Yard Safety

[cracked ass]

OK, here we go again, this stuff is worth the hassle of retyping for all you freight aspirants. Before you even consider the mission, lighting, and chillness aspects of your fr8 work you need to know what's up with yards so you don't get killed. I will post a bunch of sub-topics as I think of them.
HUMPING. No, not that kind. In the fr8 world humping is a process used to break up trains and sort, or "classify", the individual cars and get them to the right tracks in a yard. Basically, the train is driven backwards a short distance, and they slam on the brakes. At the same moment a brakeman jogs alongside the moving train and throws a lever that uncouples a car or group of cars at the end of the train. These cars fly off on their own momentum down the track that has been selected for them, with no brakes, and they don't stop till they run out of inertia, or until they hit other cars parked on that line (the BOOM!!! sound you may hear from your local yard). Freight cars can safely collide at 5mph or less, they just lock onto each other at the coupler; sometimes a crew that's in a hurry to hump off a train will send them faster than 5mph, though.
This raises several safety issues: One, a train that is backing up, or cars that have been humped off, can run you down without you ever hearing an engine. In a dark or foggy yard, those drifting cars (called "ramblers") can go a surprising distance, and sometimes are very quiet despite their size, so they can sneak up on you. The danger is magnified if you are standing in a noisy spot (near another locomotive, or one of those reefer cars with the loud compressor running all the time, or anything else) that could mask the sound of an approaching rambler.
Two, you might be on or painting a car that gets hit by a line of ramblers. It will slam them into motion suddenly. If you're climbing on a car and don't have a good handgrip, you could become the next photo at www.deadtrainbums.com ('http://"http://www.deadtrainbums.com') . When ramblers hit a motionless line, it's like a cueball hitting another ball in pool: the force gets transferred to the object ball, and when you're talking forty tons per car that translates into some serious slamming power even at low speeds.
So in general: assume EVERY track is live, that something may come at any time. NEVER climb underneath a freight car for any reason. If you have to cross a line, assume it could slam into motion any second. Don't climb over the coupler, cross using the handy ladders and walkways at the ends of most cars. If the car you want to cross doesn't have a walkway on the back, cross somewhere else. Don't stand in between cars in a line, or less than twenty feet from the last car in a line. Basically, don't stand ANYWHERE you could be hit if ALL the trains around you started moving at the same time. (This very thing has happened to me twice, once in Milwaukee and once in Pittsburgh.) Don't climb onto the tops of railcars. Don't attempt a big project involving ladders, like an e2e or wholecar, until you are a veteran of A) yards in general and B)the particular spot you want to try something ambitious at (and those projects are best reserved for chill, lonely layups, not yards).
A lot of this sounds pretty anal. You might already have prowled yards not knowing any of this and still not had a problem. The tricky thing is, 9 out of 10 times none of this shit will happen, but if you spend enough time in yards you will personally experience all of these things, and that 1 out of 10 can be fatal if you didn't know in advance. You can also get complacent after several uneventful trips. Don't do it. Be safe in the yards, and tell all your writer friends what you know about this.

[cracked ass]

RUNAROUNDS. Many freight yards share trackage with Amtrak or another passenger line. There will be one track reserved for the passenger trains so they can bust right through the yard without stopping. This track is the "runaround". What this means is, in a yard where shit is moving slowly or not at all, a passenger train can rip through at 50 mph. You definitely want to do recon at your target yard and find out if they have a runaround or other "through" track, and avoid that part of the yard unless absolutely necessary.
What's worse, passenger trains have some features that make them extra dangerous, namely, they are quieter than freights. Also, they often run backwards, because the engine can pull or push a light passenger train equally easily. Before I knew diddly about trains I was walking some tracks in Pittsburgh. For no reason at all I looked behind me and there was a baggage car doing about 40 coming right at me, quiet as a whisper. I had about three seconds to step off or I would have been the "train oops" series at www.rotten.com ('http://"http://www.rotten.com') . The engine was in the back of the train so I heard nothing.
The other thing contributing to the quietness of trains is ribbon or welded rail. Everyone is familiar with the clank-clank of freights as the wheels pass over the joint of regular jointed rail. Well, ribbon rail has no joints, it's all welded together when it's first laid, so there's no clanking whatsoever to warn you, passenger trains just glide quietly along. Beware!

[cracked ass]

WORKERS. These guys can be your best friend or your worst enemy, and much of it is up to you.
First off, rail workers are regular guys. They spend a lot of time in the yards, don't see too many friendly faces on the job, and have different personalities, from angelic to asshole. This means that with the right attitude, you can have a more positive encounter with workers than you think, although it will always vary by the individual worker, and the hotter the yard, the less friendly a reception you should expect.
Workers know the dangers of a yard, so when they see a trespasser their first reaction is often of concern: they don't know whether or not YOU know anything about yard safety, and don't want to see you get killed in their yard. Even a cold bastard of a worker won't want to have to look at your dismembered corpse. So they'll all be concerned, not so much that you're trespassing, but whether you know what you're doing around freights. If you show that you know what you're doing that improves your chances to have a favorable encounter with a worker - nothing's guaranteed, but just remember that there's no reason to flat-out run from an ordinary worker, you may be able to reason with him. I know one cat who got caught painting red-handed (literally) by a worker, who said, "We can smell your paint three lines over." He came and looked at the piece in progress and said "That's cool. Just stay off the numbers." Then he left without further comment. There are a few art appreciators out there...rare, but it happens.
I don't want to paint a rosy picture here, so let's talk about the difference between THE BULL (railroad cops) and regular yard workers. First off, in the old days and still today, rail workers are 100% unionized. They stick together like that. I don't know if anything has changed recently, but bulls have always been non-union. Surprisingly, the bull is often despised or barely tolerated by the union guys: he cruises the yard, eating donuts or whatever, and mostly just kills time, hoping not to have to do anything on his shift. Nowadays, with some yards heating up, there are more bulls, they are more sophisticated and somewhat less likely to be really lazy, and may get more cooperation from yard workers than before, but in general the union/nonunion thing is still a reason the worker might like you better than the bull, and not rat you out to him.
A lot of this unlooked-for friendliness in workers is reserved for hoboes, especially discreet, respectful ones. You could walk up to a yard worker and ask him what time and what track you'd want in order to catch a ride on a freight to a certain city, and he'd tell you and then warn you what kind of car the bull drives so you could avoid him. Again, this hospitality varies enormously from yard to yard, and the big city yards are much more likely to be hostile, but there are still plenty of places in North America where you can do this today. That's for hoboing, though. Painting is a different story. More workers will be angry with you for painting. Some will be OK with it but will insist that you stay off the numbers. Rarely they will sic the bull on you, or in one case I heard of, beat the shit out of you. So, if you are seen painting the best bet is to try and get away; if you're surprised up close by a worker who is obviously not a bull, try to reason with him, showing him respect, pointing out that you're avoiding going over the numbers, and saying you're OK with leaving if that's what he wants, it's his yard. Some of these situations can be salvaged, other times you're just fucked and should run like hell. But if you're seen by a worker and there is no way he could know you're there to paint, say hi, start a conversation if it seems feasible. If he's cool you may be able to get information like chill times and places, whether there's a bull at the yard, etc. Don't mention graffiti unless you really hit it off great, or he brings it up.
For a bull encounter: if seen painting, get the hell out. If you're just walking and he can't know what you're up to, approach his vehicle when he yells at you, be calm and reasonable. Pass the attitude test. Unless he's a real dickhead he won't do more than give you a spiel about how it's private property and you have to leave. Be agreeable and do it, and don't come back for eight hours, by then his shift will be over and any new encounter will be with a different guy. If the same bull catches you a second time on his shift you're fucked.

[cracked ass]

AIR. This is more of a timing issue than a safety issue. Any car you are about to paint should be quiet underneath, that is, no hissing noise. If the car is hissing steadily from underneath, the train will have a locomotive hooked to it and they are "getting up air", which means they will be leaving soon, so just bomb or do a hollow or save your paint for another line. If a line rolls up near you, stops, and then a huge blast of compressed air is heard, like a giant sneezing, that line just "dynamited" and will be there for a while, long enough to piece at least.
Trains need to get up compressed air to release the brakes on each car. It is pumped back from the engine via those hoses you see connecting the cars by the coupler. It takes a while to get up sufficient or "legal" air on a long train. If you were painting a quiet train and then you hear that hiss, finish up quickly, it's gonna roll away soon. The longer the train the more time you have to finish but not by much so just get it done. In yards, sometimes a dead string needs the air bled out of it. If you hear a few distant hisses, one after the other at ten or twenty second intervals, and getting louder each time, get under cover. A brakeman is walking the entire line, letting the air out of each car as he goes.

[ibtease]

great info man,
keep it up....
tease

[Ski Mask]

glad to see this thread started again, this is all essential info. Just to add to what cracked has said, dont underestimate the danger of humping. Humping doesnt just occur in large yards, I've watched crews hump cars (through a controlled crossing no less) at a small lay-up at WAY more than 5mph. And this was a lay-up small enough that neighbourhood residents would wander through walking their dogs, it can occur anywhere, so keep alert.
For those of you not familiar with yards, if you have the chance the best thing to do is just watch what happens in the yard, find a chill place (on the legal side of the private property line) and see how things work. Thanks for posting the info again cracked.

------------------
ESE - Nothingbutfreights

[HESHIANDET]

Cracked is on point. I've spent much time in yards and this shit is no joke. The pictures at rotten are crazy,we dont need that stuff happening to one of us.
stay up.

[Vanity]

ummm, cracked.. you say that seein a worker is no reason to run,, but then you say yer best bet is to get outta there if you see a worker...

[cracked ass]

I said seeing a worker is no reason to run IF he can't know you're there to paint. If there's paint on you, on the car next to you, or he might have seen the cans, I'd get gone. If not though, be chill like I said. I have to stress again that the reaction you'll get could vary widely by yard and by individual worker. I'm only trying to show a little of the worker's point of view, how they are not always going to chase or hate on you for trespassing in the yard. You have to use your head and your instincts in any encounter, and if it looks bad just get the hell out of there. I'm relying on my experiences in yards from Anchorage to Chicago to Philly to Montreal to Newark NJ, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Seattle/Tacoma, Montana, Buffalo, and all of New England. I first check out a yard with nothing on me, and explore more thoroughly than I would if I had paint. In all my encounters with workers, and my half dozen or so encounters with bulls, none of them knew I was there to paint, and the worst case was being told to leave by a bull who appeared pissed off (Delaware), the others looked calm and bored while telling me I had to leave. One bull gave me a CSX calendar on my way out, thinking I was a straight railfan. (It helps to be able to talk intelligently about railroads; bulls will usually show just enough patience with railfans not to bust them, just tell them to leave; some workers think railfans are a little nutso, so don't lay it on too thick with workers about how much you like trains.) None of the straight workers ever gave me any trouble, and some were friendly and talkative; others (Newark) looked at me warily but said nothing. The few times I think I've been seen painting I've just gotten out of there without waiting around to make contact with anybody.

[guise]

i tried getting into that deadtrianbumbs and its asking me for a password, does anyone have one?

[MESTHREE]

thanks cracked I wanna print this shit out and shove it down a few peoples throtes!....man that dead rail bums site scared me for life.. unless you like feeling queesy I recomend you dont look at it...its more severe than you think *PEAs*

[cracked ass]

I don't know how to get in deadtrainbums anymore, it's kind of a weird site anyway. For hardcore, straight-up pictures of people run over by trains and other really sick photos, rotten.com has it nailed down. It's not a very nice site.

[Vanity]

defvac.com is yer one stop shop for shit pics and necro pics.. anus.com has some pictures i don't understand

[guise]

I looked at that rotten site, those guys are real sickos! they had pictures of this dead bum from every angle, I'm surprised they didn't have a quicktime 3d virtual environment for it to, you know, TO REALLY GET THE EFFECT!

[HESHIANDET]

i got the p.w. for deadtrainbums.com if anyone wants it-hit me back.

[Ski Mask]

ok, just thought I'd throw out some extra obscure train knowledge. On the subject of "getting up air" before a train leaves, here is a chart of the time it takes to get "legal" air for a train.

Minimum and maximum charging times when brake system is empty:
Brake Pipe Length - Min Time - Max Time
(feet) (both in minutes)
2,500 or less - 8 - 25
3,000 - 10 - 30
4,000 - 15 - 35
5,000 - 20 - 40
6,000 - 26 - 55
7,000 - 35 - 65
8,000 - 45 - 75
9,000 - 57 - 100
10,000 - 71 - 125
11,000 - 80 - 160

so what this means to you is, if a train starts getting up legal air (like cracked says, you'll hear a slight hissing) you've got at least 8 minutes (providing the crew follows rules) to finish up and get the hell out.

------------------
ESE - Nothingbutfreights

[cracked ass]

Not to get even more obscure, but that's starting from empty. At a spot where one freight was "in the hole" I think they had most of their air already, because I didn't even get a full minute after the first hiss before it rolled. Also, If I'm not mistaken the charging works "spillover" style, meaning one car at a time fills up, and when it has enough the valve pops and then the next car starts getting air, on down the line. So if you're doing one of the last few cars in the train, when you hear the hiss there's only a couple cars left to fill.
Sorry, I got too obscure.

[HESHIANDET]

i love this teck shit,its so cool to know this stuff.Who else would even care about this shit.

[UltraWSO]

CRACKED...(or anybody else). I sometimes visit somewhere that has an overhead wire system that is always active, and the trains are turned off by drivers in yards. Im wondering what parts of the train might still be active, like underneath it (eg. generators, insulators etc. Ive been in situations where i could have hidden underneath there, but i didnt want to take a chance.. Help me somebody???

