trainspotter

From train +‎ spotter.

trainspotter (plural trainspotters)

1. A person whose hobby is train spotting.
   • 2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 2:

     `So are you like one of those anorak wearing trainspotter types?'

   • 2021 July 28, Christian Wolmar, “Forgotten by the railways, but ripe for the exploring”, in RAIL, number 936, page 34:

     Above all, I remember the noise and smell of the steam locomotives, and it was those journeys that turned me into a trainspotter, which meant that soon a pencil, notebook and the Ian Allan locospotter's guide became essential items for the trip.

   • 2025 May 31, Oliver Smith, “A night on the Riviera”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 6:

     “Unless you want to end up in the depot!” Then he looks at me more closely, suspecting a trainspotter in his midst. “Maybe, you do want to end up in the depot.”

3. (by extension) An obsessive follower of any minority interest or hobby.

• trainspotting
• planespotter
• locospotter

• anorak
• ferroequinologist
• rivet counter