PeterY
Established Member
- Joined
- 2 Apr 2013
- Messages
- 1,315
Reading the replies, it looks like I'm suffering too from Veg frothing. 
-
Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
What is meant by "veg frothing"?
- Thread starter MG11
- Start date
- Status
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R
RailUK Forums
High Dyke
Established Member
"My Lords"...waves arm frantically... LOLReading the replies, it looks like I'm suffering too from Veg frothing.
GW43125
Established Member
- Joined
- 8 Dec 2014
- Messages
- 2,049
"My Lords"...waves arm frantically... LOL
*tries to act like he's never done that*
*fails*
87electric
Member
- Joined
- 27 Jan 2010
- Messages
- 1,023
This is a good example of what is meant by "frothing".
On my recent trip to California i did see and hear some American spotters acting just like this. The whoops of joy over the BNSF freight was puzzling to passengers on the platforms.
My all-time favourite has got to be "DAA": originated some fifty years ago, allegedly from a comment by a "normal" passenger on a train near the end of the BR regular-steam era -- his witnessing the antics of railway enthusiasts, caused him to observe that he considered them all, "daft as a***holes". The railway-enthusiast community promptly seized with delight -- in a spirit of self-mockery -- on this utterance, abbreviating it to "DAA", and taking it on themselves as a descriptive badge of honour.
Zamracene749
Member
Veg applies equally to bus spotters- in Newcastle we have 'Veg Corner'. Anybody in any doubt as to it's whereabouts, simply take any saturday bus arriving into Eldon Square bus station or departing Haymarket bus station and look for the camera /ipad wielding males that even the big issue sellers are avoiding 
High Dyke
Established Member
Lol.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
I have never done that as I like having a girlfriend.
Veg applies equally to bus spotters- in Newcastle we have 'Veg Corner'. Anybody in any doubt as to it's whereabouts, simply take any saturday bus arriving into Eldon Square bus station or departing Haymarket bus station and look for the camera /ipad wielding males that even the big issue sellers are avoiding
bus spotters. Lower even than trainspotters!
GW43125
Established Member
- Joined
- 8 Dec 2014
- Messages
- 2,049
I have never done that as I like having a girlfriend.
What's a "girlfriend"?
That is a low I will never go to.
Reminds me of the time I took a picture of a bus for a visual gag (this was just after 321s came off the St Albans Abbey branch so I took a picture of the number 321 bus for a laugh) and got all manner of odd looks for it.
Tetchytyke
Veteran Member
47403
Established Member
I just done a little wee, laughing, especially when I saw this reply,
Harbonite said:-
Veg are the reason why I call Tamworth station 'the allotment', there's a cabbage patch on every platform.
I may just attend such vagaries, sometime in the new year too, note to self, don't forget to take compost".
The question has been appropriately answered through this thread, however the terms of endearment, have changed, In my days, as young kids hanging round platforms in the mid 80s, the older, local know it all's would refer to us as "insects".
We all had canvas havasacks but the established spotter/basher, could be spotted mile off, the hard backed notebook and all of them had bags of the ilk below
they normally worked in pairs, looked down their noses at everyone and talked in head codes with their companion, trying to conceal what gen they had.
They'd usually turn out when something decent was on one of the local turns and the looks of disgust, we'd get, if we were onboard, accompanied by the comment, bloody insects are everywhere.
Summer Saturdays they're numbers would swell, you could literally smell the railway snobbery in the air, normally Brut or Blue Stratos. if we were armed with a TOPS Report (which we'd sometimes get from the foreman at Tyne Yard or Gateshead shed at silly oclock in the morning), we'd be sat on a parcel barrow at the South end of platform 9, scouring said TOPS, as well as watching for anything coming over the King Eddie bridge, when one of them would invariably come over, be all arsey and try to baffle us, what's on the 1E08, 1M62, 1L95 etc etc?, obviously missing the 1 off, as that would be a hanging offence to quote the 1 in their minds.
In truth all bar one of us would be baffled too but one of the lads Cal, studied his timetable(head codes were in the back of them I believe) and loco hauled diagram books religiously, so knew all the local head codes by heart, as well as the extras in the summer timetable, he also knew a large majority of the freight ones too, we'd hand him the TOPS and he'd make sense of it and explain to us, what was what, he'd then write down in the back of his notebook what was on what, so when asked, he'd add locos on freights due too, wether he was trying to baffle/impress said basher with his reply, I'm not sure.
