The Idiot Foamer from Ashtabula

The Union Pacific 4014 “Big Boy” steam locomotive is now on its way back to the West Coast. It traveled to Pennsylvania and arrived in Philadelphia just in time for America’s 250th birthday, and now it returns home.

And along the way, people want to catch a glimpse or a photo of the train in its first visit to the East Coast since its manufacture in Schenectady generations ago.

Some of these people are dedicated photographers who travel as fast as they can to “chase” the train from one spot to the next, hoping to get an incredible photograph of this behemoth. We call those people “railfans.”

Unfortunately … there are still idiots out there who take dangerous, horrible risks with their lives just to get a photo of Big Boy. And that includes trying to photograph the train WHILE STANDING ON THE TRACKS THEMSELVES. We call these people “foamers,” in that a train seems to make them “foam at the mouth” in excitement.

And all it takes is one idiot foamer to either get stuck on the track as the train arrives …

Or worse – some kid sees the guy on the tracks, thinks they can get a shot like that, and they get injured when the train can’t stop to avoid them.

Well, we have video of one such clown. This is from YouTuber and railfan Jason Asselin, and he captured this moment on Big Boy’s pass through Ashtabula, Ohio. Some meathead is standing on the tracks, thinking he’ll get the shot of his lifetime. You can see the guy, clear as day – he’s got cutoff shorts and he’s standing ON THE TRACKS.

The trainmaster sees him and blasts his horn to convince him to get off the track, and at the last moment, meathead complies.

Let’s put it this way. The trainmaster, Ed Dickens, actually pulled an emergency stop, motioned for the foamer to meet him at the locomotive, and then ripped that meathead a new one.

And here’s the YouTube clip of Ed Dickens, trainmaster for Union Pacific 4014 “Big Boy,” teaching that foamer a much-needed lesson. Photo copyright 2026 Jason Asselin

That foamer was lucky. He got a tongue-lashing and whoever he is, he’s now YouTube famous.

He’s damn lucky he didn’t get his foot stuck on the track with no way to escape. Trains can’t just stop in an instant. Even an emergency stop takes nearly hundreds of feet to complete.

And it’s people like that who ruin it for everybody else.

And he will certainly learn that going forward.

Jackass.