RMweb Premium HillsideDepot Posted July 12, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 12, 2016 Having read the above it looks like I made the right choice last night; repainting a Hornby 08 (to become 08891) and making some windows and a chimney for a building on a little diorama that is a fun diversion from my main projects. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I usually enjoy watching Peter Snow (and his son Dan, for that matter) and Dick Strawbridge... The giant moving and talking facial hair that is Dick Strawbridge is usually well worth watching. The recent 3 part series featuring him and his rather odd new wife renovating a French chateau was easy-going TV. I remember him from his first TV outing on Scrapheap Challenge years ago. Also, the series he did a while back on home made eco-tech was pretty good. I remember him building a wave machine in a barrel suspended off a pier and how chuffed he was that it provided enough electricity to power a light bulb in his nearby caravan. TV needs more characters like him, but please please please please not in rubbish like "Trainspotting Live". Your reputation, Dick, has taken a knock and that saddens me immensely. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
br2975 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 One other thing - despite their repeated 'send us photos', I don't remember them ever saying where to send them to! They gave e-mail and 'Twitter' addresses. . I noted this solely because I thought about bringing my camera to work today and satisfying their request by snapping a FLHH Class 66 on an Aberthaw - Tower MGR by standing on the pan in Trap No.1 in the top floor dubs at work ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 The giant moving and talking facial hair that is Dick Strawbridge is usually well worth watching. The recent 3 part series featuring him and his rather odd new wife renovating a French chateau was easy-going TV. I remember him from his first TV outing on Scrapheap Challenge years ago. Also, the series he did a while back on home made eco-tech was pretty good. I remember him building a wave machine in a barrel suspended off a pier and how chuffed he was that it provided enough electricity to power a light bulb in his nearby caravan. TV needs more characters like him, but please please please please not in rubbish like "Trainspotting Live". Your reputation, Dick, has taken a knock and that saddens me immensely. He's a bit of a Dibnah character. Great enthusiasm, great practical guy and good to watch in that sort of programme. However, he doesn't have a great deal of knowledge about the history and background of railways so came across as a well meaning fool, eagerly asking dim questions. He would have been better in a workshop setting discussing how locos were restored and maintained. Dibnah was the same, a lot of his commentary about industrial history and archeology , though delivered with enthusiasm, was inaccurate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I watched the start of the program and got to the point where Peter Snow said they had a camera set up on the main line behind the hedge and the screen promptly cut to a rather fuzzy bit of track that could be anywhere, with nothing happening. I gave up after that, thinking it was just me that found the whole thing rather forced and embarassing, wondering if I should have given the program a chance to get into its stride. Looks like my initial impressions were right after all. Perhaps we should have taken warning from the rather naff trailer for the series..... I've got an Electric Monk watching all the episodes, just in case things get better later. It might have worked if the BBC had smacked the "live" concept on the head, and provided a decent three-part documentary using the same themes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 It might have worked if the BBC had smacked the "live" concept on the head, Yeah, the 'Live' concept just did not work. Made the programme look frantic, poorly organised and amateurish. And trains not being there as scheduled/expected just pandered to a belief, in some, that trains are always late. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Phil Parker Posted July 12, 2016 Administrators Share Posted July 12, 2016 It might have worked if the BBC had smacked the "live" concept on the head, and provided a decent three-part documentary using the same themes. Almost certainly. The filmed inserts were the best bit but modern telly demands "drama" which is probably how this was pitched. To be fair to the presenters, I doubt anyone could have done any better when placed where they were. Peter Snow must be looking forwards to two more nights of forced enthusiasm. Probably by loading up on narcotics starting at lunchtime! What would you do when the camera is pointed at you and you have to "fill" for several minutes while waiting for a loco that may or may not appear? Having said that, I also think it would be a struggle to make anything that enthusiasts would find acceptable. It's interesting that on Twitter there has been a lot of praise and excitement, mostly of the "Look a train on telly" sort admitedly. On the other hand, I have a collection of zero prototype railway DVDs as I've never found one that didn't send me to sleep, so we are all different. Final point: This wasn't made by the BBC. It's an independant production company. If there was interest and comitment, there is NOTHING to stop a group pitching a better idea to a TV channel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium t-b-g Posted July 12, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 12, 2016 The thing is, standing on the end of a platform taking numbers may be an interesting hobby for those who like that sort of thing (as I did going out with my dad up to around the age of 18) but it is never going to be a very cool one. Trying to make it cool be overdoing the "enthusiasm" and adding some very dodgy "science" may impress one or two outside the hobby but the vast majority of "proper" railway enthusiasts are not going to be impressed. I would expect and hope that most people on RMWeb are railway enthusiasts of one sort or another and there is a very good chance that most of us know more than most of the people of the