Where rail heritage meets street art — ethically and authentically.

Freight yards have always carried a pulse of movement and expression — steel wheels, rhythmic motion, and bursts of color flashing across railcars. That same spirit drives our work at RailYardStudios.com, where industrial craftsmanship meets contemporary graffiti art.

We don’t sell original graffiti from railcars. Instead, we salvage artwork as cars are sent to the scrapyards. Then we commission new works from street artists who bring that same energy into our studio — legally and collaboratively.

Spotlight on Ichabod

Known throughout the graffiti world since the 1980s, Ichabod began his career tagging freight cars that crossed the American landscape — his signature “Ich” throwie traveling thousands of miles. What started as a form of rebellion evolved into a body of work celebrated for its authenticity, motion, and deep connection to rail culture.

With over 7,000 rail cars sprayed by his hand, no wonder he’s the most recognized graffiti writer of our time.

Source: Graff Museum, Nashville, Tennessee, Ichabod Throwie

His work is featured at GraffMuseum.org, which documents graffiti’s evolution from the rail yards to the art world. You can even find his pieces in the museum’s Ich Throwie and Ichabod catalog collections, preserving the legacy of one of the movement’s early innovators.

A mysterious legend among graffiti artists, ICHABOD has been dubbed #ICHABODtheRailGod on social media”– no small feat considering that the artist maintains no social media accounts.

Art That Moves

Today, Ichabod partners with Rail Yard Studios to create exclusive commissioned panels painted on reclaimed railroad materials — steel rails, boxcar flooring, and tie plates — transforming industrial artifacts into museum-quality art.

Source: Rail Yard Studios, Nashville, Tennessee, Ichabod Commissioned Panel

Every collaboration between Rail Yard Studios and graffiti artists like Ichabod honors both worlds — rail and street. Each piece is signed, credited, and crafted with integrity, bridging the hard geometry of the rails with the fluid motion of spray paint.

The result: one-of-a-kind works that keep the rhythm of the rails alive — ethically, beautifully, and built to last.

Ichabod’s skulls are one of the most instantly recognizable signatures in American freight-train graffiti—bold, mischievous, and unmistakably his.

Source: Rail Yard Studios, Nashville, Tennessee, Ichabod Framed Auto Rack Panel

He paints them with a cartoon-meets-street-art aesthetic: big round eye sockets, an exaggerated grin, and a slightly lopsided charm that feels alive even on rusted steel. The lines are thick and confident, usually done in high-contrast black and white so they pop against whatever color the railcar happens to be. Even when he experiments—adding drips, shading, or a quick fill—you can still spot an Ichabod skull from a mile away.

On a moving freight train, his skulls flash by like little characters with attitude. They’re playful but iconic, with a consistency and personality that make railfans, graffiti heads, and train crews alike say, “Yep—that’s Ichabod.”

Conference Room Wall

Because we've partnered with Ichabod on several projects, he's done us a few favors, including adorning our conference room wall with one of his signature drawings that would take up an entire boxcar and then some. This backdrop is the perfect scene to show off the talent of one of the most prolific graffiti writers of our time.

Stop by to see our new space at 638 Benton Avenue, Nashville, TN 37204.