Great Model Railway Challenge - Channel 5

[luckymucklebackit]

As a member of Aberdeen MRC before his untimely death, my old mate Bill Petrie will no doubt be looking down and being extremely proud!  Well done to the Dons

 

Jim

[TouchCabMike]

As a member of Aberdeen MRC before his untimely death, my old mate Bill Petrie will no doubt be looking down and being extremely proud!  Well done to the Dons

 

Jim

 

 

Thanks Jim! I am sure Bill and Dave were watching together tonight. Bill will have been wondering why there was no Z gauge level, and Dave why no O gauge! 

 

Thanks for all the support and kind words. We are extremely proud! Well done to C5, KBG and all the other teams. 

[hayfield]

Just enjoyed the final show in the series, no losers at all. Aberdeen may have been the overall winners, in my view all 5 teams and the production company were also winners.

 

Thanks to all concerned who both entered and produced the shows, a very enjoyable series. Roll on next year

[Edge]

Aberdeen was a worthy winner, easily the most ambitious finale layout (although I myself thought it was about third on build quality) combined with their truly wonderful heat layout meant that to me they were head ans houlders above anyone else there

[GoingUnderground]

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole series. The commentary was a bit dumbed down, but in that respect it was no different to the other "reality tv" programmes. If that's what it takes to get folks to re-emgage with the hobby then I'll put up with it.

[Robin Brasher]

Well done Aberdeen, predicted that just before it was announced.

 

 

Airfix and Palitoy arrived on the scene in 1976/77 - Hornby responded in 1980 with paint finish

Lima appeared in the 1970s as well and brought 0 gauge trains within the budget of ordinary people as well as giving Hornby and Graham Farish some competition in 00 and N gauges respectively. I think these models would have suited the Model Railway Challenge as the emphasis was on the overall scene rather than detailed models of individual trains.

Edited November 9, 2018 by Robin Brasher

[Barry Ten]

Terrific series, very enjoyable all round. Congratulations to all the teams and well done to the worthy winners.

[Coryton]

Thanks Jim! I am sure Bill and Dave were watching together tonight. Bill will have been wondering why there was no Z gauge level, and Dave why no O gauge! 

 

Something running on the lower level looked a lot like one of the few trains available in T gauge to me. 

 

Well done Aberdeen, predicted that just before it was announced.

 

I didn't predict it, but I was very much hoping for them to win (as I did in their heat).

 

It was my favourite by a long way.

 

It was also nice to see the most exotic layout win, unlike in the heats.

 

It would be interesting to see what sort of rolling stock someone might scratch-build to go with that layout.

 

I just wish there had been more time to show all the layouts in their final form - we saw so little. (Maybe they could have cut some of the cake scenes? See - it's just as easy to edit a television programme from an armchair as it is to run a railway).

[Erictheviking]

Aberdeen, worthy winners. Fantastic, fantasy interpretation. Have just watched on 5 on Demand. But I have to say the whole series was really excellent and great fun to observe, not nescecarily always fun to be involved in I imagine. ( stressful). Congratulations to everyone involved, real graft! I just wish the narrator hadn't kept referring to narrow gauge when talking about N gauge. I look forward to seeing it at Warley.

[Ohmisterporter]

Worthy winners from Aberdeen and an enjoyable series for a first attempt. The absence of a scratchbuild challenge in the final was an improvement.

Edited November 9, 2018 by Ohmisterporter

[EddieB]

Actually, railway modelling was the winner, followed closely by Aberdeen (not to overlook all the participants).

 

Just watching the final had me breathless - would they all get there in time?

 

It may not have suited the purists, but a prime-time show that celebrated skill and creativity and brought in a wide audience is a great boost to the hobby.

[SDJR7F88]

Well there you have it! What trill it was to be apart of and a hearty well done to team Aberdeen! Truly was a stunning layout (even better in the flesh)!

As promised, here's our speical 'Behind the Scenes' video from the Great Model Railway Challenge Grand Final of our teams Build, "Melton Down".

