Welcome to the Forum Volker! We learn a lot from each other here, well most of the time anyway, and while you're here pay a visit to the "Model Railroader," "Classic Toy Trains," and "Classic Trains" Forums. Admission's free and they're all fun.
Let me make a guess about "ferroviphile." "Ferro" may come from the French "Chemin de Fer," or "road of iron." Ferro (I think) is the Latin for iron.
"Phile" is a word used in English as well for someone who's enthusiastic about a particular subject, or anything for that matter. "Anglophile" is a term used here in the US for anyone who's crazy about the British or British culture. We've also got Germanophiles, Francophiles, and lots of other philes as well.
"Landwehr?" Wow, the last time I heard that phrase it referred to the reserve army in Kaiser Wilhelm's Germany. Does it have the same meaning now?
Bruce KellyLong before the word "foamer" became commonplace, what I heard being used by most railfans, rail magazine contributors, and editors both on the West Coast and in the Northeast was "foamite."
The story as I heard it was from the mid-1970s, and I think Ross Rowland will remember the exact context - it may take me a while to find the specific reference, which IIRC was a book or perhaps thread about one of the excursions running a Reading T1. The original was either "Far Out And Mentally Incompetent Train Enthusiast" or "Far Out And Mental" something beginning with I, but clearly implied was the pun on 'fomites' (q.v. if your are interested).
"Foamers" came along so much later, in my limited experience at least, that it's likely to be either a backformation or folk etymology of some kind.
Again in my limited experience, the term does not apply to serious 'railfans' or 'train buffs' or whatever, even to rivet counters or tech nerds. It has more to do with the kind of person you see wearing bib overalls and a hat with hundreds of roadname pins, conducting loud conversations and often arguing over minutiae with their compatriots -- as noted in another thread, usually devoid of interest in real-world railroad operations or things railroaders find important. On RyPN there is some further division into 'types', including the kind of person who complains bitterly that numberboard frames are painted the wrong color and then goes on to insist vehemently, and often insultingly, that they be fixed right away.
I like that first French term - 'ferrovi' is likely a slangy contraction of 'ferroviaire'which is things having to do with railroads, and 'pathe' -- as in 'sociopath' -- is probably having an obsessively mental syndrome about it -- I encourage schlimm to provide an appropriate technical term for English. The other is nearly as good (if not as sarcastic) and just means someone who likes railroading, e.g. what we normally mean by a railfan.
http://www.deviantart.com/browse/all/digitalart/mixedmed/?offset=10&view_mode=2&order=24&q=arthur+pendragon
John, you might be correct about pronounciation. The Oxford Dictionaries give the following origin: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/gricer
1960s: origin uncertain; perhaps a humorous representation of an upper-class pronunciation of grouser ‘grouse-shooter’.Regards, Volker (Germany)
I was under the impression that gricer was a phonetic misspelling of a certain English accent, describing a rail enthusiast heading out trackside to "grice [grace] the railway with his presence", spoken in a somewhat sarcastic way. No doubt a suitable acronym from it could be invented but I can't be bothered.
John
When I was in college, in the fifties, I considered myself to be something of a railfan (my history professor, also,was interested in railroads). One day, the treasurer spoke to me about my liking, and said something about my being a rail buff. Believing he was from Iowa (he was a graduate of Coe College), I did not argue with him. (We got along together very well.)
Johnny
Hello, I'm new to this forum. I have read it for a long time but never posted before. I'm a retired civil engineer (structural design) and live in the city of Essen in Germany. I'm interested in American Railroads since my first visits to the USA in the early 1980s.
Gricer is the description for a trainspotters. In the UK other names are used like anorak, rail buff, and others but not foamer. Here is a link to an unproved etymology of gricer: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gricer
I would realy be surprised if "foamer" was invented in Europe. In Germany we use German terms like Pufferküsser, Nietenzähler (buffer kisser, rivet counters), and others. France has its own French expressions: Ferrovipathe, Ferroviphile. What ever they mean?When I first read of foamer here on the forum I had to google it. I'd never heard it before even on visits in the USA.Regards, Volker (Germany)
When I first read "foamer" here on the forum I had to google it.
Long before the word "foamer" became commonplace, what I heard being used by most railfans, rail magazine contributors, and editors both on the West Coast and in the Northeast was "foamite." I can't tell you when or by whom it originated, but the earliest example I'm aware of is a photo taken in 1978, which appeared in the 25th Anniversary issue of CTC Board magazine in April 1995. The photo showed a young Dale Sanders and Ken Meeker sitting next to WP track just inside a tunnel portal, with the term "FOAMITE" neatly spelled out on the concrete wall behind them. The caption said it stood for Far Out Advanced Mentally Incompetent Train Enthusiast.
