Koen Paap
Koen Paap | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 August 1958 |
| Occupation | Freight train operator |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Era | Vriend Era |
| Known for | Paapist energy drink commercial |
| Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) |
| Family | Paap family |
Koen Paap (born 14 August 1958) is a Dutch freight train operator and member of the Paap family. He began working in railway freight operations in 1979 and later specialised in automobile transport. During the early 2000s, he appeared in a television commercial for the Paapist energy drink.[1]
Career
[edit | edit source]Paap completed technical railway training in Rotterdam before beginning work in 1979. He initially handled shunting and freight wagons at the Waalhaven railway yards. He later worked at Kijfhoek, a freight classification yard near Zwijndrecht.
In 1986, Paap began working mainly on automobile transport services. His domestic assignments included freight movements from Rotterdam through Amsterdam and Utrecht. International services continued through Venlo or Bad Bentheim toward Germany. He also operated trains serving the Port of Rotterdam, while other assignments used industrial railway lines in North Brabant and Limburg. During the 1990s and 2000s, his work increasingly consisted of long shifts on car-carrier trains travelling to Belgium and western Germany.
Paap appeared in a Paapist television commercial during the early 2000s. He wore purple company clothing while being presented as a freight train operator, and the advertisement marketed the drink to railway and freight workers.[1] In 2007, police found a Karabiner 98k bolt-action rifle inside the cab of one of his locomotives during an inspection. Authorities confiscated the rifle. The discovery prompted additional inspections, and Paap was questioned about why the weapon had been stored inside the locomotive.