What is Trainspotters?
[[File:Newport (Yorks.) Locomotive Depot 2074079 50725582.jpg|thumb|A group of trainspotters at Newport [[Motive power depot|MPD]] in 1954.]] [[File:Swindon 04 Works, a '4575' heads line-up locomotives awaiting scrap geograph-2578454-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg|thumb|Trainspotters collect numbers of condemned locomotives at Swindon locomotive works.]] A '''trainspotter,''' railfan, rail buff, train buff, railway enthusiast or railway buff is a person who is interested in [[Train|trains]] and [[rail transport]] systems. They have been common in the United Kingdom since the 1840s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Trainspotting {{!}} National Railway Museum|url=https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/what-was-on/trainspotting|access-date=2024-03-09|website=www.railwaymuseum.org.uk|language=en}}</ref> Trainspotters often congregated on stations platforms and adjacent to favoured railway lines. In the 1950s a trainspotting platform was erected adjacent to the main line in [[Finsbury Park]] to make room for the trainspotters who gathered there.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bradley |first1=Simon |title=The Railways: Nation, Network and People |url=https://archive.org/details/railwaysnationne0000brad |date=2016 |publisher=Profile Books |location=St Ives |isbn=978-1846682131 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/railwaysnationne0000brad/page/522 522]-525}}</ref> They often combine their interest with other [[Hobby|hobbies]], especially [[photography]] and [[videography]], [[radio scanning]], [[railway modelling]], studying railroad [[history]] and participating in [[Train station|railway station]] and [[rolling stock]] [[preservation]] efforts. There are many [[Magazine|magazines]] and [[Website|websites]] for them, including ''Trains'', ''Railfan & Railroad'', ''The Railway Magazine'', ''Locomotive Magazine'', and ''Railway Gazette International''. ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:Hobbies]] [[Category:Rail transport]]