File:Benching Freight Train Graffiti in SoCal (August 20th 2021) (51411664331).jpg

I don't know if anyone ever reads my descriptions, but I write them anyway, so there!!

Was out today (August 20th 2021) on a forced vacation day, from 9:30AM til' almost 4PM. 80F today but it felt like 100F. This is a very active line and I probably flicked 20 freights today. 750+ flicks. By the time I get rid of a few duplicates, and bad ones, I'm guessing it'll be about 700 +/-. 700 to straighten, fix any color issues, upload, and also ID the writers. It's lots of time and as you can imagine, it's a lot of work, but so far it's been fun. I'm trying to not rush myself to post before I'm ready. I already have the flicks, and they're timeless. So getting them posted ASAP!!!!!! is not really my concern. Duh..

Had an interesting interaction with a guy while out there. Guy with backpack had walked back and forth across the tracks a few times. The lat time I saw him he was on the other side of a set, about 100 yards away. Next thing you know he's coming closer..... Closer..... And I'm like WTF? I'm way out here minding my own business. He walks within' like 10 ft. of me and I say "How ya' doin'?" he says something, and then says "Trains?" and I say "Yep." and he says "Oh.." and walks away. I think he was feelin' me out, as there's a small population of people who's homes are shall I say, mobile. I've talked to a few of them, and have never had a bad interaction, I just don't like people walkin' up on me when I'm trying to get away from the rest of the world out by the tracks. I go out there to get away from people, not to interact.

I follow some other amazing photographers on flickr, but for this I will talk about the ones who flick the freights. There are a few that I really love. Some it's because of the great locations they shoot at, and others it's the amazing little details they manage to capture. For me (right now) I don't have the luxury of walking the lines and seeing pieces static. 99.999% of my flicks the freight is rolling by at 10-50 mph and sometimes I don't really even know what I have until I get home, dump the memory cards and go through the photos. Because of this, most of my flicks are just straight on shots and documenting what I saw and where. I saw this freight here, on this date, here's what was on it, and i captured it. Buffed or scraped next week, well I have it on "film" for future generations (sounds corny, I know). There are times when a freight will stop in-front of me, and I'll walk up and get some shots of monikers, but it's rare.

Obviously in any area there are sidings where freights park for extended periods, I know a few spots, but as I get older, and older, do I really want to leave my car parked on the side of the road and walk 2 miles to capture some little details I might normally miss? I'd love to, but it's just not practical for me at this time, any many other people do it better than I could. Retirement is getting closer every day, maybe then, when my weekdays are free. :-)

During the Covid lockdown, I was working from home, and I was getting out benching like 2 & 3 times a month. Back at work, I'm lucky to have the energy to get out once a month. Every time I do manage to get out, I come home and my batteries feel re-charged. It's been so f-ing hot here in SoCal though, I can't wait for cooler weather and some clouds in the sky.

As always, thanks to the writers!

To see the rest of my freight graffiti flicks click here: ["https://www.flickr.com/photos/siamesepuppy/collections/72157716781140516/ www.flickr.com/photos/siamesepuppy/collections/7215771678...]