Great Model Railway Challenge - Channel 5

[Chrisr40]

I recorded it as I was out tonight watching Rich Hall live... btw he is thoroughly recommended if you get the opportunity. Does it say on the show what will happen to the layouts created at the end of the series ?

Thanks

Chris

[Morphaniel]

Hi,

 

What I thought was missing was showing what the 'top' railway modellers can achieve when they dont have a tight deadline. The show filmed participants layouts but little appeared in the first episode but then again it would contrast with the results of brave attempts to stick to the rules finishing the layouts away from home workshops.

 

Admittedly the BBC one off documentary The Joy of Train Sets covered some top modelling.

 

Regards

 

Nick

 

This isn't the point.... the Bake Off contestants are all competent bakers - the competition element is precisely because they have a time limit imposed. Even if you compare the top ranking chefs appearing on The Great British Menu then the time limit becomes the differentiating factor. This is not a programme attempting to show how good modelling can be, it is a competition about what can be achieved in 24 hours.

[Morphaniel]

I fear the odious arrogance of the men from Missenden does not reflect well on our glorious hobby and  I hope it was simply a case of their having been put up to it by the TV Production company. Whilst the competitiveness might make good TV, railway modellers are generally a co-operative and supportive bunch, as I hope people realised by watching the teams participating - particularly the one which had never met before.  If the programme sparks  queues outside model shops at opening time tomorrow, that will be a very good thing! 

 

 

Chris G

 

Agreed. While the pre-built items were clearly of good quality, they cannot have seriously believed they were within the rules and did their brand a disservice. My wife (no modelling fan) rated them badly as soon as they started to claim they couldn't be beaten and I'm pleased that Kathy came out so strongly in favour of holding to the rules.

[NIK]

I recorded it as I was out tonight watching Rich Hall live... btw he is thoroughly recommended if you get the opportunity. Does it say on the show what will happen to the layouts created at the end of the series ?

Thanks

Chris

 

Hi,

 

I don't think they said in the first show what happens to the layouts.

.

The Basingstoke Bodgers layout from their heat (should be programme three) is to be at their Basingstoke and North Hants Model Railway Society's exhibition 2nd weekend in March 2019.

Its going at some stage to be repurposed as the clubs layout for children visitors at future exhibitions held by the club.

I expect it will appear at the clubs future open days if there is room.

 

That layout is currently being tarted up but I can't say what model railway exhibition its for yet.

 

We couldn't show the layout at our recent open day because the heat hadn't been shown on TV.

The club is rather full of layouts and tired modellers at the moment as we were asked to make a layout in 2 days for the Radio Times to publicise the first programme of the Great Model Railway Challenge.

 

 

Regards

 

Nick

[Ian Morgan]

I spotted a new trailer shown during the 'Walking Lost Railways' programme following the first heat. It gave glimpses of the secong heat layouts. Hopefully it will be on YouTube soon.

[Hippo]

Watching it again this morning with youngest son who went to bed 15 mins in last night. He is 8, has no interest in model railways but this really seemed to grab his interest and he asked to watch the rest this morning to see who won.

 

What i have taken from re-watching it this morning is, the producers seem to have made every one seem normal.

No one has been made out to be anoraks who live at home with thier mum's.

That has to be good for the hobby.

[BlackRat]

Watch it for what it is.......entertainment for the masses and you can't go to far wrong.

[Waverley47708]

I enjoyed the program and was delighted to see our hobby being portrayed in a positive light.

It was also refreshing not to have the usual references to train spotters / anorak etc being banded about.

 

Our local paper ran a positive article on a young guy who is a student in Aberdeen who was originally from Perth who I think is part if an Aberdeen based group which will appear later on.

 

I think the best layout was the Middlemess one, but the best layout which appeared to stick to the rules was the Strangers one and so I think the judge's were correct. I can see why Middlemess thought 5 rows of houses were one item and I imagine there was not really much they could do once they were told it wasn't. To have removed them would have left them with very little. Perhaps the TV producers should have been clearer about the rules. Anyway all made for a bit of drama.

