View allAll Photos Tagged rustoleum
Out today benching freights at one of my spots. Wanted to go Saturday, rained all day. No rain on Sunday and it looked like the sun was going to come out. NOPE. It got down to 44 degrees Fahrenheit. All I had was a thin Dickies jacket. My hands were cold, my feet were freezing, it was pretty bad. Yeah, I know 44F. isn't all that cold. Well here in California 44 is pretty damn low.
Was there for about an hour or so before security rolled up on the other side of 3 sets of tracks with roof lights flashing. Turned his truck to face me. I sat down and ignored him. I looked over again and he was gone. 30 mins. later here he comes rolling up on me on the same side of the tracks I was on. I was sure he was going to hassle me. He just wanted to know what I was doing out there. Told me to stay safe, and left...
Finished up my day frozen and shivering could barely feel my toes. Walked back to the car. Just as I got to the car I could hear another train coming. Seems like this always happens. Looked over as about 10-15 cars passed by. Oh well. Got in the car and headed down the road, and realized, I can beat this train to another spot where I could catch some flicks. So I did..
Stay safe out there friends !!!
For freight graff slideshows: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
Went out for the day at my local freight/Metrolink yard to meet up once again with "Pasadena Sub Colin" to drop off a couple graff books. He's
like a ghost. He seems to just show up out of nowhere, but this time we arranged that we would be there at the same time.
Thought about not staying and getting more flicks, because I've got a huge backlog, but damn, the weather was so great, and there were actually clouds in the sky and a little breeze. The kind of days I dream about when I'm out in the desert half-way through summer and it's 109 F., dry, dusty, not a cloud in the sky, and shade is hard to find.
Clouds in the sky in California mean one of two things, it's about to rain, or it just rained. So to have some clouds was great. If you look through my flicks, No clouds. I don't like it, but I get my flicks when/where I can.
Clouds, also double edged sword. The sun couldn't decide.... Well, actually the clouds couldn't decide if they wanted to let the sun shine through, or hide it. As a photographer this makes it challenging to photograph a moving train. It's either dark, or super bright. Oh well.
Well trains are slow?! Ignore the internet for a few minutes of your day and go to the tracks. Stand about 10 ft. from the tracks, try to capture a whole car in one photo as they roll by at 20-40 Mph. They might look slow from far away, but get up close and you can feel the wind coming off of the cars as they pass by. I use a super wide lens at this location. 7.5 mm "fisheye" lens, so I can be very close, and still get a whole autorack in the shot. I'm always amazed at all of those shots from the past shot on film cameras that look great. Me here in 2022 with a digital
camera complaining like a little girl.
Sorry, As usual, it will take me a few days or a week to come back and ID/tag all of the writers in my flicks. I'm old/tired, and I have a hard time IDing some pieces. No offense to anyone, but I do the best I can. If you can or want to correct me, COMMENT!!!!
As always, Thanks to all the writers, and also my fellow benchers. Stay safe out there you guys and dolls.
Much love to the graff community. I've made a lot of friends, and some new family.
Colin's pages:
www.youtube.com/c/pasadenasubcolin
www.instagram.com/pasadenasub_colin/
To see all of my frieght flicks, check my flicker page here: irregularphotos.com
I don't know if anyone ever reads my descriptions, but I write them anyway, so there!!
Was out today (August 20th 2021) on a forced vacation day, from 9:30AM til' almost 4PM. 80F today but it felt like 100F. This is a very active line and I probably flicked 20 freights today. 750+ flicks. By the time I get rid of a few duplicates, and bad ones, I'm guessing it'll be about 700 +/-. 700 to straighten, fix any color issues, upload, and also ID the writers. It's lots of time and as you can imagine, it's a lot of work, but so far it's been fun. I'm trying to not rush myself to post before I'm ready. I already have the flicks, and they're timeless. So getting them posted ASAP!!!!!! is not really my concern. Duh..
