My Daughter is a Dental hygienists and recently had a BNSF Engineer as a patient, she told him that I was a Railfan to which he replied we call them "Foamers" because everytime a train goes by they Foam at the mouth. He went on to say foamers were nice guys that set up camera tripods at crossings and waved as the train went by. Has anyone else heard from Engineers or conductors about Railfans ? This is a Metra Engineer in the Chicago area.
Some engineers aren't all that complimentary...
Foamer does seem to be a fairly common term. FRN is also applied to rail nuts. You can figure out the F yourself.
Most fans are pretty benign - they stay clear of the ROW and off the equipment (or at least ask first). Others, not so much, and it's them that garner most of the scorn. Unfortunately, that scorn sometimes spills over on the "good guys."
There are those crew members who can't figure out the fascination - but that's a common thread among many occupations. There are fans of fires, construction, and airplanes, to name a few, and some are just as rabid. There are those those who refer to fire videos as "fire porn..."
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
power58 My Daughter is a Dental hygienists and recently had a BNSF Engineer as a patient, she told him that I was a Railfan to which he replied we call them "Foamers" because everytime a train goes by they Foam at the mouth. He went on to say foamers were nice guys that set up camera tripods at crossings and waved as the train went by. Has anyone else heard from Engineers or conductors about Railfans ? This is a Metra Engineer in the Chicago area.
Never say anything bad when someone has a drill in your mouth.
It seems like we have heard a lot of this before. There are inconsiderate, weird railfans and just the opposite. There are friendly engineers and also some paranoid, boorish engineers who deliberately ruin fans' pictures and make unfriendly gestures, etc. Fortunately the boors are in the minority.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Who cares what they call us.. its not as if we can hear them anyway.
I have heard them very clearly!
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
I've been called a "foamer" before. Don't bother me any.
Of course, I was lumped in with a few hundred chasing 765 that day... Overheard them on the radio saying that the foamers were out in force, and that they were thick. Hey, so long as we stay off of railroad property, and stay safe, it's fun.
Once one knucklehead does something stupid however....... I have left areas while railfanning due to someone being that knucklehead. I refuse to be associated with them.... Course, the "real" foamers know all the good spots that John Q. Public would not, so, I just went to one of my favorite locations and was almost all alone. (Only two others, also "real" foamers, knew of the place evidently, as there was only three of us there. And, we stayed off railroad property. This, to me, is a huge rule, that must always be followed. Only exception is if granted permission, officially, by someone who can grant said official permission.)
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
ricktrains4824Once one knucklehead does something stupid however...
At Owosso in 2009, 765 was coming back into town from the all day trip (I think she subbed in for 1225 that day as 1225 had blown a tube, or the like). Several photo lines set up, mostly giving everyone a fairly clear photo op.
One fellow, however, insisted on holding his position next to the tracks despite verbal admonitions from others in that photo line and repeated warning toots from 765. To this day, I'm sure he has no idea.
For several years now, most of my contacts with employees in road service has been with conductors, though I did talk with the engineer (not enginner) who had just brought the train I was riding into Boston last year; he was courteous; perhaps because he knew I knew what I was talking about? Edited to make sense.
As I mentioned on another thread last summer, I was quite pleased to receive, soon after I went into a hospital here for surgery, a card which was apparently signed by every one based here in Amtrak road service. I know the conductor who takes the tickets five nights a week, and I had had a conversation with another conductor who took the train out on my last trip (he told me he did not want to become qualified on the UP between Salt Lake City and Green River; perhaps being qualified beween Grand Junction and Elko is enough?)
Johnny
To turn it around, railfans' names for engineers and conductors:
In my years of riding trains, which go back to the 1950s, and exploring yards, depots, etc., I have met so many wonderful railroaders, as well as a few of the other kind.
Most of both types lost long ago any romance of their own about railroads they may have brought to the job. Through the daily grind of the profession, whatever. A few lucky ones, still as romantic as we "foamers" in their secret hearts, have held onto it. They are a special delight.
I think the ones who mock or dislike the fans may be really mad at themselves, because they have lost something the fans -- through no virtue of their own, of course -- still have. They think the fans haven't earned it. (And of course they're right about that part.)
A few years ago I heard a story about aviation fans (foamers?)
The Athens, Greece, police force received a frantic report that a group of strange people were at the airport and taking a suspicious interest in some of the aircraft.
When the police arrived, the discovered that the strange people were British aviation fans who were plane spotting.
In a statement to the press, the police said that they were all glad to be living Greece's sunny Mediterranean climate and could do things like go to the beach, instead of indulging the strange hobbies of those who live in colder climates.
Looking forward to the snow tonight,
Kevin
As a railroader, I never heard the term "Foamer" until I started reading the online forums. The people that I was around called them "train nuts", which in my opinion is a much more friendly name than "foamer".
Now, if you want to get into why rail fans got a bad name from the railroaders, you have no farther to look than the guy that takes a picture of a railroader and then sends it in to the corporate office trying to get said employee in trouble. That's right folks, sadly, it's the "less than one percenters" that gives everyone a bad name. Now, maybe you can understand why some railroaders were standoffish.
