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BBC TV Blue Peter Childrens Program (1970s) .

DonnyRailMan

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DonnyRailMan

DonnyRailMan

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Through-out the 1970s  BBC TVs Blue Peter would show what looked at time on a (20inc TV) a massive railway layout  .

I would think it was probably been Tri-ang / Hornby locomotives dose anyone else remember more/ anything about it.

I have looked for footage of the programme that might have had footage with layout in it but failed to come across any as yet.

Edited by DonnyRailMan
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edcayton

edcayton

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Yes, the Blue Peter model railway. I remember Chris Trace, john Noakes and Peter Purves showing things on it. They also had links with "the" 532 Blue Peter as well. I had long stopped watching the programme when model A2's became available, so don't know if they got a mention.

 

Ed

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DonnyRailMan

DonnyRailMan

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Hi,

When this came up on MREmag fairly recently I posted this link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/bluepeter/earlyyears/trivia.shtml

to an archived BBC article,  see 'Trace fast-tracked' and scroll down to 'Derailed'...

 

Regards, Gerry.

Derailed

Chris on the Blue Peter train set: "I remember a particularly complicated layout that I had gone through in great detail with the director... before we went for a tea break. But when we did the show, trains were coming from everywhere except the places I was expecting. It was chaos. I just couldn't understand what had happened. Then I discovered that during the tea break someone had sneaked in from the next studio and had been playing with all the trains. There was a big enquiry. .

 

I think Mr Dimbleby must have been a secret railway modeller lol.

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mcowgill

mcowgill

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I met Christopher Trace while he still was a Blue Peter presenter at (I think) an Easter (?) Harrogate model railway exhibition, must have been fairly shortly before he left the show as I was only 5 at that time.  Somewhere I've still got a signed Blue Peter annual that Dad bought for me that day.

 

Martin

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DonnyRailMan

DonnyRailMan

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I met Christopher Trace while he still was a Blue Peter presenter at (I think) an Easter (?) Harrogate model railway exhibition, must have been fairly shortly before he left the show as I was only 5 at that time.  Somewhere I've still got a signed Blue Peter annual that Dad bought for me that day.

 

Martin

 

I must admit I can only remember back to seeing John  or Peter on the show with the Model Railway layout.

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jonny777

jonny777

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There is a small sized photo of Simon Groome operating the layout somewhere on the web, but I didn't make a note of the site unfortunately.

 

 

post-4474-0-73430600-1470573721.jpg

Edited by jonny777
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Hroth

Hroth

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The pic does come up when you google for it, but the website it belongs to appears to be dead.

 

I did find a rather fetching pic of Valerie Singleton, wearing only what appears to be a towel.  It was in an article by Peter Purves in the Daily Mail about the sort of things he used to get up to on the programme.....  Sadly there wasn't anything about the train set.

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Axlebox

Axlebox

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I wrote to them in the early 70s suggesting they showed us how to make scenery using paper mache and they did!... and I got (and still have) my Blue Peter badge...although my mate snapped the pin off the back...

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Fat Controller

Fat Controller

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I wrote to them in the early 70s suggesting they showed us how to make scenery using paper mache and they did!... and I got (and still have) my Blue Peter badge...although my mate snapped the pin off the back...

They'd done it a few years previously, perhaps about 1965; unfortunately, they didn't mention using wallpaper paste with fungicide in it, so I ended up with living scenery. They used to have fairly regular railway features; I remember one about Motorail and Cartics, featuring the loading of cars at Kenny O, alongside the recently released Triang-Hornby model.

I shall ask about Richard Dimbleby and toy trains; one of my neighbours used to be a PA on Panorama at about the time you're talking about.

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Fat Controller

Fat Controller

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I wonder what ever happend to the layout , is it still in storeage at the BBC . I think we should get

 David Dimbebly or his brother Jonathon Dimbebly to investigate .

I didn't see it when I went to pick up a film editing machine from the set of warehouses next to the Kew- Crickelwood line where the BBC used to store stuff. I could have taken a couple of Daleks, but space was a bit limited.

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Nick Gough

Nick Gough

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Simon groome was a bit of a railway fan when he was on blue Peter. I don't think subsequent presenters were as keen as him. I remember he did a visit to the settle and Carlisle line while he was on the programme

He also visited Didcot for a Blue Peter report on GWR150 back in 1985.

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34theletterbetweenB&D

34theletterbetweenB&D

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Ay model railway manufacturer, or even a major retailer could do the job, were the BBC production team willing.

 

 

... I had long stopped watching the programme when model A2's became available, so don't know if they got a mention...

 The Trix A2 appeared, re-numbered and named to represent Blue Peter. Of course in true Reithian values fashion the maker's name could not be mentioned so for many of us it took a while for the knowledge of who made it to filter down. (The comic charade of 'sticky backed plastic' so often a staple in the programme's DIY projects, when there was only one brand on sale in the UK - Fablon - is still remembered; the fact that it was near unavailable outside major urban centres and horribly expensive for most households might have been good reasons for not using it at all.)

 

Derailed
Chris on the Blue Peter train set: "I remember a particularly complicated layout that I had gone through in great detail with the director... before we went for a tea break. But when we did the show, trains were coming from everywhere except the places I was expecting. It was chaos. I just couldn't understand what had happened. Then I discovered that during the tea break someone had sneaked in from the next studio and had been playing with all the trains. There was a big enquiry. .

 

I think Mr Dimbleby must have been a secret railway modeller lol.

 Among my parent's circle of friends, one had a son who was a regular cameraman on BP from its inception, among other programmes. I gathered that all was not sweetness and light between the 'creatives' in production and the studio technical crew. If what I was told is to be believed, the latter would if possible quite deliberately interfere a little with what the presenters were going to work with, to cover themselves for the inadequate or even non-existent shooting direction they were given for filming live TV in the studio. After all, if the presenters messed up, then the camera crews were just doing their best to improvise the best possible job for transmission.

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PatB

PatB

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Coincidentally, a clip popped  up on my Facebook feed a couple of days ago, of Peter Purves visiting the Glasgow Subway in c1975. Footage included a completely unintelligible interview with a member of the railway staff and shots of the maintenance facility, including staff with fags hanging from their mouths and a distinct lack of either hi-viz or hard hats. It was great :D.

 

The Blue Peter model railway did feature in one of the annuals, although I'm not sure which one. I'd guess 1971 or 72. I'm pretty sure it was one of the pre-Lesley Judd years.

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JSpencer

JSpencer

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As a kid, I used to say 'wow' to that layout. Does not look that great to me now!

 

BTW, there was a competition in the 80s whereby you drew an image of what you thought the future would look like. I entered and won a blue peter badge.

 

Anyway, top prize was a model of the A2 Blue Peter loco (which I was hoping for, probably just as well I lost as I would broke it!). A kit build by some famous model kit builder. I wonder who that was?

I wonder if the model is still around somewhere? (Edit, just saw it was the Trix loco, renumbered).

 

I got my own Blue Peter loco almost 30 years loco thanks to Bachmann and keep it with the badge.

Edited by JSpencer
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rovex

rovex

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I used to have a copy of the BP annual where it showed you how to make wagon loads. I recall one was drainage pipes made from pasta. Another may have been a load of timber from lolly pop sticks but my memory might be failing me on that one.

Edited by rovex
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