:30 and I was the only one out at the freight side platform. After a half hour I noticed someone down at the other end that I thought I recognized. Messaged him, and yep, it was him. My dude PasadenaSubColin.
We were both out there to just enjoy the day, me catching freights, and him freights & Metrolinks. He's a good dude to have around, as he lets me know when something cool is on its way into the yard, and I appreciate that he's all plugged into the grid to give the "heads up" when something's coming soon.
Well, this time I had, or rather found out, the "Heads Up" about 15 mins before he let me in on what would be the joke of the day. There apparently was a bicentennial engine coming through the depot today on its way to a RR museum in Perris, CA. The 5704!!!!! Big whoop.... One dude chatted me up asking if I knew when "IT" was supposed to come through. I had no idea what he was talking about and told him I don't follow trains. :-)
15-20 mins. later Colin messages me an FYI, that there's a "Special" train about to roll through. I've been in this situation before. I'm there benching graff, and all of the sudden 20 cars pull up and a bunch of "Railfans" jump out of their cars, run over, take a few photos of the "Special" car(s), engine or train, and when it's gone, they're gone. I feel like these are the people who only get out of bed when something "cool" is rolling through town. I really doubt they care about day-to-day operations of the RR. And honestly there's no way they give a shit about the graff.
Most people out at the tracks are cool, but there's a certain group of people who seem to have zero social skills when something "Special" is coming through, and we had at least one on this day. Some dude that kept walking past us, standing in my spot, like he was going to shoot from there when I got there at 9:30, and he got there at Noon. Walking past us by inches, and not saying a word, head down... Walking in front of cameras that were filming, hanging around my backpack and gear while I was like 30 feet away, just weird, un-cool shit. I'm not down with any of this. But I don't want to burn this spot as a bencher and didn't start any trouble, even though I wanted to punch this dude.. GRRR!
Will not be posting flicks of this special train car. Sorry. I saw it, I flicked it, but the whole experience was crap, and it was just one engine, big deal. I was there for the graff that you're seeing me post.
Was hot, no clouds, and at my end of the platform I had a 2ft. x 3ft. spot of slowly moving shade that was cast by one of the platform lights. After a while Colin and I were sharing this tiny moving spot of shade. No worries, we get along just fine.
BTW: PasadenaSubColin is a FOAMER!!!!!!!! ;-p
Managed to re-flick a few cars that I caught at the beginning of the month at the other end of the valley. Anyway........ I'll be back to try and ID these pieces soon. Might take me a little longer than usual as, like I said before, new computer, new crap to deal with..
Stay safe out there homies.
And..... As always, Thanks to the writers!
For freight graffiti slideshows/videos hit up my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
Please Subscribe to the YouTube, every little bit helps.
Windy today. Decided to not go out in the desert and be pelted by dust all day. Drove out to the Santa Fe Depot again in San Bernardino. Ended being windblown all day, just no dust. First thing I see as I get to the depot is someone I kinda' know. PasadenaSub Colin. Kid who's running a nice YouTube channel filming freights, and Metrolink videos. You should check out his channel at: www.youtube.com/c/PasadenaSubColin Also check out my man JonanJello photographing and filming freight graffiti on THE daily! 352 videos and counting!! www.youtube.com/user/jonanjello
Shot today's photos on a few lenses I ended up switching lenses between two cameras. My normal lens for freights is the Fujifilm 23mm f/2, but being so close to the tracks at the depot I mostly used the 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8. It's hard to use anything else that close and capture the pieces straight on. Most of these shots I'm between 10-25 or so feet away from the train. Much closer than I normally shoot when I'm out on a hike. Still getting used to shooting this close. The cars roll by much faster when your this close!
Cameras: Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujifilm X-E3
Lenses: 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8, Fujifilm 16mm F/2.8 & Fujifilm 23mm F/2
For video slideshows...