Drove all the way out to a spot I used to go to watch trains years ago. (like 25 years ago) There was a little restaurant next to the tracks that had burgers, tacos, and beer. We'd go up there and order our tacos and a pitcher of beer and sit outside on the patio on the benches, and bench railcars going by looking for cool graffiti. There were five rails that converged in this one spot, so trains were coming through about once every 5-10 minutes. I never brought a camera and never really even thought about taking photos of the graffiti. That place was torn down years ago to build a bridge, and it's a lot harder to access that location now and there were railroad workers on that side working. I ended up on the other side of the tracks and waited for over 2 hours, and NO TRAINS. WTF? So I ended up heading the other direction and finding some cars parked. By the time I shot those cars, I saw the lights of a train coming from the other direction, sped up there go out and grabbed some shots of one on the move.

Today I brought out two cameras and two lenses. Fujifilm X-E3, and Fujifilm X-Pro1. Two lenses. 23mm Fuji f/2, and an old Helios 58mm F/2 with m42 to X-mount adapter. Shot a few with the 58mm, but it was just too long. Most of today's shots were with the 23mm on either the Fuji bodies.

Had Fun.

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

On my way home this afternoon around 4:45 (camera clock was off by an hour) I turned onto a long strip of road, and saw a train coming. I rushed to the other end of the road about 2 miles away and waited.

I had my Fuji X-E3 and a manual focus 7Artisans manual focus 25mm lens on the seat next to me and shot these photos from the car. Not super happy with them, but like I said, I'll be trying to capture what I see with the camera I have with me..

They are what they are.

Three tracks running today. There were times when there were two trains on two different tracks in different directions, and I had to keep looking back and forth so I wouldn't miss an amazing piece rolling by behind my back.. A little sketchy today

as someone thought is would be a good idea to be out shooting today. Not with a camera, but a gun. I couldn't figure out where they were, but it was close.

Also, some sort of instagram photo shoot going on under one of the train trestles. Obviously with the graffiti in the background. :-)

Three tracks running today. There were times when there were two trains on two different tracks in different directions, and I had to keep looking back and forth so I wouldn't miss an amazing piece rolling by behind my back.. A little sketchy today

as someone thought is would be a good idea to be out shooting today. Not with a camera, but a gun. I couldn't figure out where they were, but it was close.

Also, some sort of instagram photo shoot going on under one of the train trestles. Obviously with the graffiti in the background. :-)

Purchase price: $40

Replacement sleeve: $50

Muffler packing: $15

Rustoleum BBQ paint: $5

Total investment: $110

Dope action from everyone on this day. Can't forget the pizza either..

Sunday December 20th 2020

I've photographed these spots before, but they are ever changing, so I thought I'd shoot them again..

I've photographed some of these wall pieces multiple times, over time because every time I come back something has changed. Something added, some beef, some etc.......

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

Full set of 2012 Welling Court Street Shots here:

www.flickr.com/photos/jimkiernan/sets/72157630217876858/

Over 60 Artists from around the world came and hit the spot!

I poured Rustoleum high performance enamel gloss white paint in the lid and let dry. The I stuck self adhesive magnetic strips on the bottom of each pan so I can switch out the colors anytime I want. Love this little box!

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.

Drove all the way out to a spot I used to go to watch trains years ago. (like 25 years ago) There was a little restaurant next to the tracks that had burgers, tacos, and beer. We'd go up there and order our tacos and a pitcher of beer and sit outside on the patio on the benches, and bench railcars going by looking for cool graffiti. There were five rails that converged in this one spot, so trains were coming through about once every 5-10 minutes. I never brought a camera and never really even thought about taking photos of the graffiti. That place was torn down years ago to build a bridge, and it's a lot harder to access that location now and there were railroad workers on that side working. I ended up on the other side of the tracks and waited for over 2 hours, and NO TRAINS. WTF? So I ended up heading the other direction and finding some cars parked. By the time I shot those cars, I saw the lights of a train coming from the other direction, sped up there go out and grabbed some shots of one on the move.

Today I brought out two cameras and two lenses. Fujifilm X-E3, and Fujifilm X-Pro1. Two lenses. 23mm Fuji f/2, and an old Helios 58mm F/2 with m42 to X-mount adapter. Shot a few with the 58mm, but it was just too long. Most of today's shots were with the 23mm on either the Fuji bodies.

Had Fun.

Before

Spray painted some steel rims. 3 coats flat black primer+paint and 3 coats mat clear Rustoleum.

