Trainspotting social media star Francis Bourgeois chased a locomotive for 10 hours on Thursday before reacting with joy as he finally saw it at a Welsh station.
This WalesOnline reporter bumped into the 22-year-old — whose passionate railway videos have built a 2.7 million-strong TikTok following — on platform two of Newport station at 4.35pm as he waited for the British Rail Class 37 train to pass. Francis revealed he and his friend Reuben had been "chasing" the diesel-electric locomotive since 6.30am when they started their day at Ilford station in London. Asked why, Francis said: "Because they're old and they sound beautiful."
The hunt had been complicated by changes to the train's planned route but Francis' delight was clear as the Class 37 arrived at 4.40pm with its throaty engine roar. You can watch the moment it passed at the top of this page.
Francis, who had a GoPro camera fixed to his forehead, was not followed by a camera crew on this occasion, although the Londoner recently became the star of a Channel 4 digital series called The Trainspotter's Notebook. And this is far from the first time he has shown his love for Class 37s. In November he correctly identified one just from hearing its horn in a BBC Radio 1 interview, leaving presenter Greg James amazed.
There were 309 Class 37s built between 1960 and 1965. They used to regularly carry passenger services and are still used for freight and maintenance purposes. Some railway enthusiasts call them "tractors" due to similarities in the engine sounds.
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