{"id":4734,"date":"2024-01-24T04:37:40","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T18:37:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=4734"},"modified":"2024-01-24T04:37:40","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T18:37:40","slug":"francis-bourgeois-to-front-heritage-rail-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=4734","title":{"rendered":"Francis Bourgeois to front heritage rail awards\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Social media sensation, content creator and author Francis Bourgeois is set to be the guest speaker at the Heritage Railway Association<\/a> Annual Awards 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The cult trainspotter who aims to inspire people to follow their passions will take to the stage in Brighton during February at the gala dinner held to reveal the winners of the top awards in heritage rail. He will address hundreds of leading restorationists, preservationists and innovators shortlisted in the 11 categories of the HRA Annual Awards 2024, sponsored by Inspire Structures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With a combined following of over 5 million followers across TikTok and Instagram, he\u2019s one of the best-known digital creators in the UK, working with Channel 4 on his YouTube series \u2018Trainspotting with Francis Bourgeois,\u2019 his first book \u2018The Trainspotter\u2019s Notebook\u2019 was published in 2022, and he works with global brands such as Gucci, Puma and LEGO, alongside creating his own content. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Heritage Railway Association Chief Executive, Steve Oates, said: \u201cFrancis has brought the world of railways, and heritage railways, to a completely different audience. His content and infectious enthusiasm really stands out and I\u2019m\u00a0sure lots of us have been captivated by it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe HRA Annual Awards is a celebration of achievement, innovation\u00a0and success in all different forms across the heritage rail sector. I\u2019m\u00a0really pleased that Francis will be a part of those celebrations.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

Francis will be following in the footsteps of other noted celebrity railway enthusiasts such as pop music legend Pete Waterman and leading journalist Christian Wolmar, who have also been guest speaker at the event. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Francis said: \u201cHeritage railways and railway groups across the UK have played such an important part in preserving not just the locomotives, rolling stock and railway infrastructure, but nationwide railway enthusiasm itself! The heritage railway sector has connected enthusiasts to some of the most visceral and inspiring experiences you can have on the railway \u2013 from 9Fs hauling heavy goods trains, or Deltics\u00a0flying up the East Coast Mainline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u202f\u201cI have had so much pleasure from heritage railways alongside my friends at diesel galas and running days, and it is a real privilege to be a part of the upcoming Heritage Railway Association annual awards. I am looking forward to meeting all the great people involved and I can\u2019t\u00a0wait to showcase\u00a0more of the amazing heritage railways in the UK through my videos.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0The long-running HRA Annual Awards recognise excellence or innovation in almost every\u00a0aspect of heritage railway and tramway restoration, preservation\u00a0and operation. Recent winners have ranged from the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway\u2019s 2ft 6in gauge steam locomotive\u00a0Premier<\/em>, to the Class 50 Alliance for their work on late-1960s 100mph diesel electric locomotives. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Tickets for the awards are available to purchase\u00a0now on the Heritage Railway Association website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Social media sensation, content creator and author Francis Bourgeois is set to be the guest speaker at the Heritage Railway Association Annual Awards 2024.\u00a0 The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[7,11],"class_list":["post-4734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rail-news","tag-transport","tag-usa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}