Drove all the way out to a spot I used to go to watch trains years ago. (like 25 years ago) There was a little restaurant next to the tracks that had burgers, tacos, and beer. We'd go up there and order our tacos and a pitcher of beer and sit outside on the patio on the benches, and bench railcars going by looking for cool graffiti. There were five rails that converged in this one spot, so trains were coming through about once every 5-10 minutes. I never brought a camera and never really even thought about taking photos of the graffiti. That place was torn down years ago to build a bridge, and it's a lot harder to access that location now and there were railroad workers on that side working. I ended up on the other side of the tracks and waited for over 2 hours, and NO TRAINS. WTF? So I ended up heading the other direction and finding some cars parked. By the time I shot those cars, I saw the lights of a train coming from the other direction, sped up there go out and grabbed some shots of one on the move.

Today I brought out two cameras and two lenses. Fujifilm X-E3, and Fujifilm X-Pro1. Two lenses. 23mm Fuji f/2, and an old Helios 58mm F/2 with m42 to X-mount adapter. Shot a few with the 58mm, but it was just too long. Most of today's shots were with the 23mm on either the Fuji bodies.

Had Fun.

Sunday December 20th 2020

RIP Lerch

I've photographed some of these wall pieces multiple times, over time because every time I come back something has changed. Something added, some beef, some etc.......

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

Elroy Jetson complete with drippy mop marker!

I had a couple of cans of Rusto layin around from this past summer, so I decided to set them up for a shot. I have an incandescent clip light off to the right, and a Wii fit box on the left to reflect some of the light on the left side of the cans. Talk about poor man's studio :)

Drove all the way out to a spot I used to go to watch trains years ago. (like 25 years ago) There was a little restaurant next to the tracks that had burgers, tacos, and beer. We'd go up there and order our tacos and a pitcher of beer and sit outside on the patio on the benches, and bench railcars going by looking for cool graffiti. There were five rails that converged in this one spot, so trains were coming through about once every 5-10 minutes. I never brought a camera and never really even thought about taking photos of the graffiti. That place was torn down years ago to build a bridge, and it's a lot harder to access that location now and there were railroad workers on that side working. I ended up on the other side of the tracks and waited for over 2 hours, and NO TRAINS. WTF? So I ended up heading the other direction and finding some cars parked. By the time I shot those cars, I saw the lights of a train coming from the other direction, sped up there go out and grabbed some shots of one on the move.

Today I brought out two cameras and two lenses. Fujifilm X-E3, and Fujifilm X-Pro1. Two lenses. 23mm Fuji f/2, and an old Helios 58mm F/2 with m42 to X-mount adapter. Shot a few with the 58mm, but it was just too long. Most of today's shots were with the 23mm on either the Fuji bodies.

Had Fun.

Lindberg kit. Tan Rustoleum paint.

Three tracks running today. There were times when there were two trains on two different tracks in different directions, and I had to keep looking back and forth so I wouldn't miss an amazing piece rolling by behind my back.. A little sketchy today

as someone thought is would be a good idea to be out shooting today. Not with a camera, but a gun. I couldn't figure out where they were, but it was close.

Also, some sort of instagram photo shoot going on under one of the train trestles. Obviously with the graffiti in the background. :-)

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......

youtu.be/AhShQ7oST7A

youtu.be/qC_K9usNyDs

youtu.be/mydTJVp_6SI

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 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

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...

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

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

The left is Sunrise Red, the right is Colonial Red, both by Rustoleum. I think Colonial is the clear winner.

from the now demolished warehouse in potown

Sunday December 20th 2020

I've photographed these spots before, but they are ever changing, so I thought I'd shoot them again..

I've photographed some of these wall pieces multiple times, over time because every time I come back something has changed. Something added, some beef, some etc.......

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

On my way home this afternoon around 4:45 (camera clock was off by an hour) I turned onto a long strip of road, and saw a train coming. I rushed to the other end of the road about 2 miles away and waited.

I had my Fuji X-E3 and a manual focus 7Artisans manual focus 25mm lens on the seat next to me and shot these photos from the car. Not super happy with them, but like I said, I'll be trying to capture what I see with the camera I have with me..

They are what they are.

Door jamb painted with Harbor Freight gravity feed HVLP gun and rustoleum canvas white thinned with mineral spirits. Gun and rustoleum spray very well, very easy 1 coat coverage for these areas.

Lots of stackers (Again), some grainers, and a few boxes, but also some great pieces.

Anybody ready my descriptions? I always wonder..

