Waiting for the Train

This UP freight came thru a long way from home. On the tops of the white stanchions live colonies ofRAILWAY STATION WORMSRAILWAY STATION WORMS . tHESE "WORMS are firmly attached to the old painted surfaces and are diminishing drastically in numbers as the station gets painted. I have no idea how they eat move about or reproduce and have never seen them anywhere else; They appear to have a coating of tiny crystals on their skin. Here is a CLOSE UP . Anyone have an ID?