I have rectal sandwiches and was a massive trainfag as a kid. If you want legit insight, here it is:
For me, I only ever liked steam trains (especially the one below) and never liked diesels. For me it was about a few things:
1. The History - my area of the UK is very infatuated with dem choo choo trains (especially the older generations who I got on with better because of my Aspergers, this is also linked to why I like vintage and WWII shit). Where I live there is a massive museum for them and they just look pretty.
2. They are visually appealing and intriguing - The principle of a train is very toy-like and mechanically stimulating. Imagine putting a fuckin' kettle on big iron wheels, with this complex array of metal rods to make that steam pressure make the wheels move, then give them this graceful and stylish appearance and blast it down a track through the countryside at 80+mph taking people far and wide across the country. Any sperg kid is gonna want to know how it works, because all the mechanisms are on display on the exterior and It's fascinating for anyone who is interested in anything technical. Now to mention
3. They have deep set metaphorical roots in media. . There's this whole kind of romantic aesthetic from the old movies of trains, and they represent a lot of things in terms of life, whether it be relationships (the old cliche couple holding hands as the train departs until it's moving too fast for the one on the platform to keep up), to venturing into the unknown and vise versa, to representing the passage of time/life, characters making new beginnings to simply being an interesting movie plot mechanic, their large and spacious nature can even make them a location setting within a movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls4rYfW_MkQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9vQ_y9JJ1E
and so on…
4. Thomas the Tank Engine lmao