Graffiti to Trains

[142094]

I read something a while back about how Randolph Giuliani (mayor of New York when 9/11 happened) cleaned up the New York subway back in the 1980s. [/URL]

Wasn't Giuliani, started way back before that under Koch. Some of the ideas about painting the subway cars white were not exactly a good idea, but the other such as increased patrols, quicker cleaning off times and higher fences around the yards certainly did work.

 

[dk1]

I find trips in Belgium by rail completley depressing. Nobody seems to care. Makes me so glad to come home to Blighty.

 

[455driver]

I've always wondered where do they get the paint from?

Perhaps we'd better not say on here, but I've always assumed that if I walked into Halfords to buy 50 cans of paint all different colours, they might be a bit suspicious...

Maybe they should put smart water in the paint, then we'd know who bought it!

A 5 second* google search for graffiti paint came up with-
https://www.graff-city.com/index.php?cPath=19&gclid=CKnNiriyncACFVGWtAodhSwA4w
and
http://www.throw-up.co.uk/
among others.

* I am a slow typer.

 

[Green Lane]

Having the day off work today, I went for a stroll around Liverpool. I saw one of the vandalised Merseyrail trains at Moorfields around mid-morning, on a service to New Brighton.

Perhaps it was one of the same trains as mentioned by the OP.

First two carriages were fine, but the rear carriage was covered in graffiti for pretty much the length of the whole carriage right up to the windows.

Other people's observations may vary, but as a semi-regular user of Merseyrail over the years I have to say there was a long period when it was very rare to see graffiti on Merseyrail trains. Apart that is from the occasional incident which actually made the local newspapers. I do recall this happened when someone travelled right across the country spraying graffiti on trains and made it as far as Birkenhead.

More recently though (i.e. within the last couple of years) I have seen graffiti from "casual scribblers" which are just names or plain words usually in red paint, e.g. above some of the doors. This stuff usually gets removed fairly quickly it seems.

But since the Open Golf Championship event at Hoylake, I have noticed an increase in what I would describe as stylised monograms, the sort of stuff that consists of many colours and chunky symbols, but looks pretty much unintelligible to the casual observer. That stuff must be a real pain to remove since it covers such a large surface area. Also, Merseyrail have just redone the exteriors on many of their trains, so I guess they won't be too happy about this latest wave.

Still, the problem is nowhere near as bad as other countries as already stated. My last trip on the Rome Metro (which was admittedly over a decade ago), trying to get back to the campsite. Purple graffiti over the entirety of every window of the carriage - just couldn't see out. Didn't know at all where we where. So waited for the doors to open - looked out of the train doorway - all of the station signs had been sprayed too, making them completely unreadable. How we got back I can't remember, we just had to rely on visual clues like surrounding buildings etc.. Thankfully things aren't that bad here just yet.

 

[table38]

Wow I never realised they do special graffiti paint and markers.

Maybe they should sell water soluble paint so the mindless vandal end of the graffiti artist spectrum could express themselves without any permanent damage.

 

[daccer]

I came back to the UK earlier this year and travelled on the underground from Heathrow. It seems that they now have a zero tolerance policy to graffiti and much of the above ground line was free of any kind of graffiti - most of it had been painted out with a deep purple paint. With that in mind I wondered why Network Rail do not adopt a similar policy. The TOC's do seem pretty good at keeping trains clean, the FOC's less so with wagons being very susceptable.

If NR lead a country wide zero-tolerance programme allied to the TOC's and FOC's and kept it going for a year or two would the graffiti vandals look elsewhere to daub as publicity seems to be their oxygen and being painted over continuously might discourage them and drive the problem elsewhere.

 

[jon0844]

I have seen more trains covered in paint (and more obvious damage to the vinyls where it has been removed) so wonder if it's coming back into fashion a bit after tailing off for a while?

Window etching seems to be a thing of the past though. Either it has stopped or the film is replaced very quickly. Maybe people just know there's film as the stock gets the paintwork etched instead.

 

[westcoaster]

I have seen more trains covered in paint (and more obvious damage to the vinyls where it has been removed) so wonder if it's coming back into fashion a bit after tailing off for a while?

Window etching seems to be a thing of the past though. Either it has stopped or the film is replaced very quickly. Maybe people just know there's film as the stock gets the paintwork etched instead.

Our 319's seem to suffer big time from etching it seems to be massive in south London, I had a unit the other day where every single piece of glass had been etched even on the interconnecting doors.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

Wasn't Giuliani, started way back before that under Koch. Some of the ideas about painting the subway cars white were not exactly a good idea, but the other such as increased patrols, quicker cleaning off times and higher fences around the yards certainly did work.

In danger of drifting off topic here, but as far as I am aware it was Giuliani as much as anybody who was responsible for the crackdown on graffiti. He wasn't mayor of New York at the time, he was the District Attorney which is head of the office responsible for prosecution of criminals. Not that it matters of course, the point is that the policy worked and it's why we see it widely emulated across the world these days.

 

[BestWestern]

You have totally missed his point and his subsequent line of ' doing it on others property is wrong'.

But yes, it is art. In fact some of the graf out there is visually stunning and takes a lot of skill and time and efoort to do.

How patronising, thank you. I haven't 'missed his point', rather I simply think that it's bull. As I asked in that post, where are the boundaries of 'art'? A two year old scribbling on a bit of paper? Some of the utterly ****-taking Turner Prize entries? Or indeed a hoodied thug scrawling three letters and the year on a wall/train/other public space? Some 'graf' may be bright and pretty, that doesn't stop it from being an unwelcome eyesore to the vast majority. Indeed if it is so wonderful why is the universal response to have it removed as soon as possible at significant expense? Where is the public outcry against this destruction of such talent?

The art world has for decades now successfully preyed upon the weaknesses of certain factions of society who have a rather gullible disposition and are happy to be told by some achingly contrived 'trendy' type that a certain item is a highbrow piece of art, while to those of us who are rather more grounded it is quite obviously junk. The inherent snob factor of some arty folk allows said people to convince themselves that anybody who fails to share their view is simply some sort of uncultured peasant who clearly lacks the intlligence to appreciate the 'work'. This sort of crap has thoroughly blurred the boundaries between the respectable efforts of proper talented artists and the sort of unpleasant rubbish with which yobs deface public areas, amongst various other 'artforms'. This public outpouring of expressionism has an established name all of it's own, which oddly those who are so supportive of it seem reluctant to use; strange considering it's even in the Oxford English Dictionary - it's called 'vandalism'.

 

[CockneySparrow]

It does happen but the TOCs try to remove it as soon as possible.
I think the morons that do it have realised that their 'art' will only last a few hours and wont be seen by many so they tend to go elsewhere to 'express' themselves.

The spotted oik has also realised the TOCs have more money than him, therefore they can keep cleaning the artwork

Must say though FCC get the most artwork though, probably through hatred lol