Callum & Railway Video Devision

https://youtu.be/xB8ePT00Y2k

Well there you have it! What trill it was to be apart of and a hearty well done to team Aberdeen! Truly was a stunning layout (even better in the flesh)!

As promised, here's our speical 'Behind the Scenes' video from the Great Model Railway Challenge Grand Final of our teams Build, "Melton Down".

Callum & Railway Video Devision

https://youtu.be/xB8ePT00Y2k

[melmerby]

An interesting final, and some nice themes - I especially liked the Brunell one. All entrants perhaps deserved to win.

 

 

 

Brit15

But no mention of their Atmospheric Railway running alongside the river! Shame.

 

Keith

Edited November 9, 2018 by melmerby

[sharris]

 Maybe they could have cut some of the cake scenes?

People have been comparing it to Bake Off - of course it has to have cake scenes!

 

Seriously, a very enjoyable way to finish the series- some great ideas and a very imaginative way to fit the brief by Aberdeen - worthy winners, I thought.

[rue_d_etropal]

They said it was 36 hours so I was expecting it to be an extra day. 3d days meant it was a 12 hour day.

 

For me if it had been 'expert' modellers with no time constraint it would have flopped. It was pitched at about the right level, and ultimately the right design won, and will probably inspire far more to get into the obby and something wich was more traditional.

 

Would also be intersing to know have materials etc were supplied, as everything in the heats was pre-ordered.

[Penlan]

Well done Aberdeen, very good.
All I've heard down the pub from friends since 9.15pm

is along the lines of '2 days to get the engine to move?'
Basingstoke Bodgers, why didn't they edit that out.

[BobM]

Evening......

Whole of the series has been enjoyable, entertaining and just totally harmless fun for family viewing....well done for hopefully capturing the imagination and inspiration of a younger (and perhaps some from an older) generation to get involved in a creative and 'living' hobby....?

Regards always

Bob

[Pacific231G]

It isn't codified anywhere in legislation. BUT.... the legislation is worded in such a way as to make organisations err on the side of caution. That is, unless you are reasonably satisfied you don't need one, then it is advisable to have one.

More to the point, broadcasters and production companies have rules that if children are present on set, then, unless they are accompanied at all times by their own parents/carers or schoolteachers, then there must be at least one person also on location who is legally able to act in loco parentis (aka a chaperone). This is a legal requirement, and people filling that role must not only be DBS checked but alsou registered as approved chaperones. So it can't be done just by a club member taking a friend's children with them. It needs to be done by the production company.

There are also very strict rules about how long minors can be on set and I simply can't see that working in a continuously shot show like this. Chaperones have to be fairly strong characters able to stand up to directors in fairly high stressed situations, usually due to time pressures.

I've done quite a lot of filming in schools and, while the crews didn't have to be DBS checked, there had to be a responsible adult present. In a school that's usually a teacher but I've sometimes had to remind them of that requirement, usually when filming a small group,activity away from the classroom. Again that would be quite hard to organise in a shoot as complex as this series though probably not impossible.

 

 

Congratulations to all the teams we saw this evening and particularly to Aberdeen who pulled off an incredibly creative idea with some really great modelling. I was reminded of Fritz Lang's Metropolis and the train running through the clouds was sensational as was the vertical forced perspective.

Edited November 10, 2018 by Pacific231G

[Erictheviking]

For what it's worth, my wife was a licenced chaperone, she worked on tv series too numerous to mention, in theatres particularly with Bill Kenwright productions when touring and major films on various locations. She agrees that having children in the show would have been difficult unless supervised by parents as they would require overnight supervision as well as daytime/filming time because the location was not, for the bulk of them, within reach at the begining and end of the day. I am correct in assuming that the teams all needed overnight accomodation? ( Aberdeen being some distance away) . Another problem would be getting permission from head teachers, who are under the LEA cosh on attendence, next is doctors certification that the child is fit and well. And as stated, having DBS checking only proves that your intentions are honourable or, you haven't been caught yet, as has proved the case several times.

