I feel strange being one of the few autistic people with little to no interest in trains other than as a means of transportation. That being said, I somehow ended up working in the railroad construction industry.

i doubt VERY much that there is any real connection between autism and appreciating trains. much more likely that its just a “funny” stereotype that influential people made popular.

in the last few years any remotely orderly and unique interests are equated to “autism”. i think its obnoxious and really wish it becomes less common.

What about non autistics who have crazy train spotting, junkie scale, addictions? I know one bloke who is definitely a normie and yet has a massive model train setup.

Several in fact