Finally got out of the house around noon after wavering between going out, or staying in..., to drive out to one of the local yards to shoot some freights, and finally get to check out their railroad museum. Blue skies, a little wind (7MPH) and I'm guessing like 70F. Perfect day. Sorry for anyone back East who are going through extreme cold weather. The museum was really great, and I'll have to go back and spend a bit more time looking around, and maybe taking some photos/video so you guys can check it out too. Only stayed for a couple hours today.

This yard I only have a platform that's about 15 ft. wide. The first track, the trains run about 6 in. from the edge of the track, so in order for me to catch a whole car, including autoracks, is to use a super wide angle lens. I've been using this crazy wide, $140, 7Artisans 7.5mm "Fisheye" lens when I go here. Sometimes I correct the fisheye look, sometimes I don't. I did a bit of correction on today's photos. Just cropping, straightening, and lens correction. No color. Lens is fun to use, but that fisheye!!!!!!!

They're not perfect, and you'll still see distortion... Still, caught some great pieces, and had fun, and isn't that what it's all about. Getting out of the house, away from work and seeing some great art rolling by. Any day you can go out and see some art makes your life better. Get out and bench!!! Don't just look at photos online. Go out to your local tracks/yards, and hang out for a few hours. See the cars up-close, feel them in your feet, smell the brake dust in the air, and hear how loud they actually are when you're not in your car with the windows rolled up waiting to cross at the RR crossing.

Towards the end of my visit, about 25 foamers showed up like really quickly to shoot what I found out was a "Special" train rolling through today. Something to do with next week's Super Bowl. You'll see the photos in this set, it's the three 25th Anniversary engines, stickers and all, along with 10-15 silver luxury people cars. Why three engines for only 10 or so cars?? I Dunno. I have video of this line I'll upload at some point. It really was quite amazing seeing this roll through. Like 3 minutes after it was gone, there was nobody left at the rails but PasadenaSub Colin ( www.youtube.com/c/pasadenasubcolin ) and myself..

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...

Drove all the way out to a spot I used to go to watch trains years ago. (like 25 years ago) There was a little restaurant next to the tracks that had burgers, tacos, and beer. We'd go up there and order our tacos and a pitcher of beer and sit outside on the patio on the benches, and bench railcars going by looking for cool graffiti. There were five rails that converged in this one spot, so trains were coming through about once every 5-10 minutes. I never brought a camera and never really even thought about taking photos of the graffiti. That place was torn down years ago to build a bridge, and it's a lot harder to access that location now and there were railroad workers on that side working. I ended up on the other side of the tracks and waited for over 2 hours, and NO TRAINS. WTF? So I ended up heading the other direction and finding some cars parked. By the time I shot those cars, I saw the lights of a train coming from the other direction, sped up there go out and grabbed some shots of one on the move.

Today I brought out two cameras and two lenses. Fujifilm X-E3, and Fujifilm X-Pro1. Two lenses. 23mm Fuji f/2, and an old Helios 58mm F/2 with m42 to X-mount adapter. Shot a few with the 58mm, but it was just too long. Most of today's shots were with the 23mm on either the Fuji bodies.

Had Fun.

$10 Rustoleum paint job

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

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

Cody and Marahute "Feathers" ATC.Rescuers Down Under. Copyright, Walt Disney Company.

The "Little Guy." Third in my Rescuers ATC swap. I considered doing the seagull character, but I love the relationship between Cody and Marahute so much I couldn't help but do this card.

I used an antique dictionary page, printed images and some printed images on transparency film and Ranger Distress Inks to create this card.

Drove all the way out to a spot I used to go to watch trains years ago. (like 25 years ago) There was a little restaurant next to the tracks that had burgers, tacos, and beer. We'd go up there and order our tacos and a pitcher of beer and sit outside on the patio on the benches, and bench railcars going by looking for cool graffiti. There were five rails that converged in this one spot, so trains were coming through about once every 5-10 minutes. I never brought a camera and never really even thought about taking photos of the graffiti. That place was torn down years ago to build a bridge, and it's a lot harder to access that location now and there were railroad workers on that side working. I ended up on the other side of the tracks and waited for over 2 hours, and NO TRAINS. WTF? So I ended up heading the other direction and finding some cars parked. By the time I shot those cars, I saw the lights of a train coming from the other direction, sped up there go out and grabbed some shots of one on the move.

Today I brought out two cameras and two lenses. Fujifilm X-E3, and Fujifilm X-Pro1. Two lenses. 23mm Fuji f/2, and an old Helios 58mm F/2 with m42 to X-mount adapter. Shot a few with the 58mm, but it was just too long. Most of today's shots were with the 23mm on either the Fuji bodies.

Had Fun.