In days gone by, maintenance workers marked a car good (or bad) with a chalk mark or initials. Over the years, some of these marks became drawings and were notable and recognized nearly everywhere trains ran. Of course, some marks were put on the cars by others and varied in content. This was long before today's 'Taggers' took to painting the sides of hoppers and boxcars with their 'art'.

One of the best known of the Boxcar Artists was Herby and his mark was seen on cars coming through here. It is my personal favorite and I created this black and white from a photo of his mark.

The boxcar artist known as Herby passed away 12-9-95. His sketch depicting a character wearing a sombrero sitting under a palm tree has adorned the sides of thousands of boxcars. His memory lives on as other artists are rebuilding his older sketches that have faded and memorial sketches are now starting to circulate.

Enjoy and remember!!

Roger Hensley