Had an interesting interaction with a guy while out there. Guy with backpack had walked back and forth across the tracks a few times. The lat time I saw him he was on the other side of a set, about 100 yards away. Next thing you know he's coming closer..... Closer..... And I'm like WTF? I'm way out here minding my own business. He walks within' like 10 ft. of me and I say "How ya' doin'?" he says something, and then says "Trains?" and I say "Yep." and he says "Oh.." and walks away. I think he was feelin' me out, as there's a small population of people who's homes are shall I say, mobile. I've talked to a few of them, and have never had a bad interaction, I just don't like people walkin' up on me when I'm trying to get away from the rest of the world out by the tracks. I go out there to get away from people, not to interact.
======================
I follow some other amazing photographers on flickr, but for this I will talk about the ones who flick the freights. There are a few that I really love. Some it's because of the great locations they shoot at, and others it's the amazing little details they manage to capture. For me (right now) I don't have the luxury of walking the lines and seeing pieces static. 99.999% of my flicks the freight is rolling by at 10-50 mph and sometimes I don't really even know what I have until I get home, dump the memory cards and go through the photos. Because of this, most of my flicks are just straight on shots and documenting what I saw and where. I saw this freight here, on this date, here's what was on it, and i captured it. Buffed or scraped next week, well I have it on "film" for future generations (sounds corny, I know). There are times when a freight will stop in-front of me, and I'll walk up and get some shots of monikers, but it's rare.
Obviously in any area there are sidings where freights park for extended periods, I know a few spots, but as I get older, and older, do I really want to leave my car parked on the side of the road and walk 2 miles to capture some little details I might normally miss? I'd love to, but it's just not practical for me at this time, any many other people do it better than I could. Retirement is getting closer every day, maybe then, when my weekdays are free. :-)
======================
During the Covid lockdown, I was working from home, and I was getting out benching like 2 & 3 times a month. Back at work, I'm lucky to have the energy to get out once a month. Every time I do manage to get out, I come home and my batteries feel re-charged. It's been so f-ing hot here in SoCal though, I can't wait for cooler weather and some clouds in the sky.
As always, thanks to the writers!
To see the rest of my freight graffiti flicks click here:
www.flickr.com/photos/siamesepuppy/collections/7215771678...
For freight graffiti slideshows/videos hit up my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
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/
Thanks to all the writers!
After a disastrous last weekend trying to bench this spot and being chased away by like 800 bikers, I went back this weekend and managed to be out here for a little over 5 hours without issue. 11:30 AM - 5 PM.
Not to say that there wasn't some sketchiness going on, but when you're out for hours your bound to see some shit going down. It's usually just homeless shenanigans, but I leave them alone and they leave me alone. Everyone just kinda' gets along and minds their own business. Just how I like it.
Spotted some AMAZING pieces today. Some of my favorite writers doing their best work, and not so best work, but seeing their work makes going out there worth it to me.
The added benefit: I got out of the house for a few hours, didn't think about work, life, the f-ing Covid, or anything else besides spotting some great pieces and getting the best shots of those pieces I could. Good times.
700+ shots this session, culled down to a little under 600. A lot of shots, yeah. But, every time I take a shot I'm documenting something that might get buffed next week and it will be gone forever. Documenting art that could vanish in a week, a month, a year.. Who knows. Either way, I've captured it, and will share it for as long as I can.
All in all, it was a good day.
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...
Decided to go out Saturday because the weather was supposed to be cooler, and cloudy. Well it was cooler 85f. But zero clouds. I swear I'm going to move to a state that has clouds.
Got to my first spot, and found out they have now fenced the entrance path to the spot. A GIANT field with a path leading to my spot is not completely fenced. forcing me to walk about an mile out of my way to get to the spot. Yeah, I could have easily jumped the fence, walked through and jumped the next fence. There was so much traffic in the area I could just walk around. I need the exercise anyway.
The long walk to my spot took me pretty close to one of my favorite bridge spots, so I decided to hike up a bit and see what was new. A few new pieces and a few old favorites that were still there, un-touched. Those are in today's upload as well.
