I barrowed Thomas Cook Europian Train Timetable to know the difference from Japanese ones and train maps in Europian countries from the library in front of Hoya Station.
The Europian countries which I want to visit are UK and Germany, the 2 countries having long railway history. So I study German at university. In 1830, the first practical railway, Liverpool and Manchester Railway, was opened with the steam locomotives George and Robart Stephenson made. In 1879, Werner von Siemens made the first electric train and the train ran in the Berlin Expo. And the first tram/streetcar was opened in Berlin, 1881. Both UK and Germany have glorious railway history.
We always want to go to the other countries, but in case of Japan, at least, we have wanted to go overseas since the opening of a country to the world in the end of Edo era.