geomodelrailroader Foamer is an insult that European crews and railfans used to refer to Americans and this term is very pejorative and they use the acronym for it which is very bad when compared to the word foamer. The acronym for foamer uses all the letters to refer to railfans and they're all insults. The f word over-reactive aragant mentally retarded eccentric railfan used to refer to the bad ones and now it is referred to all of us. The railroads of the United States hated and even the railfans of the United States hate the word foamer when it's used as an acronym also train crews don't like being called Shack and please don't like being called Bull because it goes back to the Great Depression when train crews and police actually killed hobos and railfans for trespassing. Jack London's railroad dictionary in the book The Road have left a bad impression on both railfans, the crews who run trains, and the police. This has even been made worse by the movie Emperor of the North which is based on The Road. Railfans do not trespass on Railroad property but some of them do and train crews and police do not brutalize or kill railfans or hobos this is not Emperor of the North and this is not The Road and we are not living in the 1930s. Do not use the word foamer to apply to railfans do not use Shack or Bull to refer to the police and train crews. They are insults and they should not be used in our vocabulary.
Foamer is an insult that European crews and railfans used to refer to Americans and this term is very pejorative and they use the acronym for it which is very bad when compared to the word foamer. The acronym for foamer uses all the letters to refer to railfans and they're all insults. The f word over-reactive aragant mentally retarded eccentric railfan used to refer to the bad ones and now it is referred to all of us. The railroads of the United States hated and even the railfans of the United States hate the word foamer when it's used as an acronym also train crews don't like being called Shack and please don't like being called Bull because it goes back to the Great Depression when train crews and police actually killed hobos and railfans for trespassing. Jack London's railroad dictionary in the book The Road have left a bad impression on both railfans, the crews who run trains, and the police. This has even been made worse by the movie Emperor of the North which is based on The Road. Railfans do not trespass on Railroad property but some of them do and train crews and police do not brutalize or kill railfans or hobos this is not Emperor of the North and this is not The Road and we are not living in the 1930s. Do not use the word foamer to apply to railfans do not use Shack or Bull to refer to the police and train crews. They are insults and they should not be used in our vocabulary.
From a proud foamer.
zugmann geomodelrailroader . Do not use the word foamer to apply to railfans do not use Shack or Bull to refer to the police and train crews. They are insults and they should not be used in our vocabulary. I really don't care what you call me. A lousy wikipedia article is not the absolute truth.
geomodelrailroader . Do not use the word foamer to apply to railfans do not use Shack or Bull to refer to the police and train crews. They are insults and they should not be used in our vocabulary.
I really don't care what you call me. A lousy wikipedia article is not the absolute truth.
There you go, Trixie has spoken!
Back in the 1990's, I heard a presentation given by John H. White, Historian, prolific author and researcher, and Curator Emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution's Transportation Department. I think this was presented at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg.
He said railfans come in three categories: Glazers, Foamers, and FLAMs.
* A Glazer is one whose eyes glaze over at the sight of a train.
* A Foamer is one who foams at the mouth at the sight of a train.
* A FLAM is a "Foamer, Lives At Mom's".
I didn't say it. He did, so blame him.
Now I have a question: The British use the term "Gricer". Can anybody define it for me? Is it the same as "Foamer"?
Tom
You can make an offensive acronym out of any word... you can also make a complementary one, too. The original term of "Foamer" was NOT an acronym but was the name applied to a steam locomotive boiler that tended to foam too much and cause water carry-over into the cylinders.
It was not intended to be a term of endearment about the engine, nor as a term of endearment when applied to a overly reactive railfan (referring to the fan becoming so excited at seeing train that he/she might start foaming at the mouth).
Those that convert a word to a profane acronym are just exposing their knowledge of profanity. Not necessarily a good indication of a quality education.
Of course... ACRONYM is itself an acronym:
A Coded Rendition Of a Name Yielding Meaning
and so is the plural form:
A Coded Rendition Of a Name Yielding Meaning Sometimes
TRAIN
Totally Reliable And Important Necessity
RAIL
Really Ancient Incompetent Loser
PROGRAMMER (the profession of yours truly)
Probably Ridiculous Old Geezer And Mostly Maimed Egotistical Rube
See?
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
geomodelrailroader. Do not use the word foamer to apply to railfans do not use Shack or Bull to refer to the police and train crews. They are insults and they should not be used in our vocabulary.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
What is the real insult is that this thread has been dug up from the depths of 2009!
.
geomodelrailroaderwhen in reality these European crews have been insulting us
My experience of German rail crews is that most are friendly.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Foamer is now considered an insult to railfans and is used as an acronym a bad acronym that some of the American railroaders don't like and according to Wikipedia is very pejorative. F is an expletive we cannot say, O is Overreacted, A is Arrogant, M is Mentally Retarded, E is Eccentric, and R is Railfan. Originally it applied to railfans who do dangerous things or armchair railfans nowadays Canadian,Eastern US, and European railfans and Engineers use it to apply to all of us and it has become nasty name-calling has gone on and we have called the engineers and police of the railroads old hobo terms and even called them murderers. Shack and Bull have been used grudgenly against train crews and police often leading to the railfans being kicked out of the community or worse arrested under the false charge a battery on a police officer and insulting rail crews and officers when in reality these European,Canadian, and Eastern US, crews have been insulting us. Please do not use the word foamer to refer to railfans or use the acronym for foamer to refer to us directly and railfans do not use the word Shack or Bull to refer to train crews or police it will get you arrested and you will be charged.