Got to my spot finally. This spot has a homeless "issue" but I've had nothing but pleasant interactions with anyone who's approached me. Mostly I think they are just curious what I'm doing out there for 5-6 hours standing around in one spot. As soon as I say "the trains.." they always go "oh, cool." So every time I go there I always take inventory of all of the people who are out there so I know where to keep an eye out. Got there at like 10:15AM and I see a guy coming out from under a tree about 200' away. Moving slow, and carrying a box. Moving the box from one place to another, then another box, etc. I'm not worried about this person.
About an hour into my session, I see a guy walking along in the wash below.. Looks about 60-65, with no shirt, and is about as tan as you can get. This guy has obviously been in the desert sun for a while. After a couple of minutes he gets to me, throws out his hand and introduces himself as "Jeff". Asks how I'm doing and what I'm doing out there. I said "the trains" and he nods. Says he's headed up to the gas station down the tracks and up the road, and asks if I want him to bring me something to drink. "nah, I'm good", "OK, see ya'" Oh, forgot to mention, Jeff had a fixed blade knife about 12" long strapped to the front of his belt. I also carry a knife when I go out, just in-case so I understood his carrying of a knife and seeing it didn't faze me.
Spent about 4 hours at that spot, and hit up another spot on the way home and flicked some other amazing pieces.
Was a great day out, and I had fun. Isn't that what it's all about!!? I even managed to flick some pieces from some of my favorite writes I haven't seen before!
Also witnessed a procession of like 100 Honda Groms and other motorcycles rolling by: youtu.be/H4uLI_EupHU
Thanks to all of the writers and fellow benchers. Stay safe out there. Look both ways before crossing!!
Be sure to hit up my YouTube channel for freight graff videos: www.youtube.com/c/SilenceSeven
Also Instagram for graff related fun: www.instagram.com/soilentseven
As usual, I'll be by in a few days to start #tagging pieces that that I recognise or can figure out. If you spot any errors, just let me know.
I had some time today to get out to the tracks for about 5-1/2 hours to one of my favorite spots. 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...
Small upload for today, only 225 flicks. Down from the close to 300 I shot, but you really didn't want to see those bad ones. :-p
So last weekend was supposed to be my catch up on work weekend and that was pushed to go out and bench for half a day. I did get some work done, but not as much as if I'd stayed home. Duh! So I thought this weekend would be all weekend, work on catching up. Ended up getting out of the house for a bit, and as always, I bring a camera. Oh look, there's a train coming!!! Pull over, get my flicks. Oh, there's another one. Next thing you know I'm meeting up with a friend, and it was a couple hours before I actually made it to the place I was originally heading out TO..
Of course, then on the way back, I see a train parked, but no place to pull over, so I head up the road to wait for it to roll past me. I wait, I wait, and while I waited, another couple trains! YES!! That one train never moved over the course of 4 hours or so. Sat on the track with the top light on, but wouldn't budge. Oh well. There's always another one coming down the tracks.
Tons of stackers this time, sorry, I get what I can get when I can get it. There's still a bunch of really cool pieces in this batch. People making the best of the space that's there.
I sometimes feel like I'll go out and come back with basically nothing to show for it. I'm constantly amazed at the cool pieces I catch. A lot of times I know some of the major things I "got" but it's not until I get home and start going through the photos that I find out what I actually "got". The trains sometimes move so fast I'm not always sure. I always find five or six awesome pieces from the day that made the whole trip worthwhile.
To all of my fellow benchers, writers, railfans, etc... Stay safe out there! Watch your back. Lots of shady people out there. Be good to each other, we're all part of this.
To see my freight graffiti slideshow videos, hit up my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/c/SilenceSeven and please, SUBSCRIBE!!
A 1970s Craftsman Vise I restored for a friend. The entire vise was wire-wheeled to remove the rust and old paint. Then 3 coats of Rustoleum Engine Block Enamel was applied. I used that paint because it is gas and oil resistant. I then applied paste wax to all the bare metal and sliding faces and buffed that out. Anti-seize was applied to the screw and it was all re-assembled!
A rare Friday off of work, and I got to spend it out hunting graff under bridges, and benching freights. Saw some amazing pieces and for like the 20th time when hiking, found a fairly large pron stash. Why is there so much of it out in the middle of nowhere?? WHY!!??
