Western Railroad Discussion > Americana's Finest - The Local Train (East LA CA)

There is really not much out there that remdinds us of what America once was and how simple life was than the local freight trains that plied communities delivering the goods that kept our stroe shelves stocked. Here we see today's local freight at Aurant Yard on the east side of Los Angeles. These proud engines will soon go back to work shifting tankers of corn syrup (America's sugar cane).

Okay - I already knew I would get a lot of "friendly" responses for posting tagged units - so I figured I'd just go all in and be snarky about it for fun. 

In all seriousness, I really do hate what has happened to the LA area gensets. But my hobby is recording what is and this is what is (at least for now). 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/16 16:51 by erielackawanna.

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Yeah, a sad commentary.

The word "Lost" on the lead unit sums it up well.

Well, when you leave them unsecured in a "bad" neighborhood, what did you expect?
And UP had to know this was going to happen, but they continue to keep them out there.
And the "secure" engine facility at East Los Angeles is only about 4 miles away!

I painted a car once using rattle cans. That was a lot of work that I don't ever want to do again. I'm surprised that these guys are willing to work that hard.
Bill Pyper
Salem, OR
 

wjpyper Wrote:
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> I painted a car once using rattle cans. That was a
> lot of work that I don't ever want to do again.
> I'm surprised that these guys are willing to work
> that hard.
> Bill Pyper
> Salem, OR
>  

They're not painting the entire unit, just 6 square feet or so.

Says alot about their corporate image and pride (or lack of)...

Good narative to go with the photo, but those units look a mess.  One would think that with such a large corporations resources, they could get this stopped.
Brian Stevens

...And the frackin' Special Agents waste their time and company money hassling railfans...Sheesh! === === = === JLH

Cut the vandal's hands off.  It'll stop the graffiti and remove the hands from "hands up, don't shoot".

PHall Wrote:
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> Well, when you leave them unsecured in a "bad"
> neighborhood, what did you expect?
> And UP had to know this was going to happen, but
> they continue to keep them out there.
> And the "secure" engine facility at East Los
> Angeles is only about 4 miles away!

Yes, and sometimes the taggers don't even have to walk,  the units are left where anybody can drive right up to them.

There really is no excuse for gaffiti on an engine.  These engines should be in a secure location...or build a fence around where they are stored between assignments.  UP can afford it for sure!  I agree that maybe their corporate image isn't what it should be in L.A. and also poor management in the L.A. area.  

erielackawanna Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In all seriousness, I really do hate what has
> happened to the LA area gensets. But my hobby is
> recording what is and this is what is (at least
> for now). 

Despite the ugly tagging, I guess you can't help but put a nice background and compose the shot well.

If UP cared, they would deploy sufficent resources to protect their property.  This shows how much they REALLY care.