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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.
This being said, what if bulls catch u with paint or a streak on u do you think you could be fucked than? any info is appreciated.
yeah, they want to look like they do some work, catching kids painting on trains is something they do twice a year. they wont be cool if you have paint on you, but to get caught by a bull is stupid, you will see his lights way before he see you. unless its during the day, then you shouldn't be painting during the day unless you know its chill....
I know alot of rail workers about 40+ of them, only a few are dicks but if I seen a worker I would just talk to him and he wont give a fuck about seeing me in the yard just tell me to be very carefull. or ask me to leave, scared Im going to get hit by a train the the yard. its better to not paint somewhere workers are working...
P.S--------lay up...its where you see trains in the middle of no where with house's behind them and only chill for an hour or two waiting for clearance to come in the yard. there you go newbee's
production is slow right now so thats why they arent used that often and im talking about a switching yard also. one freight sat in the swithup for 3 months and the 2 times i was benching i seen some workers come and open it, look in and then closed it and left so i dont know. and if you come upon a worker in the yard dont run just be casual and talk to them they usally dont mind if you are taking pictures but dont go upto a worker if you have 15 cans in your bag that are gonna rattle when you walk upto him.not smart.just be chill and you should be good.
alright can anyone help me out on what a layup is and on how to identify one?ive loked through the thread and people use the word but i dunno waht it means
yeah, they want to look like they do some work, catching kids painting on trains is something they do twice a year. they wont be cool if you have paint on you, but to get caught by a bull is stupid, you will see his lights way before he see you. unless its during the day, then you shouldn't be painting during the day unless you know its chill....
I know alot of rail workers about 40+ of them, only a few are dicks but if I seen a worker I would just talk to him and he wont give a fuck about seeing me in the yard just tell me to be very carefull. or ask me to leave, scared Im going to get hit by a train the the yard. its better to not paint somewhere workers are working...
P.S--------lay up...its where you see trains in the middle of no where with house's behind them and only chill for an hour or two waiting for clearance to come in the yard. there you go newbee's
damn...i looked through like the first seven pages or so and then decided that nobody would be defining what a lay up is after that...my bad, i told you i was blind as hell...
Right now there is a show on Spike TV about train wrecks...sobering, it will probably show again, keep the eyes peeled. Trains are no joke. Watch out for the passengers trains flying through the yard.
i'm about to go to paint freights for my first time and in an extremely active yard. im worried because i dont know anything about paint freights or if its even safe to paint a huge yard thats active 24/7...
this doesn't have much to do with anything, but my mother works at a hospital and a yard worker was humping cars and for some reason jumped in between couplers when it was humped or something and got slammed in between him and now he has no body below his belly button. thats just an idea of how dangerous the yard can be.
can somone repeat this again, so what is the best way to cross a line of trains?
I know never to go under or above, and also never in between. so how do u get around!?
umm...seriously.
just so you dont get killed i will help you out.
i dont know what your painting but on most freights you can climb onto a little ladder and some times there is a walkway on the front of the freight.dont climb onto the top of the car but going OVER not inbetween the coupler is okay just dont stand on air lines are anything that looks like it wont support your weight.But my most useful piece of advice it to stay out of the yards in general leave the painting to the people that have common sense.
one time, me and my boy were painting a wall under a bridge about 5 feet from the tracks and around a corner came an amtrak train hauling ass. if i hadnt looked up at just the right minute and seen the headlights shining off some metal one of us woulda prolly definately gotten hit. we had about 8 seconds from when i seen it from when it rolled by us. the lesson i learned was always be lookin up and ddown the tracks, you never know when a silent amtrak comes rollin through. youll see those amtraks real far in the distance, and then before you know it, theyll already be by you, real fast and quiet.
another story i herd was this kid was ridin his dirtbike by some tracks and one of the workers in a train shot him with an assault pellet from a shotgun. he said it went right into the back of his shoulder a couple of inchs in. apparently this kid got really hurt. most likely hospitalized.
Re: Yard Safety -
06-04-2007, 06:30 PM