Went back out to a wall spot I haven't been to in months, and there were a bunch of new pieces. Happy to see this spot is still active.
As always, thanks to the writers!
=====================
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
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/
As always, thanks to the writers!
Finally got out for a day of benching in the desert. Was out from 9:15AM til' after 5:30PM. About 20 freights. Could have been more, but the other tracks are so far away from the main two I'd have to run across the desert to catch them. I can see them, but they're like 1/4 mile away.
Day started out cold, then got hot, by the end of the day there was like a 40mph wind, and I was freezing for the last 3 hours.
Saw some toy out there spraying under the bridge with his girlfriend and some other dude, quick throw up for anyone else took him like 20 minutes to finally finish. Funny.
Had a great time just being away from home, and away from anyone else. Just me, my thoughts, a couple cameras and some snacks.
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
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
I had some time today to get out to the tracks for about 5-1/2 hours to one of my favorite spots. 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...
Long write-up for today's batch of awesomeness.
First off. This whole covid thing, the election, working from home, not being able to go out, not seeing friends/family, etc. Has me, and I'm sure everyone else frazzled. Having a project to work on, in my case hiking out and shooting photos of graffiti on trains has been the one thing that's keeping me sane at this point. Hoping to see some new pieces from writers that I respect is like opening a pack of baseball cards and finding your favorite players rookie card for me. Yeah, it sounds goofy, but I've been having fun, staying sane, and seeing and capturing some amazing pieces of rolling art.
So I had this weird Monday vacation day on 11-2-2020. I decided to drive out to one my my benching spots and hang out for the day.
The plan was to set up a time lapse camera, and then just hang out and bench freights for 5-6 hours. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and a slight breeze, 88F. high. No clouds makes for a very boring time lapse between trains coming by. I also only brought my little Small Rig clamp for the time lapse camera and couldn't decide where I wanted to clamp it. I should have just brought a tripod.
Out for a few hours before the BNSF guys in their truck rolled up, got out and started walking toward me. "Great!" I thought. They're going to try and chase me away. Nope, they walked over to one set of tracks, walked across the bridge inspecting the tracks, then under the bridge inspecting the bridge, got in their truck and left. I like that. I don't bother you. You don't bother me.
A while later I see tree guy coming back home. I don't know his name, but there's a guy who lives in/under a tree that's next to the trail I hike in on. Once he's in there you'd never know it. I've seen him, he's seen me, and we don't bother each other.
The whole time I'm there I'm using my little Tascam recorder to record train audio every time one comes by so I have audio for the slideshow videos I've been uploading on YouTube. Well, this time I forgot it out there. Didn't dump my photos until Tuesday night and discovered it missing. Woke up early, drove out and it was still there. It recorded for almost 5 more hours before the batteries died. Glad to have it back, I thought tree guy might have found it.
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.
A rare Friday off of work, and I got to spend it out hunting graff under bridges, and benching freights. Saw some amazing pieces and for like the 20th time when hiking, found a fairly large pron stash. Why is there so much of it out in the middle of nowhere?? WHY!!??
Went back out to a wall spot I haven't been to in months, and there were a bunch of new pieces. Happy to see this spot is still active.
As always, thanks to the writers!
=====================
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
Out today benching freights at one of my spots. Wanted to go Saturday, rained all day. No rain on Sunday and it looked like the sun was going to come out. NOPE. It got down to 44 degrees Fahrenheit. All I had was a thin Dickies jacket. My hands were cold, my feet were freezing, it was pretty bad. Yeah, I know 44F. isn't all that cold. Well here in California 44 is pretty damn low.
Was there for about an hour or so before security rolled up on the other side of 3 sets of tracks with roof lights flashing. Turned his truck to face me. I sat down and ignored him. I looked over again and he was gone. 30 mins. later here he comes rolling up on me on the same side of the tracks I was on. I was sure he was going to hassle me. He just wanted to know what I was doing out there. Told me to stay safe, and left...
Finished up my day frozen and shivering could barely feel my toes. Walked back to the car. Just as I got to the car I could hear another train coming. Seems like this always happens. Looked over as about 10-15 cars passed by. Oh well. Got in the car and headed down the road, and realized, I can beat this train to another spot where I could catch some flicks. So I did..
