Francis Bougeois Is In The Game

I Was Playing Doncaster To Peterborough And I Saw A Poster About A Class 37 And Francis Bougeois Was On It

 

Can you tell us who he is (for those who don't know him) ?

 

Bloody hell, he gets on my nerves on social media let alone finding him in the game!

 

He’s got a YouTube Channel. Just search his name up. You’ll probably recognise him when you see him. He’s a young lad that does a lot of train content.

 

Google Francis Bourgeois (correct spelling here to help) to find out more about him.

 

Haha I know the feeling. He seems to be popping up a lot lately. I’ve noticed he’s appearing more on Facebook now.

 

Just curious on why?

 

He's going to be on the new Grand Tour as well which is pretty cool alongside the chaps from Throttle House.

Throttle House make great content so I'm quite excited to see how well they gel with Francis.

 

Agree, I think there's a good case he's done more good for "our cause" amongst normals than anyone else in the past few decades. I think he's awesome.

 

image??? or are you bluffing

 

It’s been in the game since TSW 4 launched.

 

Who?

 

I like his passion and he has helped bring enthusiasm of trains to a much wider audience - and, in my view, has reduced the stigma when it comes to trainspotting in general etc.

 

I’ve got a lot of admiration for Francis. When I was a teenager and young adult I had to conceal my passion for all things trains - I even got picked on for it at secondary school when people found out I volunteered on my local heritage line. His content has made liking trains more acceptable to the masses and taken away some of the anorak trainspotter stereotype that used to be what most people thought. I wonder if anyone else had a similar experience to me growing up.

 

Try and respect what he’s done for us rail enthusiasts.

 

You're welcome to your opinion and I respect that. But to me it's to the contrary, and I find some his stuff very cringe worthy and at the detriment of railway enthusiasts image. Openly crying and babbling on the end of a platform over a locomotive isn't particularly giving railway enthusiasts a good image. Atleast for me I'd not want to be represented in such a way. I'm not infantile enough to present myself in such a way and wouldn't want that type of behaviour associated with me.

Also it seems to have replaced the classic "oh as you like trains do you like Flying Scotsman" as the default question for enthusiasts. And I have to reiterate what I've already said above.

But it's much like any social media personality, some people will like a person, and others won't and I just fit into the latter. Each to their own though and if people like his personality then great and that's fair enough.

 

What has he done then apart from shoving a fish eye camera on his head and running down a platform (which is dangerous and shouldn’t be encouraged)

 

Giving millions upon millions of people an insight into railways. He does a lot more than run up and down a platform.

 

I think train enthusiasts are a little jealous of him and what’s he’s achieved. He’s taken his hobby in the railway to the next level and made a living out of it. Good on him.

 

More than you apparently /j

 

I’ve seen him at a few diesel galas, he’s the real deal. Seems a really decent lad as well. Always enjoy his stuff.

 

Sorry to hear about your high school experience. I too was picked on and it wasn’t pleasant but those days are long gone now . I’ve never understood why people think having a hobby around trains / railways is funny anyway. Some people just think you shouldn’t be allowed to like something that’s different to them.

 

I am so jealous…….. not

 

Slight over reaction Millions upon millions of people. You put 100 people in a room ask them if they know who he is I guarantee the percentage of people outside the rail hobby wouldn’t have a clue who he is.

 

I respect him a lot as he's close to my generation and a lot of younger people do too. My friends from University who literally don't care about trains at all saw his stuff and they were just amazed by how passionate he was for what he loves. Passion is important in that way.

He's definitely not a bad thing for the world of trains, even if he's not everyone's cup of tea.

 

You could say that about most people to be fair

 

I think most people would know him as "The TikTok trainspotter guy" but I don't have much of an opinion on him. I do know that his real name isn't actually Francis Bourgeois however, it's just a persona he has but his passion for trains is genuine.

He seems like a cool guy to talk to but i'm not really a fan of that style of content.

 

He also did (probably my favourite) a video where he explained why his behaviour near trains may look silly to others and compared it to soccer fans that behave weirdley when "their" team scores but it just seems to be more accepted by society to to that.
Also I have not seen any fish eye camera for a long time, and without that his content would probably never have gotten any attention outside the trainspotter bubble.

