>>2058071I think it's more that in the US, everyone just loathes "public" transport (i.e. anything that isn't a car that only you and maybe your family are in) so loving trains is seen as communism or whatever. in the UK, people make fun of "anoraks" because they are generally annoying, being autists and the UK's hatred of anyone outside the norm, but i haven't heard of the rest of the world really detesting railfans any more than any other sort of autist.
also railfans sometimes get in the way of operations or just look suspicious. no one cares about model train table guys but the ski jacket in summer weirdo taking photos at a railyard makes people's post-9/11 THE TERRORISTS sense go off.
fun fact non-anglo yurop has an equivalent but they aren't hated -- it's a common meme that old guys tend to hang out at construction/demolition sites to appreciate zoom-booms and bulldozers and such. they are considered annoying (for similar reasons of being generally in the way if not also a little suspicious) but ultimately harmless. they may be more tolerated since the average age for those guys is way higher, or at least the stereotyped age is higher. it's considered a bored retiree activity rather than a young autist activity.
>>2059790there was a guy in canada who stole a bus and operated its route for several hours a few weeks back. the police even said they were "impressed" since the guy was curteous and even collected fares without stealing them. one person reported that he had been turned away politely for not having any tickets. old nigga truly just wanted to be a bus driver for a day