Stay safe out there friends !!!
For freight graff slideshows: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
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.
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/
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...
Out today benching freights at one of my spots. Wanted to go Saturday, rained all day. No rain on Sunday and it looked like the sun was going to come out. NOPE. It got down to 44 degrees Fahrenheit. All I had was a thin Dickies jacket. My hands were cold, my feet were freezing, it was pretty bad. Yeah, I know 44F. isn't all that cold. Well here in California 44 is pretty damn low.
Was there for about an hour or so before security rolled up on the other side of 3 sets of tracks with roof lights flashing. Turned his truck to face me. I sat down and ignored him. I looked over again and he was gone. 30 mins. later here he comes rolling up on me on the same side of the tracks I was on. I was sure he was going to hassle me. He just wanted to know what I was doing out there. Told me to stay safe, and left...
Finished up my day frozen and shivering could barely feel my toes. Walked back to the car. Just as I got to the car I could hear another train coming. Seems like this always happens. Looked over as about 10-15 cars passed by. Oh well. Got in the car and headed down the road, and realized, I can beat this train to another spot where I could catch some flicks. So I did..
Stay safe out there friends !!!
For freight graff slideshows: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
Long session today (9:30AM - 5:30PM) at my least favorite spot to flick graffiti, but one of my favorite spots for the amount of traffic this spot gets. There's also a crossing here, so lots of horn action! The engineers also know "railfans" come out here so sometimes they get a little creative with the honking.
Grand total of flicks taken, 803, total being posted, 616.
Right out of the gate I fucked up big time. First train I saw go by as I arrived was an Amtrak. Got down to the spot and immediately I hear the horns coming from behind the hill. Get the camera out, lens cap off and 30 seconds later and what do I see, autoracks, and lots of them. Sweet! I get in position, and they're coming by quick. I'm just barely framing them up and snapping the flicks. Saw my first Ichabod E2E car, Green/Black. Woah dude!! Cool. (my inner SoCal surfer came out). and then it's gone.
Sat down and looked through photos on little 3 in. screen on back of camera, not good. I zoom in, but I can't tell if photos are sharp or not. Lighting seems ok, but can't tell if sharp. Go to take a quick snap of a little tag on a fence post and camera will not focus. WTH?? Camera was switched into manual focus mode from a project I was working on days previously. ARRRGH!! So out of like 30-40 autoracks, they're all blurry.
Still posting 3 of them, just to document, but I will call them out as bad photos. I was so pissed that I almost went back to the car. Glad I didn't. Throughout the day I caught some really nice pieces from some of my favorite writers. I didn't give up, and came home with gold, as you'll see going through this latest set.
FYI I managed to catch up with some of the day's last autoracks and got shots of them in way better light. So 8-10 pieces shot today have doubles that were shot in two different locations.
Also ended up meeting up with (YouTube) Railroad Fans of the Cajon Pass. He was just down the road from where I was and came down for a bit. He even brought that vicious dog "Buddy" with him. Glad I survived the encounter.
If you want to see some of these cars rolling, here's the videos he shot while I was there. If you look close or not so close in one vid, you might see me in action down the line. Anyway......
As always, thanks to the writers, fellow benchers, old, and new friends, Stay safe out there!!!
For freight graffiti slideshows/videos hit up my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven
Out for the day, away from regular life, work, the "News" and all of the other stuff that can drive a man crazy. Just me, a camera, some snacks, and art rollin' by. Living the life.
Hope you guys/girls are staying safe out there. Not getting sick, and not getting anyone else sick. We're all in this together.
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 today with one goal in mind. Leave a copy of my book, sealed in a bag next to an awesome piece of graffiti, and then come home and post a photo of the piece and if anyone knew where this piece was, they could come out and grab a free copy of the book.
Planned on leaving it by a really cool MERS piece that I've been seeing for a few years now, ended up leaving it by a newer writers piece @she.bombs she's only been at it for a short while from what I understand, but she's doing awesome work and getting up.
