Because the hours of recorded footage had to be edited down to a programme slot of just one hour (including adverts), quite a lot of the detail, back-stories and development work had to be omitted. Hopefully in this thread I can fill in some of the details, and answer some questions that viewers may like to ask.

To kick off, some people have pointed out that it was unclear what our 6 pre-build items were. They were:

1. The Sphinx tunnel mouth
2. Stonehenge (slightly smaller than N scale to fit, and give more forced perspective, but all stones accurately positioned as it is now)
3. An oasis (created from an Oasis CD)
4. The station in England
5. The English Pub (with animated Santa)
6. The Toy Factory (partly pre-built, but still had a lot of finishing needed during filming)

I cannot find a photo of Stonehenge at the moment.

We were also allowed to lay track and wiring on two of the three boards, and prepare skeletal scenery supports, but no ballasting or actual scenery was permitted, and board three had to be completely bare.

Here is our dream team, left to right, John S, Rob, Robin, Pete and John C. I am hiding behind the camera, however, a ModelU scan of me can be seen sitting at a table outside the pub.

We prepared a descriptive narrative to identify the main features we had included, but there was no time during the judging to give much more than a brief intro. Here it is:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Basingstoke Bodgers
Layout Narrative for the Final


(animation: train enters layout from cassette through Box tunnel and stops at the first signal)

We take you back to the mid-1850's. Motor cars and aeroplanes will not be invented for another 50 years. Railways are in their infancy. Less than 50 years since Richard Trevithick's first steam locomotive ran on rails, and less than 20 years since Stephenson's Rocket triumphed at the Rainhill Trials. We are paying tribute to an innovative engineer whose career started by completing the first tunnel under the Thames in London which had been started by his father. That engineer is Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Our train has just emerged from Box Tunnel, on Brunel's Great Western Railway from London to Bristol. Nearly 2 miles long, it opened less than 10 years ago, in 1841. It is reputed that the alignment of the tunnel allows the rising sun to shine right through the tunnel on Brunel's birthday, April 9th. (animation: tunnel should light up).


Brunel surveyed the entire route from London to Bristol on horseback, and can be seen observing us. (animation: Brunel on horseback should appear from behind a bush)

Brunel deduced that more passengers and freight could be carried at higher speeds and in more comfort if the gauge between the rails were greater than the 4' 8.5" gauge adopted by George Stephenson. Brunel built his railways with a gauge of 7 feet. This initially worked well, but as the rail network grew across the country, the locations where Brunel's broad gauge railways met narrow Stephenson gauge lines necessitated the transfer of goods and passengers from one train to another. Here we see a transfer shed from the 1850's, as preserved at Didcot. (not completed in time for judging, just the broad gauge and narrow gauge lines and a platform were built)


Transferring goods like this caused delays and damage and increased pilfering and prompted the so-called 'Gauge War'. Parliament will eventually decide on Stephenson's gauge to become the future standard, but it will be another 40 years before the end of the broad gauge. The final changeover from broad gauge to standard gauge of the route from London to Plymouth will be completed over a single weekend in 1892 - Network Rail, take note!

(animation: signal clears, train moves on to bridge and stops)


Our train has now moved on to Maidenhead Bridge. Brunel's elegant design of graceful arches crossing the river Thames, completed in 1838, was considered too shallow for brickwork, and in danger of collapsing. Brunel was not allowed to remove the wooden formwork used in its construction. Then, following a flood, the formwork was washed away. The bridge was supporting itself, and 180 years later, it will continue carry HSTs, the new class 800 trains and heavy freight trains.


Down by the water's edge we see a section of the South Devon Railway that runs from Exeter to Plymouth along the coast past Dawlish, which opened a few years ago in 1847. Because of the steep hills at the Plymouth end of the line, it was felt that steam locomotives of the time would not be powerful enough. Brunel adopted atmospheric traction. Large pumping engines were built along the route, such as this one at Starcross which will still be standing in 170 years time. They were used to create a vacuum in a pipe that ran between the rails. A piston, connected to the train, ran inside the pipe. Air was then let into the pipe behind the train forcing the piston, and the train, forward. The system did work, and a maximum speed of 64mph was recorded over a distance of 3 miles. However, there were many technical problems, and running costs were higher than expected, and the system was replaced by conventional locomotives just a year later. (animation: atmospheric train runs. Smoke from chimney of pumping station Chimney actually started puffing smoke some two hours after judging, for some unknown reason)


