Painting with an oil based paint instead of acrylics today. I painted the heat riser in the bathroom.

painted, rustoleum black gloss

Remember those old Dirty Harry black brackets? They're red now. These were heavily sanded and re-primed. Then I used Rustoleum Red (3 light coats). I preferred semi-gloss but no luck in finding that. So glossy had to do. The Rustoleum products are easy to use and do provide a professional finish as long as you can keep the dust off of everything.

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. :-)

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!

Here's one of my tires after it's been masked off. It's now ready to be primed with Rustoleum's white primer. I chose white primer because it'll help the orange "pop" a little more.

Breaking Away Masi Bike Replica. Rustoleum Paint Job.

There were three bikes used in the movie Breaking Away. Dennis Christopher's bike and one ridden by Garry Rybar (Dennis's double). The third was the pump through the front wheel crash bike, a Sears Free Spirit. This replica was inspired by the fake Masi crash bike.

9724 NAE 2

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

This is the rear end of Pokey prior to roller painting

...a.k.a. the best Rusto color ever.

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. :-)

Meal's spray collection from Cap Matches Color www.capmatchescolor.com/

Everyone knows the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. This valentine themed Biscuit tin is the perfect place to store his favourite biscuits, cakes or cookies. Spray painted with Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Cherry Red with heart stencils spray painted with Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Balmoral.

Ben’s bike which I painted

The 4 colors I used to paint the traditional randonneuse

after sandblasting, priming, caulking the edges, and painting with Rustoleum.

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!

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. :-)

Saturday, out on a beer run, brought the camera and ran out to one of my spots, flicked one train. I waited for another further down the line, but it was taking forever, and it was hot so I drove back home.

BUT!! It actually turned out kinda' cool, because I caught a bunch of railroad equipment on its way to repair some tracks down the line. To be dropped off somewhere in the middle of the desert, where guys in orange or green vests' in hard hats with clipboards will point at other guys to "Get to work!" and yell incoherent instructions. Was happy to see this equipment roll by on a Saturday to reminds me that I had one more day off before going back to work.

As always, thanks to the Writers, my fellow Benchers and Railroad Workers across the globe. You're all doing good work!

Stay safe out there guys!!

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

Instagram here: @soilentseven

SoCalFreights.com

irregularphotos.com

Best viewed "LARGE"

I primed this one with Rustoleum Gray Primer. It worked out pretty well.

Talk about a calico paint job! This is the front hood after a few hours of wet sanding to remove rock chips. The chips went all the way down to the metal, so I have a lot more sanding to feather the surrounding paint down to the bare metal. Yeah...

Sauce and destroy.

Viewing a vintage Coca Cola Box I thought about the change it would undergo

with some sanding and painting. The old box would be like new (Renewal).

Renewal for us humans does not come so easily. Change for us "triggers an imaginative shock that reveals the gap between what one is and could be and the realization that you must change your life".

(B. Lonergan, S.J. on The Spiritual Exercises)

You can see the deep scratches I made in the hood by my over-zealous use of a small wire brush wheel. The wire wheel quickly got me down to the bottom of the chips where the rust was, but I have a lot of sanding ahead to feather the bare spot into the surrounding paint.

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!

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!

Rustoleum Premium Metallic Titanium Silver

These are all the dings and rock chips from the driver's side.

Here's a pre-roller pic of the passenger side. The running board was removed so I could move the fenders around. I think here you can see about 5 different colors of paint/primer. Maybe Calico will be the next big Dub style?

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...

Breaking Away Masi Bike Replica. Rustoleum Paint Job.

There were three bikes used in the movie Breaking Away. Dennis Christopher's bike and one ridden by Garry Rybar (Dennis's double). The third was the pump through the front wheel crash bike, a Sears Free Spirit. This replica was inspired by the fake Masi crash bike.

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!