Found a way to climb up and leave a sealed, in a bag copy up high enough that it would take a little work to find it. Cool. On the way out, I planned on benching at one of my favorite spots for a few hours and then heading home.
Got to my spot, got out my HAM radio to listen for trains, got out my camera, and within' a few minutes some dude is walking towards me. I'm alone, and there's really nowhere I can go. As he gets closer I say "Hey, how ya' doin'?" Dude replies "I'm okay". I turn a bit so that he can easily see that I'm armed, and then I notice that he's got a plastic bag in one hand, and a rock the size of a softball in the other hand. He walks within' a couple feet of me, and once he's passed by 6 feet or so, looks back and says "It's ok to be hiking out here right?" "Yep!" I say, and he walks off.
I hear, and then see a UP train coming, which means I need to grab my shit and head to the other trestle and catch it from the other side. Lighting issues.. As I'm flicking this one, I duck down and look under the trestle and see that a BNSF freight is on the other set of tracks. GRRR. The UP ended up being like 25 cars. As I run back to my spot I see an elusive (to me) ICHABOD piece roll by... Missed it.
I catch the last 10-15 cars on the BNSF. Within' 10 minutes or so, I see another sketchy dude walking around under the trestle I was just under, and he's walking around with some sort of stick.
Seriously, I don't need this. I have bills, and I need to be at work on Monday. I left, and drove back home. I felt defeated. In the end, I did what I set out to do, and that was give away a book. ...But the freights.... They'll roll through again one day, or not.
Went out today with one goal in mind. Leave a copy of my book, sealed in a bag next to an awesome piece of graffiti, and then come home and post a photo of the piece and if anyone knew where this piece was, they could come out and grab a free copy of the book.
Planned on leaving it by a really cool MERS piece that I've been seeing for a few years now, ended up leaving it by a newer writers piece @she.bombs she's only been at it for a short while from what I understand, but she's doing awesome work and getting up.
Found a way to climb up and leave a sealed, in a bag copy up high enough that it would take a little work to find it. Cool. On the way out, I planned on benching at one of my favorite spots for a few hours and then heading home.
Got to my spot, got out my HAM radio to listen for trains, got out my camera, and within' a few minutes some dude is walking towards me. I'm alone, and there's really nowhere I can go. As he gets closer I say "Hey, how ya' doin'?" Dude replies "I'm okay". I turn a bit so that he can easily see that I'm armed, and then I notice that he's got a plastic bag in one hand, and a rock the size of a softball in the other hand. He walks within' a couple feet of me, and once he's passed by 6 feet or so, looks back and says "It's ok to be hiking out here right?" "Yep!" I say, and he walks off.
I hear, and then see a UP train coming, which means I need to grab my shit and head to the other trestle and catch it from the other side. Lighting issues.. As I'm flicking this one, I duck down and look under the trestle and see that a BNSF freight is on the other set of tracks. GRRR. The UP ended up being like 25 cars. As I run back to my spot I see an elusive (to me) ICHABOD piece roll by... Missed it.
I catch the last 10-15 cars on the BNSF. Within' 10 minutes or so, I see another sketchy dude walking around under the trestle I was just under, and he's walking around with some sort of stick.
Seriously, I don't need this. I have bills, and I need to be at work on Monday. I left, and drove back home. I felt defeated. In the end, I did what I set out to do, and that was give away a book. ...But the freights.... They'll roll through again one day, or not.
Long write-up for today's batch of awesomeness.
First off. This whole covid thing, the election, working from home, not being able to go out, not seeing friends/family, etc. Has me, and I'm sure everyone else frazzled. Having a project to work on, in my case hiking out and shooting photos of graffiti on trains has been the one thing that's keeping me sane at this point. Hoping to see some new pieces from writers that I respect is like opening a pack of baseball cards and finding your favorite players rookie card for me. Yeah, it sounds goofy, but I've been having fun, staying sane, and seeing and capturing some amazing pieces of rolling art.
So I had this weird Monday vacation day on 11-2-2020. I decided to drive out to one my my benching spots and hang out for the day.
