Blue Pullman (Graffiti) - Swansea to Penzance - 25 Sep 2021

[Envoy]

Anybody going to photograph this train today might like to take note that one of the coaches has graffiti. This is on the south facing side of the train as it progresses from Bristol to Penzance.

Realtime Trains - 120X 0657 Swansea to Penzance

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[Alanko]

I'm enjoying the hysterical overreactions foaming forth across Facebook currently.

I also saw that LSL have had to fit naff little yellow warning panels on the ends as the lights aren't up to spec as well, apparently.

Time to repaint it in a proper livery and ditch this gaudy anachronistic facsimile.

 

[geoffk]

I must admit the weather put me off going out, having seen the Pullman already in Devon, so I just went out for the two class 50s. I wouldn't have been prepared for the yellow panels.

 

[Spartacus]

I think they should have gone for the ends similar to how the Blue Pullmans were originally given a blue end, it'd look quite similar to how MML did it, but it'll certainly be easier to paint a patch on a flat surface rather than going around the lights and windows for what I expect to be a short term fix.

Regarding the graffiti, sadly it seems to have become a thing now to be the first to vandalise any new or repainted stock, with message boards on the subject apparently being quite common. Almost makes me reminisce for the days when graffiti was limited to political slogans, NF on terrace yard walls and 'Clapton is God'. Hopefully one day it'll die down again like it seemed to do in the 90s when most (at least away from the capital) seemed to be old and rapidly fading.

 

[fgwrich]

I think they should have gone for the ends similar to how the Blue Pullmans were originally given a blue end, it'd look quite similar to how MML did it, but it'll certainly be easier to paint a patch on a flat surface rather than going around the lights and windows for what I expect to be a short term fix.

Regarding the graffiti, sadly it seems to have become a thing now to be the first to vandalise any new or repainted stock, with message boards on the subject apparently being quite common. Almost makes me reminisce for the days when graffiti was limited to political slogans, NF on terrace yard walls and 'Clapton is God'. Hopefully one day it'll die down again like it seemed to do in the 90s when most (at least away from the capital) seemed to be old and rapidly fading.

Yellow wise, I’d have thought a simple, more up to date, GC Small style yellow panel would have sufficed. Failing that, the GNER style?

And yes, the hysterics over Facebook over the last two days has somewhat taken it to a new level. Be it the moaning over the small yellow panels to the 2 pieces of graffiti on the side of one TF.

 

[Alanko]

Tagged trains also sends a message to prospective passengers: 'you're not safe here'. Msny times have I flown to European destinations with budget airlines and wound up riding heavily tagged trains through dodgy outer suburbs of cities; clutching my bags for dear life!

 

[John Luxton]

Regarding the graffiti, sadly it seems to have become a thing now to be the first to vandalise any new or repainted stock, with message boards on the subject apparently being quite common. Almost makes me reminisce for the days when graffiti was limited to political slogans, NF on terrace yard walls and 'Clapton is God'. Hopefully one day it'll die down again like it seemed to do in the 90s when most (at least away from the capital) seemed to be old and rapidly fading.

The problem with graffiti appeared to get worse after the so called Bansky was put on a pedestal. No matter what anyone thinks graffiti is not art unless the person that owns the property has given permission. In any other circumstances it is nothing but mindless vandalism which detracts from the visual environment. The perpetrators should be actively hunted down heavily fined, and made to clean off their paint work or if they are disinclined to do so made to employ contractors to restore the damages surface. Failure to do that would incur a substantial prison sentence. This has to be stamped out!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Tagged trains also sends a message to prospective passengers: 'you're not safe here'. Msny times have I flown to European destinations with budget airlines and wound up riding heavily tagged trains through dodgy outer suburbs of cities; clutching my bags for dear life!

It probably does send that message to some, but graffiti is far less common in English cities than it is in places like Barcelona and Frankfurt... however the sort of anti-social behaviour you get on public transport here is far more intimidating than anything I've seen in Europe*.

*= One notable exception being some of the seedier areas around Paris.

 

[peteb]

Surely it would be cheaper to "wrap" sensitive trains stored for long periods in the open, so the graffiti simply peels off? Graffiti removal is not easy or cheap to achieve without considerable risk to the substrate.

At the very least the windows should receive "film" if stored for long, as I experienced a couple of years ago in France, graffiti tagging can ruin your view out of a window, far more harmful in my opinion than the damage to the train's livery or image. Try sitting in an IC train from Bordeaux to Marseille (5 hrs plus) with no view......on a hot sunny day.

Maybe we need more trains with photographic wraps like they used on FGW a few years back......such a jumble of images, tagging wouldn't make such an impact?

 

[33101]

Maybe we need more trains with photographic wraps like they used on FGW a few years back......such a jumble of images, tagging wouldn't make such an impact?

Sadly, I suspect that the increased challenge of making their tags stand out, would be rather appealing to such folks...

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Surely it would be cheaper to "wrap" sensitive trains stored for long periods in the open, so the graffiti simply peels off? Graffiti removal is not easy or cheap to achieve without considerable risk to the substrate.

At the very least the windows should receive "film" if stored for long, as I experienced a couple of years ago in France, graffiti tagging can ruin your view out of a window, far more harmful in my opinion than the damage to the train's livery or image. Try sitting in an IC train from Bordeaux to Marseille (5 hrs plus) with no view......on a hot sunny day.

Maybe we need more trains with photographic wraps like they used on FGW a few years back......such a jumble of images, tagging wouldn't make such an impact?

Certainly in Barcelona it seems that keeping windows clear is the priority. Many of the suburban EMUs are daubed in graffiti but the windows are generally unaffected. Don't know if they use a film or simply prioritise cleaning the windows when a vehicle gets hit.

 

[Towers]

I'm very much in favour of the idea of having "quick removal" kits as a routine part of depot operations; i.e. a long-handle roller and some plain white/grey coach paint, a quick roll over the affected areas and at the very least the main aim of the vandals has been thwarted, i.e. seeing their efforts out & about.

If this was adopted as a universal policy across the network, there is a good chance that the number of instances of rolling stock being attacked would decrease significantly as the yobs go elsewhere.

As for those yellow ends, they don't do it any favours!

 

[John Luxton]

Maybe we need more trains with photographic wraps like they used on FGW a few years back......such a jumble of images, tagging wouldn't make such an impact?

Would it not be more appropriate to deal with such crime so harshly that people would think twice about causing such damage?

Minimum £10,000 fine, plus contractor's fee to remove? If the government can make silly fines for breaking Covid rules making harsh fines for real crime should be relatively easy?

 

[Master Cutler]

I think in an ideal world secure storage would be the answer, but unfortunately the cost of such a solution would be many times greater than the cost of dealing with the products of the spray can half wits.
Unfortunately this problem is just another example of a minority of the current generation who seem to have nothing better to occupy their time.