programme. Therefore, to us it seems very "dumbed down". I don't know who the chap by the lineside in Scotland was but a waistcoat and jacket for trainspotting? No fashion sense at all! What it didn't really convey was the sense we used to get of "the hunt". The almost primeval quest to track down that elusive loco and to get that number ticked or underlined in the ABC. I chuckled as the pair at Doncaster, despite their supposed "hunt" for class 66 locos (not difficult!) chatted away to camera as one trundled past light engine behind them. A real trainspotter would have turned round, noted the number, turned back and carried on talking! Or at least a director with any real feel for the subject would have got them to look behind them. I am sorry to say that it was a half baked concept that was put together and handled badly. We saw the best and the worst of the BBC last night. As one or two have commented, the following documentary on Scapa Flow, Jutland etc. was a hundred times better. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PhilH Posted July 12, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 12, 2016 And...not one mention of duffle bags or Jubblies.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobby Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I caught the last 10 minutes of this pile and unfortunately that is 10 minutes of my life that I will never get back. Why on earth do the BBC always drag out the likes of Snow and Shawbridge for these programmes and what was the “mathematician” supposed to be doing? I seem to remember that she ruined the recent BBC program “City in the sky”! The answer to that is simple, they have several "presenters" on their payroll and have to use them to make best use of the money they are paying them, hence they often get shoved into doing programmes where they are obviously way out of their comfort/knowledge zone. A few years ago Dan Cruickshank (he of the Baaaa-varia!) did one on railways which was cringe-worthy... I was talking to a well know presenter from several years ago who had fallen out with the top brass at the Beeb and found himself sidelined with other presenter doing work for which he had the qualifications, enthusiasm and knowledge and they didn't... If they are paying someone several hundred grand a year they will use them regardless of how little they know or are interested in the subject... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classsix T Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 The only way to make this worse would've been the involvement of Jeremy Vine... C6T. Plumduff Productions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I can't work out who the programme is aimed at. It's without depth, full of irrelevancies and spectacularly unfocused. It is much like one of those generic and generously discounted 'The Big Book of Trains' for sale in The Works that may be of fleeting interest to 5% of garden centre visitors, but holds no interest for a dedicated hobbyist. However, I have developed a keen interest in mathematics, or more specifically Hannah's statistics. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted July 12, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 12, 2016 I watched the Trainspotting Live programme last night. I was never a collector of numbers but I have always liked looking at railways. The programme would have benefitted if some of the video/ photos had been identified as not live but it added extra opportunities for the knowledgeable to comment that it must have have been taken on June 23rd at 09.17 etc. The King looked nice in its blue paint finish. I liked the clocks. The maths stuff looked very contrived, just like the way odd bits of maths were included in various vocational subject syllabuses to meet numeracy criteria. Near the end the pannier tank filmed from the angle of the camera made it look really big, just like they did when I was little and waiting for a train at Clevedon station. Of course the big question is, will we be able to see Dick Strawbridge eat a typical trainspotter's lunch? I am posting on the official thread, I hope the big boys don't shout at me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I don't think the programme is aimed at railway nerds, because they will just nitpick every tiny detail. However, a programme centred around the real trainspotters would just reinforce the prejudices of the public at large. Just imagine an hour of "and here is 6V95 the 1430 TWThO Wentloog to Felixstowe Intermodal, notice how the fourth wagon is a JK variant which was constructed at Shildon in 1981 rather than Ashford in 1979 like the other JD variants, which have a tare weight of 8t 6cwt compared to the 8t 4cwt of the JK" and the like? Not good for the viewing figures, I suspect. (Please note that I made that last quote up. Any resemblance to reality is unlikely). What this is, is a Springwatch or Stargazing Live type of programme; but centred on railways. It seemed a bit manic, and being live there are bound to be errors in handovers and timings (try standing in front of a camera yourself and ad-libbing on railways for 3 minutes without errors, deviation, or talking nonsense - it's a very skilled art; believe me I have tried it with the weather, and I was a trained, experienced forecaster at the time). Will it be a success? Probably not, but it might just persuade some folk that railway enthusiasts are not just unwashed mental-cases who are allowed out of their care homes for a few hours; and if it succeeds in that alone it will be a good thing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrel Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 If this rubbish had not been live, they could have gone behind the scenes at Didcot or indeed any preservation site and done a bit about restoration. I agree with a previous poster that it could have been more like railwatch going behind the scenes. Of the real railway. They could have interviewed the drivers of the two steam locos they had at Didcot. A section on model railways Prehaps showing the brilliant worlds end layout. So many opportunities wasted. So dumbed down it made tellytubbies look like the open university. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobby Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 What this is, is a Springwatch or Stargazing Live type of programme; but centred on railways. Yep, that's how I'd have described it... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 It occurs to me that if they had filmed this around the "Southern" notwork, there might not have been anything to watch.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
