Graffiti on U.S. railroads is inevitable - particularly in urban and suburban settings - and no railfan well-wishing or local laws regarding the sale of spray paint is going to minimize or stop such defacement to railcars. As long as the car's reporting marks and a few other bits of data stenciled on the car are clear and within FRA requirements, I can't imagine that the railroad or car owner would care too much, unless of couse, the tagged message is extremely offensive. Railcars are a moving target by their very nature and many taggers I have spoken to over the years favor them because they know that the cars will take their message - well-intentioned or not - to every conceivable corner of North America. And in some cases I've seen over the years, this spray paint is probably the only thing saving some railcars from rusting to the gunnels! I'm not condoning graffiti, but rather I am saying that foamers simply need to think of it as another facet of the railroad environment they are documenting and get over it. Enough said.

Chris Goepel ...