I got to see some action at one of the local scrap metal yards in town. Takes me back to the old days when this small yard was still utilized. I’ve also included some scans of old flicks from the early 2000s. Including one of my favorite photos, a grimy Felon throw up on a stamped Rail Gon just like the recent photo. This was a former C&O line.

And finally…recently I noticed a C&O Right of Way marker where they had cleared away brush further north in town on this former line. In 2015, I found a more weathered one just south of that location. At one time, it was part of the same line to the scrap yard, but was converted into a walking/biking trail in the late 90s/early 2000s.

Some things that have caught my eye around town, and a lot of buffed tags.

I recently walked around downtown Richmond for the 1,000,000th time taking photos, and I saw a long buffed HIP2 tag from the mid-90s that I never noticed before. It is so old that it became one with the concrete wall and turned into a landmark outlasting the buff. The angle of the lighting made me notice it that morning. I also visited the only running HIP2 tag in town still holding on in October 2021. See https://wordpress.com/post/richmondindgraffiti.com/348 for more info on that one.

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Some photos from early July 2021. Early morning strolls around the Depot District & Downtown. Highlights include: pre-buffed rooftop, and an electric box that was buffed in 24 hours. Also, a recent Huber hopper straight out of 2003 on the line-up.

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Spending some time in the cooler weather watching trains, taking flicks, and visiting old spots, during this three-day weekend.

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Trees are being cleared out near a walking trail just east of the former C&O yard location in town. I found an old Hayes Bumping post on the side on the embankment. A few weeks later it it was pulled out by heavy machinery, and it looks like it it will be preserved, I hope. The Western-Cullen-Hayes plant is just a few hundred yards away, and they still are making these. Rail traffic was cut of to this area years back, though. There is another one in the wild on the South side of Richmond, but cut off from the line. http://www.wch.com/pdf/catalog/bpfacts.pdf

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One of the great things about benching freights is occasionally seeing work by old school NYC Subway Legends up close and in-person, in my own small city. Recently there was a hopper layed-up in town with a Zeph fill-in. (Zephyr has been an active graffiti writer and fine artist since the late 1970s, and is a published author. A few years back the IMA hosted a traveling art exhibition called “City as Canvas” from the Martin Wong collection, and he was included in the show.) I could see the train from a distance, and thought it may be a Zephyr, but maybe not. Before I could get over to it, a train rolled through town at high speed, and on that train another Zeph piece rolled by. After the train rolled by, I walked over to the alleged Zeph hopper. The closer I got, I realized it was an authentic Zeph fill-in. I caught two freights by the graffiti legend in 5 minutes. http://zephyrgraffiti.com/

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A couple weeks ago, an opportunity to see local and traveling graffiti at the same time.

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Here’s a selection of unseen photos from my digital archives, circa 2015-16.

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About 10 years ago we got coal service to our power-plant. It was delivered from Indianapolis in freshly repainted coal hoppers and it only lasted a few years. It was a nice change of pace for taking flicks. The Sufr Anx, I also caught it a few times driving through Indianapolis, and a friend of mine saw it, also.

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