 

I personally am not a big fan of dinosaurs etc on layouts but thats maybe just me.

 

The other thing I have been thinking about recently is just how much TV coverage all things railways have been getting recently. Between documentaries about Paddington, Kings Cross, walks on old railway lines, last Friday's two hour worth of programs about 125s on Channel 5 and now this.

 

Anyway I for one will be watching this program next Friday.

[RJS1977]

I recorded it as I was out tonight watching Rich Hall live... btw he is thoroughly recommended if you get the opportunity. Does it say on the show what will happen to the layouts created at the end of the series ?

Thanks

Chris

 

It wasn't mentioned on the show, but I gather having spoken to one of the contestants last week that sadly most of the layouts had to be destroyed at the end of filming as most of them were of the size and solidity of a snooker table and therefore difficult to (a) remove (b) store and © take to exhibitions.

 

However one of the "Strangers on a Model Train" did manage to take their layout away and save it for posterity.

[sir douglas]

a question to the first heat was the Hudswell in steam while you were there? as we didnt get that luxury

 

on another note, the estate is a beautiful place especially in the morning with the low hanging mist, the peacocks cawed away nearly all the time, i took a load of photos of the railway as my main interest in being there, yes i did sey yes to being involved with the program but it was an extra bonus to being able to got to Fawley as one of the places i would like to see but doubtful i would ever get there

 

[sb67]

Thoroughly enjoyed the show, thought it was great entertainment and well presented with no condescending remarks or jokes from the presenters, the Missenden group had us shouting ya boo at the telly and I liked the comments about the scratchbuild challenge, which at first I thought was riddiculous but in the end was impressed with what they built!

I thought all the layouts were fantastic, the longest day being my favourite, thought it was light hearted and enjoyable was in no way negative about the hobby. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series and it would be good to think the ratings were enough to warrant a second series as It seems to have been well recieved on here but I hope there wasn't too many negative posts that were removed.

I would like to say a massive well done to anybody on here that took part and hopefully we'll get some more stories in the near future.

I feel we are being spoilt on the telly at the moment with rail related programmes, bring on next week!

Steve.

Just wanted to add, although the Missenden guys seem to be the villans on the episode, the row of houses and the forced perspective did look bloody brilliant!

Edited October 6, 2018 by sb67

[Golden Fleece 30]

It was for reality TV so look at the programme in that context. There has to be deadlines and it showed how some can do what was asked. The winners, and dutifully so, were not over ambitious and try to do too much. Their layout to me captured the "rules" of the competition and worked very well. I was really surprised at the very long scenic mat they used as a base and then added to it. You will always get some who try to push the boundaries and what pleased me was how the judges treated them with "sorry but.....".

 

At the end of the day it was an unusual theme to create a model railway for and I look forward to watching the next episode.

 

Garry

[sb67]

At the end of the day it was an unusual theme to create a model railway for and I look forward to watching the next episode.

Garry

I thought the themes were unusual and was a bit worried as to what would be made so it is big credit to the competitiors that they all produced really credible layouts in the time.

Steve.

[Matt]

I actually stumbled on this by accident and only part watched whilst trying to file a PPI complaint...

 

However, I thought Channel 5 did a superb job of potraying the hobby in a positive light.  Didn't feel like was riddled with cliches, nor that it tried to portay the hobby as full of nerds as so often comes across in press reporting.  As others have said, the hobby needs an injection of new blood and I actually felt that the programme portrayed the hobby as creative, competitive and fun.  

 

The production was deliberately edited to create some controversy IMHO which helps to inject a bit of interest - surely every good TV show needs a villain?  This show wasn't aimed at enthusiasts and wasn't a documentary about how to model, but firmly aimed at the general public, and did this job well.  Hopefully it can help to kindle some interest in the hobby for the younger generation.

[wagonbasher]

I spotted a new trailer shown during the 'Walking Lost Railways' programme following the first heat. It gave glimpses of the secong heat layouts. Hopefully it will be on YouTube soon.

I saw a bit of that.

