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For most people, the arrival of a freight train is hardly cause for celebration.
But for Francis Bourgeois, it was one of the happiest moments of his life.
Standing on a railway platform in Rawang, Selangor, the British train enthusiast suddenly heard the distant rumble of an approaching locomotive. Moments later, a massive freight train emerged around the bend.
What happened next was pure Francis Bourgeois.
"Oh my god, it's a 29! Yes! Oh my god! Yes! Yes! Oh my god! Oh wow! Yes! That was perfect!"
As the locomotive thundered past, Bourgeois jumped up and down with excitement, barely able to contain himself.
"I feel a bit dizzy!" he exclaimed afterwards.
Then came a reflection that perhaps captured his entire Malaysian journey.
"What non-railway enthusiasts can learn from railway enthusiasts is how a passion for something that's kind of potentially quite benign and non-descript can be life-affirming. It gives such a sense of purpose," he philosophised.
The moment featured in 'My Great Malaysian Railway Adventure', an episode of BBC's The Travel Show that follows Bourgeois across Peninsular Malaysia.
What begins as a railway documentary gradually becomes a story about shared passions, unexpected friendships, and discovering that enthusiasm speaks a universal language.
A train lover's first journey through Malaysia
Bourgeois is one of the world's most recognisable railway enthusiasts.
Known for his head-mounted camera, contagious excitement, and over six million followers on social media, he has spent years documenting railways across Britain.
But Malaysia represented something completely new.
"Now, for the first time, I'm venturing 10,000km across the globe to discover Malaysia," he says at the start of the programme, which dropped on YouTube on 22 June.
His route would take him from Kelantan's famous Jungle Railway to Kuala Lumpur's urban rail network before ending in Penang during Lunar New Year celebrations.
Along the way, he encountered landscapes unlike anything he was used to.
Standing near the century-old Guillemard Bridge in Kelantan, he watched a train cut across the river below.
"Malaysia has two main intercity railways, and this is arguably the most iconic line — the Jungle Railway," he says.
"I just love how the landscape itself is so pretty, and this little train is just piercing through it."
The railway itself fascinated him.
Built by Indian indentured labourers during the British colonial era, the route stretches more than 500km through rainforests, rivers, limestone formations, and remote communities, serving as an important transport link for many who live along it.
"The railway was built using indentured labourers, mostly from Southern India. It's one of the reasons that around 7% of Malaysians today are of Indian heritage. Even though the railway has positive connections, they were constructed so that these materials from Malaysia could be taken out of the ground and moved to other areas around the world for the benefit of the British," he says in the video.
Yet some of his most memorable encounters had little to do with trains themselves.
Finding fellow railway enthusiasts in Malaysia
One of Bourgeois' first discoveries was that the railway enthusiasm he had always associated with Britain was thriving thousands of kilometres away in Malaysia.
In Kelantan, he met Faizal, president of Malaysia's first official railway fan club. The two quickly bonded over their shared fascination with locomotives.
Together, they boarded a locomotive cab at night and crossed the illuminated Guillemard Bridge.
When the train horn sounded, Bourgeois burst into laughter.
"This is amazing!"
As the locomotive gathered speed and roared across the bridge, he looked out the windscreen in disbelief.
"I can't believe earlier I was seeing this from outside, but now I'm on the bridge in a locomotive making this kind of noise," he remarked.
"This is the ultimate railway experience as far as I'm concerned!"
At one point, Faizal even invited him to sound the horn himself.
"Oh, this is brilliant!" Bourgeois laughed.
The experience clearly left an impression on both men.
While travelling through the limestone landscapes of Gua Musang the following morning, their conversation shifted from trains to family.
Faizal spoke about his late grandfather, who worked as a steam locomotive driver from the late 1940s to the 1950s. Showing old photographs, he explained how respected train drivers once were.
Before every shift, someone would reportedly visit his grandfather's home to personally inform him that his train was ready.
"Really?!" Bourgeois responded, visibly amazed.
