Beautiful is not a word many people would use to describe the long freight trains that rumble through town, testing the patience of rural travelers stuck waiting to cross the tracks. But to Odis, a self-described “Graffiti Writer,” the rusted, linked train cars in varying shades of grey, off-white, or faded brown and yellow, beam with endless possibility.
Odis, not his real name, is in his 30s, and has a full-time job as a web and logo designer.
When he is not working at his day job, he is part of a nine-person group of underground Graffiti Writers who call themselves the ‘DGTL Army.’
The group, an all-male crew, ranges in age from early 20s to mid-40s. Although each man also has a daytime job, some are married, some are fathers, and some are both, they all have one thing keeping them together; an irresistible passion to paint trains.
Train painting isn’t new. Also known as ‘Graffiti Writing’, it became popular in New York during the 60s and 70s, when ‘getting your tag’ (slang for your ‘work’) seen by as many people as possible was the ultimate goal. Additionally, those old enough to remember, can recall the iconic spray-painted commuter trains blasting through the city of Brooklyn during the intro to the hit show ‘Welcome Back Kotter’ as the ultimate in tag-spotting. The moving canvases made it possible for an artist’s message to be seen literally everywhere, which Odis said is a big part of why he does it.
Ideas for graffiti come from everywhere, but Odis said childhood nostalgia plays a big part for him. Cartoon characters from the 90s, in addition to recurring themes of positivity are incorporated into several of his paintings. He stays away from anything obscene.
“We know that graffiti often has a negative connotation placed on it. People think of ugly tags, gang graffiti, and explicit imagery and nudity,” he said. “We realized that if we embraced a more positive artistic side, we could likely make the general public look at graffiti in a different light.”
Odis said writers do not begin their artwork by painting trains, but rather must ‘work their way up’ to the enormous rolling canvases.
“In the graffiti world, trains are kind of placed on a pedestal. The unwritten rule is that you need to establish yourself before graduating to painting trains,” he said. “Our pieces started out very small and simple but over the years our confidence grew and we started tackling these giant whole-car productions that are probably more like a mural than traditional graffiti.
“Once we pushed it to that level it seems like it really got its hooks in us and now we are (very) motivated to try to paint some intricate massive productions every year.”
He said each train painting is challenging, taking months to plan, hours to complete and is done under the cover of darkness. Odis hauls his equipment; dozens of cans of spray paint, similar to those found in a hardware store, a ladder and flashlights to each ‘job site’, careful not to be seen by security and to avoid other graffiti artists.
The legality of the work done by DGTL is never in question. It’s 100 percent illegal.
Canada’s Rail Safety Act states trespassing on rail property is against the law and carries up to $10,000 in fines depending on the province.
Senior Manager of Media Relations, Ashley Michnowski, said by email that trains are no more of a target for graffiti vandals, than bridges, overpasses, parks, or other infrastructure.
“It’s important to remember that railway yards, tunnels, and bridges are all private property, and the consequences for trespassing and vandalism are outlined in the Criminal Code,” she said, adding that trespassing is not only illegal but also dangerous. “It’s extremely dangerous. Railway tunnels and bridges are often only slightly wider than the rails, leaving little or no room for you if a train does come along.”
Today’s trains no longer clang and clack loudly while they are chugging along, but instead can slip quietly down the tracks, like a slight breeze, towards unsuspecting graffiti writers.
Several years ago, a group of young people in Montreal learned first-hand how quiet they can be. Three teenagers were killed in 2010 while painting graffiti on trains after being hit by a Via Rail passenger train. Two other teens were treated for shock but survived.
Odis said he understands the danger and that the risk is not only limited to other trains, but also other people.
“Trains are huge and unpredictable. Many people have been killed or seriously injured while being near train tracks. They can move quietly and quickly when you least expect it. You need to be on high alert at all times, always considering the dangers and doing everything to avoid as many risks as possible,” he said. “You can (also) run into some very dangerous people while out there. There are other graffiti writers who protect painting spots and will keep people away by any means necessary.”
As a child, Odis’ family encouraged his love of art. As a teen, when Odis’ attention moved on to more colourful and outlandish graffiti covering trains, he said they were not as supportive.