[cracked ass]

I'll say again that my specialty is freights, and they don't run on no wires. I have no idea what would be electrified in a passenger yard. But I would stick to a general rule: don't ever climb underneath any train. If it moves you're fucked. If the train is electric but shut down, you could be fucked at the flick of a switch. If you really want that hiding option (which it looks like you haven't needed yet), research the shit out of your type of train and yard first. You'll never catch me under a train, that's all I can say. I dove under a freight once to get away, but only because it was a short layup and I could see nothing was hooked onto either end of the cars.

[Vanity]

my man hid under a freight hfor a half hour watching the cops drive by

[Ski Mask]

vanity: thats harsh. Going under a boxcar is fucking intense when yer being chased, there is like zero clearance. Centerflows you just duck under, but last time I had to dive under a boxcar I ripped the ass of my pants open on some kind of brake pipe or somthing underneath. I always cross between cars, but sometimes when you get chased its dive underneath or get popped...tough choice.

[cracked ass]

I hate hearing stories like that, but at the same time I understand that the rules need to be broken in extreme situations. I have been underneath freights 3 times, twice diving under tank cars after being spotted, and once to tag these weird vertical panels underneath a hopper, which was laid up by itself with no engines in sight. I didn't hang around under those tankers either, just scrambled under the line and took off running. Staying underneath a freight is Russian roulette.

[cracked ass]

I don't do this often but...*bump*

[keep]

id almost alway go under then or over the copler thing to cross. well most of the places im in are layups, but i dont think i will anymore, getting run over by a trail doesnt sound like fun at all

[Avocado]

Thanks for the insight on safety cracked. However, I've never ever experienced that method you call 'hummping'.

My rule of thumb for being around any train tracks, whether in a yard or a single line in the damn country is: Never walk between the rails-always walk on the outside.

About that dead hobo site, I think those pictures were made on the computer. I understand that a body will decay and look different when dead but some of those bodies looked straight-up fake. What do you think?

The bull at my local CP yard loves giving tresspass tickets to anyone that steps on the property. I think it's his hobby. When I see a peice in the yard I tie my shoes extra tight, sprint in and sprint out. No dilly-dallying! He's a real prick!

[cracked ass]

I'm no expert on fresh corpses, but I think the majority of the ones at rotten.com are genuine...people who have died violently I think are hard to comprehend, to the brain...they look strange, like broken dolls or toys, and shit is bizarrely out of place, not the shapes or colors you'd draw if you were told to draw dead bodies.
Anyway, that's enough of this subject, what's the thread again?

[cracked ass]

Bumped due to recent stories of dumb yard behavior...read it again people.

[turnstyle]

i love you cracked

[deam one]

thanks cracked.. that really helped. made me feel a whole hell of a lot safer in this layup near me

[Smart]

bumpski for Super

------------------
2CanSam

[SuperBone]

Thank you Smart.

------------------
Qfmwapomfawf,flsd~!

[abysmal]

Some drunk kid got hit in my yard the other day by a car that had been humped. I think that they hump cars way faster than 5mph..because I can hear the "booms" all day and night...even when on the other side of town.

So..yeah...don't drink and play around trains!

------------------
Joker, you're my hero.

[Avocado]

This should be at the top of the page.

[Ski Mask]

*bump* I see lots of new names on here, this belongs up top for awhile.

[seeking]

what are some bullshit words to throw around, if you do get spoted? you said act like a railfan... what do rail fans talk about? are they like trekkies? should i wear a conductor hat and overalls? kidding, but seriously...



------------------
everywhere i wander to know where art is

[cracked ass]

I don't really know how to fake being a railfan, because I sort of am one. If you don't feel the freight love in your veins, and you just want an excuse for being seen in the yard, just keep it simple, say you like trains, seeing them roll and shit. Another way to go if you don't know enough to front as a railfan is just to say you don't like people much and you often wander the lonely areas like train tracks and shit.

[Ouija]

Don't stick your hands in the couplers, especially if there's some activity in the yard. You never know when they'll decide to start shoving cars together.

bump

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immaculately conceptual

[dens604]

*bump*

[HarvestGold]

bump....

It's a good idea to start running if you hear rail gravel being trod upon. <--tip of the week

[THE DEVIL!]

Harvest, have you been mis-behaving in the yards again????

[raildeviant]

Good looking out Cracked, info is always appreciated.

Not sure if any of you have these in your local yard, but over here, in the city's biggest yard which is half CN and half CP, the use of remote control engines is in full effect. Essentially, the worker walks along the tracks with a remote control and works the engine from there (you see, trains are BIG toys!!!). Its cool to watch, but is also very dangerous for a couple of reasons. 1) There is no conductor in the engine, so no one to blow the horn to tell you to get the fuck out of the way. 2) With the worker controlling the engine from the ground, you may be paying attention to him and not notice the ghost rider train coming at you from the opposite direction.
Another piece of advice. If you feel the need to close the door on an open boxcar so you can complete that purty end2end you have been planning (which I do not recommend), keep in mind that once you get the momentum built up the door won't stop until it slams shut, with or without your fingers in the way.
Play safe, clean your spots and never accept candy from men in trenchcoats.

[defyoner]

this topic, is related to me and my Amtrak Safty Ceryified ID hehe yard werkers are my fellow employees

[Ski Mask]

ok defy, were all really impressed with your Amtrack ID, now give it a rest.
I got a little spooked today when I was getting flix. I went to a little spur that serves a carboard recylcing plant, 3 boxcars at a loading dock. They used the dock periodically during the day (I've taken flix while a forklift was loading things inside) but as I walked up to it today the whole line starting moving! They must have a way to move it with the forklift or somthing, I couldnt see from where I was. This is a spot where I would have made an exception and gone over the couplers since its a dead end, and the approach is straight and highly visible. Made me rethink my safety a bit.

[cabin fever]

Herr Doktor Bumpenstein

[HarvestGold]

Tip of the week....don't paint over that little silver plate on the lower right side of the boxcar.

[your motherfucker]

WeRD TO CRACKED. I USED TO WORK FOR NORFOLK SOUTHERN AND I LEARNED A WHOLE BUNCH OF SHIT ABOUT SAFETY. DO NOT UNDER ESTIMATE A YARD AND IT'S SOROUNDING'S. I'VE SEEN GUY'S GET HIT BY A TRAIN GOING 5-10 MPH AND IT'S BROKE THERE BONES. I'M NOT PROUD OF THIS, BUT I'VE ACTUALLY HIT AND KILLED SOMEONE WHILE I WAS AT WORK. WE WERE COMING OUT OF THE YARD GETTING UP SPEED AND THIS GUY WAS WALKING DOWN THE TRACK AND BOOM!! DECAPITATION TO IT'S FULLEST. IT WASN'T A PRETTY SIGHT. THE GUY WAS JUST BEING STUPID AND THOUGHT HE WAS BEING FUNNY AND HE ENDED UP DEAD. THIS IS A LITTLE OFF SUBJECT BUT I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT SOME KID GETTING HIT BY A TRAIN OR GETTING CRUSHED CAUSE THAT SHIT MAKES FOR A BAD DAY. I'VE HAD PLENTY OF SHIT GO DOWN IN THE YARD WHILE I'M WORKING. ALWAY'S STAY 100% WHEN YOUR IN THEM. PLEASE!!

[T.W.F UNABOMBER]

cracked you said there where yards in new england how bout connecticut cause all i really see is a bunch of cars lined up on a rail in one place but different ones be there every once in a while if you can tell me if you knew of any in CT it would help

thanks for the knowledge

[pulp]

if they are sitting there not moving and if no one is around. does it really matter what it is?

[your motherfucker]

FOR REAL PULP!!!

[THE DEVIL!]

Originally posted by your motherfucker:
WeRD TO CRACKED. I USED TO WORK FOR NORFOLK SOUTHERN AND I LEARNED A WHOLE BUNCH OF SHIT ABOUT SAFETY. DO NOT UNDER ESTIMATE A YARD AND IT'S SOROUNDING'S. I'VE SEEN GUY'S GET HIT BY A TRAIN GOING 5-10 MPH AND IT'S BROKE THERE BONES. I'M NOT PROUD OF THIS, BUT I'VE ACTUALLY HIT AND KILLED SOMEONE WHILE I WAS AT WORK. WE WERE COMING OUT OF THE YARD GETTING UP SPEED AND THIS GUY WAS WALKING DOWN THE TRACK AND BOOM!! DECAPITATION TO IT'S FULLEST. IT WASN'T A PRETTY SIGHT. THE GUY WAS JUST BEING STUPID AND THOUGHT HE WAS BEING FUNNY AND HE ENDED UP DEAD. THIS IS A LITTLE OFF SUBJECT BUT I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT SOME KID GETTING HIT BY A TRAIN OR GETTING CRUSHED CAUSE THAT SHIT MAKES FOR A BAD DAY. I'VE HAD PLENTY OF SHIT GO DOWN IN THE YARD WHILE I'M WORKING. ALWAY'S STAY 100% WHEN YOUR IN THEM. PLEASE!!

Ok, lemme get this straight....
You work in a train yard, or for that matter
you even work on trains, and you still
have access to a computer??? I don't think
that you are telling the truth. You are
embarrassing yourself, in fact.

[THE DEVIL!]

Originally posted by T.W.F UNABOMBER:
cracked you said there where yards in new england how bout connecticut cause all i really see is a bunch of cars lined up on a rail in one place but different ones be there every once in a while if you can tell me if you knew of any in CT it would help

thanks for the knowledge

There are plenty of yards in CT. I'm not even
from there and I know where they are.
No one is going to tell you, because they
don't want you there. Suck it up, and
find a nice lay-up in the woods.
Love,
The Devil

[Ouija]

There's enough kids burning out the yards here, thank you very much. Check please!

bump.

------------------
ouija13transcend3a

[seeking]

Originally posted by T.W.F UNABOMBER:
cracked you said there where yards in new england how bout connecticut cause all i really see is a bunch of cars lined up on a rail in one place but different ones be there every once in a while if you can tell me if you knew of any in CT it would help

thanks for the knowledge

i wont even bother to explain this, cause if you catn figure it out yourself, your just going to ruin it for everyone else...

[T.W.F UNABOMBER]

theres not aloud of good artist here i dont live in tha nice part of ct so i dont know why people think connecticut is a pretty place to live.
and if you dont live in ct why would you care if i hit up any fr8s
second of all there are too many toys around here that need to see some real nice shit ive battled too many corny toys that ive battled (no chalenge) im sick of it if you would please just email me a yard location it would be a help i want to hit up some fr8s before marker season (winter)
im a little pissed off right now sorry if i sound like a ass
------------------
graffiti is art NOT A CRIME!

[Southern kid]

wow..my 1,000 post..and on such a good topic. kick ass. this thread is great cracked..i just now got to reading it but..its good. appreciated. we had a run in with a worker once..we ditched the paint but knew he'd seen us with it..but there was no way out..he just ask us if we had paint we told him no..then he shook his head and said well i really dont care just look out..then he told us what lines they were humping and to look out. i loved that day.

[Ski Mask]

Metrolinks dont draw power from a 3rd rail, they use HEP, meaning all electrical power is drawn from the engine. Its the same system (the cars are the same make) as the GO Train in toronto.

[seeking]

Originally posted by T.W.F UNABOMBER:
theres not aloud of good artist here i dont live in tha nice part of ct so i dont know why people think connecticut is a pretty place to live.
and if you dont live in ct why would you care if i hit up any fr8s
second of all there are too many toys around here that need to see some real nice shit ive battled too many corny toys that ive battled (no chalenge) im sick of it if you would please just email me a yard location it would be a help i want to hit up some fr8s before marker season (winter)
im a little pissed off right now sorry if i sound like a ass

i dont live in Ct but i know people that do, and im not trying to ruin it for them. i swear, i would almost think you were a cop. youve been in the game so long and you dont know what the fuck a lay up is? dude... i really truly think your a cop. now that i think about about all the posts of yours ive read, you dont sound like a writer at all... lets see where your ip traces too...

[THE DEVIL!]

Bump for all the new kids not in "the Know"

[cracked ass]

Word Devil

[crossfade]

Not really a bump but more of an emphasis of the "ghost" trains - the ones that just coast real quiet like with the engine seemingly off. It happened that in this particular large, active yard that two lines were moving at the same time. The first I noticed was going quickly and making a great deal of noise. Because of this I neglected to notice the line right behind me roll right on past very close to me. I swear I didn't hear it or feel it. I nearly shit myself. I guess I would have to say that I wasn't on 100% alert. Could have killed me I bet.

[Ski Mask]

word cros. I came up to my local yard today, and after crossing an empty siding I looked both ways before heading in, and to my left was a big fucking train barelling towards me, about 5-7 car lengths away. I actually said "FUCK" out loud and stepped back to watch it go by. I didnt hear shit and this thing wasnt running backwards or anything, just 2 ugly loud CN engines pulling a long load. I decided not to go in after the line went by...

[Frate_Raper]

Last night jumping thru a line of auto racks when the scariest shit of my life happened.The line got humped!I didn't fall of anything but got the scare of a life and i was all shakie after and was with my female friend that thaught it was super funny to see me almost fall off the train till i told her
what could of become of dear old raper!

I am never hopping thur the coppler again even tho i hit alot of autos and their really is no alternative to getting thru.

------------------
Those I`ve hated
Are the ones I`v held so close
And those who use betrayal
Will be the ones who suffer
The ones who suffer the most!