[hicksan]

Well done Aberdeen. Worthy winners. Well done Kathy and Steve. Excellent judges. Well done Tim and James. All round good blokes. Even the dreadful puns added to the overall fun. Well done to Bryher for directing and Pat for coming up with the idea and pushing it through.

 

It works, and the hobby is the winner.

[Ian Morgan]

Congratulations to Aberdeen, and a big 'well done' to all participants. All the teams managed to complete pretty much what was intended to very good standards, and everything worked well enough.

 

The teams all had the same length of time to plan, design, purchase and prepare for the final build, although filming of the last heat had not completed by then, so all three teams in that heat were given the brief to think about, I believe.

 

Filming of the final was over 4 days, with judging at midday on the fourth day, so 36 hours spread over three and a half days.

 

However, I was rather disappointed by the final programme. The final really needed to be spread over two, one hour slots. Five teams working solidly over three and half days was really glossed over and there was no time to take in the detail and cameos of the final products. The replacement for the scratch-build challenge was edited out completely.

[LocoLaurie]

Well done to all teams. Great modelling on RVD, and Aberdeen won with an imaginative model. 

 

Where on earth did the producers get the idea for 'Journey through time'. Our Team Steampunk would have been stumped lol. 

Edited November 10, 2018 by LocoLaurie

[TouchCabMike]

Congratulations to Aberdeen, and a big 'well done' to all participants. All the teams managed to complete pretty much what was intended to very good standards, and everything worked well enough.

 

The teams all had the same length of time to plan, design, purchase and prepare for the final build, although filming of the last heat had not completed by then, so all three teams in that heat were given the brief to think about, I believe.

 

Filming of the final was over 4 days, with judging at midday on the fourth day, so 36 hours spread over three and a half days.

 

However, I was rather disappointed by the final programme. The final really needed to be spread over two, one hour slots. Five teams working solidly over three and half days was really glossed over and there was no time to take in the detail and cameos of the final products. The replacement for the scratch-build challenge was edited out completely.

 

 

Thanks!

 

Actually, for the final, Aberdeen were the last to know the rules and theme. Each heat winner was told the theme and that it would be a 50' layout when they were announced as winners. We were in heat 4, so were not aware until last. That's because the final was filmed the week after heat 5, so all of heat 5 teams were advised of the rules one week before our filming. So really, Aberdeen and the winners of heat 5 had a monster task to get ready in time! On top of this, there was no clear way forward on how the production team were planning on controlling the "star train" across all 5 layouts. This is why I wrote a set of instructions and supplied the busses to all teams. There was enough to do without everyone needing to think about how to do this!

 

Again, well done to all and thanks to the production team. See you at Warley!

[Coryton]

Thanks!

 

Actually, for the final, Aberdeen were the last to know the rules and theme. Each heat winner was told the theme and that it would be a 50' layout when they were announced as winners. We were in heat 4, so were not aware until last. That's because the final was filmed the week after heat 5, so all of heat 5 teams were advised of the rules one week before our filming. So really, Aberdeen and the winners of heat 5 had a monster task to get ready in time! On top of this, there was no clear way forward on how the production team were planning on controlling the "star train" across all 5 layouts. This is why I wrote a set of instructions and supplied the busses to all teams. There was enough to do without everyone needing to think about how to do this!

 

 

Possibly all of this was taken into account in the judging?

 

Though I would have chosen Aberdeen anyway.

 

It's just a shame we ended up seeing so little of the layout when it was complete.

 

I've never made it to Warley, but...

[Coryton]

Congratulations to Aberdeen, and a big 'well done' to all participants. All the teams managed to complete pretty much what was intended to very good standards, and everything worked well enough.

 

The teams all had the same length of time to plan, design, purchase and prepare for the final build, although filming of the last heat had not completed by then, so all three teams in that heat were given the brief to think about, I believe.

 

Filming of the final was over 4 days, with judging at midday on the fourth day, so 36 hours spread over three and a half days.

 

But split into three virtual days to fit between the advert breaks...

 

Fair enough.

 

Maybe next time round they will be able to allocate two programmes to the final if it follows the same format, perhaps editing in a suitable cliffhanger for each one at the end of the first one?