And I say that while being a train driver who also rather laughed about trainspotters before. I loved the way he explained that and it helped me understand his kind of people... Now I hear colleagues say things like "we should not make jokes about them, they might be our future coworkers..." and stuff like that.

 

His 9 top videos on TikTok have over 10 million views. You can look it up yourself

 

I like his enthusiastic and gentle presentation style. He's not cynical or dismissive of anyone, at least not in the material I've seen.

I like the way he weaves his long standing girlfriend, Amy, into some of his material, which also helps debunk the trainspotter stereotype a bit. He shows train enthusiasts can have normal relationships.

I just wish he didn't sound like he's in physical ecstasy when a Class 56 goes past!

 

So that’s 1.1 million views does not mean each video is different viewers lol

 

Since TikTok loops videos, every time a video loops, it's a view. Showing up on someone's fyp, even if they scroll almost immediately, that's a view.

 

Exactly my point

 

Yup and I just downvote videos I have no interest in or the person in said video and hit not interested it stops the algorithm showing you it again and others like it.

 

where???

 

Another thing I don't like is the way some people go about showing an interest in him... I can't explain it any politer than this. It seems, for example, when he did his Channel 4 program and got celebrities involved it was through the lense of them showing an insincere interest in the 'hobby' because they think he is disabled and they are being kind and compassionate around that rather than having a genuine interest in railways (I know he isn't disabled, but thats how it comes across with their approach). And I don't like the insinuation that people who have an interest in railways somehow automatically have to have a disability just because they like railways, and that they need a patronising person to show insincere interest to look like they are a do gooder and are trying to 'understand', when there is absolutely no need for them to understand something that is quite simple: it's a completely adult hobby... I just find the whole thing patronising.

By the way there is absolutely nothing wrong with people who do have a disability liking railways just to make that clear and I mean nothing malicious by it. But the way in which I saw him on Channel 4 with celebrities going spotting with him, just gave the impression that it was them looking at him through a sympathy lense and trying to understand him... Its like, I don't need someone to try and understand my hobby or have this insinuation that you have to have something wrong with you for liking railways, or that it needs people to talk to you like a child about it and 'show an interest'.

I just don't like that approach, and I don't think it does anyone in the railway community any favours, nor do I feel it improves the image of railway enthusiasts which has never really been a 'cool' thing since the end of steam and people with their Ian Allen spotting books.

A great example of railway enthusiasm being shown properly proudly and through a lense of 'normality' so to speak for me, is Guy Martin... I genuinely really liked his locomotive driving and how his railway program was produced, like a educational and genuinely interesting program that relied on just cold hard facts, entertainment in an engineering perspective, and education about railways to draw the audience in.

Not only that but he does a variety of programmes about engineering based interests, but does it from a place of genuine adult interest and is really informative for anyone watching weather they are an old sweat in the hobby or someone who is a novice.

Another is the late great Fred Dibnah. No more needs to be said on that one.

I am sorry for the very long winded rant, and I know I might receive some backlash for it, but I thought I'd rather be sincere and honest about the whole thing and give a deeper perspective on why I do not like his content.

 

To me that's being able to laugh at yourself. Few of my acquaintances and certainly none of my very good friends like trains (I have some "mates" who I've met through the hobby but they don't have admission to my innermost circle of arousal in the same way as my wife or said good friends, unlike say 55022). They relentlessly take the piss. So for my amusement (partly through their annoyance) I "nerd it up" immensely, unnecessarily bringing up train minutae at every possible opportunity. I think when he interacts with normals there's a similar thing going on. I get it.

 

Don't see anything wrong with what you said really. You said nothing offensive so no one should give you any backlash really.

Francis as a person seems like a really nice guy no one can fault him for that in anyway. Just his content isn't for me then again tiktok isn't a platform i use either and have zero intentions of so might be why i don't pay much attention to his content.

