Editor’s note: Port Clinton-based photographer and writer James Proffitt traveled hundreds of miles between countless railroad crossings on Ohio’s highways and back ro
ads, spent dozens of hours suspiciously loitering around the state’s train tracks and rail yards, and drew numerous funny looks and curious questions from bystanders and security guards alike, to document train graffiti — rolling galleries that often pass, unnoticed, right before our eyes.
The great majority of trains rolling through Ohio pull freight — with a variety of cars specifically designed to carry a host of goods and products. Boxcars are the most common freight cars by far, and with their broad, open sides, they make fine canvases.
Trains often are covered with works from slapdash to sublime. Favorite subjects include political cartoons, celebrity satire, inspirational quotes, fantasy, and whimsy in all its many forms.
To be certain, spray-painting railcars is illegal and dangerous. Most graffiti is born near rail yards in larger cities, like the Queensgate yard in Cincinnati, where the cars are plentiful and often don’t move for long periods of time.
Rail cars that transport new vehicles, such as these crossing 
U.S. 50 in Addyston, are a favorite of artists for their smooth, wide-open spaces. Some cars feature work 15 feet off the ground. How do taggers reach so high? With paint rollers and extension poles. On larger pieces, teams of three or more artists often work together to cover entire cars.
When railroad operators switch panels on those car-hauling cars, they can create unlikely combinations.
Notice that artists will often respect the safety and operational markings on cars to make it less likely their work will be either scrubbed off or painted over — because as their signatures often show, the artists most certainly think highly of their work.