The plan was to set up a time lapse camera, and then just hang out and bench freights for 5-6 hours. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and a slight breeze, 88F. high. No clouds makes for a very boring time lapse between trains coming by. I also only brought my little Small Rig clamp for the time lapse camera and couldn't decide where I wanted to clamp it. I should have just brought a tripod.
Out for a few hours before the BNSF guys in their truck rolled up, got out and started walking toward me. "Great!" I thought. They're going to try and chase me away. Nope, they walked over to one set of tracks, walked across the bridge inspecting the tracks, then under the bridge inspecting the bridge, got in their truck and left. I like that. I don't bother you. You don't bother me.
A while later I see tree guy coming back home. I don't know his name, but there's a guy who lives in/under a tree that's next to the trail I hike in on. Once he's in there you'd never know it. I've seen him, he's seen me, and we don't bother each other.
The whole time I'm there I'm using my little Tascam recorder to record train audio every time one comes by so I have audio for the slideshow videos I've been uploading on YouTube. Well, this time I forgot it out there. Didn't dump my photos until Tuesday night and discovered it missing. Woke up early, drove out and it was still there. It recorded for almost 5 more hours before the batteries died. Glad to have it back, I thought tree guy might have found it.
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/
As always, thanks to the writers!
Finally got out for a day of benching in the desert. Was out from 9:15AM til' after 5:30PM. About 20 freights. Could have been more, but the other tracks are so far away from the main two I'd have to run across the desert to catch them. I can see them, but they're like 1/4 mile away.
Day started out cold, then got hot, by the end of the day there was like a 40mph wind, and I was freezing for the last 3 hours.
Saw some toy out there spraying under the bridge with his girlfriend and some other dude, quick throw up for anyone else took him like 20 minutes to finally finish. Funny.
Had a great time just being away from home, and away from anyone else. Just me, my thoughts, a couple cameras and some snacks.
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
Long session today (9:30AM - 5:30PM) at my least favorite spot to flick graffiti, but one of my favorite spots for the amount of traffic this spot gets. There's also a crossing here, so lots of horn action! The engineers also know "railfans" come out here so sometimes they get a little creative with the honking.
Grand total of flicks taken, 803, total being posted, 616.
Right out of the gate I fucked up big time. First train I saw go by as I arrived was an Amtrak. Got down to the spot and immediately I hear the horns coming from behind the hill. Get the camera out, lens cap off and 30 seconds later and what do I see, autoracks, and lots of them. Sweet! I get in position, and they're coming by quick. I'm just barely framing them up and snapping the flicks. Saw my first Ichabod E2E car, Green/Black. Woah dude!! Cool. (my inner SoCal surfer came out). and then it's gone.
Sat down and looked through photos on little 3 in. screen on back of camera, not good. I zoom in, but I can't tell if photos are sharp or not. Lighting seems ok, but can't tell if sharp. Go to take a quick snap of a little tag on a fence post and camera will not focus. WTH?? Camera was switched into manual focus mode from a project I was working on days previously. ARRRGH!! So out of like 30-40 autoracks, they're all blurry.
Still posting 3 of them, just to document, but I will call them out as bad photos. I was so pissed that I almost went back to the car. Glad I didn't. Throughout the day I caught some really nice pieces from some of my favorite writers. I didn't give up, and came home with gold, as you'll see going through this latest set.
FYI I managed to catch up with some of the day's last autoracks and got shots of them in way better light. So 8-10 pieces shot today have doubles that were shot in two different locations.
Also ended up meeting up with (YouTube) Railroad Fans of the Cajon Pass. He was just down the road from where I was and came down for a bit. He even brought that vicious dog "Buddy" with him. Glad I survived the encounter.
If you want to see some of these cars rolling, here's the videos he shot while I was there. If you look close or not so close in one vid, you might see me in action down the line. Anyway......
As always, thanks to the writers, fellow benchers, old, and new friends, Stay safe out there!!!
For freight graffiti slideshows/videos 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...
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...
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".
It was not that I disliked the crustiness of the oxidization which was covering this object when I found it. However it was not very stable and the rust continued to be brittle and messy even after cleaning and treating with oil. So I decided to try spray painting it to somewhat preserve the shapes and I like the way it turned out.