S&DWatty Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I watched it last night and agree with most of the commenters on here. haven't got Twitter so cant comment on what the wider audience made of it. It's a real shame in my view that production companies either cant or wont think about the format of the shows they are commissioned to produce. Even to the untrained eye, there were loads more opportunities in the show to illustrate the importance of Britain's railways (e.g. freight tonnage carried per year versus the number of lorries taken off the road as a result, passengers versus reduction in car journeys, strategic benefits, etc- that line of brand new GBrF '66s was a great chance to comment on their delivery from the USA but was completed glossed over despite the attempts by others to add interesting detail). It's a shame that Strawbridge is cast as the "platform buffoon". He's a decent mechanical engineer who could add loads of interesting detail about how the railway is built and operated, let alone topics on modern operations and maintenance...... As for the "maths"..........how very bizarre! I really don't know what those segments were supposed to add. At least we now know that a train travelling faster than 340 metres per second will be blurred.......Maglev is fast but not supersonic! Why does Jon Snow shout at everyone and brow-beat them. Station photo collector fella had some interesting points that were cut short and drowned-out by Snow's hectoring. Shame about this show- it would have been so easy to do something much more informative, entertaining and educational. I know we are all enthusiasts on here and the level of detail probably never would reach what we would like, but this show was extremely shallow. Some good iPlayer content that Id not seen before though which offset the live stuff I thought. Maybe they should air that instead! dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesg Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 As far as I can remember, the programme had more live segments than just about any other 'spotting' programme like Springwatch or Building Cars Live, so it was pretty ambitious from the beginning. It also felt a bit disjointed because, unlike some other programmes, there wasn't a presenter in a studio with a live audience to tie the programme together. Having said that, the prepared segments about Greenwich Mean Time and Mail Rail were quite good; as were the interviews with enthusiasts, especially the bit with David Brewer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classsix T Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 jonny777, on 12 Jul 2016 - 10:41, said: What this is, is a Springwatch or Stargazing Live type of programme; but centred on railways. But in those programmes you've got wildlife and astronomy experts educating the uninformed and broadening the knowledge of those with some understanding. This did neither, probably through poor ideas on what the programme was actually meant to achieve. C6T. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted July 12, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 12, 2016 Thought Evening Star (class 66) looked good in green. I think it is an embarrasment. Prefered the real one they showed earlier in the programme Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted July 12, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 12, 2016 They want HSTs do they? How about a recent IC liveried one filmed in 86 or 87? With Valenta sound track. Worth a go? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted July 12, 2016 Author Share Posted July 12, 2016 Anyway...the fantastic line "back to Doncaster where Dick spotting continues"...£10 says that'll be on Scott Mills' Innuendo Bingo tomorrow!! I think 'Fanny's teenage spots' runs it a close second. Having read the many comments before watching I was expecting something truly dire. Sure, there were mistakes, but as something to appeal to someone on the fringes of interest I didn't think it was anywhere near that bad. If it encourages a few more people to go to Didcot or take a trip on the Jacobite then that's a good thing. I don't think it did rail enthusiasm any particular harm, there's plenty of enthusiast's own videos that could do that quite capably. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joppyuk1 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 There's a chap on the Antiques Roadshow (who's name I can't bring to mind) with railway knowledge. He's written books on the subject and used to live in an old carriage. He would have been a knowledgeable presenter for this kind of programme, not the 'generic' fits everything people they've used. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted July 12, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 12, 2016 Verdict! Portillo's adventures are far far more encouraging for rail travel, especially the Continental journeys. This should have been (as already suggested) a decent documentary about the rail Industry and what actually goes on without emphasis on any particular line or Company. Alongside that could be a load of info on heritage lines where families can have fun and also how to get really interesting and affordable leisure travel by rail. Half hour sessions for about 6 shows IMO. Bit of then and now would have been good too. Final episode could have had what is happening in the near future. Very strange choice of content, however Donny featured but needed to be visited during the day not a 20.00 when hardly anything happens. Sorry but the 'live' idea is a bit naff and maybe could have been just part of (say) one show. However, each to their own and I found this more interesting than the F1 or Top gear type of show. The recent programmes about Airports and air travel have been far more interesting IMO. P Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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