The Trainspotter's Notebook: The unmissable book from TikTok's trainspotting sensation

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He claims that certain aspects of his videos are staged, including a video of him falling out of his chair, explaining "I love absurdist humour, so I try to intertwine it. His book aims to “immerse readers in the sights and sounds of the railway” as he recounts his most memorable trainspotting adventures. The first, which features as a guest the comedian Aisling Bea, is an ungainly cross between his TikToks and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

Yes it describes trainspotting stereotypes (those that give the hobby its bad name) but is also an honest account of why trains "turn him on". At least his former friend Ryan Windridge is still presenting as his true self and living a normal life. Francis shared that he loved writing the book and said: “The anticipation of a train coming by or finding the next spot to watch a loco coming along the tracks is a time of complete focus for me, disconnecting from the rush and busyness of life. The book gives a short history of the author's love of trains before going on to give a series of episodes in his railway adventures all over England and the lengths he goes to find and photograph interesting trains, especially his beloved HSTs (Inter City 125s) and Class 37s. It encourages its audience to reconnect with the passions we all held as children, and gives readers a fresh appreciation for Britain’s industrial landscape and the extraordinary world of the railway.

The books aims to immerse readers “in the sights and sounds of the railway” as Francis takes readers “on an epic journey and shows you the joy of following your own passions. It traverses through the fields and footbridges of the British countryside, passing through grandiose ticket halls, historic terminals and backwater stations.

It's no more unusual than quite a few posters on RUK that seem to have some psycological dependency on travelling on every train of an indential class, or cover every inch of a line in both directions including sidings and relief tracks.I especially enjoyed his discussions about his content, how that is viewed by other trainspotters, and how its changed the way they interact with him. Not my usual genre and if honest I had never heard of Francis - however it had a few things in its favour….

In 2022, he attended Daniel Fletcher's February and September AW22 London Fashion Week runway shows, [103] [104] where he met Tom Daley ten months before the two would reconvene for Trainspotting with Francis Bourgeois. Francis Bourgeois is an English trainspotter and social media personality, best known for his videos posted on Instagram and TikTok on the topic of trains. Personally I've found rail enthusiasm to be a good way to visit interesting places and meeting interesting people.At times funny and heart-warming, meditative and reflective, and always joyous, The Trainspotter's Notebook is an ode to the places and people of the railway from the internet's most beloved trainspotter. It's more important to be true to your passions than what anybody else thinks according to Francis and I agree strongly with this. Bourgeois has named the Class 37 [97] and the Class 158 [32] as some of his favourite locomotives, and the Class 170 as his least favourite. From sleeping in a car to get a good shot of 73962 Dick Mabbutt to trainspotting with Niall Horan, Francis Bourgeois has been on one hell of a ride over the past year.

It felt amazing to be able to share my passion with my friends for my birthday, which was on the 9th July" – via Instagram.Afterward, Bourgeois appeared on the Gucci Podcast alongside Bryanboy to discuss the relationship between fashion and social media. In the rail enthusiast community, there have been some negative reactions to Francis, with some feeling he is making a mockery of rail enthusiasts and isn't a true rail-fan himself. Of all the figures who have used TikTok to propel themselves into the limelight, none are quite as fascinating as Francis Bourgeois.