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Well, every organization has a few oddballs. I've met many who work for the railroads (How I don't know, a two digit locomotive number appears to be higher than their I.Q. and I've seen Hobo's who had better personnal hygene and vocabulary skills). But most of the people I've met at railroad museums are very professional and hard workers. Oh course, I tend to ignore the "Goobers" and seek out the people who know what their doing and are getting things done. "Goobers" and "Gomers" are everywhere and I agree that they are better suited to model railroading where they can't hurt themselves or others. Most of them can not pass the rules test or the hands on training at the museum I work at. But we have some of the most "Extreme Foamers" in the world and beleive me, they can do the job better than some of the paid guys! We've had visiting railroad officials write letters complimenting our operating department and praising our excellent safety record. The regional FRA officials have tipped their hat to us on every inspection. We've been told that if we were a short line or industrial railroad (and we make more moves every year than most of them), we would consistantly place in the top three in the annual Harriman safety awards. The term "Foamer" used to be a badge of honor and was reserved for the best rail photographers in the country. Then Amtrak got a hold of the term and applied it to anyone who showed an interest in trains and correspondingly, all the "Gomers" and Gobbers" were included. Sadly, now it is a demeaning term. But those of us who know the true origin and use of the term are still proud to use it in its proper connotation. You may have met some oddballs at the museums you visited. But I'd bet the real people running the museum where too busy working to stand around and talk. Don't judge a book by a few bad pages. run8john
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