“From the scarce documentation that exists, there is little to suggest that more than a small handful of yard workers created monikers between the Great Depression and the late 1960’s. That is, until HERBY began to appear—a name that almost every true railroad enthusiast, in any sense of the term, should know. Arguably, no other single person has been credited with inspiring more workers, hobos, and people in general to pick up the practice of sketching monikers on the side of a train. Herbert Meyer, like J.H. McKinley, worked on the Missouri Pacific. He started inscribing his character on trains while trying to kick his excessive smoking habit. After witnessing a fellow worker draw a few sketches, he adopted the practice, replacing one addiction with another.” (Gastman, Roger, Darin Rowland, and Ian Sattler. Freight Train Graffiti. New York: Harry N. Abrams,inc., 2006.)

Herby-

“From the scarce documentation that exists, there is little to suggest that more than a small handful of yard workers created monikers between the Great Depression and the late 1960’s. That is, until HERBY began to appear—a name that almost every true railroad enthusiast, in any sense of the term, should know. Arguably, no other single person has been credited with inspiring more workers, hobos, and people in general to pick up the practice of sketching monikers on the side of a train. Herbert Meyer, like J.H. McKinley, worked on the Missouri Pacific. He started inscribing his character on trains while trying to kick his excessive smoking habit. After witnessing a fellow worker draw a few sketches, he adopted the practice, replacing one addiction with another.”

(Ghostman, Roger, Darin Rowland, and Ian Sattler. Freight Train Graffiti. New York: Harry N. Abrams,inc., 2006.)