mlehman You got it. It's a term, sometimes derogatory, that RR personnel often use to refer to railfans. Like some such terms, those referred to by it often embrace it now.
You got it. It's a term, sometimes derogatory, that RR personnel often use to refer to railfans. Like some such terms, those referred to by it often embrace it now.
In all of my 40+ years in T&E service, I never once heard a fellow employee refer to a railfan as a "Foamer". They usually called them "Railroad Nuts".
"Foamer" must be another one of those words that railfans came up with themeselves, like "Lashup"!
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IIRC a while back I read that "foamer" had something to do originally with fire extinguishers kept in the cab of some railroad's diesels. Not sure if that was a slang term for the fire extinguishers or what, but some of them contained a chemical mix called "foamite". Supposedly one of the crew connected "foamer" as a fire extinguisher with the image of rabid railfans foaming at the mouth.
I didn't get a picture of it, but was there when the Virginia State Police were "correcting" the fellow back when N&W J611 was running. Near Elliston, west of Roanoke and at the start of the Christiansburg grade, this fellow had constructed a "sling" that allowed him to drop below and suspend himself from the US 460 bridge directly over the track to get the close-up view of the J and the full blast of her exhaust. Even I, as a long-time railfan, could not fault the Trooper from removing that guy. That, my friends, was a foamer.
Bill
Foamers as in foaming at the mouth, as in rabid and to be avoided. I reserve my use of the term to those railfans who seem to perceive a need to outdo each other in outrageous behavior -- often dangerous, illegal and stupid. These are the guys who climb on signal masts to get that "great" shot, who knowingly trespass onto bridges or in freight yards or who drive their cars on railroad service roads to get into inaccessible places, again to get that shot that nobody else has. They are the ones who are the bane of the railroad cop's existence.
I don't use the term to apply to the person who single-mindedly is addicted to roster shots, prides himself on railfanning for 24 hours straight with no sleep, and such. They might be nuts and perhaps some do call them foamers, but I reservbe use of the term to apply to some truly frightening people, generally young-ish headbangers.
Dave Nelson
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
These may help.....
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Foamer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqvwnxgxazY
I'd call a "Foamer" an "Anorak".
Cheers, the Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Read a fascinating article in the July Harpers magazine:21st CENTURY,by Kevin Baker. He uses the term, "foamer" in reference to some riders on an Amtrak train. What is a "foamer"? I'm thinking that he is referring to "rail-heads" who find "Fun" in "Roaming" America via trains. Correct me. Thanks