 

Absolutely, people assume if you have an interest in trains, you automatically have a disability (usually mental). It's a horrible stigma. Again as you said, there isn't anything wrong with having a disability, of course. What difference does an interest in something 'normal' like music, cars, beauty to an interest in trains.

 

I don’t dislike his content but I’m not a fan either, however my nephew is. Personally I find some his behaviour potentially dangerous especially with regards to how he acts on platforms, and both myself and his parent s have had to conversations with my nephew and why he can’t act like how Francis does on social media.

Just like how kids copy their soccer hero’s diving antics, kids could copy his behaviour of running along platforms.

Yes parents have the main responsibility of educating their children on the dangers of running close to platform edges but kids copy what they see other adults do especially on TV, this is a proven fact.

That said, I did met him once briefly on a platform and he was uber respectful of other passengers in respect of filming his content and compared to a very stressful flight sat behind a popular aero YouTuber I once had with him constantly recording content and disrupting service and other passengers and Id take travelling in the same sphere again as Francis over that any day.

 

I like how he's reaching a new and young audience with his videos. Its getting the next generations into trains and train spotting and train enthusiasm as a whole. He's also a very nice guy in person. Some dont like him for it but generally the older generations don't like new or change so each to their own

 

Since no one has actually bothered to post it, here's the poster:

This was at Peterborough, not sure if it's elsewhere on the route.

 

And this is really a big issue because... why exactly? It's literally one poster on one station in one route. Just... ignore it if this really bothers you that much?

 

He did some promo for TSW 4 and met Matt on one of his videos, so presume that’s how this came about.

 

Think it is in a few locations

 

People get weirdly defensive about Francis Bourgeois for some reason, I see it all the time.

I'm not a fan of him myself, I personally think his presentation style is tedious at best. I have a similar opinion about that historian, Tim Dunn. Still, live and let live! I just click "not interested" on their content and move on.

I much prefer the formal railway videos, such as the documentary videos on Youtube by Ruairidh MacVeigh. There's also Gandy Dancer Productions who has some amazing steam era footage from his own personal collection. I'd recommend those to anyone!

 

That reminds me of Clive Lamming btw.
He's the best-known railway historian in France, and he's from your country.
I was wondering if he's as well-known in the UK ? He's a true authority in his field, and with good reason.
On discussion forums, many people readily criticize him, for one reason or another, ultimately without any justified basis.
As if "geeks" couldn't stand the idea of a recognized authority on the subject...
Maybe at some point, some people got such a strong sense of being the only ones who love trains and know about them (outside of the internet) that they cannot accept not being alone "at the top of the food chain"...

 

Anyone’s welcome to love trains, I’ve never said otherwise. I stand against gatekeeping of any kind quite frankly.

I just think Dunn, like Bourgeois, has a tedious “everything has to be fun” presentation style and for learning about railways, there are better options.

Does it mean I think they’re not allowed in the railway community? No, not at all.

Does it mean I think I’m better than him? Absolutely not, I don’t care who’s more popular than who. I’m here for trains, not likes and views. I actually keep myself rather detached from the enthusiast community outside of TSW because previously mentioned gatekeeping and petty fighting among said enthusiasts. The model railway space is notably awful for this at times.

I’ve actually seen Francis at SVR Diesel Galas and youngsters geeking out simply because he’s riding on the same train. If that gives them some joy, good for them I say. Seems like a nice chap overall, I’m not just his target audience.

It’s not so black and white, you’re able to not like something without there being some deep seated reason

As for Clive Lamming, can’t say I’ve watched him before to be honest.

 

Interesting, I just looked up M. Lamming out of curiosity as I've never heard of him. Although his father was English he is very much a Frenchman. He seems to be a somewhat prolific writer but is naturally unknown in the UK as 99.9% of his writings are in French and concern French railway-related subjects. Anyway thank you for that, I may take a look at some of his books.

 

Tim Dunn has grown on me over the years through his different TV series on railway architecture and the secrets of the Underground. He exudes a sincere if somewhat exuberant enthusiasm which grated a little at first but I rather enjoy now. He's also done some promotional stuff for the MHR and the GCR which are very professionally done, and his enthusiasm and ease in front of the camera always shine through.