I was woundering who was it that started calling Railfans,Foamers? And Why?
BNSFrailfan.
Your right, what exactly is the difference? I think I read somewhere a foamer is a railfan who thinks they know more than a railroad employee and “foams” they’re knowledge at them, and a railfan is someone who just takes pictures of equipment.
I talked to some people today about this. a fan will watch trains take pictures and be polite.a foamer would be one pacing for a train take unneeded risks would endager himself or others to see a train.
stay safe
Joe
Short for foaming at the mouth, maybe from salivating and breathing hard at the same time. Tends to be used most often by railroad employees who have no particular interest in railroads other than as a place to work, get the job done, collect the pay and go home. (Nothing necessarily wrong with that.) More often their target is a fellow employee who is also a rail fan. That accounts for the reason that employees who have an interest in the railroad business beyond the scope of their own job will often hide that interest.
Jay
From what I hear, most crews consider the term to be synoymous. As a railfan I try to keep a low profile. The term foamer is from steam days, when the engines would sometimes foam ( an undesirable condition) The crews likened this condition to some railfans that seemed to foam at the mouth when viewing an engine.
You can be polite as you want but sometimes being in the wrong place at the right time can get you labeled as a foamer. Like the time I just got my scanner and a adjustable whip antenna,was sitting a block away from U.P., listening to the crew set out cars. Someone called the cops on me, telling them I had a strange device. The officer got a chuckle out of it: but I was extremely embarrassed.
So it would seem no one knows the origin of foamers(a term I have never heard) do we have any more guesses as to what this rather bizarrre name means?
pseudonym for F.O.M.I.T.E. (Fraternal Order Of Mindless Incessant Train Enthusiasts)…GO BACK AND LOOK IN THE OLDER POSTS!~
From what I have heard,the original term was foamite,which stood for;
Freaked Out And Mentally Incompetant Train Enthusiast.
I was in the middle of typing my reply when the above post was added.
As a railroad employee, I always lumped all of the fans into one distinct category with arbitrary layers/gradations. Like the German language, I viewed the term “railfan” as the polite form (Sie) of address when conversing with a congenial and mild-mannered fan. The term “foamer” was more derrogatory/informal (du) and reserved for those who (as mustanggt pointed out) earned a paycheck at Mickey D’s and yet seemed to profess more knowledge about the inner workings of the Railroad than I did. The worst grade of fan was the “railnut”, which I reserved for the select few foamers/rivet-counters who risked removing themselves from the gene pool just to get the perfect snapshot of the “Dash-9 with Four Grabirons instead of Three” or the equivalent.
Aww, and here I thought we were dividing up for a game. The railfans vs the foamers.[:D]
I prefer the title “serious student of railroading” because I study the history and engineering behind railroading as well as observing trains ( from a safe distance on public property ). I guess that makes me an “SSR” ?
George
And I thought I wasn’t the only one was crazy about Trains.LOL. I guess not.
Rail fan, someone who takes an interest in the hobby of watching and observing trains, their operations and equipment, but does so in moderation, and in a safe, consistent manner .
Foamer…someone with total disregard for the safety of both themselves, and the railroad employees.
Know to trespass, steal, and interrupt service in the pursuit of their personal goal, often with acute, single minded, rabid attention to obtaining their wish fulfillment…referred to as foamers because in their intensity, they often forget to wipe the drool from their mouths, and it foams at the corners…somewhat like a rabid dog.
The former is often know to crews and railroad management, and just as often, allowed access within limits.
The latter is also known to management and crews, and, due to the danger they present to both themselves and crews, regarded as a threat.
Ed
To add to Ed’s timely and elucidating post:
Glazer–foamer whose eyes also glaze over at even the thought of a train.
FLIM–foamer living with mother
GLIM–glazer living with mother
FLIM and GLIM apply to adults, not kids, and are self-explanatory[banghead][banghead][banghead]
Ok, this is a little off topic, but thought it would fit with hths thread… Not everyday you get to zing a railroader.
Ok a little history on me. I own a 4x4 fabrication shop. I build some pretty wild and custom stuff. Just eveybody who knows me or I have done work for, thinks I have the coolest job in the world. I usually get a few folks who come down everyweek just look at what I am building or some project . . I used ot have 4wheelin as my hobby but it kinda got ruined by me doing everyday in the industry, hence my new found passion for trains. I love it. I model, I fan, I take the kid to see the local and it has nothing to do my job… So, it easy for me to understand the postion of a crewman, who just shows up and does his job, the novelty wore off on his 3rd callup in a week at 2am or who might be haveing a bad day and might careless about me. But is being polite and chatting with me, just like I have done for folks who come into my shop and want to gabber…
So ok…
One night I am down at one of the main yard with the kiddo wathcing the action, I am talking to the trainmaster who is way cool and giveing us all the scoop… When 2 guys walk up, a local crew and check in with the TM. The one guy asks me, “So, you are foamer eh?” I had learned about the term before so I just kinda rolled with it, “Yeah, I guess so. We just came down to watch the trains.” I replied
The other crewman popped off and said “Well be careful you dont stain your shirt” Being funny, but the smartass flavor was strong as 3 day old coffee.
But when he made the comment, he happened to look down ay my shirt, it siad my comany name of the left side. He asked, what it was. I explained what i did. The one guy got really excited and asked if I ever built “rockbuggies”? (just a really kickbutt 4x4 built from scratch, kind alike a dune rail on steroids)
I smiled, “As a matter of act I do, I have 2 in my shop I am building right now”. Both crewmen asked
John k I love you (spiritually)!
“Foamer” comes from a reference to rabid dogs which foam at the mouth and act crazy - sound like any one you know?
Yes sounds most reasonable especially when you see 3 CNWs units in origianl paint squeaky clean. Or the Centinential thudering by. For sure that has to be it! [:p][:o)][:D]
[quote]
Originally posted by jeaton
Good one John, That’s funny. Did they cut you some slack after that ?