AMBOE

[dougnelson]

Found this car today in Point Richmond, CA today.



A Google search found this:
https://www.bombingscience.com/amboe/

And the artist’s Instagram:
https://instagram.com/boozinsarandon?utm_medium=copy_link

[nkalanaga]

One of those artists who actually improve the appearance of modern freight cars.  Yes, I know, it's still vandalism, and illegal, but some do make good modern art.

One of the keys to keeping the railroads somewhat content to ignore the graffiti is very simple - leave the railroad lettering legible, or repaint it to fit the art, whichever works best.  As long as the required stuff is there, most roads today don't care about another coat of paint.

Another is DON'T GET HURT, and don't endanger anyone else!  An injury, or worse, is one of the quickest ways to bring the law down on you and others.

[Maletrain]

Really glad I model the 1950s, when "graffiti" was chalk marks like "Texo Bozino" caricatures that are easily overlooked.  With something like this "AMBOE" circulating around my layout, it makes it obvious that the car is not really traveling to far away, probably not to be seen again. 

And, painting any of those "AMBOEs" on a N scale car is way too much time and effort for what pleasure I would have in running it.

But, to each his own.  Maybe MTL will someday pay royalties to produce N scale models of trademarked graffiti?  The world is becoming stranger and stranger.  I think that has a lot to do with why I model the 1950s.

[nkalanaga]

I model 1974, which, at least in the Northwest, didn't look that different from the 1950s.  The colors had changed, and we had 100-ton grain hoppers, but we still had lots of F-units, lots of 40 ft boxcars, and little or no spray paint graffiti.

A four- or five-unit set of BN Fs pulling a mile-long string of 40 ft boxes loaded with wheat would look right at home in your era, at least as a freelance model.