[cracked ass]

It's like I said: 95 out of 100 times everything seems quiet, easy, non-problematic, none of the safety issues I mention even come up. When one of those 5 in 100 times happens, you're not ready, and it could be serious.

[ZEN2--BIH]

word cracked! I had taken most of this to heart, luckily last night I used the ladder. When we had driven past the end of the yard there was no engine on the train so we parked and ran over to the yard. We walked down a little further from the depot and decided to cross between 2 hoppers. My friend in the front peeped out to be sure noone was walking down the line and I was behind him and one other person, so I was standing over the coupler, one foot on each crosswalk. I heard something this weird sound but I thought it was the crosswalk creaking or something. A split second later the train lurched forward about a foot. Before I realized what was going on I was laying on the ground with my hand in my friends shoe. Needless to say, I will now check for engines and fly across crosswalks!


------------------
"A can in the belt is worth two in the cart."--Zen 2

[fr8lover]

any time i feel the urge to cross under trains (except hoppers that are higher off the ground), i think of the pictures on deadtrainbums.com...FUCK THAT SHIT! hah. i basically look and see if any units are actually attached (if the train is smaller) to the cars and if not, i go for it.

------------------
------
FREIGHT FETISH
http://freights.fetishnews.net
------

[cracked ass]

Bumped again

[unibomber!]

cracked, one thing should you have stress not hitting engines on this topic, or was that on ways to make a yard hot ? either way ive been seeing to many engines bombed

[VeganDraftDodgerY3K]

what about streaking an engine? will that get painted over right away? its not like im gonna, im jsut wondering

[I_Lock_Kids_In_My_SELER]

Damn man. Cracked Ass, this is the best fucking post. I am new to the graf world, and this thread has helped me out a lot. This should be added to THE VAULT later. Peace man.

[SIN]

another bump, this will never get old.

[cracked ass]

And again...

[aymet one]

and again. Good to know..

[cracked ass]

Bump izm

[defyoner]

i dont know if any one will see this..

but DRED and i took an AMTRak saftey course over the summer so we could paint this one wall that offered us money.. but what Ouija and Cracked Ass are saying about the COuplers and the "Humping" is some serious shit.. they showed us some guy who got his fucking arm takin off by that shit.. man just be safe and look out fer small shit..
----
also i dont know about other places but in chicago they have people with tranqulizer guns in the yard and they shoot for the legs.. it will make your whole leg go numb and feel heavy as hell, this has not happend to me but it happend to one of my friends.
----
shit it getting serious. so watch out..

Peace Defy oNe

[defyoner]

BUMP.. this is important

[Tofu]

HOLY SHIT!!! Fucking TRANQUILIZER guns? That's scary.

------------------
Eat out my butthole you filthy slime!!!
-->*<--

[fr8oholic]

i'm one for flying over the couplers when i cross but i usually go under grainers/hoppers when have to cross but fuck that. i knew it's a bad decision but getting dead all of a sudden seems a good incentive.

[imported_oOsoupOo]

cracked i got into that deadtrainbums.com site and that is the nastiest shit i have ever seen in my entire life... that will make me think four or five times before i go into a yard.

[cracked ass]

This information remains current.

[imported_reighn_1]

there was a guy in vincennes, IN that was drunk and on acid, that crawled under a train that WAS MOVING it was going slow. but half of his body got drug 150ft.

------------------
sometimes it seems like freights are my only friends

[cracked ass]

Shoved to the top...

[imported_jungle cat]

if your going to be there for awhile, try not to paint under lights or bridges.. (bridges usually have lights on top of them) because they might see your fumes in the light.. yeah.

------------------
dont elect politicians... kill them.

[aerosoled]

in a yard i was in, i just walked right past the yard workers and just nodded or said hi. just dont act suspicious act like you are there for a reason. oh, and watch your head when crossing in between trains, theres always some pertruding bar sticking out that wacks me off the train.
always have beer and cigarettes, workers dont mind kickin back for a painter.

[cracked ass]

Bumped at random...

[erkens]

this is the best topic it has helped me the most since i'm a little new at hittin fr8s but i find if workers see me the cp workers are alot nicer than the jerk off cn workers.Standin by a train thats gettin humped is fuckin freaky shit!!But fr8s are the shit

[BIG YEAR]

nessecary bump

[imported_murder the goverment]

fuckin what do i do???
canadian pacific conrail is serious as
fuck here in detroit...they just cracked
down 5 of my boys...they didnt even run...
they had no paint...but they still drew
their guns...what the fuck???

these guys are mad serious...
fuck...

[imported_oddity]

bump, for anyone else new to the board who hasnt read this yet

[imported_Oh Im Sorry]

Originally posted by ibtease:
great info man,
keep it up....
teaseTEase.........is this you in boston.............

[imported_IwearPinkShirts]

......like the 70th time I've read it and I still find it more exciting than Mr.Wizard.

------------------
[img]http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1682414&a=12907782&p=49161904'>

[imported_pukey1]

Originally posted by IwearPinkShirts:
......like the 70th time I've read it and I still find it more exciting than Mr.Wizard.



:lol:

[fr8archism]

[canadian pacific conrail is serious as
fuck here in detroit...they just cracked
down 5 of my boys...they didnt even run...
they had no paint...but they still drew
their guns..]

Detroit has always been no joke, the hoboes call it the "ho chi min trail" or something like that. Too many rough areas,theft and the like i guess.

[imported_Nappyfr8basterd]

running is a good Idea only if you need to as in they've seen you and are coming after you. otherwise when you see/hear a worker coming your way you should just walk quickly and quietly hop over some lines and find a place to chill. If you run they will be able to hear you over their own foot steps. Always keep your inside voices on fellas.

[Fox Mulder]

bumppp

[Gnes 37]

bump for being aware

[imported_VaTo WiTh StYlE]

i dont know too much about trains but near my neighborhood there is this tressel back in some tree's above "a nice fishing hole" [says the fishers we see everyday] and me and a few of my freinds were looking for a chill spot and we found it.. when you walk down the tracks about 25 ft. into the water there is this BIG concrete thing that holds the trackz/tressel up.. is it safe to be under the tracks on that concrete when a train is going down the tracks? i have been under it at least once a day for about a week now and a train has went over everyday and i get havent got hurt yet.. unless a bean comes flying down real fast and hits me =] lemme know yer opionion's

[i'mlost]

wow. this is really informative shit. everyone should take the time to read this cuz it's shit you need to know if you're hitting freights. thanks. bump.

[cracked ass]

Originally posted by VaTo WiTh StYlE:
i dont know too much about trains but near my neighborhood there is this tressel back in some tree's above "a nice fishing hole" [says the fishers we see everyday] and me and a few of my freinds were looking for a chill spot and we found it.. when you walk down the tracks about 25 ft. into the water there is this BIG concrete thing that holds the trackz/tressel up.. is it safe to be under the tracks on that concrete when a train is going down the tracks? i have been under it at least once a day for about a week now and a train has went over everyday and i get havent got hurt yet.. unless a bean comes flying down real fast and hits me =] lemme know yer opionion's

Unless a car is leaking, the train derails, or the bridge collapses, don't worry about it. I would worry about walking on a trestle, people do it all the time and get caught up there and killed by passing trains.
The only problem I can see with being under the train bridge is how the hell are you going to bench the trains frome there?

[fr8lover]

one of the scariest moments in my life was when i ran and ducked under a centerflow hopper to flick the other side of the train and as i was going under they put the air in and the train started moving not 30 seconds later...i got my flicks but i still remember that day, really really fucked up.

[imported_VaTo WiTh StYlE]

Originally posted by cracked ass:
Unless a car is leaking, the train derails, or the bridge collapses, don't worry about it. I would worry about walking on a trestle, people do it all the time and get caught up there and killed by passing trains.
The only problem I can see with being under the train bridge is how the hell are you going to bench the trains frome there?

im not really talking about a place to bench, we use it for a place to practise and a place to chill when no one has anywhere to go,thanks for the advice tho =]

[drewWrite]

thanks for useful info

[imported_recon7]

yo...cracked that shit was real helpful. yesterday me and my boy were at our local yd and they started humping and shit and if i wouldnt have read this i woulda had no clue what the hell was up...anyways thanx and peace.

oh yeah i have the deadtrainbums.com stuff
username:dead
password:bums

[*see-phore*]

i dont know half of a quarter of the shit the rest of you guys do but try working out hand signals with your boys avoid talking and always watch out. and you know the gravel on the tracks isnt as loud as you think (its louder when youre doing the running) you can only hear it about ten feet away

[wakassOATH]

bump

[iced out mocha]

bump for my computer-illiterate denver friends. hopefully this up closer to the top will make it easier for you to find. haha.

[LUKY]

damn, trains are scary.

[imported_coup99usa]

Cracked ass thanks for all the info. coup cold fusion

[MystikPW]

*bump*

[imported_Retired Hasbeen]

..bump..

I find that after painting and the fumes my alertness has gone down a bunch..

Yards are dangerous places..

[imported_SecretAgentX9]

and dont sleep in, on, or around trains.
possibly a very bad situation.
trust a brotha

[imported_Xeroshoes]

alright i dont know jack shit about trains....but from reading this it sounds like you paint in the day, because why the fuck would workers be humpin trains and all in the middle of the night? Is it chill to paint in the day?

[imported_joewelcome]

xero-
whereas lots of people are in the position to paint in the daytime (lucky bastards) this post is just about general yard etiquette. i know that lots of heads hang out at or around the yards in the daytime- taking flicks, scoping trains, whatever. the term for this is basically benching.
there's usually some workers or running engines in my tiny yard. they mostly recognize me and my camera, but we stay out of each others way.

realize that many yards and layups are different- some are always moving and busy all the time and some trains only get moved at 1 am once every 2 weeks. but if you're gonna venture over the tracks, all of this information is crucial. easy to get your ass killed out there.

[Fox Mulder]

Originally posted by Xeroshoes:
alright i dont know jack shit about trains....but from reading this it sounds like you paint in the day, because why the fuck would workers be humpin trains and all in the middle of the night? Is it chill to paint in the day?

the railroad never sleeps. they move shit 24/7

[cracked ass]

Railroads run 24/7, as was just stated. Most yards are PLENTY active at night, sometimes just as much as in the day. Do NOT take the liberty of assuming you can paint in the day. It is rare to be able to paint trains in the day, anywhere, and it's always riskier without the cover of darkness. Xeroshoes, it sounds like you need lot more knowledge and yard watching under your belt before you get into trains.

[Sear]

last time as was at my local yard, some workers drove up to my friend and i as we were leaving and asked what we were doing, we told him we were just taking pictures and he started asking if my friend was a model, anyways, there is this big tower sort of thing in the middle of the yard, and he said if you go there you can get written permission to be in the yards, i was just wondering if anyone has done this?

[ir8one]

THANK YOU SO MUCH cracked...
this sheit makes me appreciate graffiti artists more.. i mean, LOOK, we go thru all sorts of risks jus to paint....haha..i love you guys and much respect.!


i too love joker, i wish he will marry me...


------------------
-=etar}i{rate=-

[HeckleR]

makes me realise how lucky i am for having a big, quiet daytime yard...

[rewire]

I had a similar situation to fr8lover's above occur just last month. In the local yard with (of all things) a culture documentarian (read:younger kid with video camera), I peek under a boxcar to make sure the coast is clear--while warning so-called documentarian never to go under a train.
Damn thing started moving less than a minute later.

With that in mind, thanks to cracked, ese, all who contributed knowledge, all who bumped, and all with that peculiar but particular affinity for aestheticizing large moving objects.

Bee Aware.

rewire
-------------
"I wouldn't be caught dead underneath a train."

[HESHIANDET]

bumping about the town

[KaBar]

I was reading about the DeadTrainBums.com site up the stack---the pw's are "dead" and "bums." A guy named Jaks is the owner, he's an old-time trainhopper who is real worried about all the FNG's starting to hop and getting pinched. He's concerned that if hopping gets real popular the railroads will catch shit from the government and they will ALL start turning up the heat on railriders and make new laws increasing the jail time and fines for hopping. I hop all the time--anybody interested in starting a thread on hopping and painting? I meet true tramps in the yards all the time. Some of them are cool, some of them are straight up crazy, and some of them are genuinely scarey and evil.

[fr8oholic]

all by kabar.