Despite the negatives to being out on the rails, Odis said new ideas for paintings are constantly coming to mind. “Then I bring them to life when the world is sleeping,” he said.
Odis said he has had some close calls over the years such as run ins with the law. He was caught once, and kept in a holding cell for 24 hours before charges were dropped. While he understands the legal issues with his style of artwork, he said he wants to be considerate of the rail companies and not make things hard for them. He said that while some view his work as vandalism, he sees it as ‘adding some colour to some boring grey train cars.’
“The last thing we want to do is cause issues for the rail companies. You will notice on all our trains that we take care not to paint over important numbers, markings or reflectors. We do this so we don’t affect the workers and their safety and efficiency,” he said. “Our work is never divisive, it’s never offensive or explicit, so it seems like it has to be better than just a grey train rolling across the country.”
Odis said he has illegally painted 300 trains with his special brand of artwork over the past nine years. Some depict cartoon characters or common words, including the DGTL letters, arching and crowding into each other with brilliant colours artistically scrawled across the lower half of a train. Others are full on to-scale murals of beautiful prairie landscapes with eagles, grain elevators, and sunsets.
At one time, Odis used to paint all year long, even through the winter. He said that he and his crew once braved -52 degrees celsius (with the windchill) to paint a train, keeping the paint cans warm beforehand and then using handwarmers to keep the cans from freezing during the painting. Today, Odis said he mainly keeps his painting habit within the spring to fall seasons, but will not hold back if he really wants to paint.
“If a guy gets the itch, the only thing that truly stops us is heavy rain because it’ll wash the paint off before it can dry. It’s definitely life consuming. Once you start to look at your world through that lens it’s hard to turn it off,” he said.
“You start to see the entire world as this opportunity to create something unique. Lots of guys fall down the rabbit hole and let it become their entire life, but I’m lucky to have a group of buddies that keep me grounded. We all have jobs and lives outside of graffiti, but we keep getting drawn back to paint.”
Odis’ motivation has also evolved over the years. What once began as a way to satisfy the group’s need to ‘get the rush’ of simply painting a train with graffiti, they soon began to see their work as real art.
“We quickly realized that the trains are basically a rolling art gallery,” he said, “taking our artwork from coast-to-coast in Canada, all through the US, and even into Mexico. It’s allowed us to connect with so many people; other graffiti writers, art collectors, photographers, etc. Most of my close friends have been made through freight train graffiti.”
Part of Odis’ rush now is seeing photographs from family and friends who have witnessed his work rolling through their town, quickly snapped a photo and share it to social media.
One of his more famous train murals from 2021, titled ‘The Last Dance’ made its way through Lamont recently, stirring up social media conversation and amassing nearly 9,000 reactions with over a thousand shares in only a week. Comments included, “Pure Canadian Art” and “As much as I hate graffiti, that is absolutely amazing” as well as “I hope that car ends up in a museum somewhere.”
CN Media manager Ashley Wichnowski did not respond to questions around whether this particular train could end up in a museum and what that process might look like.
Odis said painting ‘The Last Dance’ took eight hours with himself and two other members of his crew, named Whoa and Sean, working together.
The more trains Odis painted over the years, the more his appreciation grew for the large rail cars. He felt sadness that the red Canada grain hopper train cars, which have been a workhorse since the 70s, are being gradually retired and scrapped. Odis felt a mural depicting a long CN train of the distinctive red cars, which became the focus of 2021s ‘The Last Dance’, was an appropriate way to pay tribute.
“We decided to do a tribute car to the Canada grain hopper before they disappear,” he said. “A classic scene of a string of these cars rolling past an elevator just seemed too perfect, on a red Canada hopper. They likely only have a couple years of service left so we wanted to send them off with an homage or a final dance.”
Today, Odis spends his time working on several creative projects including miniature dioramas and model trains. One project he is particularly excited about is a full-length film for the 10-year anniversary of DGTL, although he couldn’t say when it would be complete. “I try to stay excited with a variety of projects,” he said. “I’m always thinking the next project will become my new favourite.”
Jana Semeniuk
Staff Reporter