The Trainspotter's Notebook - Francis Bourgeois

[htafc]

Hello all. I was wondering whether anybody has read this book, and could offer their opinion on it? Is it suitable for enthusiasts, or more intended for the mainstream public?

Thanks,
htafc

The Trainspotter's Notebook by Francis Bourgeois | Waterstones

Buy The Trainspotter's Notebook by Francis Bourgeois from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

www.waterstones.com

 

[subk2010]

I took a glimpse of the interior last week. I would say the general public would enjoy that more than the enthusiasts.

 

[htafc]

Okay. Thanks for the info

 

[D365]

Would it be unpopular to say that Francis (aka Luke) has 'sold out'? All these sponsored skits that he seems to be doing now. At least his former friend Ryan Windridge is still presenting as his true self and living a normal life.

 

[12LDA28C]

Would it be cynical to suggest that the guy is a charlatan and his whole 'Francis Bourgeois' persona is a joke (albeit occasionally mildly amusing) which the general public and media / consumer brands have fallen for? I'm not sure the enthusiast fraternity is so easily fooled.

If the above is true, should he be shunned or applauded for it?

 

[Sleepy]

He is currently appearing on Channel Four in Sunday brunch !

 

[anamyd]

Would it be unpopular to say that Francis (aka Luke) has 'sold out'? All these sponsored skits that he seems to be doing now. At least his former friend Ryan Windridge is still presenting as his true self and living a normal life.

Former friend Ryan Windridge? Good. After watching Francis halts Aisling Bea from BIG embarrasment on YouTube, I've lost all respect for "Francis".

Saying that a harmless gesture is a "big no no" in the "community" could cause a lot of harm to people who do it. And Aisling saying that she was "needy" for doing it was uncalled for as well.

Channel 4 (or their YouTube) are lucky I haven't yet complained to them for publishing that. And now "Francis" is making money from selling books... What's the content of them like @subk2010 ?

 

[htafc]

Sounds like one to avoid then... !

 

[Darandio]

I'm not sure the enthusiast fraternity is so easily fooled.

Apparently not. The amount of obvious jealousy from this 'fraternity' that i've seen is incredible. He seems to have brought huge attention to the hobby, they all seem to hate it wasn't them that managed to do it.

 

[D365]

Would it be cynical to suggest that the guy is a charlatan and his whole 'Francis Bourgeois' persona is a joke (albeit occasionally mildly amusing) which the general public and media / consumer brands have fallen for? I'm not sure the enthusiast fraternity is so easily fooled.

If the above is true, should he be shunned or applauded for it?

That’s the only way to make a fair assessment out of it.

 

[12LDA28C]

Apparently not. The amount of obvious jealousy from this 'fraternity' that i've seen is incredible. He seems to have brought huge attention to the hobby, they all seem to hate it wasn't them that managed to do it.

I'm not sure that the trainspotting / enthusiast 'fraternity' wants any public or media attention brought to the hobby, they've been perfectly happy going about their business, often being the butt of jokes and general disdain / ridicule for decades, indeed that's probably just how they like it. It's nothing to do with 'jealousy', they just don't need or want a 'poster boy' making media appearances on their behalf.

 

[Trainlog]

I'm not sure that the trainspotting / enthusiast 'fraternity' wants any public or media attention brought to the hobby, they've been perfectly happy going about their business, often being the butt of jokes and general disdain / ridicule for decades, indeed that's probably just how they like it. It's nothing to do with 'jealousy', they just don't need or want a 'poster boy' making media appearances on their behalf.

The thing is that when it comes to the 'sad man' jokes that many hobbies have faced, they have usually had a resurgence and have seen a new influx of poeple going into it with an open mind and with mainly good results. I remember a good 10 years ago when you said you like Warhammer or any Superhero genre whether it was Marvel or DC and you would have faced the same kinda 'ew really' response as we would to the hobby. The only difference is that both of them have managed to do extremely well in the past decade and no one will bat an eyelid anymore if you said you liked either.