The first time I heard the term "foamer" applied to us was back in the 70's from an engineer friend who is also a big railfan. He said that was how the supposedly non-fan railroaders referred to us in general.
RIDEWITHMEHENRY is the name for our almost monthly day of riding trains and transit in either the NYCity or Philadelphia areas including all commuter lines, Amtrak, subways, light rail and trolleys, bus and ferries when warranted. No fees, just let us know you want to join the ride and pay your fares. Ask to be on our email list or find us on FB as RIDEWITHMEHENRY (all caps) to get descriptions of each outing.
kolechovskiAs I understand it, railfan=fan of the railroad. But other guys think it's rail fanatic.
As I understand it, railfan=fan of the railroad. But other guys think it's rail fanatic.
Well "fan" is a shortened form of "fanatic" so it works either way for "Railfans".
As far as "Foamer" the most logical explanation is it refers to a railfan so obsessed he is "foaming at the mouth" about trains. I first heard the term on a UK / BBC show about railways maybe 20 years ago. In that show, one of the railwaymen they talked to said he thought it was derived from "foamite", a fire extinguisher product all engines carried. In the UK railfans are sometimes called "anoraks" due to the type of (IIRC) raincoats they wore.
Mookie And a female is a "foamette"?
And a female is a "foamette"?
No, a feline foamette!
Just kidding.
The road to to success is always under construction. _____________________________________________________________________________ When the going gets tough, the tough use duct tape.
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
ButchKnouseI have to walk for exercise, so my daily route includes the street all the way up and back parellell to the tracks. I live 100 yards from the tracks (on purpose) and when I hear a train I put the TV on mute until I can't heard it anymore. If I'm driving on the highway next to the tracks and see a train, I kill the radio, turn off the AC and open the electric windows so I can hear and smell the train. Am I a railfan or a foamer?
I have to walk for exercise, so my daily route includes the street all the way up and back parellell to the tracks. I live 100 yards from the tracks (on purpose) and when I hear a train I put the TV on mute until I can't heard it anymore. If I'm driving on the highway next to the tracks and see a train, I kill the radio, turn off the AC and open the electric windows so I can hear and smell the train.
Am I a railfan or a foamer?
Reality TV is to reality, what Professional Wrestling is to Professional Brain Surgery.
kolechovskiBut other guys think it's rail fanatic.
I suspect all of us have something that takes us over the line from simply interested in trains to raging lunatic. Might be steam, might be cabooses, might be ALCOs, etc and so on.
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...
As I understand it, railfan=fan of the railroad. But other guys think it's rail fanatic. Oh well. And to the guy whose 20-month old gets excited about the trains, it's hard to find a kid that young NOT get that excited. You gotta wait at least several years to find out what his true colors are.
CNW 6000There's a County Deputy in Winnebago County, WI that is a railfan. He found me once when I was trackside. I saw a car approaching from behind me, lights went on (red/blue). He stopped, got out and walked to my truck. "Stealing my railfanning spot?" he asked me.
Well, that's one less cop to harass you about taking photos of trains...
I used to be a safe foamer. I wouldn't trespass or be at all unsafe, but I'd go for the camera every time I saw a train.
Now I'm just a railfan. I still photograph trains, and carry a camera everywhere just in case, but if there's a choice between taking a lousy grab shot that doesn't even show the whole train and is unusable anywhere of a boring train (example) or just watching it pass, I'll leave the camera in its bag...
You mean, he didn't want to share----?
If he was not an officer of the law I might've asked whether he had a deed to the property--------just out of curiousity, mind.
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
BoydOnce when I was watching a train a cop stopped and asked what I was doing. I said I was a train fan. He was completely unaware of this phenomenon. I explained that I like trains like other people like cars.
There's a County Deputy in Winnebago County, WI that is a railfan. He found me once when I was trackside. I saw a car approaching from behind me, lights went on (red/blue). He stopped, got out and walked to my truck. "Stealing my railfanning spot?" he asked me. Even CNs crews know of him. They call him "Joe Friday" on their radios.
Dan
RRKen Phoamer, one who becomes very excited over the sight of a train or locomotive. To foam at the mouth. See FRN.
Phoamer, one who becomes very excited over the sight of a train or locomotive. To foam at the mouth. See FRN.
OK--now the question is why did they spell it with the PH?----is there some sort of acid/base issue here?
Thanks it is good to know that I am not a foamer. I like trains and all but I don't foam at the mouth at the sight or sound of them coming.
alco's forever!!!!! Majoring in HO scale Minorig in O scale:)
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.