Hello guys. I was wondering how can railcars on display can get secured. Yes, they can be vandalized like commercial ones, but displays have to be secured.

Are there any security systems internally around the car or on an area, or any method to prevent such harm? Is there anything graffiti-proof?

Tell me other methods if there is. Please don't give advice to relocate railcars.

Out west we use two old retired guys with 45s, we find that works well.
Last year three young punks climbed over the back fence and then on top of one of our engines and tried to remove the horns one of them fell off and broke both of his ankles his friends left him to fend for himself. we found him in the morning and called paramedics and they took him away. thats the last we heard of him.
We knew there were 3 because the guy on the ground told us so. and he had never lied to us before, so we had to beleve him.

Old School
Thats a true story Just ask John S.

There are coatings that make surfaces graffiti resistant.

Here is one:

http://www.graffitiremovalinc.com/our-p ... ti-coating

You want to make them very hard to break into. Window and door openings can be attacked by tieplates and crowbars.

End doors should be protected with 1/8" steel plate welded over the door opening.

Window openings should be protected with steel. Windows are typically harder to reach than end doors, so pop-riveting heavy-gauge galvanized sheet metal (use stainless-steel pop rivets for strength, never use aluminum... you'll need an extra-long-handle manual pop rivet squeezer or a power tool) over every window opening is the minimum that will work. For rain protection, run a bead of caulking on the underside edge of the sheet metal. Leave gap(s) at the bottom so water and condensation can drain out. You don't want to create a steels-sided aquarium.

Motion sensors and video cameras wireless-linked to a monitoring security service are highly recommended.

Keep the cars painted. Fresh paint makes it look like someone cares. This attracts much less vandalism than a car that looks abandoned. Roll the paint right over thr rust and moss if you're really desperate. Anything is bertter than having the interior trashed and/or burned out.

- Doug Debs