Everybody has heard about Slack Action, but not everybody understands exactly what it is. The railcars are built with couplers that automatically close when two cars are banged together in humping, when humped over a hump crest, or by "flat-switching" the cars in a small yard with no hump. When a switchman cuts out a car on the crest of the hump, he has to do it at just the right moment. The unit powers up in reverse (humping is done in reverse--the unit pulls the string over the hump, then starts backing up so the cars can be cut out, humped, retarded and switched into their new string) and gets the string rolling, then he slacks off the accelerator and the car to be cut (called a "cut") rolls up slowly to the hump crest. When the switchman sees the unit is off the power, he pulls the pin (it's a lever that goes out the side of the coupler) opening the coupler, releasing the "cut" and allowing gravity to roll it into the hump and the master retarder. As the car rolls down the hump, the switchmen in the crest tower hit the MR, and you can hear the squeal of the retarder shoes rubbing the outside of the train car wheels to slow it down. Couplers can handle an impact of about 5 mph, no more. There is another retarder farther down the hump line, called a "group retarder" but I think my local yard doesn't have one. The car rolls until it hits the string of cars in it's CONsist. When it hits, the impact closes the coupler, and it locks automatically.
There is about 1"-3/4" slack in the couplers themselves. The couplers are connected to the "draft gear." The draft gear isn't really gears, it's like "gear" in terms of somebody's stuff, rather than a transmission gear. The draft gear can move in and out about 12"-14" max. So when a unit starts to pull a train, the first car hits slack action after a foot. The second car, after two feet, and so on. On a long train, say 80 cars, the unit may move 85 feet before the FRED moves an inch. Slack action is much more violent in the back half of the train, like the tail on a bull whip. As the train "stretches out", you hear slack coming down the string b-b-b-b-B-B-B-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-BOOM-BOOM-BANG! and all the sudden your car is jerked into motion. Stretch out is also called "draft" like in "draft horses." It means "pull." Then, if the engineer gets on the brakes, the train starts contracting the same way, but it's called "buff." It sounds the same b-b-b-B-B-Boom-Boom-Boom-BOOM-BOOM-BANG! and suddenly your car is slowing down. It is now "buffed in." What this means to people in railyards is that they need to be aware that trains can move at any second, especially a long string. The units way down on the other end of the yard may suddenly get powered up and told to move, or get "called." Or the string your car is on can be hit by a midnight rambler at any time, as the hump crew suddenly starts making up a consist. BE ALERT AS TO WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND YOU. Really tight crews have at least one guy (maybe a rookie) serving as a spotter, watching for ramblers, bulls, cops, etc. If you're hopping, you definately need to understand slack action to the nuts. ALWAYS HANG ONTO SOMETHING. Don't ride freestyle or skylining. Only FNG wannabes do shit like that. HIDE. "No exposure without purpose." That's what I think, anyway. (Yo, Collinwood, your shit rocks. "CK, rock like him," and Ride Safe.)

[fu]

Originally posted by raildeviant
Good looking out Cracked, info is always appreciated.

Not sure if any of you have these in your local yard, but over here, in the city's biggest yard which is half CN and half CP, the use of remote control engines is in full effect. Essentially, the worker walks along the tracks with a remote control and works the engine from there (you see, trains are BIG toys!!!). Its cool to watch, but is also very dangerous for a couple of reasons. 1) There is no conductor in the engine, so no one to blow the horn to tell you to get the fuck out of the way. 2) With the worker controlling the engine from the ground, you may be paying attention to him and not notice the ghost rider train coming at you from the opposite direction.
Another piece of advice. If you feel the need to close the door on an open boxcar so you can complete that purty end2end you have been planning (which I do not recommend), keep in mind that once you get the momentum built up the door won't stop until it slams shut, with or without your fingers in the way.
Play safe, clean your spots and never accept candy from men in trenchcoats.


you hear that fellas some advice for the fr8 world....damn there getting jiggy nowa days i heard something of that extent couple years ago when i was talking to a worker...but they already using that shit that's crazy..but u guy are in a little more bigger yards than what i'm dealing with....

[GEM1]

perhaps this is a stupid question but....
....well whatever. I was in my local layup and it is 3 tracks with about 30 cars total. mostly grain hoppers. i had been in the layup for like 3 hours when i heard a hiss come from under the line that i was painting. it was for only a few seconds and then nothing. i was wondering why it did this. the trains had been there for hours maybe even a day. there is no engines or yard for miles. can anyone explain this to me.

[imported_inkjunkie34]

this is very interesting...i've always liked painting fr8s but i never really painted em in a yard always the layups down the way...thanks for the info...guess i should be more careful

[imported_inkjunkie34]

i dont know how many of you guys have been to paint louis, the yard across from the flood wall is always very active and i've seen them hump trains at about 20 mph...and like everyone else has said...you cant hear a fucking thing....

[imported_inkjunkie34]

one night we went to a party in the sticks...and this house was about 50 yards from the tracks...so i get pretty drunk and i go to sleep in my friends car, which is about 20 feet from the tracks...anyhow, i woke up to the harmonious sounds of a fucking conductor horn or whatever you call them and the conducter pointing and laughing at my misfortune

[imported_dr. frink one]

how much, on average, would you say a single "coasting ghost car" would weigh

[cracked ass]

There is no "average", it depends on what type of car. Just read the load limits. Your basic boxcar runs about 70000 lbs (35 tons) empty or "light" as they say, twice that loaded. Some hicube boxcars (excess height cars) have a load limit well over 200,000 lbs (100 tons). Plenty enough to run you down, even at a pokey 3 mph.

[Fox Mulder]

i have a question. this weekend i was benching in the woods just outside of a pretty active yard. and this car pulls up and a girl is driving and a guy who looks like he is maybe 20 gets out and the girl drives away. he looks at me and just starts walking the path in the woods. i watch him walk down a little then lose sight of him. mean while there is a line sitting on the first track so i can't see shit on any of the other lines. about 20 minutes go by then the train pulls out. and since it just started moving its going real slow. then i see the guy run out of the woods. hop on the back of one of the new white tropicanas. he goes around the back. so then i think oh this dude is hopping. but he doesn't have a bag or anything. like 10 seconds later he jumps off. and goes back into the woods. anyone know why this guy did this? he didn't look like a bum. and if he was going to hop why did he get off plus he had no bag. i looked on the back of the car he hopped on to see if he had tagged it or something but he hadn't. i'm guessing no one on here will know why but oh well.

[Ski Mask]

Originally posted by Fox Mulder
i have a question. this weekend i was benching in the woods just outside of a pretty active yard. and this car pulls up and a girl is driving and a guy who looks like he is maybe 20 gets out and the girl drives away. he looks at me and just starts walking the path in the woods. i watch him walk down a little then lose sight of him. mean while there is a line sitting on the first track so i can't see shit on any of the other lines. about 20 minutes go by then the train pulls out. and since it just started moving its going real slow. then i see the guy run out of the woods. hop on the back of one of the new white tropicanas. he goes around the back. so then i think oh this dude is hopping. but he doesn't have a bag or anything. like 10 seconds later he jumps off. and goes back into the woods. anyone know why this guy did this? he didn't look like a bum. and if he was going to hop why did he get off plus he had no bag. i looked on the back of the car he hopped on to see if he had tagged it or something but he hadn't. i'm guessing no one on here will know why but oh well.

how could we possibly know? I saw some weirdo on the street who went back and forth up the same block 3 times before leaving, why'd he do it? can you answer that? of course not. people are fucking strange...just deal with it. Unless that guy is on this board you wont get an answer...

[Fox Mulder]

don't get angry, i said no one would probably know. i was just wondering if this was something i didn't know about, like people do it for fun or something.

[xdeityx]

Man that is good info. About two years ago five of my punk friends and me decided to hop a train cause we met a homeless guy named 'wolf' who had come in on a fr8 from vegas.. anyway it took us forever to get on a line that was actually leaving, if I had known about humping and air could have saved MAD time.. oh well that was years ago still a good memory.. Back then I didnt write what so ever so didnt even tag a single car the entire time... one interesting thing is we almost got stuck in the middle of the desert (a layup in the middle of nevada).. We ended up in a tiny town where they told us hobo's come through all the time and to just get back on the next train and they wouldnt mind.. unfortunately it was a setup and the sheriff was waiting with his lights on the cars and we got caught and had to hitch hike and get back home! Anyway long story short you're only 15 once, but looking back now it wasnt the smartest thing to hop trains with out knowing a damn thing. I hope everyone reads this and passes on the info to the peeps you know/trustXXX

[KaBar]

Gem 1---The hiss you heard was from the aired-up brake system. Even though that string wasn't hooked up to power (i.e. engines), it still has compressed air in the reservoir tank underneath the car. The law says the system is not supposed to leak at all but realistically they do leak a little bit, especially if it's an old, beat-up car. The brakes are "set" by the pressure in the reservoir if the air is released from the service line. When the engineer wants to hit the brakes, he operates the service air lever in the cab, and it allows the reservoir air to apply the brakes to whatever degree the engineer releases service air. If he "dynamites" the brakes, it sets them completely, and almost instantly. Modern trains have a system that sets the brakes gradually under normal circumstances. When the railroad workers want to hump the car, they drop the air out of the reservoirs. When they are going to hump a whole string, they kill the unit air from the engines, then a couple of switchmen will walk down the string operating the air reservoir lever on each car and drop the air out of them. Once they do that, the unit can then back them up and the switchmen can cut a car off the string by pulling the coupler pin (lever) and send it down the hump rolling free. Different cars have a different amount of what Littlejohn calls "rollability." Heavy cars roll with greater force, obviously, than emptys. I had watched rail workers doing this for a long time before I actually understood what was going on. When you are around trains, standing, layed-up or whatever, LISTEN CLOSELY TO THE AIR BRAKING SYSTEM. You may not be able to see that an engine has picked up the string your working on, but if you hear the brakes air up, time to get ready for it to move. To see if brakes are set on a "parked" string, kick the air hoses (not too hard, please.) If the hoses are hard, the brakes are set. If the hoses are slack(er), probably the string is sitting there without any brakes whatsoever. BE CAREFUL around a string with no brakes set (it's exceedingly rare.) It could move by accident or misfortune, or it could suddenly be humped. You don't want to get smacked by a rolling string of freight cars, for real. Stand clear, and don't lean on the cars or sit anywhere close enough to get hit by one.

[cdz]

this post deserves props. thanks.
-cdz $0.02

[GEM1]

thanks KABAR. i was just wondering cause there werent any engines for miles. and i didnt think that the air just let itself out so i was kinda surprised when i heard the hiss. thanks again.

[DrDopez MD]

ive done my share of hiding out under trains although these trais i know like the back of my hand they never move at night and are way the hell away from any type of engine. although one thing ive done which is defintly not a good idea was on 3 seperate occasions i was forced to run from actually real POLICE not bulls in train yards. ive never seen a bull now that i think of it but anyways me and my friend start running between lines of trains but the pursuers can see us the whole time despite the fact thier far behind (we were running in a autorack yard) so we decide to climb the ladders and start running on the tops of the trains and jump to the next ones. ive actually chilled on top of many a laid up train getting high since i started smoking n painting. i know its a stupid idea i just felt the need to share my stupidity so to better validate the point of this thread. dont be stupid!

[REGULATOR]

i have never painted a freight before....i will go kill myself

[REGULATOR]

it also doesnt help that in SF....you gotta go across the fucking bay to find any good yards.....there isnt jack shit for trains in SF....fuck this place.....if any one from SF could tell me where some nice yards are and are good for stupid ass toys like me...i would be glad to kno

[frontophile]

ya what the fucks up with anus.com
deadtrainbums is crazy
i love this thread

[Pone156tfo]

Thanks for the tip. I didn't know that.:confused:

[Pone156tfo]

Originally posted by *see-phore*
i dont know half of a quarter of the shit the rest of you guys do but try working out hand signals with your boys avoid talking and always watch out. and you know the gravel on the tracks isnt as loud as you think (its louder when youre doing the running) you can only hear it about ten feet away
The hand signals tip is makes alot of sense thanks.

[Pone156tfo]

Originally posted by B_As_In_Bot
My yard has this passenger train called the metrolink..ive seen the yard and shit..but not real close..now imagine that it would have 3rd rail or whatever the case elictified..now ive also seen freights run on the same tracks..a couple of those run a round things where sometimes i see idle freights..any chance that they might be electrified? anyone have some words on it?

Yeah look out for 3rd rails obviously.

Peace

[Pone156tfo]

Originally posted by cracked ass
WORKERS. These guys can be your best friend or your worst enemy, and much of it is up to you.
First off, rail workers are regular guys. They spend a lot of time in the yards, don't see too many friendly faces on the job, and have different personalities, from angelic to asshole. This means that with the right attitude, you can have a more positive encounter with workers than you think, although it will always vary by the individual worker, and the hotter the yard, the less friendly a reception you should expect.
Workers know the dangers of a yard, so when they see a trespasser their first reaction is often of concern: they don't know whether or not YOU know anything about yard safety, and don't want to see you get killed in their yard. Even a cold bastard of a worker won't want to have to look at your dismembered corpse. So they'll all be concerned, not so much that you're trespassing, but whether you know what you're doing around freights. If you show that you know what you're doing that improves your chances to have a favorable encounter with a worker - nothing's guaranteed, but just remember that there's no reason to flat-out run from an ordinary worker, you may be able to reason with him. I know one cat who got caught painting red-handed (literally) by a worker, who said, "We can smell your paint three lines over." He came and looked at the piece in progress and said "That's cool. Just stay off the numbers." Then he left without further comment. There are a few art appreciators out there...rare, but it happens.
I don't want to paint a rosy picture here, so let's talk about the difference between THE BULL (railroad cops) and regular yard workers. First off, in the old days and still today, rail workers are 100% unionized. They stick together like that. I don't know if anything has changed recently, but bulls have always been non-union. Surprisingly, the bull is often despised or barely tolerated by the union guys: he cruises the yard, eating donuts or whatever, and mostly just kills time, hoping not to have to do anything on his shift. Nowadays, with some yards heating up, there are more bulls, they are more sophisticated and somewhat less likely to be really lazy, and may get more cooperation from yard workers than before, but in general the union/nonunion thing is still a reason the worker might like you better than the bull, and not rat you out to him.
A lot of this unlooked-for friendliness in workers is reserved for hoboes, especially discreet, respectful ones. You could walk up to a yard worker and ask him what time and what track you'd want in order to catch a ride on a freight to a certain city, and he'd tell you and then warn you what kind of car the bull drives so you could avoid him. Again, this hospitality varies enormously from yard to yard, and the big city yards are much more likely to be hostile, but there are still plenty of places in North America where you can do this today. That's for hoboing, though. Painting is a different story. More workers will be angry with you for painting. Some will be OK with it but will insist that you stay off the numbers. Rarely they will sic the bull on you, or in one case I heard of, beat the shit out of you. So, if you are seen painting the best bet is to try and get away; if you're surprised up close by a worker who is obviously not a bull, try to reason with him, showing him respect, pointing out that you're avoiding going over the numbers, and saying you're OK with leaving if that's what he wants, it's his yard. Some of these situations can be salvaged, other times you're just fucked and should run like hell. But if you're seen by a worker and there is no way he could know you're there to paint, say hi, start a conversation if it seems feasible. If he's cool you may be able to get information like chill times and places, whether there's a bull at the yard, etc. Don't mention graffiti unless you really hit it off great, or he brings it up.
For a bull encounter: if seen painting, get the hell out. If you're just walking and he can't know what you're up to, approach his vehicle when he yells at you, be calm and reasonable. Pass the attitude test. Unless he's a real dickhead he won't do more than give you a spiel about how it's private property and you have to leave. Be agreeable and do it, and don't come back for eight hours, by then his shift will be over and any new encounter will be with a different guy. If the same bull catches you a second time on his shift you're fucked.

