Sure, some railfans claim to be committed to their hobby, but how many have a steam engine tattooed on their forehead? Quite a few friends, supporters, and visitors at Black Butte (including our “boomer” rail worker friends, migratory workers, and the random tramps who wander by…) have rail-oriented tattoos. So we are starting a photo collection, the only one we know of, to document railroad tattoos. If you’ve got a good one, send it in to us. We’ll post them on this page and may eventually put together a photo show or “zine” if we get shots of enough good ones.
next –>
next –>
photo and comments contributed by Karl Popp:
The tattoo above is a memorial to my grandfather, Frank Joseph Fuzzell, who was a Frisco Railroad diesel locomotive engineer for 38 years. Inside the Frisco shield on the side of the engine are his initials. The train’s serial number, 3415, is his birthday (March 4, 1915). The engine is based on the ones in use during the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s. No such model number exists for Frisco diesel engines from that period. The small tag numbers, 12-03-11, at the bottom are the date he passed (December 3, 2011).
The “ERF” on the first car back of the engine are my grandmother’s initials. (She passed away 13 years before my grandfather).
Tattoo art by Nate Rogers of Eternal Tattoo, Springfield, MO.
next –>
next –>
MONIKERS
The tattoos on this page honor some of the more famous boxcar graffiti artists of recent times. The work of ”Palm Tree Herby”, Colossus of Roads, The Rambler, Bozo Texino, and many others could be seen on thousands of rail cars around the country.
next –>
HOBO TATTOOS
Some rail-oriented tattoos that reference hobo or trainrider culture:
next –>