As a Rail enthusiast, yeah i admit Francis stuff isn't something i would watch and i think the hobby already has good ambassadors., However, when you go round and see people are happy to watch someone be enthusiastic about trains, its some good soft power for the hobby as it will encourage people to look at them through a different eye and potentially join the hobby . Yeah i admit the following have done some good work for the hobby (Geoff Marshall, Jago Hazzard, Sams trains, Lawries Mechanical marvels, Tim Dunn and Chris Eden Green) but the reality is very few people will see any of their stuff as unless you see Geoff on Youtube Trending and watch out of curiosity or watch 'Architecture the railways built' on Channel Yesterday.

If we want people to care about passing the torch onto a younger generation for volunteering on heritage railways and supporting mainline steam locos, i think we do need to make more of an effort to welcome more people in and to allow for the hobby to finally overcome the sad man stereotypes as they are yet to die off. The joke sadly has had consequences with heritage railways facing less demand from younger demographics to volunteer on heritage railways and many have been put off or bullied for liking trains over the fact that this joke was parroted to death at them. As i said i have no interest in Tiktok but if Francis has finally brought some well needed good attention for a new generation to discover railways through a good lens then i will welcome this.

 

[bleeder4]

I've been on several charters that he was on (including the one he devotes a chapter to in his book) and he does seem to have some sort of cult following amongst youngsters (and they are without exception all late teens, early 20s). Last trip I was on, word got round that he was up at the front in Premier Dining with his girlfriend, and every time one of the stewards walked through Standard the poor fella would get asked next time he went up to the front could he give Francis their Insta handle and ask for a photo. And to be fair to Francis, he did later come through the train and pose for photos with them. Same thing at station stops. He'd get off and all the kids on the platform who were filming the arrival would start chanting his name and asking for photos.

He seems an amenable enough chap and always obliges when he's asked. I personally am not on TikTok (or even know much about it) so have never watched his stuff, but it does fascinate me to see how young people react when he's around.

 

[12LDA28C]

I've been on several charters that he was on (including the one he devotes a chapter to in his book) and he does seem to have some sort of cult following amongst youngsters (and they are without exception all late teens, early 20s). Last trip I was on, word got round that he was up at the front in Premier Dining with his girlfriend, and every time one of the stewards walked through Standard the poor fella would get asked next time he went up to the front could he give Francis their Insta handle and ask for a photo. And to be fair to Francis, he did later come through the train and pose for photos with them. Same thing at station stops. He'd get off and all the kids on the platform who were filming the arrival would start chanting his name and asking for photos.

He seems an amenable enough chap and always obliges when he's asked. I personally am not on TikTok (or even know much about it) so have never watched his stuff, but it does fascinate me to see how young people react when he's around.

I believe the point his detractors raise is regarding his chosen 'alias'

Of course his name is not Francis which does not help him appear 'authentic' - why not just use his real name?

 

[D821]

I believe the point his detractors raise is regarding his chosen 'alias'

Of course his name is not Francis which does not help him appear 'authentic' - why not just use his real name?

Why does it matter what name he uses? It's little different to an actor having a stage name, not like he's running a Ponzi scheme.

 

[12LDA28C]

Why does it matter what name he uses? It's little different to an actor having a stage name, not like he's running a Ponzi scheme.

Indeed, except he's not an actor, but gives the impression that either he's slightly dodgy so needs to use an alias or believes himself to be 'famous' enough that he needs an alias to protect his real identity and privacy in some way. Either way, rather strange.

 

[AlterEgo]

Indeed, except he's not an actor, but gives the impression that either he's slightly dodgy so needs to use an alias or believes himself to be 'famous' enough that he needs an alias to protect his real identity and privacy in some way. Either way, rather strange.