In order that the rail network could extend into Cornwall, the river Tamar needed to be crossed. A bridge needed to be high enough for the tall ships to navigate beneath it, but the geology of the river banks would not support the buttresses or anchoring points of conventional bridges. A suspension bridge will force the end towers inwards unless they can be anchored. Bowstring or arch bridges will force their ends outwards against heavy buttresses. Brunel designed two bridges in one, a suspension bridge and a bowstring bridge sharing the same end towers, such that the outward forces from the bowstring are perfectly balanced by the inward forces from the suspension bridge. No buttresses or anchor points are required. The Royal Albert Bridge, seen in the distance, will be opened by Prince Albert in 1859 and will continue to carry heavy trains 160 years later. (animation: N scale trains cross the Royal Albert Bridge)


Further in the distance we see the Clifton Suspension Bridge across the Avon Gorge, near Bristol. Construction started 20 years ago, in 1831. A rope was slung across the gorge to aid the transfer of men and materials from one side to the other, but none of the workers were brave enough to cross. Brunel himself got into the bucket to travel back and forth, showing the men it was safe. (animation: bucket with stovepipe hat crosses the gorge not completed in time)

Work on the bridge was delayed by political unrest and shortage of funds, and the bridge will not completed until 1864, 5 years after Brunel's death.


Also in the distance we see another of Brunel's passions, steam ships. The SS Great Britain, built in 1845, was the first iron steam ship to cross the Atlantic. (animation: Brunel appears from pile of ship's chains)

(animation: train moves forward into station and stops at next signal)


We now arrive at Mortimer station, just a short distance from Basingstoke. Opened in 1848, this will be the last surviving station built by Brunel in his Italianate style. The larger than normal distance between the platforms will be a reminder that this line was originally built to Brunel's broad gauge.


On the platform, we see a nurse. She is a reminder that Brunel designed and built pre-fabricated hospital wards for shipping to the Crimea, as requested by Florence Nightingale. He completed his design in 6 days, and 60 units were shipped out to create a 1,000 patient hospital, which opened in 1855. The improved hygenic features resulting in rates of infection 1/10 that of the existing hospital at Skutari.
(animation: Brunel appears from station door)


In the background we see Brunel's railway legacy, with important locomotives of his Great Western Railway over the years. 'City of Truro', believed by many to be the first locomotive to haul a train at 100mph, a Castle class locomotive named 'Isambard Kingdom Brunel', a King class locomotive, and in the distance, an HST and several more modern locomotives that have carried the name 'Isambard Kingdom Brunel'. A fitting tribute to an extraordinary, innovative and prodigious engineer who was ahead of his time.
(animation: signal clears to allow train to progress to the next layout)

http://www.channel5.com/show/the-great-model-railway-challenge/

The theme for the first episode of the series is Classic Movies and the trailer shows some novelty items!

I closed off the lead-up topics as people who pre-judge whether something is bad get on my wick. Of course it's not going to be MRJTV - it's popular telly to appeal to the masses and if it gets more people joining in the hobby that's a good thing. Maybe it'll stimulate a few Christmas pressies too?

Several RMweb members participated in the series and hopefully they enjoyed the experience and will share some of their memories; hopefully some of those who've enjoyed the TV series will end up reading the topic and maybe joining in too so let's keep the judgemental negativity to a minimum in this topic.

I see the Basingstoke Bodgers have had the prestigious job of creating a layout for Radio Times too! http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/138119-the-radio-times-challenge-layout/

The Great Model Railway Challenge has certainly been the talking point of not just modellers, but the general public too. Each week 3 Teams go head to head over the course 24hr, to build model railways, set to a certain theme, with the winner from each week going through to the final. 

Our Team the "Railway Video Division", made up of a number follow YouTuber's, Friends, and Family (including my Granddad, who got me started in the Hobby when I was 3) entered Heat 2 of the Challenge, with the Theme - TV Shows. We all quickly came to the conclusion, that 'Blackadder - Goes Forth' would make the perfect theme for our layout, with us all being big fans of the series, plus having an interest in the Railways of the First World War, it seems the perfect pairing!

I think the best way to kick off this topic, is to take a look at a 'Behind the Scenes' video, of our Teams Time on the Show, showing the construction "Go Forth". 