No not Kraftwerk but what's up with the #'s are they special markings that the fr8's people need and so they don't want you to cover them?

I know a really retarded Question but humor me please thanks

Peace

[Cracked Ass]

Yes...you are correct about the numbers. The letters and numbers usually toward the left side of the car (such as RBOX33433, MRL8022, CR89092, etc.) need to be on there by law. So do the weight limits (which read LD LMT 148600, LT WT 72000 or similar). Same with the small black box on the right side of most cars which has small white printing in it (such as AB LUB 98 NO). If you paint over these things, workers get annoyed (or worse), and the info will be restamped on there as soon as is convenient for the railroad (usually a few weeks to a few months). If you avoid painting over the numbers on purpose, many workers will lose interest in busting your ass and some might even like the work. It shows you know what you are doing around freights, and you're willing to convert what you know into a degree of respect for them and their job. (But be warned, if workers catch you painting and you're like "But we didn't go over the numbers" it's not a get out of jail free card, it won't cut ice every time, it's just a big help in softening their hostility. A railroad cop will absolutely not care, his attitude is, you are defacing RR property, period. A regular worker will usually appreciate your avoiding the numbers to some degree.)
The other advantage to avoiding the numbers is that your piece will probably run a lot longer, possibly many years. A lot of railcar owners won't bother to buff graffiti as long as the numbers are intact.

[Pone156tfo]

Thanks much Cracked for the expanded explanation. For this dumb ass.

Peace

[shameless self promotion]

werd

[dukeofyork]

ive heard stories about some writers who hop and hit fr8s in other areas then hop back...ive never done it, but the idea sounds like fun.
i dont think im gonna go out and try to hop, i have not even the slightest clue about it, and im not trying to fuck things up for other people, or myself.
whether its a railcop or worker, your best bet is to make tracks, duh.

and fox, ive heard from one of my boys that he has seen vans pull up to railroad crossings at somewhat secluded spots and seen engines stop and a worker jumps out and exchanges bags with the guy in the van...
did the guy you saw have a bag when he left?

[imported_FLiPWriTeR]

damn. thare are some pretty crazy stories on here. well heres mine..
i scope the yard for like a g00d 10 minutes. everything is calm, no action. so i walk down the line. as i pass maybe two or three cars, i hear some shit. im like what the fuck is that continuing noise? so now im walking slower and fully aware now. as i hit the fourth car (coal car), i look up and guess what.. a fucking rail worker or bum or whoever the fuck he/she was walking along with me on top of the fucking cars!! without any thinking, i ran my scared, timberland boot wearing, walmart shopping bag carrying ass to my fucking car.. it was about a two hundred yards and i think i got there in like 3 seconds.. damn, but um, yeah thats some crazy shit for yall to ponder on..bo0oO0000

[Poiuhgd]

what is the 'third rail'
ive heard it called two different definitions

[KaBar]

If you don't live up in the Northeast Corridor, you're not likely to ever see a "third rail." Subway systems and "elevated" systems (like in New York and Chicago) have a system where there are two rails that are gauge (that is, that the subway cars wheels roll on) and one rail that is "energized" i.e. charged with electricity. The third rail is "hot." If you touch the third rail while you are grounded, you get electrocuted. In order to protect the public, access to subway systems that use a third rail is always pretty limited with fences, gates and elevated platforms providing a sort of barrier to people accidentally wandering onto the tracks and stepping on the rail. They very rarely run a third-rail-type system on grade level--it's much too dangerous. Grade-level streetcar and LRV (light rail vehicle) systems (like in San Francisco) use a trolley system with overhead wires. The San Francisco MUNI system has LRV's that are convertible. They operate as trolley streetcars on grade, and then can go "into the tunnels" under Market Street and operate as "subway" cars of of a third rail type system underground. A set of long poles with electrical contacts on them extend up from the back of the streetcars and touch the wires. Electric trolley bus systems use the same idea, but without the trackage.

[GorbortOrman]

Originally posted by KaBar
A set of long poles with electrical contacts on them extend up from the back of the streetcars and touch the wires. Electric trolley bus systems use the same idea, but without the trackage.

Just like some the buses in Seattle....

[Boring Bastard]

Originally posted by FLiPWriTeR
damn. thare are some pretty crazy stories on here. well heres mine..
i scope the yard for like a g00d 10 minutes. everything is calm, no action. so i walk down the line. as i pass maybe two or three cars, i hear some shit. im like what the fuck is that continuing noise? so now im walking slower and fully aware now. as i hit the fourth car (coal car), i look up and guess what.. a fucking rail worker or bum or whoever the fuck he/she was walking along with me on top of the fucking cars!! without any thinking, i ran my scared, timberland boot wearing, walmart shopping bag carrying ass to my fucking car.. it was about a two hundred yards and i think i got there in like 3 seconds.. damn, but um, yeah thats some crazy shit for yall to ponder on..bo0oO0000

I would have shit myself honestly!!

[Bevis]

these fucks use to chase us in golf carts, haha, i like when your hiding behind a wheel and the worker is on the other side flashing lights at the numbers, you just wanna jump out and scare him, one time we where painting this yard in the middle where it's open and this engine pulled in and just sat there and it's main light started going in circles like there was a fuckin party goin on, anyone ever see those trains that clean the tracks, looks like the 4th of july in your layup, hella sparks flying everywhere and theres a worker on the back spraying the tracks with water as the train is rolling, anyways, ive seen and heard alot of crazy shit in yards from skunks trying to spray you to girls screaming, but there's no one there? i believe some yards to be haunted because some shit is just to fuked up to understand, but no matter what just be on your toes and ready to roll the fuck out(if you paint westcoast yards anyways)j/k

[imported_FLiPWriTeR]

nah, i havent seen one of those but ive seen those tractor thingys that clean the dirt that is in between the railings. those things run on the tracks and have these pitch forks that come down on the side and remove the dirt away from in between the spacings..holla

[BOSTONIAN]

THANKS FOR ALLTHAT INSIGHT KEEP IT COMMING...

[Asid]

Yea that yard by the flood gates is fucking insane, I go do my shit somewhere else around...They run that 24/7.

[Asid]

I think its from barges and that heavy traffic, think its for coal for a power plant nearby, any way ink do you know how far those trains go out west or not?

[BABYWANTOKIL]

cracked ass...please don't mention newark. keep it on the d.l.

[sectorTVA]

Originally posted by fr8oholic
all by kabar.

Everybody has heard about Slack Action, but not everybody understands exactly what it is. The railcars are built with couplers that automatically close when two cars are banged together in humping, when humped over a hump crest, or by "flat-switching" the cars in a small yard with no hump. When a switchman cuts out a car on the crest of the hump, he has to do it at just the right moment. The unit powers up in reverse (humping is done in reverse--the unit pulls the string over the hump, then starts backing up so the cars can be cut out, humped, retarded and switched into their new string) and gets the string rolling, then he slacks off the accelerator and the car to be cut (called a "cut") rolls up slowly to the hump crest. When the switchman sees the unit is off the power, he pulls the pin (it's a lever that goes out the side of the coupler) opening the coupler, releasing the "cut" and allowing gravity to roll it into the hump and the master retarder. As the car rolls down the hump, the switchmen in the crest tower hit the MR, and you can hear the squeal of the retarder shoes rubbing the outside of the train car wheels to slow it down. Couplers can handle an impact of about 5 mph, no more. There is another retarder farther down the hump line, called a "group retarder" but I think my local yard doesn't have one. The car rolls until it hits the string of cars in it's CONsist. When it hits, the impact closes the coupler, and it locks automatically.
There is about 1"-3/4" slack in the couplers themselves. The couplers are connected to the "draft gear." The draft gear isn't really gears, it's like "gear" in terms of somebody's stuff, rather than a transmission gear. The draft gear can move in and out about 12"-14" max. So when a unit starts to pull a train, the first car hits slack action after a foot. The second car, after two feet, and so on. On a long train, say 80 cars, the unit may move 85 feet before the FRED moves an inch. Slack action is much more violent in the back half of the train, like the tail on a bull whip. As the train "stretches out", you hear slack coming down the string b-b-b-b-B-B-B-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-BOOM-BOOM-BANG! and all the sudden your car is jerked into motion. Stretch out is also called "draft" like in "draft horses." It means "pull." Then, if the engineer gets on the brakes, the train starts contracting the same way, but it's called "buff." It sounds the same b-b-b-B-B-Boom-Boom-Boom-BOOM-BOOM-BANG! and suddenly your car is slowing down. It is now "buffed in." What this means to people in railyards is that they need to be aware that trains can move at any second, especially a long string. The units way down on the other end of the yard may suddenly get powered up and told to move, or get "called." Or the string your car is on can be hit by a midnight rambler at any time, as the hump crew suddenly starts making up a consist. BE ALERT AS TO WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND YOU. Really tight crews have at least one guy (maybe a rookie) serving as a spotter, watching for ramblers, bulls, cops, etc. If you're hopping, you definately need to understand slack action to the nuts. ALWAYS HANG ONTO SOMETHING. Don't ride freestyle or skylining. Only FNG wannabes do shit like that. HIDE. "No exposure without purpose." That's what I think, anyway. (Yo, Collinwood, your shit rocks. "CK, rock like him," and Ride Safe.)

this is great info....a brakeman i was talking with was saying how slack made the ride in a caboose very nerve racking...we were talking about FRED and cabooses...he said when cabooses were in use comming around a corner the slack in the line would snap the caboose extremely violently esspecially on longer trains...he said some cabooses were better than others though since some had some sort of cushioned coupler or something and that made caboose travel quite a bit better...

question about brakes...

how do they operate?
when pressurized do the brakes activate?
i read someplace in this thread that when a train dynamites the brakes lock...that would lead me to think that when there is no airpressure the brakes activate and lock...

[Cracked Ass]

Train brakes were invented/innovated by George Westinghouse. He devised a method to apply brakes using compressed air, also called a pneumatic braking system. A compressor in the engine got up the necessary air, which was pumped back through hoses on each car to apply the brakes. Trouble was, if something went wrong with the compressor, you had a train that couldn't stop. So he went back to the drawing board and made it so you needed compressed air to RELEASE the brakes, which were otherwise locked. That way if there's a problem with the compressor or a busted hose, the brakes go on automatically. That's what you're hearing when you're next to a train and there's that steady hiss, which spills over to the next car in line. They're pumping air to get ready to release the brakes.

[sectorTVA]

perfect answer to my question...thanks cracked...

[montanaman]

bump been there seen this happen a lot especially in a bizzy yard ... im glad someones taking the time to post these threads i kno some kids that got hurt at a yard and they werent even graffers ... this brings a lot of concern to us graffers and im glad that some ones taking that time... its one of the best threads so far thanx a mill man be safe

[valek13]

Originally posted by HESHIANDET
i got the p.w. for deadtrainbums.com if anyone wants it-hit me back.
how about that password?

[KaBar]

Valek--DeadTrainBums.com is one of Eric Jackson's sites. His passwords are usually pretty simple and direct. In this case, they are "dead" and "bums." The opening pic is pretty gross--a teenaged boy that was killed under a train, severed limbs and a huge gash in his head with his brains out on the ballast. I think Jaks got tired of it after a while--the last addition was like in 1999. It's still pretty sobering. SAFETY FIRST. And like old Rufe used ta say, "This ain't no fucking hobby!"

[MULIT]

Keep posting info like this. it saved my ass!

[aederone]

not that anyone would.... but never throw things.....rocks etc.. at a moving train... my friend for some odd reason found joy in this....and if you didn't already know.... the rocks will come shooting back...usualy right at you. i just wanted to add my 2 cents...and thats all i could come up with. i feel like i was back in school with all the things i learned about trains. good work.

[aederone]

i've never painted in a yard before and i found one today (middle of nowhere) and i was wondering if anyone cold give me some advice.....like how to see if its chill to paint and all that....i'm used to rollin up to a building/wall and just goin at it....but i know yards have security and stuff.. so......go forth..advice.........

[sectorTVA]

Originally posted by aederone
i've never painted in a yard before and i found one today (middle of nowhere) and i was wondering if anyone cold give me some advice.....like how to see if its chill to paint and all that....i'm used to rollin up to a building/wall and just goin at it....but i know yards have security and stuff.. so......go forth..advice.........

not much to say...just scope it out for a while....its better to find a layup...how big is the yard you are talking about? some smaller yards arent 24-7 and you could be able to hit it late night and possibly weekends....i can only recommend you drive past it alot and see what they are up to various times of the day...other than that, read this thread on saftey, which you probably already have done right?

as far as security at yards, i suggest finding a layup, alot more chill....some smaller yards may not even have security though....