Even decades later, the story still gave Faizal goosebumps.
For Bourgeois, the emotional reaction felt familiar.
"I love seeing that physical response even just to a story, and I totally understand how you're feeling," he said.
"It's almost like a very vulnerable moment."
Waiting for trains, eating biryani, and making friends
The documentary's most charming scenes take place not on moving trains, but while waiting for them.
In Rawang, Bourgeois met another railway enthusiast, Kai, and a group of local trainspotters who regularly gather to watch passing trains.
Their objective was simple: spot a Class 29 freight locomotive. There was only one problem. Nobody knew whether one would actually appear.
The station master warned them that freight traffic was limited because it was Sunday. Still, they waited.
A green signal light sparked excitement. Maybe this was the freight train. Maybe this was the moment. Instead, it turned out to be an ordinary passenger service.
"Alamak," one of the local spotters sighed.
For train enthusiasts, disappointment comes with the territory. But nobody seemed particularly bothered. The group simply settled down together on the platform and shared a meal. Wrapped in paper was a generous serving of biryani.
"Train soulmates," Bourgeois joked as they unpacked lunch.
As they ate, Kai explained how train spotting had changed his life.
When he first became interested in railways, friends and family didn't quite understand the hobby.
"I'd say when I first started train spotting, they were a little bit — I wouldn't say freaked out — they were probably like, 'That's a very interesting hobby you got there.'"
But joining enthusiast groups helped him become more confident and improve his communication skills.
"It's like any other hobby," Kai explained.
"It's where you get to meet friends. We get to have… just have a good time."
The conversation appeared to resonate deeply with Bourgeois.
Later, the group received an unexpected invitation
The station master welcomed them into his office to view his personal collection of railway photographs and memorabilia. Inside was what Bourgeois described as a miniature railway gallery.
Photos documenting decades of Malaysian railway history lined the walls. The station master explained that his dream was to one day establish a proper museum dedicated to preserving these stories.
"We have many stories about the train," he said.
For Bourgeois, it was another reminder that railway enthusiasm was far from unique to Britain.
"I was almost a bit shocked that there's that kind of level of intensity for railway enthusiasm here," he admitted.
"I'd kind of expect it in the UK. But to see that it's here and likely kind of everywhere around the world, it's just so nice to see."
Then came the news everyone had been hoping for
A freight train was on its way, and not just any freight train, either. It was a sugar container train. Even better, it might be hauled by a Class 29 locomotive.
As the group waited, an announcement echoed across the station. Soon afterwards, Bourgeois heard the distant sound of an approaching train.
"I've got goosebumps on my arm," he said.
Then the locomotive appeared. And the celebration began.
Leaping around the platform, laughing uncontrollably and shouting with delight, Bourgeois looked less like a television presenter and more like a child seeing their favourite thing in the world.
"That was perfect. I feel like I'm a soaring bird. I'm buzzing."
It's the kind of joy that's impossible to fake.
More than just railways
By the end of the programme, Bourgeois had travelled from Kelantan's rainforests to Kuala Lumpur's urban rail network and finally to Penang's Lunar New Year celebrations.
He experienced lion dances, shared meals with locals, rode Malaysia's fastest trains, and watched thousands of lights illuminate Kek Lok Si Temple against the night sky.
As his journey came to a close, he reflected on what he would take away from his first visit to both Malaysia and Asia.
The answer wasn't a locomotive, nor was it a railway line.
"So, I'd say I've absolutely fallen in love with Malaysia," he said.
"It hasn't just been the railway — the people, the food, the sounds."
For someone who crossed the globe in search of trains, that may have been the strongest endorsement of all. And perhaps the biggest lesson he learned was that railway enthusiasm was never really about trains in the first place.
"I think what I'm taking away from this trip, with it being my first time in Asia, my first time burrowing into railway enthusiasm overseas… I've understood that it's not just due to the UK's rich railway history," Bourgeois reflected.
"I think it's just a human thing to love trains."
