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

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It happens in the end, but only after something much more momentous than you would expect from an 11-minute YouTube video.

The first, which features as a guest the comedian Aisling Bea, is an ungainly cross between his TikToks and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.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.

After multiple media appearances and collaborations with public figures such as Thierry Henry, Joe Jonas, Rosalia and Sam Fender, plus brands such as Gucci and Spotify, Bourgeois has a growing social media following of more than 4.

It's worth having a listen, the relevant section starts at 45 minutes into the programme on the BBC Sounds recording. 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. 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. In the book, Francis takes you along on his “most memorable trainspotting adventures” as he travels along the “fields and footbridges of the British countryside, passing through grandiose ticket halls, historic terminals and backwater stations.

My heart in the last remarks of the book 🥺 I also appreciated the audio clips of the different trains and his reactions to him. I then got 'it' and understood Francis simply loved trains and allowed the viewers into his passion on his terms. You can’t help but sense that this really is where his heart lies, and that he will be relieved when the bizarre ironic online fascination with him passes. 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.

He has collaborated with public figures including Thierry Henry, Joe Jonas, Rosalia and Sam Fender, and brands such as Gucci and Spotify.