[Cracked Ass]

Recon, recon, recon. Aeder, you sound inexperienced to me in writing period - no offense, and I could be wrong, just a guess based on some of your other posts on these forums. I speak for a lot of heads when I say, if you don't have some skills and some styles down solid, then wait awhile on freights.
Whether you're ready stylewise or not, you can still recon your yard. Go there many times - several hours a week or more if you can - and just watch the place from several different angles (with NO graff supplies on you). Try to learn the entire perimeter: nearby streets, dirt access roads, where the office building is, where the engines generally park, paths, woods, nosy neighbors, possible ways to get in and out. Then learn the habits: when it's busy, when it's not, and maybe after a while you'll notice that a certain side or section of the yard is the quietest. That may eventually be your target area.
There's no rush, the trains will be there. I agree with sector, try to find layups first, they are safer than yards and often easier. Don't try working that yard until you know it well, and make sure you've read the rest of this thread.

[aederone]

thanks. i'll do that.

[*die*]

hey and don't run with scissors pointed towards you make sure that they point toward someone else so if you fall you don't miss an opportunity to stab an innnocent mutha fucka

[JonJacob]

a)What safety precautions should be taken when painting in between two lines that are right next to eachother?

c)Should you avoid touching still cars? If one suddenly started moving would it rip off what ever was touching it?

B)I've always though that painting in between two lines is safer than painting a line next to an empty track. When you are between two lines there is something occupying the track behind you, so nothing can really sneak up on you. I always figured too that if the line behind me was about to move, I would hear the slack being taken up way down the line before the car behind me actually started to move.

comments?

[Cracked Ass]

I'm glad this came up. Being in between two lines carries a number of hazards.
First of all, the amount of clearance you THINK you have can change if one line starts moving. If you're standing next to a tanker or other car that doesn't take up as much room as it could, you could be in for a nasty surprise when a much wider box, hopper or lumber rack rolls up and cuts your space in half. Make sure you know what the ABSOLUTE clearance is between the lines you're in between, which can be done by walking up the line far enough to see the width of the gap between the widest cars (boxcars, lumber racks and some hoppers, but don't be fooled by "kind" hoppers that allow a little extra breathing room down low).
Even "absolute" clearance is a problem for two reasons:
1.SNAGS. This is worker slang for anything hanging off of a car that could "snag" and drag a worker (or you) along between lines, which is a good way to get injured or killed on the railroad. These occur often enough to be worried about at all times between lines. There are lots of types of snags: metal strapping used to secure loads hanging loose, wood or trash sticking out of log cars or boxcar doors, cable tiedowns on lumber racks. You can easily get hung up on the ordinary projections sticking off of cars - plug door bars, door track ends, a ladder which has been dented or damaged so as to stick out a little. If you have ever walked between lines and gotten your jacket or backpack caught on anything, that's what can snag you if you're standing still and the line is moving.
2.JOINTED RAIL. I've been between lines (stupidly) in spots where the clearance was already narrow...and then it got WORSE when one line moved, because the cars leaned toward each other as they passed over low spots on the poorly maintained joints in the rails. I've seen cars almost touch at the tops due to this lean. It has less of an effect down near the ground. (Really, if this factor is enough to matter, you shouldn't get between those lines at all, it's too narrow to be safe.)
Here's another issue: VERTIGO. If for some reason you're between lines and BOTH of them start moving, your brain can fall prey to a strange phenomenon called "loss of horizon line". Your brain almost always relies on being able to tell what is moving and what is stationary by comparing it to what it knows to be solid ground, but it needs a few feet or more of open space to compute this. In between moving lines, your brain can get disoriented, resulting in dizziness and a tendency to fall over. If you're ever in this situation, GET ON THE GROUND in the exact middle of the space you have and look back and forth at both lines, watching for snags. When one line stops, climb across it USING THE LADDERS AND WALKWAYS, never at the coupler or underneath, and get the fuck out of there. Don't go back, either - you're obviously in too busy a part of the yard to be painting or walking if lines on both sides of you are moving. (This has happened to me twice over the years in places I didn't belong.)
In general, there is more room down on the ground when you're next to a moving line, but that's not reliable with some low-hanging intermodal cars, and the danger of snags is always present at any height.
Another reason not to make a habit of being in between active lines: workers will be PISSED to catch you alongside their moving line in the yard. They don't want to see fresh ground hamburger on their shift, and they have no idea how smart or dumb you are about train safety when they see you in that dangerous situation, and they'll assume dumb if you're anybody but a trained worker. In fact, they are obligated to find out what's up and get you the fuck out of there before they continue to move their train.
CLEARINGS. These are "holes" in the middle of a yard where there's a stretch of empty track, but trains surrounding you on three or four sides (both adjacent tracks, and short lines of cars further down one or both ends of the stretch of empty track). Nice to paint in, because you can stand back and look at your shit and get flicks, yet you're hard to see from any direction. But if shit starts moving around you could have problems. The biggest threat is that one of the lines will start moving toward you, shrinking the clearing and likely making it disappear. This brings up 2 rules of thumb: if you want to paint in a clearing, first check out what the clearance is going to be like if a line moves and the clearing closes up. Second - and this is a rule of mine at all times in any yard - DO NOT stand or walk within ten or fifteen feet of the END of the last car in a line, and don't paint any car in a clearing less than one FULL carlength from the end car in any line. If that line suddenly moves toward you, and clearance is poor between lines, you could be fucked. You never want to be in a situation where you have to run ahead of a moving line in order to reach the next gap between cars to climb up and out of the way.
BACKPACKS. Remember that if you're between lines wearing a backpack, you are wider when you turn sideways (the opposite of wearing no bag), and you can get stuck or snagged easily. Also if you're painting in between lines you don't want to have a whole lot of crap unloaded on the ground, you want to be ready for a fast exit if lines start moving. I have only one can at a time out of the bag, and the bag in easy reach at all times.
Basically, if you are between lines and one line starts to move, and you don't have a deathwish, you must stop whatever you're doing and either get out or at least pay close attention to what's going on. Move to the nearest end of the car you're next to of the stopped line, climb the ladder and either cross over and wait, or stand on the back walkway with a FIRM handgrip (in case that line also moves suddenly). DO NOT stand on the ground in between two stopped cars at the coupler waiting for the other line to stop. If that line also moves, you're fucked.

[Cracked Ass]

Which is a good lead-in to a reminder of the big rule in all yards: ALWAYS assume that ANY line may jerk into motion at ANY time.

[KaBar]

Cracked---Last weekend I saw a good example of what you are talking about. A train came into the wye where I have my favorite jungle, and it had a bad order car in the middle of the string. They stopped near "my" leg of the wye with the bad order car just short of the switch, broke air, and left the bad order there as the head end. Then the unit pulled the remaining string onto the next leg of the wye, and stopped with the unit just short of that switch. The unit dropped that string, passed over the switch, threw it, and backed around the wye to the third switch, passed over it, then threw that one and came back along "my" leg of the wye again. They then threw the first switch the other way, passed over it, and picked up the bad order car and towed it backwards with the unit onto "my" leg. It was dragging brake gear and hoses, and had no brakes at all. They actually held it in place by putting a piece of dunnage under a wheel, like blocking up a pick-up on a hill, LOL. Then the unit went back around the wye in reverse, "un-doing" what they had just done, until it could back up to the front section, couple up, air up, then back it up and pick up the back section, couple up to that one, air up again, and push it on down the main.
I watched it all from my jungle, fascinated. I had never before seen a unit go all the way around a wye like that. During this entire deal, a switchman or some member of the train crew had to get on and off the train about six or eight times, and EACH TIME HE CROSSED FROM ONE SIDE OF THE TRACK TO THE OTHER, he did it by climbing the ladders and passing over the top of the coupler, or over the catwalk on the unit. Not once did he cross over the track itself, even when he was on the very last car in the string.
It was a good object lesson. Imitate the railroad workers, and one is unlikely to be hurt. Of course, as soon as they left, I tagged the bad order car. About fifteen minutes later, a goat showed up, and they towed it off to the Yard's RIP track.

[eessee]

i love graffiti intelligence "GIA"
Graffiti Intelligence Agency.....:D :D :D :D :D

[deformatron]

"On a long train, say 80 cars, the unit may move 85 feet before the FRED moves an inch"

what does FRED stand for? is this the last car in a string?

[imported_joewelcome]

FRED, as i'm told, is the actual term used by the railroads. It stands for Flashing Rear End Device. naturally slang prevails, as was proven twice by Papa Cracked, so Fuckin Rear End Device is probably used just as much.

gesundheit

[*die*]

Originally posted by Cracked Ass
I'm glad this came up. Being in between two lines carries a number of hazards.
First of all, the amount of clearance you THINK you have can change if one line starts moving. If you're standing next to a tanker or other car that doesn't take up as much room as it could, you could be in for a nasty surprise when a much wider box, hopper or lumber rack rolls up and cuts your space in half. Make sure you know what the ABSOLUTE clearance is between the lines you're in between, which can be done by walking up the line far enough to see the width of the gap between the widest cars (boxcars, lumber racks and some hoppers, but don't be fooled by "kind" hoppers that allow a little extra breathing room down low).
Even "absolute" clearance is a problem for two reasons:
1.SNAGS. This is worker slang for anything hanging off of a car that could "snag" and drag a worker (or you) along between lines, which is a good way to get injured or killed on the railroad. These occur often enough to be worried about at all times between lines. There are lots of types of snags: metal strapping used to secure loads hanging loose, wood or trash sticking out of log cars or boxcar doors, cable tiedowns on lumber racks. You can easily get hung up on the ordinary projections sticking off of cars - plug door bars, door track ends, a ladder which has been dented or damaged so as to stick out a little. If you have ever walked between lines and gotten your jacket or backpack caught on anything, that's what can snag you if you're standing still and the line is moving.
2.JOINTED RAIL. I've been between lines (stupidly) in spots where the clearance was already narrow...and then it got WORSE when one line moved, because the cars leaned toward each other as they passed over low spots on the poorly maintained joints in the rails. I've seen cars almost touch at the tops due to this lean. It has less of an effect down near the ground. (Really, if this factor is enough to matter, you shouldn't get between those lines at all, it's too narrow to be safe.)
Here's another issue: VERTIGO. If for some reason you're between lines and BOTH of them start moving, your brain can fall prey to a strange phenomenon called "loss of horizon line". Your brain almost always relies on being able to tell what is moving and what is stationary by comparing it to what it knows to be solid ground, but it needs a few feet or more of open space to compute this. In between moving lines, your brain can get disoriented, resulting in dizziness and a tendency to fall over. If you're ever in this situation, GET ON THE GROUND in the exact middle of the space you have and look back and forth at both lines, watching for snags. When one line stops, climb across it USING THE LADDERS AND WALKWAYS, never at the coupler or underneath, and get the fuck out of there. Don't go back, either - you're obviously in too busy a part of the yard to be painting or walking if lines on both sides of you are moving. (This has happened to me twice over the years in places I didn't belong.)
In general, there is more room down on the ground when you're next to a moving line, but that's not reliable with some low-hanging intermodal cars, and the danger of snags is always present at any height.
Another reason not to make a habit of being in between active lines: workers will be PISSED to catch you alongside their moving line in the yard. They don't want to see fresh ground hamburger on their shift, and they have no idea how smart or dumb you are about train safety when they see you in that dangerous situation, and they'll assume dumb if you're anybody but a trained worker. In fact, they are obligated to find out what's up and get you the fuck out of there before they continue to move their train.
CLEARINGS. These are "holes" in the middle of a yard where there's a stretch of empty track, but trains surrounding you on three or four sides (both adjacent tracks, and short lines of cars further down one or both ends of the stretch of empty track). Nice to paint in, because you can stand back and look at your shit and get flicks, yet you're hard to see from any direction. But if shit starts moving around you could have problems. The biggest threat is that one of the lines will start moving toward you, shrinking the clearing and likely making it disappear. This brings up 2 rules of thumb: if you want to paint in a clearing, first check out what the clearance is going to be like if a line moves and the clearing closes up. Second - and this is a rule of mine at all times in any yard - DO NOT stand or walk within ten or fifteen feet of the END of the last car in a line, and don't paint any car in a clearing less than one FULL carlength from the end car in any line. If that line suddenly moves toward you, and clearance is poor between lines, you could be fucked. You never want to be in a situation where you have to run ahead of a moving line in order to reach the next gap between cars to climb up and out of the way.
BACKPACKS. Remember that if you're between lines wearing a backpack, you are wider when you turn sideways (the opposite of wearing no bag), and you can get stuck or snagged easily. Also if you're painting in between lines you don't want to have a whole lot of crap unloaded on the ground, you want to be ready for a fast exit if lines start moving. I have only one can at a time out of the bag, and the bag in easy reach at all times.
Basically, if you are between lines and one line starts to move, and you don't have a deathwish, you must stop whatever you're doing and either get out or at least pay close attention to what's going on. Move to the nearest end of the car you're next to of the stopped line, climb the ladder and either cross over and wait, or stand on the back walkway with a FIRM handgrip (in case that line also moves suddenly). DO NOT stand on the ground in between two stopped cars at the coupler waiting for the other line to stop. If that line also moves, you're fucked.

damn you typed a whole lota words. i hate typing alot because it makes my hands hurts so i just have homeless people do my typing for me and it save me a whole a hand hurting

[KaBar]

Yeah, I know what you mean, I have the same problem with reading words with more than two syllables or sentences more than six words long. I just go put on some chillin' music and try not to think too much. It gives me a headache. Now I need to go down a forty just so I can cope with how unfair life is.