 

A better format might have been teams of walkers against the clock. THe great British walking lost railways Challange

 

Andy

[The Fatadder]

I enjoyed it more than I expected, though the standard of modelling was understandably lower than I expected given the short time allowed. I can’t help but think working with a smaller end to end baseboard would make more sense (whist still keeping the theme etc)

 

The size meaning no time for ballasting or a lot of paint effects really hurt the end effects.

That said if you compare the standard on season 1 of bake-off with the current one, the standard is a world apart. I would expect the same to happen if this is recommissioned, as people watch the first series and learn from their mistakes / learn how to exploit the rules to the maximum

 

Re the Misenden breaking the rules, I wonder if the logic was bringing 6 unique premise things (ie classing all of the houses as one item), I must say I would have been working on the same logic

[PaulRhB]

I think the Missenden lot were more than aware they had gone beyond 6 items and the judges dealt with it well. Competition in modelling is something I'm wary of, if it's treated as fun like most of the teams seem to, then it's fine but I don't like it when it becomes a badge of mines better because it has won something. TV is about entertainment so it's never going to be about the ultimate finescale approach in 3 days and I think some decent models that won't intimidate people seem to be coming out. I also like the idea of showing a decent layout is possible in a short time with a few pre built or ready to plant items, much the same as I've done with my Lulworth layout.

Can't say it's required viewing for me as I don't really like any of this format tv but it certainly seems to be spreading by word of mouth around modellers in other disciplines, on the whole a positive so far

Edited October 6, 2018 by PaulRhB

[wagonbasher]

HAts off to any modeller who stuck there neck out and appeared on this show.

 

They had to give up their time (potentially using up annual leave) and RISK being portrayed in any number of ways by the production company. Their reputations and credibility were in the hands of the editors. I think C5 treated them fairly. I suppose missenden may disagree but we can only see what they want us to see.

 

Well done all participating modellers, very brave.

 

Good entertainment, I shall watch next week.

 

Scratch build, a bit strange!!

 

Andy

HAts off to any modeller who stuck there neck out and appeared on this show.

 

THey has to give up their time (potentially using up annual leave) and RISK being portrayed in any number of ways by the production company. THeir reputations and credibility were in the hands of the editors. I think C5 treated them fairly. I suppose missenden may disagree but we can only see what they want us to see.

 

Well done all participating modellers, very brave.

 

God entertainment, I shall watch next week.

 

Scratch build, a bit strange!!

 

Andy

[Phil Parker]

As for any stuff about "freedom of speech", I trust that most people here are aware of the wisdom of keeping comments within reasonable bounds.

 

Let's face it, the people who moderate sites like this are aware of the potential consequences if things were to be allowed to get out of hand.

 

I think it's only right that none of us make things harder for them ... please.

 

 

Huw.

 

To be fair, the overwhelming majority of postings are as reasoned and well argued as we'd hope and show RMweb and the members in the best light. In the same way that the show only allowed 5 pre-builds, we're not limiting the number of pre-decided comments. I was busy putting a "buzzword bingo" list together last week including such classics as "I've recorded the show but after reading this I'm not going to bother watching it". If you don't like it, don't watch it, just don't come on here wanting to show off that you don't like it. 

 

Abuse hurled at the Missenden team also gets moderated. They might not have covered themselves in glory (base baseboards, unbalasted track?) but there is an element of editing involved as well. Of course, giving the producers plenty of ammunition on camera isn't wise. That said, a bit of controversy in the first episode won't hurt the viewing figures.

 

Now, what can we do as a hobby to make the best use of this bandwagon.

 

As people have said, there are non-modellers watching this. How can we make use of that to encourage them to take a look at the hobby? I'm not thinking they will leap into P4, but perhaps persuade a few more through the doors of the local show. My first thoughts are we could edit some of the BRM videos to provide short snippets that could be linked to Twitter or Facebook. Cover topics like laying plaster bandage, using a static grass tool and airbrushing. They would need to be 2 minutes or less long and explain some of those processes that people will see on screen but aren't explained. Any suggestions? 

