Sunday, December 5, 2010

Freezing But Sunny

Okay, an actual update with actual pictures of actual monikers. I don't want to say I've been lazy for the past few months, I've just been busy with other projects (art shows, punk shows, and the zine as you can see below). I went out yesterday with a camera and hit up all the usual spots. I loved the weather: freezing but sunny. A good day to hit the tracks:


A Wendigo, taken from the CRANDIC yard. There was a slew of nice looking, repainted grainers, hoppers, and tankers down there, and it seems like this Wendigo might have been rebuilt recently because...


...this Solemnly Sailing was barely visible. Usually, from what I've seen, these monikers are in cahoots with one-another, yet it seems Wendigo was the only one that was rebuilt. This was the best angle to see the Solemnly Sailing from.


Headed east to the IAIS yard, this CN car was the first in the yard and the first of a string of CN cars. This weird take on Bozo Texino was on it, probably done by...


...Space Mouth. This guy is from around here, I'm guessing a yard worker. Not many people get to see this moniker because he does it in chalk.


The Denver Camera. I still haven't figured out the numbers.


Erebus. This one is cute.


The Watchman on how he likes his eggs. July, 2009.


A current CDD from May, 2010, and check out that Hare up there. November of some year I can't make out.


I don't think so.


I have no clue what this is. A biohazard symbol and then some other stuff?


The usual suspects, Plate K and Whistle Blower, and Spike, who I don't think I've ever spotted. December, 2004; July, 2007; sometime in 2005, respectively.


The space between Plate K and Whistle Blower above had a really old and faded signature. This is what I could pull out: "Dazzler". I thought it said "Doggler" at first.


A drawing of an Oldsmobile.


Imposter and he-who-gets-impostered-upon. I wonder who the imposter could've been...




Well, that's that for an update.
I also wanted to say that I have been getting a lot of positive response from my Decrepit Americana zine. Lots of people have been sending me letters, and it's been an awesome way to get in touch with people that are down with this stuff as much as I am. I do plan on doing further issues, but I won't be able to until March of 2011. In January I fly to India for 5 weeks, and, when I get back into the states, I am headed to Florida until the end of February. I have plenty of pictures stockpiled, some really great ones that I'm going to use for further issues, but if you'd like to get involved at all in anyway, let me know! I want artists to draw up images for the center spread of the zine, so if you're a moniker artist and would like to get down on the center spread for further issues, I'd love that. Get at me!

Live free or don't.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Decrepit Americana #1

I haven't updated in a bit, but I haven't been unproductive. Last night my friend Brendan had an art showing at the open house for the intermedia department at the University of Iowa. His showing was an art distro of zines and buttons and patches and the like, and was the first time that my new zine "Decrepit American" was avaiable.



48 pages of some of my favorite pictures from the blog, some I don't have on here, as well as some other random rail relics I have picked up along the way. Black and white full page photos fill almost every page. There's a few other (really cool) surprises in there as well.



If you'd like to order a copy, please get in contact. Leave a note here or send an email to me: eatapes@gmail.com

I'll get back in the habit of updating this blog soon!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

The Honey Wind is Starting to Blow

It's been a month, and to keep myself from melting away into oblivion, I decided to be try to be productive today. Unfortunately for me, there was just an IAIS line down in the yard when I decided to get down there, but I managed to scavenge a few good-enough pictures off the sides of the steel giants:


The sun was going down in the yard. I'm sure I've posted this before, but it was a cool picture, so I'll post it again. Definitely one of my favorite captions as well. Old & Die Phase, Colossus of Roads.


I don't know what is going through my mind by letting such a perverse and deviant picture be posted up on this high societal blog. TITMAN 1997.


Solo? The image is familiar to me, but I just can't put my finger on it...


No Bids. Forever I never really "got" that this was someone's moniker, but, as it goes, I kept seeing it more and more and more. 1991.



See those boxcars down there? That's the CRANDIC yard for Iowa City and those boxcars just rolled in a few days ago, which is strange because from what I remember about the rest of the Summer, this yard saw almost absolutely no action. Tomorrow hopefully I'll be able to head down there and get pictures of those puppies.

Well, yup.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Back on Track

Okay, finally, back to some aesthetically pleasing photos. Hopefully no more grainy cell-phone shots, as I'm not trying to make a habit out of that. On to the pictures:


The Solo Artist in 1999.
"In memory of
Irving "Fishbones" Stevens
One of New England's best known
oldtime hoboes who died today
at the age of 88."


Bunky.... and I can't see the year... and I've never seen another.


You're speaking to the choir.


LaZ from September of 1995. I can't tell you the number of times this exact grain car has rolled by me when I didn't have the camera on me, but I finally got it.


RailDog from November of 1999. But do you see who is right next to RailDog?


It's Palm Tree Herby! I'm very excited about any Herby I see, but this is the first true Herby I've posted up here. The date looks to be April 6th, 1980. RIP brother.


Well, big changes coming soon, and I'm already hard at work on that. Well, not really hard at work because that's not my style, but you'll see soon what's going on in the future.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Out on an Adventure

Here's some bad images from a little adventure I went on to Davenport and the rest of the Quad Cities. I couldn't take a real-deal camera along, so here's what you get. I'm sorry in advance for the image quality, heh:


JP Colossus, one of my favorite Colossus clones. I see these a lot on IAIS gondolas, just have never managed to catch one on film.


The Emperor of the North, the world's best hobo.


Delta Blue Jeans. I had never seen this one before, and when I did, I saw two in a row.


Unholy ONS.


The Ribcage, and ONS again.


The Bellevue Sun? From 1995.


My whip of choice, PENX 3224.


Hopefully now I can return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Monday, June 21, 2010

A Few That Eluded Me

I've been taking a lot of pictures... it's hard to not flood the market, if you will, with every little picture I take, so here are some of significance:


The Hammer, 1990. I had another Hammer roll away from me when I was trying to get a picture and that was a big bummer. But, here's another one, at the top of a flatbed.


I don't get the inside joke.


Important enough for a date.


Faded Don A at the top of a flatbed. '98.


A humerous topographical timeline. CO, IA, then the floods in 2008.


A close-up of Colorado.


I have taken pictures of this faded signature numerous times over the year and each picture had always come out poor. Finally a few days ago I was able to catch a decent picture out it. Jerry Lee, 6-14-88.


Lastly, Don Crist, in pencil, and only pencil, yet again. '86.


I'm gonna go swimming.

See ya.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Some Boxcars and Others

Apologies for the lack of updates in the last month. For half of May I was on tour and for the other half I was getting ready for tour... and I am now just getting back into the swing of things here.


This is a very cool one. Big Bubba in 88, at the end of a grainer, probably frustrated that the train wasn't moving yet. There's no better time kill than writing your name on things.


L in 98.


Stoppin' for a rest in 2007.


The US Scout from the winter of 1988.


Roseville.


A different style Mr. Bass from 1987.


Hare from 1987. Peace man. Seen these popping up on a lot of the boxcars lately... well, not "popping up", but maybe I'm just paying better attention now. A lot of these are extremely faded.


Remnants from an era long gone. This served as the logo for the Rock Island railroad from 1852 to 1974. The Rock Island network ran all across the midwest and down south into Texas and other states. Rock Island love.


Well, catch ya around.