I’m sitting at my desk inside the Plaza Hotel and Casino. It’s lunchtime and I am about to go outside. Every day at lunchtime I check to see if a new freight train is parked on the tracks behind the hotel. Why? I think graffiti is awesome. I also love trains. Put them together and you have something pretty special. Not to mention, I’ve started a blog called BoxCar eNVy. I’ve been doing this every day for 6 months.
As I walk away from my desk I’m headed towards the doors. Immediately I make a right and I walk down the emergency stairs. Many of the employees take the stairways to get around. Keeping the elevators for the guests. Fun fact: we use the elevators to go up. It’s way easier to go down. That’s what she said. When viewing graffiti, always be as lazy as possible. Take the Helicopter if possible.
When you arrive at the landing of the staircase you are on the first floor. Be careful when you walk out of the door. There could be paying guests on the other side. Maybe one of them tagged something I enjoyed? you never know with Graffiti artists.
Now we’re in the hotel lobby. I love seeing all of the guests checking into our hotel. before I get to the front desk I make a right and I head towards Real Results Gym. The gym has a great view of the railroad tracks. They also have large windows. And if you stand in the right place, next to the subway sandwich shop, you’ll be able to tell if there is a train on the tracks.
Next I walked down the hallway that leads to the employee dining room. Before you get to the employee dining room you will come across the shipping and receiving dock. I walk out the shipping and receiving dock because it’s a direct line to the back fence. The back fence it’s right next to the railroad tracks.
And just a few short steps I can walk from my desk to the train tracks.
There’s a fence separating the train tracks from the Plaza Hotel property. Some people would say the fence gets in the way has taking pictures. I think the fence is very helpful while taking pictures of freight train graffiti. I have a pop socket on the back of my phone. It allows me to line up my phone correctly in the chain link fence. Acting like a stabilizer. It also helps me line up the camera to be centered.
Now I can take amazing photos of freight train graffiti anytime I want. Which I’ve been doing for the last 6 months. everyday I walk outside to see if a new dream is ready for me to take pictures of. If there is I will go out and take pictures of as many tags possible. At one point I was able to post two pictures a day, on Instagram, for the next two months.
That was fine and dandy until the weather and the schedule changed with the trains. Instead of coming early in the morning, If schedule now runs later in the day. Most days I’m lucky to even stop. I have been able to capture video of trains passing by and you in a couple graffiti artists.
I’m having a lot of fun working at the Plaza Hotel and Casino. I get to work on WordPress websites, Hangout in old Downtown Las Vegas, and take pictures of some amazing freight train graffiti. Life is good!