[Hroth]

I saw a bit of that.

 

A better format might have been teams of walkers against the clock. THe great British walking lost railways Challange

 

Andy

Extra points for conversing with the most colourful locals on the way?

[Hroth]

Back on topic.

 

Yes, I recorded the programme for viewing later, but I did actually catch the last 15 minutes or so!  From what I saw, I'm going to watch the whole episode as what I did see was quite entertaining.  The impression I got was that the teams were enthusiastic about their projects, though the Missenden team seemed overconfident and spent their time digging a pretty deep hole on camera.

 

The other thing was that I associate one of the presenters, Tim Shaw, with his role in Car SOS, particularly where he reveals an episodes conclusion to the "unwitting owner" in an unusual setting. If I had turned up to participate in TGBMRC and saw him there.....

[enginelane]

It wasn't mentioned on the show, but I gather having spoken to one of the contestants last week that sadly most of the layouts had to be destroyed at the end of filming as most of them were of the size and solidity of a snooker table and therefore difficult to (a) remove (b) store and © take to exhibitions.

 

However one of the "Strangers on a Model Train" did manage to take their layout away and save it for posterity.

Team Wakefield will be in another heat later in the series and can confirm that their layout was removed. Yorkshire based and not going to let it get trashed. It will resurface later when the episode has been on the telly.

[Andymsa]

 

Abuse hurled at the Missenden team also gets moderated. They might not have covered themselves in glory (base baseboards, unbalasted track?) but there is an element of editing involved as well. Of course, giving the producers plenty of ammunition on camera isn't wise. That said, a bit of controversy in the first episode won't hurt the viewing figures.

 

This program should be viewed like GBBO, but that said I was concerned about how the program would turn out, but actually I was pleasantly surprised. This to me was about a group of modellers with various degrees of expertise and what they could achieve in a set timescale, I initially thought on viewing omg what will these layouts look like, works of art they were not but I was very impressed with what they came up with and the finished result. Ok there is the debating on the group who stretched the rules and I agree with the outcome of the judges, even after they had been informed of the infringement they carried on, but that said it was a hard choice for them and there layout was very good with the 3D effect. But rules are rules and clearly they were breached and I know there is editing involved here but there was some evidence of arrogance that the other groups didn't have a chance. I have already posted my concerns on removed posts and as long as they are not of a personal nature or offensive and abusive should be left to give a balanced view it just becomes censorship. I'm not sure if the program will inspire people to take up the hobby but if it does that's good. Will I watch the program again most definitely yes. My only criticism is the scratch build section, the concept is good but the items selected was rather odd but this might have been done on purpose to stretch the modellers out of there comfort zones and the end results were in fact very good on the most part. Dinosaurs withstanding lol.

 

Andy

[Captain Kernow]

Abuse hurled at the Missenden team also gets moderated. They might not have covered themselves in glory (base baseboards, unbalasted track?) but there is an element of editing involved as well.  

The more I think about it, I find it harder and harder to believe that the Missenden captain simply 'came out' with that kind of boasting. They are intelligent folks and anyone with an ounce of intelligence would know that statements like that would be seized upon by the programme editors.

 

To boast 'we're definitely going to win' is nothing more than 'pride going before a fall'. It's asking for trouble!

 

No, I think that there must have been some creative editing of his comments going on, maybe in response to some (unbroadcast) leading questions from one of the presenters.

 

And the end result is that the producers have nicely set up their 'villain of the piece!'.

 

Thinking about someone else's comments about substituting resin R-T-P buildings in lieu of the card kit terraces, if they were all glued together into one huge unit, then surely that would, strictly speaking, remain within the confines of the Rules?

 

Perhaps each terrace was glued into one long unit? I didn't catch whether they were or not. But they did look good.

[hayfield]

I enjoyed the program, a good light hearted program which shows the hobby in a good light and one which both modellers and non modellers can enjoy. I thought the balance of the program was very good, even had a slight edge to it. Hopefully the rest of the episodes will be much the same