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 whole assembly got about 6 coats of plastidip to seal it all in, then I went over that with a coat of Rustoleum Camo Black (matte) spray paint.

fun for me, none for you.

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...

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

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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

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...

I still have these T's for anyone who wants one...they are NOT knock-offs...I got them from Rustoleum but had to take them down from www.illadelstylez.com because their scum-fuck lawyers sent me a "sue you" letter because I'm not "licensed" to sell their stuff...fuckin twats....just message me if you need one.

Outline - Ironlak Media - Fills - Detail

Persue working on the Quasar 2 piece done with Ironlak. Glok Benefit.

2009.

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.

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

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

The Stroller reads: "if u c smthg say smthg"

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!

painted with black acrylic paint, black rustoleum brush paint, silver rustoleum brush paint and red krink

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.

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.

I used Rustoleum oil-based paint to add a black stripe on each side.

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!

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

Got out today, 10-09-2021 at about 9:30AM.. Hiked out to one of my spots, and then hiked out to a few spots I've never been out to before. There's so many cool areas around here. I need to find a spot where all four rails come together. As it is now, there's two busy rails, one kinda busy and another that many one or two freight roll by during the time I'm there. Two tracks together, one about a 1/4 mile away, and another about 1/2 mile away. I can't just be running between all of them. I'm too old and slow. Caught some wall graff I hadn't seen before, and also hit up a bunch of my usual spots, and saw all the changes that had taken place since the last time I'd been out there. Reminder: Pick up your fucking cans/trash. Keep throwin' your shit out there and they'll start crackin' down! It's a beautiful area. Let's keep it that way.

After straightening and fixing photos from the 9th, it's already 10-21, and I'm doubting I'll be able to get out again before the end of the month. Is this what happens when you're back to work. Benching once a month? This sucks.

As always, thanks to the writers! Stay safe out there!!

For freight graffiti slideshows/videos hit up my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/SilenceSeven

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...

Camera: Olympus XA

Film: Fuji 100

sign in a trailer park on Rte 35 Eatontown, NJ

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

Exif_jpeg_t422

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.

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...

$10 Rustoleum paint job

Out Now V .I .A .

absolutetrashmag.bigcartel.com/product/issue-11

“Graffiti & psychedelic drawings from Philly / NY / Other spots…

46 black and white pages, color cover and centerfold

This issue features contributions from

Hannah Frishberg

Belroc IOF

R2F TTYL

SMC Crew (London)

@mr.bakermann

HZ Publishing (TX)

Todays Math (NJ)

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Thanks to everyone who contributed content to this project!”

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.

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

Painted Rustoleum orange with a brush for sex apeal!

I had more money in the rear wheels and tires than I had in the rest of it. I guess that's why they were the only thing stolen.

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...

Completed some "cosmetic" improvements - painted the drain boards, lid, and on/off lever handle with Rustoleum's White Appliance epoxy enamel.

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

Sunday December 20th 2020

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

Who ever said anything about Rustoleum?