I think the "train gene" must be in my blood. I'm not as hard core as some folks around here, but I have always loved trains and my love of them was influenced by my family. I have a grandfather and two uncles who work for or used to work for the railroad (grandfather worked for the New York Central and NY, NH & H, uncles work for Amtrak). My dad isn't heavily involved in trains but he does like them a lot. He's simply the kind of person who will suggest we go out and look at a train go by if he knows there's one coming. Or he might stop at the tracks if we ever pass any, just on the offchance that we'll see some action.
I grew up in Reading, MA with the MBTA running through town, and now I go to UNH where Amtrak and Guilford freight trains pass right through campus. I just like trains, period. Love them, actually. If I never end up working with them I still want to be able to watch them.