I've talked to a number of European railroad employees -- from management to front line -- and got the impression that in Europe, liking trains and working for a railroad are not seen as in any way strange. (I speak German and can have fairly detailed conversations in German on transportation issues.)

In fact, in Austria, the national railroad sponsors "sport" groups for employees at most larger faculties. The reason I put sport in quotes is that, though that's the official name, it includes a wide variety of recreational and hobby activities.

And, yes, these sport activities include model railroad clubs where the majority of members are railroad employees! These groups generally allow associate memberships for people who are not railroad employees. In visiting one of these clubs years ago, I found two real locomotive engineers running the layout.

-- Ernest