3 February 2005
Silent Tribute to Dead
Friend
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A chain-link fence
at the CP railway yard at Christie and Dupont streets had a huge hole
yesterday. The railway says it's difficult to stop anyone determined to
trespass.
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Toronto - Two teenagers
wearing dark winter coats, one short and one tall, walked solemnly down the railroad tracks that span
the bridge over Christie St. just north of Dupont St. yesterday morning, halting in front of two
boxcars littered with brightly painted graffiti tags.
On Tuesday night, an 18-year-old teen was struck and killed by an oncoming train here as
he used spray paint to "tag" boxcars that were sitting on an idle track with graffiti
symbols. At about 10 p.m., he was hit by a Canadian Pacific Railway freight train that was heading
east at about 40 kilometres an hour along the tracks next to the idle boxcars, police said.
He suffered severe head injuries and died as he was being rushed to St. Michael's Hospital.
Two others were with the teen at the time, police said, but they will not be charged. The teen's
identity is being withheld at the request of his family.
Boxcars are the most tempting of targets for graffiti vandals, said Staff Sgt. Heinz Kuck,
co-ordinator of the Toronto police graffiti eradication program.
"They become a moving billboard for the graffiti vandal," he said yesterday. "These
cars will travel across Canada and into the States. The currency that graffiti writers want is respect
and recognition... and what better way to get (it) then to have your tag on a moving boxcar going
across the country."
A 26-year-old Toronto graffiti artist who has painted hundreds of tags on freight cars
across Canada agreed with Kuck's assessment.
"It's like a moving canvas to do your artwork on. People see your artwork in places where you
can't go and put it," said the artist, who asked that his name not be published.
It can take about 45 minutes, depending on the person, to complete a proper piece of graffiti, he
said. "But every circumstance is different. By the sounds of it, these kids were maybe hanging
out there and partying."
Refusing to explain who they are or what they're doing trespassing on property owned by CP Railway,
ignoring posted signs to stay clear of the tracks, the short teen kneels in front of one of the tags.
He crouches in the snow between the two tracks, next to a cluster of discarded cans of spray paint.
The taller teen stands behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder.
"A lot of kids are doing this without really knowing the proper way to do it; it is
dangerous," said the graffiti artist. "It is easy to get caught off guard. It seems like a
freight train wouldn't be able to sneak up on you, but they totally can... if you're not being
aware."
But according to Kuck, "it's the challenge of putting themselves at risk" that drives
artists to the tracks.
"You could put a well-done piece on the side of a wall, but there's no real risk
involved other than being caught," he said. "If there's an inherent physical risk, there's
more currency paid to that writer in regards to respect."
Kuck took charge of the graffiti eradication program in October 2000.
"This is the first time since I've been running our program that death has been related to an
act of graffiti," he said, calling the loss of life tragic.
A minute passes, then two. The two teens at the tracks are silent, staring down at the snow, the
spray cans and the empty beer bottles that litter the scene.
CP Railway's most basic message to everyone, said Paul Thurston, a spokesperson the company, is
simple: "Stay off the rails.
"(But) somebody who is determined to do otherwise, for whatever purposes, won't be a good
audience for that message," he said. "There really isn't any deterrent we have found that's
effective in stopping determined trespass."
Something down the line to the west catches the tall teen's attention. He looks for a moment, than
whispers to his friend. It's a CP Rail car, driving alongside the track in their direction.
They take a last look at the graffiti and turn away from the scene.
Steps away from the tracks, they manoeuvre themselves through a large hole in the
chain-link fence intended to keep people off the railway property, refuse a request from
a reporter, walk through a Loblaws parking lot and disappear.
Seconds later, another freight train comes roaring through.
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