Railfanning - The New York Times

In announcing his plans last week to buy Burlington Northern, Mr. Buffett explained that good old trains are the future: an efficient and relatively green way to ship coal, grain and just about everything else that makes this country run. Another reason for his purchase, he joked, was that “my father didn’t buy me a train set as a kid.” Although Mr. Buffett’s plans are rooted in the cool calculation of good returns on an investment, his throwaway line taps into the romantic distinction of his latest acquisition. He is not buying just anything. He is buying trains — and thus the rapt attention of the societal subset known as railfans. A quarter-million strong, by their estimates, they are deeply knowledgeable, a little prickly about being dismissed as nerds, and so enthusiastic that Mr. Buffett’s following of devoted investors will seem disengaged by comparison.