Metrophile
Encyclopedia : M : ME : MET : Metrophile
A metrophile is a person whose hobby is the study of metro (subway, underground) systems.
Such people may indulge their hobby by:
- travelling and visiting as many metro systems as they can;
- attempting to find out about and/or visit hidden nooks and crannies of a metro system;
- learning about the technology, architecture, and history of various metro systems;
- collecting material related to metro systems, such as maps, plans, transfers, tickets, and the like, often from many cities around the world;
- publicizing their metro systems (some metrophile websites contain more information about the system than the transit companies' own);
- designing expanded metro networks for various cities;
- discussing their findings with others;
- and, in general, writing, learning, teaching, photographing, and thinking about metros.
However, in the Greater New York Area, they are instead known as railfans. Some of them have formed a well-organized lobbying organization.
Some also combine this with bus spotter and/or tram spotter to form "transit fan", a person who studies a city's entire urban public transit system.
One metrophile, an autistic New Yorker named Darius McCollum, impersonated a range of New York City subway personnel for some time; he was so technically proficient at driving trains, helping repair crews, fixing trains, and even dealing with emergencies, that he served unpaid with some distinction (and a certain amount of complicity from actual personnel). This was illegal and he was repeatedly arrested and, despite a plea to have him treated for Asperger's syndrome, was finally imprisoned. Harper's Magazine published an article on him in May 2002.
See also
- Train spotting
- Barbara Vine's novel King Solomon's Carpet
- Foamer
External links
- [UrbanRail.net]
- [Straphangers Campaign]
- http://www.vicsig.net/ Vicsig - Victorian Signals and Safeworking (Comprehensive resource on Australian Railways)
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