Description;

A look Behind the Scenes of our Team (The Railway Video Division) debute on the "The Great Model Railway Challenge", featuring the construction of our "Black Adder" inspired layout, "Go Forth". Joined by fellow YouTubers 82A Studios, Bluebell-Railway Hawks, Northern Soul Express, plus Adrian and my Grandfather, we take a look at our experiences during the filming of Heat 2, where we were tasked with the construction of a layout, based on a 'TV Show' Theme. So stay tuned to see how we get on!

Hope you enjoy!

After out success with our Blackadder WW1 Themed Heat Layout, "Go Forth", we received our brief for the 'Grand Final', which was a 'Journey Through Time'. We quickly brainstormed a number of ideas for what time period we would like to choice, and what to do in it. After passing around a few idea, we came up with an Alternate Cold War inspired layout, where Steam was never fazed out and the Cold War, was about to get Hot!

Like "Go Forth" we wanted to go all out with Animations and eye-catching scenes. So set about design a layout that would including smoke, a fully working Hump Shunt Yard, Exploding (ahem) Wagons and Missiles Launched from inside Two Massive Cooling Towers!  

Our Team the "Railway Video Division", also had a slight change of members for the final, as my Granddad, who featured in our Heat, sadly was on holiday during the Final, so Will's Dad stepped in. 

I think the best way to kick off this topic, is to take a look at a 'Behind the Scenes' video, of our Teams Time during the final, showing the construction "Melton Down". 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB8ePT00Y2k

Steve Flint (editor of Railway Modeller and Challenge judge) is making a welcome return as guest Judge for the 2019 show.

The show is at:-

Aldworth Science College,
Western Way,
Basingstoke,
RG22 6HQ

on Saturday 9th March from 10.00 to 17.00 (or 5/00 for those of a timetable persuasion)
and Sunday 10th March from 10.00 to 16.00 (or 4/00 etc.)

Admission is:-
* adult £6.00 including free show guide
* child £3.00
* family £12.00 for two adults and three children

Here is a link to the Exhibition page on the Club's website where you can find details of traders, directions and the Heritage Bus service

Here is a link to the layouts which are attending.

We will have Santa's Globetrotting Vacation, the layout we won heat 3 of the Channel 5 Great Model Railway Challenge with, operating at the exhibition.

There will also be a new layout centred around the Royal Albert Bridge that featured in our Brunel Tribute layout that we built for the final. There should be an introduction to this layout in the March Railway Modeller. Some of the other cameo features from the Brunel Tribute layout are now standalone dioramas which will also be on show.

Come and see ‘Ealing Road’, that was built by the ‘Missenden Modellers’ at RISEX 2019 Model Railway Exhibition on the 23rd February 2019.

'Photography Courtesy of Knickerbockerglory TV’

This will take place in

Community Centre(adjacent to Springs swimming pool),

Wades Park,

Stratton Road,

Princes Risborough,

Bucks,

HP27 9AX

Event Times: 10.00am - 5.00pm

Admission: Adults £4.00, Child £2.00

See our website for more details http://www.rdmrc.org.uk

Thanks

SEEYA
ANT

Date: 12th &13th January 2019.

Venue:       Felpham Community College, Felpham Way, Bognor Regis, PO22 8EL 

The exhibition opens to the public from 10am to 5pm on the Saturday and 10am to 4:30pm on the Sunday.

Please come and say hello.

The next exhibition for our layout will be in Basingstoke on March 9th and 10th 2019.

Regards Chris

Here is the team to start us off. From the left me Paul Harman, Chris Robertson, Maggie McBride, Team Leader Mark Leigh, Derek Souter and Paul Tyer.

Here is an overview of the layout looking from the allotment end towards the 'Walford Towers' tower block itself. Walford South station is on the left in an urban cutting, while Walford East is on the right.

And here is a shot looking the other way towards the canal and allotments before the final ballasting and titivating was done.

OK - Once I get the team organised we will put up what we have about our modelling of the Diesel Dynam's layout - Mattford.

Thanks

We saw that other teams set up their own threads for their layouts, so here we are with our own to show what we made, how we made it and explain the method to our madness!

We won't spill any details until after tonight's episode has aired, but there will be a post shortly after.

1. we have our own clubrooms to build the layout in
2. we are not too far for the journalist and photographer to travel
3. we were stupid enough not to say 'no'.

So, we have just spent two days building a layout for them. I cannot say much more about it before the publication date, but the layout will be on show at our club open day, this coming Saturday, admission is free

https://www.basingstokemrs.org/open-day.html