At the risk of beating a dead horse, I'll add my two cents; some railfans can make a good rail, while others don't. In my experience, the term "foamer" is considered an insult, and not everybody by any means fits that description. The trick is to weed out the frothing fools (not all of them railfans) who are not suitable for the task. There are many good, solid rails out there who are also fans but know their business and know how to keep it separate from the hobby.

The railroad is simply not a good fit for everyone. I have two close friends, both log-time fans, who hired out (on two different railroads) and then quit about a year later. Both would have been good rails, but the job was too disruptive to their family lives (both had young children), and despite their desire to work on the railroad, they realized it just would not work for them. I'm fortunate that it worked well for me (37 years in and retiring later this year), but I sure paid a lot of dues and took a lot of knocks over the years.