Is 12LDA28C your real name then? He posted TikToks under a pseudonym, like most people on that platform. Then, very randomly, they blew up almost overnight.

Would it be cynical to suggest that the guy is a charlatan and his whole 'Francis Bourgeois' persona is a joke (albeit occasionally mildly amusing) which the general public and media / consumer brands have fallen for? I'm not sure the enthusiast fraternity is so easily fooled.

If the above is true, should he be shunned or applauded for it?

Francis is real and, I can confirm, a very nice bloke. He’s one of the nicest people you could wish success like this upon. He’s also a good ambassador for the simple pleasure of watching trains.

Apparently not. The amount of obvious jealousy from this 'fraternity' that i've seen is incredible. He seems to have brought huge attention to the hobby, they all seem to hate it wasn't them that managed to do it.

Indeed. Pooh and fiddlesticks to his detractors, none of whom have a good reason to dislike him that doesn’t say more about them than it does him.

Former friend Ryan Windridge? Good. After watching Francis halts Aisling Bea from BIG embarrasment on YouTube, I've lost all respect for "Francis".

Saying that a harmless gesture is a "big no no" in the "community" could cause a lot of harm to people who do it. And Aisling saying that she was "needy" for doing it was uncalled for as well.

What a bad faith take on a harmless exchange. “cause harm”, come on man!

Channel 4 (or their YouTube) are lucky I haven't yet complained to them for publishing that.

I doubt they would give a flying Scotsman about it to be honest.

Channel 4 (or their YouTube) are lucky I haven't yet complained to them for publishing that. And now "Francis" is making money from selling books...

Good. I hope he makes plenty of money; he’s #1 in the Railways section of Amazon books. He’s clean, positive, family friendly and above all is blowing away the cobwebs on the hobby and getting different types of people interested in it.

 

[the sniper]

Channel 4 (or their YouTube) are lucky I haven't yet complained to them for publishing that.

If only we'd been so lucky...

 

[AM9]

I've just been listening to Saturday Live on R$, and found Francis Bourgeois's contribution quite interesting. He sounds a genuine guy with a certain type of railway enthuisiasm discuss his hobby* with others in the studio. His particular take on trains doesn't match mine, but so what? 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.
It's an interest that covers a very wide range of involvement from just enjoying being a passenger to living the intricacies of all aspects of railway history, operation and social life. Luke Nicolson (professional name Francis Bourgeois) is just an author who chose to create a name for his online and now publishing, activities, which no more make him a 'fake' than the 13 members posting in this thread with their RUK handles (which includes me, - I do not live my life using the class number of a 1960's EMU). His name is easy to find, as are some on RUK including @AlterEgo and credit to him and others who make it clear that they have nothing to hide.

 

[DelW]

Indeed, except he's not an actor, but gives the impression that either he's slightly dodgy so needs to use an alias or believes himself to be 'famous' enough that he needs an alias to protect his real identity and privacy in some way. Either way, rather strange.

I realise that I'm picking up on an old post here, but I also heard the piece that AM9 has referred to:

I've just been listening to Saturday Live on R4, and found Francis Bourgeois's contribution quite interesting. He sounds a genuine guy with a certain type of railway enthuisiasm discuss his hobby* with others in the studio.

Francis / Luke explained that at the time he began posting videos to Tiktok, he was also applying for jobs as a professional engineer. He didn't want his videos to affect this process (which might have been either positively or negatively) or his subsequent career, so he posted under a pseudonym to try to avoid that. He also said that the "Bourgeois" name, which I'd assumed to be a rather odd social class reference, actually came from his having at the time visited an exhibition of sculptures by Louise Bourgeois.
He sounded a bit nervous at times (understandably, being on live national radio), but overall he came over pretty well. It's worth having a listen, the relevant section starts at 45 minutes into the programme on the BBC Sounds recording.

