Well, imagine my suprise this morning when I opened my Chicago Tribune at breakfast and found the attached article staring at me! We all knew our hobby is a reality but little did we know that the general population would care enough about what we love to warrant a big article in one of the countries largest newspapers. The two things I came away with after reading the article (1) ONLY 250,000 of us? and (2) what about the many, many other railfan spots in metro Chicago other than the “famous” spots mentioned? Yea, I know, we all have our favorites. Seriously, I was pleased to see us “hit the big time” in such as way…I guess we’re now officially validated…as if we’ve cared all along.
Since we are being recognized as an" Official" minority,[G] maybe we need to organize?[;)][4:-)]
We would probably qualify for Federal Funds[2c]under any number of Federal pieces of legislation.[Y][Y]
Could we be considered a sub group of the population,[yeah] Similar to an Indian Tribe, and then go out as that group and open up a Casino ( for funding?)[wow]
We could demand representation on railroad boards,[:'(] ( as the unions did at Government Motors?).[:o)]
The possibilities are only limited by our already boggled over-active imaginations! [:-^]
And the women rail fans! They are potentially double minorities![I] Think of the possibilities with THAT! [:X]
Not bad. (Ted Wolff in the article is apparently not related to Jim Wolfe of the C&NW from 1976 &later.)
But a major and notable omission: Since 9-11-2001, being questioned and/ or hassled by some uninformed or overbearing official about watching trains and/ or photographing them.
For some of us, suggest clipping or printing the article and keeping it handy for that eventuality - [:-,] "What, you don’t know about this hobby, and that it’s OK ? The rest of the world seems to . . . ". [swg]
I usually carry some Trains and R&R magazines with me in the field to help explain the hobby if need be. I guess I could print out the article and take it too.
This brings up an interesting point. I’ve heard various origin stories of the word “foamer.” A friend had told me it referenced people who would stop by roundhouses in the steam era and offer to clean the foam out of boilers. Anybody heard this as well? Any other origin stories for this word?
Perhaps a lot of readers are now thinking: “Wow! And here I’ve been calling the police because I thought that those guys must all be members of al-Qaeda!”
The term foamer first came to me from fellow railfan but also an engineer back in the 70’s in which he claimed his fellow employees used the term to describe all railfans.
As for the article about railfans…I’ve seen them a couple of times in the past…one was at the bottom of a bird cage, three were spread on the floor at different friends homes where there were new puppies in training, and another was used to wrap fish.
"For those who are interested, no explanation is necessary;
For those who are not, no explanation will be sufficient."
There was a similar article in the Allentown paper about 12 -15 years ago - during the ConRail era - about CP BURN, one of the more popular local places at the time, by Tim Blangger, a pretty good reporter (who has since moved on, of course).
Like many terms there is a certain pejorative meaning to the term ‘Foamer’. I’ve never heard a specific definition, but have always thought I was used by both groups [ Those who worked for the Railroads, and then those who followed the railroads as Fans]. My impression of the word was that it was somewhat analogous to the term “Rabid”
[ie; We knew the dog was rabid by the way he foamed from the mouth]
adj 1. (Medicine / Pathology) relating to or having rabies 2. zealous; fanatical; violent; raging
[from Latin rabidus frenzied, mad, from rabere to be mad] rabidity [rəˈbɪdɪtɪ], rabidnessn rabidlyadv
The individual was such a fan, the was foaming at the mouth to explain something he had seen (around the railroad he was observing.) I guess the explanation would address the degree to which the ind