Harbonite said:-
Veg are the reason why I call Tamworth station 'the allotment', there's a cabbage patch on every platform.
I may just attend such vagaries, sometime in the new year too, note to self, don't forget to take compost".
The question has been appropriately answered through this thread, however the terms of endearment, have changed, In my days, as young kids hanging round platforms in the mid 80s, the older, local know it all's would refer to us as "insects".
We all had canvas havasacks but the established spotter/basher, could be spotted mile off, the hard backed notebook and all of them had bags of the ilk below
they normally worked in pairs, looked down their noses at everyone and talked in head codes with their companion, trying to conceal what gen they had.
They'd usually turn out when something decent was on one of the local turns and the looks of disgust, we'd get, if we were onboard, accompanied by the comment, bloody insects are everywhere.
Summer Saturdays they're numbers would swell, you could literally smell the railway snobbery in the air, normally Brut or Blue Stratos. if we were armed with a TOPS Report (which we'd sometimes get from the foreman at Tyne Yard or Gateshead shed at silly oclock in the morning), we'd be sat on a parcel barrow at the South end of platform 9, scouring said TOPS, as well as watching for anything coming over the King Eddie bridge, when one of them would invariably come over, be all arsey and try to baffle us, what's on the 1E08, 1M62, 1L95 etc etc?, obviously missing the 1 off, as that would be a hanging offence to quote the 1 in their minds.
In truth all bar one of us would be baffled too but one of the lads Cal, studied his timetable(head codes were in the back of them I believe) and loco hauled diagram books religiously, so knew all the local head codes by heart, as well as the extras in the summer timetable, he also knew a large majority of the freight ones too, we'd hand him the TOPS and he'd make sense of it and explain to us, what was what, he'd then write down in the back of his notebook what was on what, so when asked, he'd add locos on freights due too, wether he was trying to baffle/impress said basher with his reply, I'm not sure.
Last edited:
43021HST
Established Member
Excellent description, it's that kind of knowledge snobbery I can't stand. I don't understand the logic behind witholding bits of information like that, share it with fellow like minds. Although it's usually done by individuals who feel the need to engage in petty, division and one-upmanship to make up for their overwhelming sense of lack of self worth; hence veg, the Alan Partridges of railways.
It's why I now longer seriously engage with rail enthusiasts outside the realms of RailUK or on preserved railways. Most platform-enders go beyond satire.
On the flipside, preserved railways tend to be better for meeting knowledgeable, well-rounded individuals.
47403
Established Member
I hate Railway snobbery, it's just a small minority though. At Crewe a few years back I asked a guy, who I saw write it down, what the 323 was that just left, to be met with, why? I replied, cos I'd like to know the number please. I'm told well if you didn't see it, thats not my fault it's only a 323 anyway and walked away. Some other cranks on the opposite platform told me its number, when i told them what happened, they told me, oh he's an arsehole, he does it to everyone. Ignore him.
I find most are good blokes to talk too. At Wandsworth Road a few months back, an old guy walked over the bridge and asked if I was an enthusiast, asked where I was from and tthen told me what freight was due through in the next hour, before wishing me luck as he was off elsewhere and at Wilesden Bridge I met 2 great guys and we spent 2hrs yacking about the days when loco hauled services were the norm and sharing gen from our respective areas. Meeting like-minded souls and talking shop is what I like about this hobby, especially going elsewhere hunting stuff down.
I find most are good blokes to talk too. At Wandsworth Road a few months back, an old guy walked over the bridge and asked if I was an enthusiast, asked where I was from and tthen told me what freight was due through in the next hour, before wishing me luck as he was off elsewhere and at Wilesden Bridge I met 2 great guys and we spent 2hrs yacking about the days when loco hauled services were the norm and sharing gen from our respective areas. Meeting like-minded souls and talking shop is what I like about this hobby, especially going elsewhere hunting stuff down.
Your description of railway enthusiast snobbery was the perfect summing up 47403. Love it
- Status