You have to see this tattoo from the Orange Line train accident last month to believe it.
Red flames erupt from a MBTA train car with horns. The incident, which saw around 200 people evacuated from an abandoned building last month, is remembered in this tribute. flaming Orange Line train over the Mystic River it is on Slim Jym Shorts’ leg.
The couple take the Orange Line each day and saw that a friend of theirs, a tattoo artist posted the sketch via social media. They knew they needed it.
“I saw that and thought, That’s very sick. That’s what I love. That’s iconic. Shorts said, “I’m going to have it.” Shorts asked for their name and pronouns they/them to identify themselves.
On Thursday, July 21st 2022, a MBTA Orange Line train crossed the Mystic River near Somerville. Flames and smoke erupted from its platform. To escape the danger, passengers had to get out of the train through the windows and then walk on the bridge.
The tattoo image posted to the website Universal Hub The viral video, “Today’s Hottest,” was shared online. Orange Line is shut down for 30 days For major, urgently needed repairs. Federal transit officials made Wednesday announcements about a litany of changes the MBTA must make to become safer.
Shorts described the experience as “surreal”, and called the decline of MBTA’s in Boston over the last two years “infuriating.” According to Shorts, the tattoo helps them deal with what happened.
“It’s just unfortunate how dangerous and unreliable the MBTA has gotten because that decreases ridership and that decreases funds. Shorts explained that this decreases the ability of us to invest in the infrastructure. “But whenever I have people who don’t take the T or drive and they joke about how bad it is I’m always, like, very defensive of– public transit is critical. Many of us depend on it. “It’s beautiful, it’s what makes cities good.”
NBC10 Boston
While the tattoo artist was not willing to identify themselves, they did share this comment regarding their work:
I want to show that even wealthy areas in the US have many problems. While many are affected by the orange line shutdown, wealth is being hoarded to new condos, landlords and billionaires. Buses and trains are on fire while the forest are suffering from the worst drought in history. If we don’t act drastically, like getting a burning train tattoo, advocating for sustainable energy and transit and shared resources, the problems will amplify.
Shorts also noted that the designer made a second version of this doodle which had a halo above the train. These two versions represent “kinds” of both the good and the evil.