Railfan, train buff, railway enthusiast, railway buff, trainspotter, or ferroequinologist?

Watch ‘Railways for Ever’ (1970) by Sir John Betjeman
Visit the National Railway Museum in York
Find ‘Waterloo Station’ (1967) by Terence Tenison Cuneo and ‘First Class: The Meeting’ by Abraham Solomon (1855)
Snap a photo Sir John Betjeman at St Pancreas Station

My favorite railroad collectibles (in NO particular order):

(1) LGB G – 21962 – Diesel locomotive – Reihe 2095 – ÖBB – This was a gift from my dad before Burgoyne was born. LGB has since gone defunct but their garden scale locos are highly sought after.
(2) BRIO World Metro Train Set – A gift from a close friend. The subway map and tube station are brilliant miniatures.
(3) GWR Guards Whistle / First Class A5 Notebook – A memento from a trip to the National Railway Musuem in York.
(4) Playmobil 4382 – Train Platform – The first of several Playmobil entries. It featured quite prominently on PLAYMOBIL365.com.
(5) Chicago Railroad Fair 1948, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad – This is the fair Walt Disney visited with Ward Kimball.
(6) Playmobil 4118v1 – Graffiti Car – This was an eBay acquisition and has a 90s vibe / pulse.
(7) Playmobil Freight Car Train 4115 – It’s the bicycle print that makes this one of my favorite freight cars.
(8) TfL’s limited edition Elizabeth Line Oyster card – Part of an unofficial social media scavenger hunt before the Elizabeth Line opened. This card came from x station.
(9) Lionel 156 Station Platform Passenger Lighted Vintage Ads O Gauge w/Extra Signs – A close friend gave me her family’s Lionel Train collection.
(10) LGB # 8036 – HUTSCHENREUTHER CHINA COFFEE SET – Coffee or team? Once upon a time LGB sold decorative China. How grand to travel first class from Paris to Berlin on a steam train in the early 1900s.
(11) Matchbox D1496-RF Shunter Locomotive Yellow Train – NOT my original. Found this one in Hereford. The original was likely from my mum or pop-pop.
(12) Desktop Departures® (UK Departure Board) – Incredible entrepreneurial company in the UK with products for train obsessed enthusiasts.

Notes
(1) Do you know where the title of the post came from?

(2) A related quote from Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler:

“Hazel George, perhaps better than anyone else including Lillian, knew that Walt was anxious and aimless, without real animations to engage him. It was she who suggested he go to a railroad fair in Chicago, even though he had returned from Hawaii only a few weeks earlier. She said he still needed to relax. Picking up on the idea, Walt mused that Ward Kimball, a railroad enthusiast himself, always seemed relaxed, so he called Kimball and asked if he wanted to accompany him. They took the Super Chief from Pasadena. At one point the president of the Santa Fe Railroad invited Walt and Kimball to ride in the engine and pull the cord to blow the whistle. Kimball said that Walt pulled long and hard. When they returned to their car, Walt ‘just sat there, staring into space, smiling and smiling,’ Kimball recalled. ‘I have never seen him look so happy.'”

It was tough getting flights back to JFK from São Paulo because of visibility related to the Canadian wildfires so some quick re-routing had us in Washington DC and then on an Amtrak to PA/NJ/NY/CT/MA. I’ve never been on the Acela, so this was a chance to compare it to train service in the UK. The train left on time from Union Station, and all stops in-between were on or close to schedule. The train wasn’t dirty, but the equipment is old. The Wi-Fi was great (never worked well in the UK on first-class services like GWR). The cafe car was clean, well-stocked, and the person behind the counter was friendly. The seats were comfortable too. My biggest criticism is with the age of the equipment. These cars must surely be nearing refurbishment. The Amtrak route(s) in the Northeast Corridor are profitable, but their financial house is in such shambles, that this equipment will probably remain in service well-beyond its recommended useful life. It’s probably still cheaper to fly but the advantage of trains remains station proximity to downtown metropolitan areas.