Koen Paap
Koen Paap | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 August 1958 |
| Occupation | Freight train operator |
| Era | Vriend Era |
| Known for | Operating car-transport freight trains, slow speech, purple Paapist clothing |
| Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) |
| Family | Paap family |
Koen Paap (born 14 August 1958 in Rotterdam, Netherlands) is a Dutch freight train operator who works mainly with car-transport freight trains on railway freight routes and yard operations. He is known for being in a Paapist energy drink commercial.
Career
[edit | edit source]Paap began working in railway freight operations in 1979 after completing technical railway training in Rotterdam. During the early years of his career he worked in shunting and wagon handling at the Waalhaven freight yards in Rotterdam and later at Kijfhoek yard near Zwijndrecht, one of the largest freight rail yards in the Netherlands.
From 1986 onward, Paap mainly worked as a freight train operator on car-transport services. He operated freight locomotives carrying automobile wagons between Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht and the German border region near Venlo and Bad Bentheim. He also regularly worked freight routes connected to the Port of Rotterdam and industrial rail lines in North Brabant and Limburg.
During the 1990s and 2000s, Paap became known among railway workers for spending long shifts on international car-carrier trains running toward Belgium and western Germany. His work included operating freight locomotives, moving automobile wagons and handling railway freight operations on main lines and in rail yards.
Personal life
[edit | edit source]Paap is 1.95 m tall and has a broad build. In the early 2000s, he briefly appeared in a television commercial for the energy drink Paapist.
In 2007, police reportedly found a Karabiner 98k bolt-action rifle inside the cabin of one of Paap's locomotives during an inspection. The rifle was confiscated by authorities, and the incident reportedly led to additional inspections and questioning regarding why the weapon was being kept inside the locomotive cabin.