[Cracked Ass]

Hee hee hee...attention spans these days

[Fox Mulder]

i've read this whole thread several times. and i have a very low attention span myself, but when its something i'm interested in i can't read enough

[*die*]

:confused:
Huh? what

[*die*]

(ralph wiggam voice) my eyes don't know how to be as fast as yours

[eessee]

such nonsense from you none reading children. hey i dont read that much either hurts my horrific eyes....... i failed reading in first grade.... im a pitiful bastard......im gonna cry to my room now!!!:D :crazy: :crazy:

[768186]

click "view" on your browser then click "text size" and make it bigger, so that you can sit further away from your screen and make it easier on your eyes...computer safety thread

[Fugazi]

Has anyone been in a yard where there's shit spilling out of a train car, and it's not like the usual grains or whatnot? In the yards where I live some of the tankers drop this white powder shit (no, not cocaine) and an assortment of other substances. When you get around certain spilled things, it fucking hurts your lungs. Sometimes I wonder what exactly they're spilling all over the place.

[SALEM]

i remember the first time i went to a yard, i never noticed that they were humpin trains and all that scary stuff. I didn't have no paint on me, i was just scopin out tha place, so i was walkin between 2 lines and the one on my right just got humped, i didn't hear shit, there was no warning, nuthin. Needless to say, i was on the ground screamin cuz that jus scared the bejesus outta me. But this post helped me a lot, learnin new stuff, keep it up, peace

[SALEM]

that white powdery shit cummin out was lime, i heard they dump that, and on passenger cars, they empty the toilets off the side, and it splashes onto that powder shit. I don't know what a tankers doin wit that, but dont pick it up!! before i was in2 graff, i picked that up walkin home from school, nuthin happened, but they say it can fuck up yo skin if it gets contact with it.

[Fugazi]

Originally posted by SALEM
that white powdery shit cummin out was lime, i heard they dump that, and on passenger cars, they empty the toilets off the side, and it splashes onto that powder shit. I don't know what a tankers doin wit that, but dont pick it up!! before i was in2 graff, i picked that up walkin home from school, nuthin happened, but they say it can fuck up yo skin if it gets contact with it.

I try not to get near that stuff. But there's this odorless whitepowder out there that seems to make everyone's lungs ache everytime we're within 10 feet of it...

[Cracked Ass]

That could be lime. The dust is somewhat corrosive when wet, so if you breathe it it will irritate your lungs and maybe your throat. It's not scary toxic or anything, just an irritant, you'd need to be wet and covered in the shit to start worrying about some skin damage. Just steer mildly clear.

[RY@N]

here's my expierance in getting to know the yards.
i come from a smaller town in southern MN, so there isn't many writers at all, and i can't drive every night to go up to the bigger citiy always to go bomb n whatever. so one day i was out randomally taking flix of shit going by in the afternoon. there are 3 different yards in my town so the pickin is good. while i was taking flix a new line came in so there was a lot of action goin on. one of the workers came up to me while i was taking pics, standing in a parking lot near the line, and he said "Hey you can go up closer to the cars if you want". I thought he was walking over to yell at me or some shit, always paranoid, anyways. So he lets me take all these flix nice n up close, we bullshit a little more, and he says "Hey you wanna go inside the engine?" and i was like hell yeah! so we step up in there, i got to talk with the engineer, i str8 told em i was into graff and all that. they both talked about how they like the good stuff, hate the bad. they even told me all about the secruity at all the local yards, what time they are moving a lot at, and a TON of other shit. pays to be a nice guy and talk with no intentions, thats how you get the most i think. But there is still more than the fair share of assholes out there. keep paintin. word.

[assaconda]

great info crack dude.......but one thing i still dont know is about remote controled engines

me and my friends found a secret yard out in a secluded area behind some farms it seems no writers know about it because we havent seen anyone nor any toyed out tags on signs or anything anywhere....its the most chillinest yard but the sign there says warning remote controled engines working.....

now this yard is pretty small, it has about 5 lines at the biggest part and it is not very long. there is onely one littlebuilding at the front of the yard...there is no bulls and we havent seen anyone actualy there yet, other than the ocational engine skylining the tracks....what my question is, is what exactly are the remote controled engines and how do they work....do they have cameras to guide them and where do are they being controled from?? we paint day frieghts there and we dont see people there, we want to continue painting there as oftain as possable but i just want to know the sitch on the remote thingies

[Ski Mask]

assaconda: dont sweat the remote control signs. The engines aren't unmaned, it just means that instead of a of a 2 or 3 man crew, theres a 1 or 2 man crew. The remote control device is a little beltpack controller. Its used for switching, so the engineer can get out of the cab, and control the engine from ground level to do switching moves. The engines that are equipped like that usually have some kind of rotating light on top thats used when the beltpac is in use, but thats not on all of them.


bottom line is, stay away and out of sight of the engine and you'll be fine.

[imported_fr8burner]

Originally posted by RY@N
here's my expierance in getting to know the yards.
i come from a smaller town in southern MN, so there isn't many writers at all, and i can't drive every night to go up to the bigger citiy always to go bomb n whatever. so one day i was out randomally taking flix of shit going by in the afternoon. there are 3 different yards in my town so the pickin is good. while i was taking flix a new line came in so there was a lot of action goin on. one of the workers came up to me while i was taking pics, standing in a parking lot near the line, and he said "Hey you can go up closer to the cars if you want". I thought he was walking over to yell at me or some shit, always paranoid, anyways. So he lets me take all these flix nice n up close, we bullshit a little more, and he says "Hey you wanna go inside the engine?" and i was like hell yeah! so we step up in there, i got to talk with the engineer, i str8 told em i was into graff and all that. they both talked about how they like the good stuff, hate the bad. they even told me all about the secruity at all the local yards, what time they are moving a lot at, and a TON of other shit. pays to be a nice guy and talk with no intentions, thats how you get the most i think. But there is still more than the fair share of assholes out there. keep paintin. word.

i emailed you.. if you get it email me back, if you dont get it jsut email me....i wanna ask you somthing....

[dukeofyork]

after the other night, this thread is a MUST READ for anyone new to freights.

id seen humping in videos and in bigger yards, but i was out at a layup or sorts and they started humping lines. the thing is, its right next to a neighborhood, and im pretty sure they arent supposed to be doing this type of thing outside the yards. but, it was late at night.....so i guess since no one can tell the difference because no one can really see whats going on, they go ahead and do it to it.
it was kinda funny to see the switchmans flashlight panning all over the numbers, then stopping and looking at the new pieces....
i wonder if he realized the paint was still wet, it should have smelled pretty strong.

the point is, even if you know your shit, expect the unexpected.
weird shit goes down on the tracks, dont get caught up by it.

[Cracked Ass]

Originally posted by chozer
id seen humping in videos and in bigger yards, but i was out at a layup or sorts and they started humping lines. the thing is, its right next to a neighborhood, and im pretty sure they arent supposed to be doing this type of thing outside the yards.

Bullshit. It's railroad property. They can and will do whatever they please, and you are not supposed to be there. This is why I say, treat every line as if it was about to move violently at any second.

[Ski Mask]

I just wanna stress this again....PLEASE BE CAREFUL. I watched about 18 people cross a stopped line over a 20 minute period the other day....I was certain I was about to watch somone get maimed. One girl about 13 crawled under real quick, and about 5 seconds after she did the whole line slammed into motion. She half looked back, but didnt seem the least bit bothered....I dont think she had any idea how fucking close she came to loosing a limb. Age is no restriction either...some middle aged guy crawled under a hopper with his fucking BIKE after waiting 2 minutes.
And the scary part was they were slamming this line REAL HARD. I swear I thought I was going to see a coupler knuckle rip off in front of me....hardest slack action I've ever seen.


be smart....be safe. stay alive....please....

[shameless self promotion]

ese cracked, anyone else, i have been reading this thread since it was made, way back in the day, one of the greatest threads ever started on here and trust me everyone who reads this learns alot, i thought i knew alot about trains, tell you the truth i didnt know shit until this was started last year...

keep it up guys...i wish my boy matt had read this, he would still be around.

[Fox Mulder]

word

[wutangbanger]

Originally posted by guise
I looked at that rotten site, those guys are real sickos! they had pictures of this dead bum from every angle, I'm surprised they didn't have a quicktime 3d virtual environment for it to, you know, TO REALLY GET THE EFFECT!


hahaha thas great.. yeah those guys are sickos fo sho

[mike mesa]

also something to keep in mind, not really safety wise, but to not heat out the yard.. Dont paint autoracks unless their empty. We've got tones of car plants around here and Im sure theyll be asking for more security at the yards if they find alot of their vehicles have paint all over them.

[The Ripper]

sounds crazy!

[toyeraser]

my ass got saved by a trainworker a couple weeks ago. he got about 3 cars down from me when i seen him and he told me they already called the cops and which way to run. i still got sweated by the cops on the way back to the ride, but i was clean by then because that worker had warned me and i ditched my shit. he was walking down the whole line looking at what we had done and i'm sure he knew who i was.
alot of times i write good things about trainworkers on trains to like make them not hate us. i write viva the name of the union local or something like "trainworkers get more blowjobs". i think that helps them like us more.

[Ski Mask]

witnessed more line crossing stupidity today. While watching a line at a neighborhood shortcut it slowed to a stop. The section in front of me was about 8 or 9 long wood decked flats with the old looking vertical brakewheels at the end. Very unsafe for climbing over cause above the stirrup is only one hold at waist level, meaning you gotta lean over on to the deck to get up. While I was looking down the line to see the signal (two track, both were double reds) out of nowhere this 8-9 year old kid pops up and scurries over the car. Stupid, but I dont expect much more from kids that age.
Then from the side I'm on some chick about 16 walks past me and starts very akwardly climbing onto the flat. Now, from this side you cant see either direction of the other mainline track (2-track mainline) so even assuming she makes it over without the line starting up, she could be comming down on the other side to find a train flying towards her on the open track. stupid stupid stupid.
I wasn't about to give lectures cause I could see the double reds, but I was tempted. Next time I will, cause even with those double reds the line still lurched to life when I wasn't expecting it. I saw the slack coming and plugged my ears (I was about 2 feet from the line) but it suprised me. Turns out I was looking at the closest signals, when the front end had already passed and was waiting on the next set. That being the case, the signals I could see would always be double red....and not a good judge of what the line will do.


stay safe

[Fox Mulder]

these thug kids were playing on the trains when i was at a siding in the woods taking flicks. they called me over and started bullshitting. these idiots were playing on some of the container garbage cars. i know this siding pretty well and those things don't sit still for long. i was just waiting to that shit jump and one of them fall.

[Ski Mask]

ok, that crossing I was talking about at the top of the page....guess what was in the paper today? not a pedestrian, but some idiot in a van tryed to beat the train, which according to the guy behind him was "right there, theres no way he could have made it" and eneded up getting hospitalized after the train mashed the fuck out of the back end of his van. stupid motherfucker.

[Ski Mask]

another depressing cover story on the paper this morning. a 9 year old girl on a bike tried to beat the train at a controlled crossing and got dragged a good distance and had her foot severed. She's lucky to be alive. Shit happens all the time out here it seems...

[goldschlager]

not sure if this has been said yet... avoid situations where you might have to cross an active line of autoracks, there is nothing really in between them to hang on so you can easily fall in between from the slightest jerk.

[Fox Mulder]

goldschlagers are good as fuck.

[dukeofyork]

Originally posted by Fox Mulder
these thug kids were playing on the trains when i was at a siding in the woods taking flicks. they called me over and started bullshitting. these idiots were playing on some of the container garbage cars. i know this siding pretty well and those things don't sit still for long. i was just waiting to that shit jump and one of them fall.

my boys got video footy of some ghetto kids crossing a line of intermodals..

they were all carrying bikes over it and shit...
the whole time hes just going....
whoa...this shit is fucking crazy..

[REBEL]

knowledge is power! limited edition freight t shirts full color as well as a few others! e mail me for details... [email protected]

[spectr]

alright this thread is shit
i just started painting trains recently but i have been hopping them for the past few years,, through my expereince in yards 90% of the time the workers are gonna be cool with you if your cool with them, ask them questions if you meet them they usually will hook you up with all the info you need to be safe in the yard ( what time new lines come into the yard, what time lines leave the yard where the bulls like to hang out, where what lines are going, who won the sox game, etc..) if you gonna paint a yard always spend alot of time scoping it out first and try to social engineer some info out of the workers, for not covering the numbers masking or duct tape, my trick is to bring stencils and copy down the numbers before hand and rewrite them when i am done. whatever you do in a yard just dont act stupid, dont go into a yard drunk high etc etc thats a good way to get killed my boy almost go himself killed a couple months ago hopping a frieght out of phillie with me cause he was drunk he was lucky and only tore a few ligaments in his leg and knee and broke his ankle, just remenber your painting around 30ton pices of metal that can travel at high speeds and can reach those speed in a few minutes.. be aware

[~\]

hop onto the ladder of a moving fr8 you won't beable to smell where the paints coming from or hear the spraying

[IRonE_gee]

WEEKLY UPDATES? :D
http://www.geocities.com/idleoner :D

[IRonE_gee]

www.geocities.com/idleoner (http://www.geocities.com/idleoner)
http://www.geocities.com/idleoner

[HOTGIRL1]

I think trains are cool!

[ctrl+alt+del]

Originally posted by HOTGIRL1
I think trains are cool!

this girl makes me laugh, not because shes funny, its one of those 'so lame you have to laugh' type of comments.

[Kettie]

nice...thanks

[CatScanner]

damn cracked ass, ese and everbody who contributed information and saftey tips


i was about to go paint in this yard by my boys crib(he doesnt write)all i knew was to scope it out, and not paint the numbers, i knew nothing else-- im so glad i read this shit.... keep this thread the fuck alive!!! i feel smart, and no i wont end up dead in a yard

[TEEHEEHEE]

under train. me. never. !