.
BigJim As a railroader, I never heard the term "Foamer" until I started reading the online forums. The people that I was around called them "train nuts", which in my opinion is a much more friendly name than "foamer". Now, if you want to get into why rail fans got a bad name from the railroaders, you have no farther to look than the guy that takes a picture of a railroader and then sends it in to the corporate office trying to get said employee in trouble. That's right folks, sadly, it's the "less than one percenters" that gives everyone a bad name. Now, maybe you can understand why some railroaders were standoffish.
I've done a lot of MOW photos that people can be identified in. None of them have even been posted on line. They won't be. No sense leaving them open for management to scan in hopes of finding violations. Long after those people are retired I may post them.
Norm
BigJimNow, if you want to get into why rail fans got a bad name from the railroaders, you have no farther to look than the guy that takes a picture of a railroader and then sends it in to the corporate office trying to get said employee in trouble.
Provable or just another dubious bit of anecdotal stuff?
I generally like railfans. There's a bit of childlike excitement and wonder still left in them that separates them from the masses of walking corpses who can't seem to get excited about anything. It's a spark of some kind that has been lost by so many by the age of 20 that still lives on in some well into old age. Call us foamers or nuts or whatever, but at least we're still ALIVE.
Or the inadvertant (or intentional) miscue that gets recorded and posted on social media. In fact, the fan may not even be aware that they caught an employee (or in our case, volunteer) doing something unsafe or worse.
As a tourist railroad, pictures are part of our day, every day. We just try to ensure that said pictures are done in a safe and sane manner. Most folks will ask before they get on equipment.
And what would the rail employee be doing that would get them in trouble? Most people either work in the public eye or in a setting where supervisors and management can see them. It is a bit strange that some (maybe only your 1%) railroaders seem to see observation as wrong, violating their "rights" of privacy.
schlimm BigJim Now, if you want to get into why rail fans got a bad name from the railroaders, you have no farther to look than the guy that takes a picture of a railroader and then sends it in to the corporate office trying to get said employee in trouble. And what would the rail employee be doing that would get them in trouble?
BigJim Now, if you want to get into why rail fans got a bad name from the railroaders, you have no farther to look than the guy that takes a picture of a railroader and then sends it in to the corporate office trying to get said employee in trouble.
And what would the rail employee be doing that would get them in trouble?
Many years ago, I was privileged to hear a presentation given by John H. White Jr., Curator Emeritus of Transportation for the Smithsonian Institution. He said something that would probably not be considered P.C. He explained that there are three types of railfan. Glazers are individuals whose eyes glaze over at the sight of a train; Foamers are individuals who foam at the mouth when they see a train; FLAM is the third category. It stands for Foamer, Lives At Mom's.
As I said, it's not P.C. Don't blame me; blame Mr. White. Fortunately for him, he's not alive today to suffer the brickbats from those who are offended.
Tom
I was once at a New Haven, Connecticut train show, specialising in, naturally the NH. It seemed like half the people there either were retired from the NH or worked for the Metro-North. I thought, "jeez, don't these guys get enough of this at work?" But they were sure into it.
It was interesting how they would build 100% accurate models of NH prototypes, just match it to the photos in J. Swanburg's (he was there) book. That's what the judges were doing in the model contest part of it.
I think that a lot of railfans work for railroads. I once toured the GM factory in Oshawa, Ontario. On everyone's tool box or above every workbench were pictures of cars. That's who works in car plants, the automotive equivalent of foamers.
Being a railroader and a railfan, I am glad to say that I got along well with the railfans that I met during my career.
Standing with a group of like-minded railfans at a popular grade crossing on Milwaukee's south side, more than once we have heard one Soo/CP crew say to another "I see the papparazzi are out in full force today."
I have heard more railfans use the "foamer" word than I have railroaders. And that incident of the (famous) railfan sending a photo of a railroader to railroad HQ (to complain about the railroader deliberately trying to "ruin" his shots) is not only an actual incident but was subject of much discussion on this Forum a year or so back. I think the (famous) railfan even published his angry letter on this site.
I too have had railroaders act angrily at me and other photographers, flipping the bird or whatever, and it actually seems as if some of them think we are primarily out there to photograph them and not the trains themselves. If someone thinks people are out to take embarassing pictures of them I guess I can understand the resentment.
Speaking of crews talking to one another, when I first moved to my current home, the C&NW locals going through my suburb often still had cabooses (the coal trains and coal empties did not). At one point the tracks pass right by the village's swimming pool and then in a few blocks later pass an exclusive private tennis club which also has its swimming pool right near the tracks. The crew in the cab would be sure to alert the guys in the caboose about the visual opportunities they were about to enjoy at both pools, in graphic terms. I remember standing at a crossing and pointing to my scanner and laughing as the crew looked at me. They were laughing too. Foamers indeed!
Dave Nelson
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