(Continued from page 10)

• Through his hobby, Davis has become familiar with certain taggers or crews of taggers, who he can recognize and place by the graffiti they use. One from Boston, Ichabod, uses a signature skull and is known for writing his name in different types of lettering.
• Ichabod, who has tagged more than 3,000 cars, reached out to Davis about a year and a half ago.
• "He actually found me and contacted me to tell me he was pleased that I was doing them," he said.
• "A lot of hobbyists create their own decals, and some hobbyists would not allow any graffiti on their model cars and would never include them on their cars," Davis said. "I ran into a guy at a swap meet who was downright nasty."
• Defacing real cars can be punishable by serving multiple years in jail and thousands of dollars in fines, which is why a lot of graffiti artists use pseudonyms, Davis said.
• "There's a whole subculture of graffiti artists, not just guys that put them on railroad cars; some do subway trains, buildings, walls, and it's worldwide," said Davis, who only recreates graffiti into decals that have already been put on trains and that he has photographed.
• Although his interest in trains began when he was 5, it was about nine years ago when Davis became interested in the graffiti on the trains.
• Raised in the Twin Cities, Davis joined the Navy and reported in July 1971, where he first photographed trains. While boarding a destroyer in San Diego, he noticed one of the captains standing behind his podium reading the magazine Railroad Model Craftsmen. After finding a shared interest in trains, the two were able to take many photos of trains overseas. While in Taiwan, the two said they wanted to photograph some of the trains.
• "When they found out two Americans wanted to photograph their trains, they polished each car to look brand new and brought them out individually so we could photograph them," Davis said, who thought it was neat.
• "I look at it as an outlet for creativity that a lot of people may not have in their day-to-day jobs," Davis said. "I think people need an outlet to use their hands and minds. It's an art, at least I think."
• There are many different facets to model railroads, including buildings, scenery, weights, electrical work and running locomotives.
• "The era that I model generally is 1960 to 1970 and mostly the Great Northern Railroad, which is gone. But I have a lot of modern cars, mostly covered hoppers."
• Davis said this year is the 25th year the James Valley club has been in existence, and he appreciates the years he has spent with the members. The group

(Continued on page 12)