Western Railroad Discussion > Bonehead Railfans on Donner

It is boneheaded foamers like the group I am about to talk about that gives the rest of us bad names.

Apparently right now, 1:37pm 6/10/04, there is a large group of idiots (about 15) on Donner Pass at Shed 47, a pair of minivans and a third vehicle parked INSIDE shed 47, they are standing on top of Shed 47. My understanding is the cops have been called.

Railfans safely and legally people. As stated before, crap like this is what hurts the railfan community

Gee Mike, I must have been really out of line! For God sakes, every railfan owns the right to climb over every tunnel!

And what makes you think its Railfans? The road to this location is maintained fairly well, so it could be a bunch of drunked kids or heaven forbid some bored California State workers that Arnie gave the day off too. Are you 100% sure its railfans or making a wild assumption?

100% confirmation foamers as they all were taking pix of the train.

From another fan who chased the Amador on its last run.
As stated before, crap like this is what hurts the railfan community
Outrageous, but you would have been disgusted at the last AFRR train railfan
event, too. Amador County Sheriff received 18 citizen complaints about
speeding, trespassing, opening cattle field gates and leaving them open, driving up hills on private property, blocking driveways, speeding in front of the school
in Ione, and blowing stop signs in Ione when some "fans" didn't do their
homework and searched for Ione Yard in a panic. I have never before seen so many
disrespectful rail geeks. They didn't care about blocking other fan's shots
and one 4x4 skidded to a stop at Ione Yard, which sent a huge dust cloud over
everyone and their camera equipment as the train arrived. Most of these
railtards were in their 20s. It was disgusting and embarrassing and it will be the last time I attend an event with a bunch of other railfans.

PwD

Stuff like this makes me glad that I railfan by myself.

Marty Harrison
MP 208.1 on the UP's Sedalia Sub

Get a rope, and hang those foamers high from the nearest signal bridge!!!!. Yeah, yeah, there are some stupid foamers out there. What else is new. I think there is certainly a little pot and kettle action going on here, though. This same BS has been spread across the email lists, all the while the original posters bash this site on said lists.

The same people that rant on about this nonsense are the ones who will contribute to huge threads about the latest crossing accident. "That bonehead deserved it!!"

Right.

*LOL*

"Railtards"...classic!

In the ORIGINAL Foamite Dictionary from the late 70's, these people would fall under the 'Cleege' category

samreeves Wrote:
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> Gee Mike, I must have been really out of line!
> For God sakes, every railfan owns the right to
> climb over every tunnel!

This is a carry over from his "why are railfans so silly" posts earlier. I have to congratulate Mr Reeves on his mastery of what is often referred to as the "Straw Man" tactic. This tactic, the mainstay of AM talk radio dumbs down argument by comparing to things that are different while acting as if they are the same. What Mr Reeves is referring to here is earlier posts regarding the right to photograph trains from public places, such as depots. By pretending there is a wide-spread notion of the right to photograph from private property ("climbing every tunnel") he infers that two (private and public property) are the same, and that anyone who disagrees with being told not to photograph from a public space would feel entitled to photograph from private property as well. This is the "straw man" tactic in a nutshell. It works great on AM radio. Maybe not so well here.

Us old goats still remember the 80s when steam regularly came to California. The southbound trip of 4449 to the CSRM grand whoopla was pure chaos at Black Butte. Fortunately, the SP Police and the CHP had reps aboard the last car in communication with CHP helicopters and the worst offenders were spotted, stopped, and cited.

Following the Big UP Beast up the Feather River Canyon was as scary a time as I have ever seen railfanning. The worst foamers--by everyone's conclusion--were not locals. Instead, the prize went to four Germans in a white rental car. At Sloat, per prior agreement, at least ten cars deliberately blocked their exit until they were the last to leave. By Portola, they had gotten the message.

We will always have foamers; the rest of us just have to keep setting the standard with good behavior.

Some people just seem to be a little dense... And the density also seems to increase when these people are together in groups.

I was talking about trains to somebody the other day, and they started telling me how they use to go up to Tehachapi and ride thier ATC through tunnels, behind trains that had just passed through. The fact that the train had just passed through seemed to be his idea of doing such a thing safetly. I told him that other trains, or worse, helper engines, often sit in sidings waiting for trains to pass, and because the line is so busy, they can often switch back onto the main going the opposit direction very quickly after a train had passed... Which would obviously be a bad thing for somebody riding they're ATC through the tunnel. After my explaination, I got kind of a blank stare for a second, then a sort of 'that would never happen' kind of head gesture. I dropped the subject after that.

Dave
Los Angeles, CA

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I, too, have seen some stupid things done by stupid people. I consider myself a "railfan" not a "railbuff" -- I keep my pants on -- and definitely NOT a "foamer," an apt phrase for the sort of numbnuts we are talking about.

Foamers are usually easy to identify, often bedizened with patches and pins, and their buggys held together with bumperstickers. They arrive late to a shoot with no regard for the safety of others, property, or applicable traffic laws. They create a god-awful racket, often incessantly yammering to their personal demons or on a cell phone (so-called because that's where their brain is) and with a scanner on full blast, much to the dismay of videographers. They have an uncanny ability to occupy a point where they will obscure or at least interfere with everyone else' carefully chosen sight lines.

But as bad as foamers are, the worst of the worse are what I term "Iron Horseflies." These are hog-wild, super-saturated steam-dimple-domes who go absolutely ape if there is a self-propelled pot-boiler in the area. I've seen them nearly wreck chasing steamers , and have heard of wrecks caused by them. They are so obsessed with the chase, that nothing else exists for them.

And like another poster said, I like to railfan alone, and away from the madding crowds. Keep out of the way, be safe, obey the posted and unposted regulations, and most importantly, take your time!

Doug in Auburn

Doze Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
> But as bad as foamers are, the worst of the worse
> are what I term "Iron Horseflies." These are
> hog-wild, super-saturated steam-dimple-domes who
> go absolutely ape if there is a self-propelled
> pot-boiler in the area.
>
> Doug in Auburn


HAHAHAHA....I love this term !!