 

[43066]

I've just been listening to Saturday Live on R$, and found Francis Bourgeois's contribution quite interesting. He sounds a genuine guy with a certain type of railway enthuisiasm discuss his hobby* with others in the studio. His particular take on trains doesn't match mine, but so what? 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.
It's an interest that covers a very wide range of involvement from just enjoying being a passenger to living the intricacies of all aspects of railway history, operation and social life. Luke Nicolson (professional name Francis Bourgeois) is just an author who chose to create a name for his online and now publishing, activities, which no more make him a 'fake' than the 13 members posting in this thread with their RUK handles (which includes me, - I do not live my life using the class number of a 1960's EMU). His name is easy to find, as are some on RUK including @AlterEgo and credit to him and others who make it clear that they have nothing to hide.

Absolutely. I must say I quite like his stuff, good luck to him.

He’s also travelled on one of my trains, and we exchanged nods when I was getting out of the cab in London!

 

[woodmally1979]

What are peoples thoughts on Francis (forget his surname I think its French) the vlogger? Seems hes done quite a bit to raise the profile of trains. I wonder if anyone has actually met him or seen him bobbing about. Some of his videos are very funny.

 

[Andy Pacer]

What are peoples thoughts on Francis (forget his surname I think its French) the vlogger? Seems hes done quite a bit to raise the profile of trains. I wonder if anyone has actually met him or seen him bobbing about. Some of his videos are very funny.

Francis Bourgeois, or Luke Nicholson as he is actually called.

 

[woodmally1979]

Francis Bourgeois, or Luke Nicholson as he is actually called.

Thats the fella I was trying to remember his name. Yes him!

 

[trainbow]

Closest encounter I've had was on Friday. I was standing on the platform at Glenfinnan, and he went past on the Jacobite, giving us a wave - its final steam run of the year.

I don't tend to watch his videos, but he seems perfectly nice.

 

[Cowley]

What are peoples thoughts on Francis (forget his surname I think its French) the vlogger? Seems hes done quite a bit to raise the profile of trains. I wonder if anyone has actually met him or seen him bobbing about. Some of his videos are very funny.

I’ve merged this into a thread we had a couple of years ago if you were wondering what had happened.

 

[Darandio]

What are peoples thoughts on Francis (forget his surname I think its French) the vlogger? Seems hes done quite a bit to raise the profile of trains. I wonder if anyone has actually met him or seen him bobbing about. Some of his videos are very funny.

I was about to point you to this thread but it's been merged. Just read above (and on YouTube, Twitter etc) and you'll see that many of them cannot stand him because he's brought more attention to the hobby than they ever could have. I notice one of the first replies was again to emphasise his name isn't actually Francis - just like last time - it's all they've got to beat him with. Pathetic.

 

[Iskra]

I’ve met him a few times now and have found him a perfectly pleasant chap. He’s done a lot for the profile of the hobby, and to drive engagement from the younger enthusiasts.

I find him a lot more ‘normal’ in real life than how he can come across in his videos.

 

[hexagon789]

What are peoples thoughts on Francis (forget his surname I think its French) the vlogger? Seems hes done quite a bit to raise the profile of trains. I wonder if anyone has actually met him or seen him bobbing about. Some of his videos are very funny.

Saw him at the ELR back in September, though I confess I hadn't realised it was him at the time.

I thought he looked sort of familiar in a vague back of the mind way, it was when reviewing my photos I noticed he'd (by no means deliberately, I hadn't quite framed the loco properly) got in a shot I was taking of 56006 at the time.

He seemed to just be observing proceedings and not filming at the time, perhaps another reason I didn't 'notice' him particularly at the time, as much as my concentration being on taking photos.

 

[Cowley]

I’ve met him a few times now and have found him a perfectly pleasant chap. He’s done a lot for the profile of the hobby, and to drive engagement from the younger enthusiasts.

I find him a lot more ‘normal’ in real life than how he can come across in his videos.

I’ve met him too and he’s a really nice guy. Good luck to him I say.