Pissing off railfans since...

...whew... Dunno really. Wiki says that Germans experimented with cab cars for steam engines, using machine telegraphs, which was of course not very practical. Experiments with electrics were far more successful, and after that little problem we know as WWII, cab cars saw increasingly widespread usage.

As most railfans, I'd rather have the locomotive end, but luck was not with me today. Shot this while waiting for my train to arrive in Leverkusen, and I kinda liked the contrast of the dark platform and the nicely illuminated train. I think the mundane appearance of cab cars is a similar motivation killer as that of many EMUs. Yes, I admit that cab cars are much more practical than running the locomotive around the train at each terminus, and that EMUs have superior acceleration and efficiency. But they do look very boring most of the time, I can't help it. These are x-type carriages by the way, lightweight for better acceleration and reduced energy consumption in stop-everywhere interurban services. [link]