[Ski Mask]

another fucking idiot from the city I just left. Makes me wonder if it was suicide....

Tuesday, September 03, 2002

WINNIPEG -- One man is dead after two freight trains smashed into his vehicle yesterday, which was sliced in half, and dragged the wreckage almost five kilometres.

Emergency crews had to pry the victim's remains from a jagged tangle of metal wedged under a grain hopper car along the south Winnipeg rail line.

Police say they were able to salvage a licence plate, but had not yet identified the driver.

They could not determine the make of car.

Traffic had stopped at the crossing for a 110-car westbound freight train.

The barrier arms were down, signal lights were flashing and the train had already entered the crossing when the man drove past several vehicles already stopped, crashed through the barriers and was hit by the first train.

The car spun and was wedged into the wheels and underside of a grain hopper car.

The train continued moving west, its crew unaware of the deadly crash, until an eastbound freight train sliced off the protruding back half of the car.

[Ran_dumbs]

Great info. I am going to start watching my local lay up for a while.

[SIVIK]

Yo cracked u got your yard's locked down.How do u no so much info?My advice would be not 2 hang around & deal with workers coz some of the time the try 2 sneak up on u in numbers.Once i hear the noise of gravel being walked on im fukn outta there.No matter how well u think u no your local freight yard allways keep ya head up.

[Tre$Loco$]

so whats the deal if theres a frequent spot of a few lines where trains happen to stop for awhile, not exactly a yard but more of a pit stop, ive been in the middle of a line and a train happens to stop there plenty long enough to piece on. what should I expect? Are they "getting up air" or switching up cars? should I be wary of humping cars? This happens a surprising amount that Ive seen from just walking down the tracks.

[SIVIK]

Dont know about the U.S but in melburn that ushally means the trains waititng on a light signal or the tracks 2 change.We call them terminaters
when they stop like that.We get that a fair bit with our passenger trains although the times u get 2 actually paint a passenger train varies from 5mins-30mins.

[Cracked Ass]

You should recon that spot more thoroughly, and often. First off, is it a junction? Are there 3 tracks merging to 2, or 2 merging to one? Is there a signal in front of where the engines stop? Is this just outside of a yard? If not, what's down the tracks for 2 miles in each direction? How often does another freight go by on another track while the first one is stopped? These are the things you should learn.
The short answer, though, is that if a train stops long enough to piece, and you can do so on an OUTSIDE TRACK (i.e. NOT standing on another set of tracks), and far enough back from the engines or around a curve so the crew can't see you, then you have a great opportunity - as long as you haven't misread what the spot is about. If it's a small yard or interchange (a junction where 2 railroads drop off and pick up from each other), there will be switching activity and workers walking around. But from your description it sounds to me like an in-the-hole spot, also known as a passing siding, where the tracks merge, so that a train going one way must stop and let another train coming the other way reach the doubletrack before it can proceed. These are great spots to hit if the train sits long enough. But I wouldn't hit it while standing on another track - something is probably coming on that track, or the first train wouldn't have stopped.

[Tre$Loco$]

here's the deal, theres three lines in about a 100 yard lengthwise spot, at the end two of the lines merge and im guessing to make way for an oncoming train. I've painted the spot before (after proper exploring of course) and nothing sketch happened. the train generally stops (when Im lucky enough to stumble upon it) for about 15 - 20 minutes, always freights. Sometimes clean, some painted, once or twice it was a FLAT walled CSX cars I dont know what theyre used for but god bless the soul that had them stop there, Ive actually caught huge rollers that cover end to end which was lucky as shit cuz we had planned to catch highway spots with em and the flat cars stopped mid piece. Ive never seen a crew worker down there the 10 - 15 times ive gotten that spot. Sounds like I fell upon a tight spot, I was just wonderin why they were always stopping there, now that you mention it, a train always does seem to pass coming the other way but the freight still stays ther for awhile.
-Lucky S.O.B. who stumbled on a Tight RVA train spot
I'll never te'eell!!
EBT

[SIVIK]

U guys got your system locked down!Do u guys have passenger trains all through the U.S or just in the big city's?

[d struk]

just like everyone else thanks for looking out any infos good info and will go to good use.

[sk3r0k]

fuking stabing hoboes!!!!!!!!

[Dick Quickwood]

Originally posted by SIVIK
U guys got your system locked down!Do u guys have passenger trains all through the U.S or just in the big city's?

just in big cities

[JonJacob]

I've never seen humping or a rambler, I guess cuz I only go to small spots...but after reading about ramblers on this thread, I got the shiznitch scared out of me.
Cracked, you said...
"This raises several safety issues: One, a train that is backing up, or cars that have been humped off, can run you down without you ever hearing an engine."
Did you mean that you can hear them (ramblers), they are just nowhere as loud as an engine, or are they completely silent?

[Cracked Ass]

Ramblers can be really quiet, and roll really far from where the humping action took place. If it's real quiet in your area when a rambler (or group of them) approaches, you'll probably hear creaks and groans, but don't count on it. And as I said, any other source of noise in your area (idling engine, running reefer car) will mask a rambler's approach.
Many ramblers wind up colliding with other cars parked on the line they are shunted to, making a noise ranging from something like a bank vault door closing, to a loud BOOM! If they're humping in a hurry, or it's a trainee engineer, they sometimes shove them harder and faster than they should, and the collisions are fun and almost scary to witness. (The railroads who are concerned with customer service don't like to see these higher-speed collisions, because they can jar the freight inside the car and possibly damage it, as well as possibly damaging the car itself, so some of them print messages on the ladder like "handle car with care" or "no more than 4!", meaning "don't hump this car at more than 4 miles an hour".) If you hear those loud booms and bangs coming from a yard, they're humping, and ramblers are afoot.
I remember the first time I saw some rambling cars in my yard, there were 4 of them together just rolling merrily along, away from an engine and a couple brakemen, and I was like "Hey! There's a runaway train!" It took me a minute to understand they were doing it on purpose. At my yard there was a good spot to sit and watch the humping action, and one time they humped a flatcar down near me, two tracks away. It was weird to see this long, low, menacing sharklike thing cruising silently down the siding. It was no more than four feet high at any point but it would have flattened me and kept rolling at a serene 5mph if I had been in the way.

[JonJacob]

Cracked-
So all you can do is make sure to look around alot while your painting to see if anything is coming down the track next to the line your painting?
Anything else?

This topic is the best ever, a couple years ago I was looking around trying to find safety info, it would have been great if I had found this back then.

[Dick Quickwood]

one time when i was at the yard i noticed a log car was making lots of noise as it rolled, it was also bumping up and down. one of the wheels had an chunk out of it, making a flat spot. i felt it each time the flat spot hit the track.

[Prismacillor]

yeah i almost got bagged 2 nights ago, ive been going to this yard for about 2 years, always chill, but the other night i have a cop car rolling on a bridge by me with a spotlight, then it went by and i went down the tracks away from the bridge more and hid, then im watching cops with flashlights all around where i was, then i have even more lights(the car spotlight) all around the whole line of trains i was hiding behind,i just stayed hidden for a bout an hour tille they left, then another 20minuted just to make sure, shit, the morale of the story is, no matter how many precautions your taking in your yard, u never know if theres other people not taking these precautions and blowing up your spot, so everyone needs to know how to take care of your spot and even as careful as you are, always expect your yard being hot and have everything(paint,bag,beer,whatever) ready to go

[shadeone]

well i just found the coolest yard...

anyways, i got a few questions on some things i noticed...

one train was pared up the tracks a little... it was making that sound that the brake lines release but it was doint it from the two front main engines and it was kinda ticking like that stopwatch on 60 minutes.... no other cars were releasing anything except for the occasional boxcar hissing...

does this mean the train is getting ready to move or is it gonna be there a while or waht? if im not mistaken this same train was there two nights ago when i drove past....

also, when trains are stopped like that overnight or for long periods of time, is there sleeping quarters or anything for the engineers in the main engines? not like im gonna, but if i were to go paint the engine, would i risk a conductor coming out of a door right beside me?

someone needs to explain the whole "waht happens when a train stops" thing for me :)

shadeone

[Cracked Ass]

I'm not interested in helping anyone who wants to paint engines. Don't even bring that up. And yes, if you're near any stopped engine somebody could pop out at any time, or approach it and get in.
If you're looking at engines hooked to lines, or even just idling, you are in the wrong part of the yard to paint. Don't paint in view of an engine if you can avoid it.
Workers don't need sleeping quarters. They either sleep at home or in a motel if the job they're on leaves them far from home at the end of their shift. One crew doesn't stay with a train from origin to destination. They'll run one leg, then a fresh crew will show up and run the next leg. The railroad pays for motels and a cab ride from train to motel or vice versa. Most railroad jobs are regular or semi-regular routes so a routine has usually been worked out for how to keep workers close to home and reduce the amount shelled out for motels and cab rides. By union rules a crew is not allowed to work more than a certain number of consecutive hours (usually 12, sometimes less). Once the end of their shift arrives, they must park the train somewhere (a yard or passing siding); this is called "outlawing", and happens a lot if unscheduled delays occur on the train route. A new crew will have to be found and taxied out to the train to resume motion. (They can't just park a train any old place; if it looks like they aren't going to make their destination point before the end of the shift they'll work out an arrangement with the dispatcher as to where to park, and cab rides and motel or whatever.) A crew that runs a train a long distance one way during their shift will often stay in a motel, then the next day they'll be picked to run a different train going the other way, so they end up at home the second night.
As for the noises the trains are making: if you're hearing a hiss of air, and the ticking noise, that train will not be there for long. As I said you shouldn't be painting in view of engines, so I'd try to find a line with no engine attached. At my first regular yard, I stuck to painting the safer, quieter side for an entire year, learning the habits, patterns, and tendencies of the traffic, before attempting to venture deeper for better cars and riskier opportunities.
The type of question you're asking tells me you need more experience, both in general and also specific to that yard, before you should be painting near live lines and parked engines. That's always the area where you're most likely to get rolled on by workers and bulls. They're always coming and going from the office to the engines. It's the worst place to try and paint. Try another area and spend a lot of time just watching shit, learning patterns.

[shadeone]

heh, dont think i was gonna paint engies!! thats just stupid! i just wanted to know if the crew chilled in there cus when i was at a yard in north adkota, there was a train making the same noises i described and the condustor or whoever leaned out the window to tell me to be careful... but from waht i could see from the ground, there was no movement inside the cab on this particular train...

and i was just benchin and taking flicks today..... the train that i was taking photos of wasnt in the yard.. you know how a lot of yards or layups or wahtever are just like 8 seperate tracks that split from one main one coming into the yard? well this train was parked at another split off point far up the one line not even close to the yard.... like a temporary chill spot or something.... from waht i saw today, there wasnt that many engines at all, just the occasional pass through and a couple not attached to any length of cars sitting on some random side tracks... this yard is unbelieveable though... out in the middle of no where...

like i said though, i was by no means attmpeting to paint anything , especially anything with an engine on it making sounds like its gonna leave... this train was just the most visible from the road i was travelling on and i could see there was a king157 and a buncha other people end-to-end that made me want to check that train out first...

tomorrow is my day for scoping out the rest of the area and watching patterns in traffic and workers and stuff...

thanks for the info though, i appreciate it :)

shadeone

[IntangibleFame]

Hey your not the real Shade.....what a joke...

[tito jackson]

If you are intrested in learning just about everything there is to know about the cars the yards the workers and the bulls, along with countless other subjects you should pick up the book entitled "Hopping frieght trains in america" This book was an awsome read and really helped answer questios i had in my head. Even though the book is based on knowledge that should be aquired if you are planning to catch out on a frieght it also gives you info that anyone who paints trains should know about. The book was written by duffy littlejohn and is a bit hard to find but if you search the net you'll most likely come across it......sorry if someone already spoke about this book i didnt bother to search because of my overwhelming lazyness. :)

[cade]

EVERY TRAIN IS A OPPERTUNITY, YOU JUST HAVE TO DECIED IF YOU WANNA TAKE IT. aND IM SURE ALL GRAFFITI ARTIST WILL.

[Dick Quickwood]

i smell bacon

[SternRockwel]

lessons??????

[SternRockwel]

uuugghhhhh!!!!!!!:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

[JoesKi]

HOLY FUCK MAN..dont go into that deadtrainbumbs shit...im gonna be fucken para next time i go to a yard...fuuuuuuuuuuck

[ghostvandal]

Originally posted by raildeviant
Good looking out Cracked, info is always appreciated.

Not sure if any of you have these in your local yard, but over here, in the city's biggest yard which is half CN and half CP, the use of remote control engines is in full effect. Essentially, the worker walks along the tracks with a remote control and works the engine from there (you see, trains are BIG toys!!!). Its cool to watch, but is also very dangerous for a couple of reasons. 1) There is no conductor in the engine, so no one to blow the horn to tell you to get the fuck out of the way. 2) With the worker controlling the engine from the ground, you may be paying attention to him and not notice the ghost rider train coming at you from the opposite direction.
Another piece of advice. If you feel the need to close the door on an open boxcar so you can complete that purty end2end you have been planning (which I do not recommend), keep in mind that once you get the momentum built up the door won't stop until it slams shut, with or without your fingers in the way.
Play safe, clean your spots and never accept candy from men in trenchcoats.


Last summer I went to the CN day which was in one of the biggest yard in my city. We could visit all the area (like where they buff trains), and i had the chance to try this remote control...driving an engine Damn it was fun!!!

[Zee_Zee]

cool