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Channel 4 model railway challenge


Nearholmer
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Time Team is an interesting comparison. Talk to most archaeologists and they hated it just as much as some hate Biggest Little Railway - for the same reasons, especially the over-simplification of a dig and the constant need for jeopardy.

Equally, I recall a conversation a few years back with a local archaeologist who said that for all Time Team's failings, the made-for-TV over-simplification and over-dramatisation etc, the thing it did very well was to raise public awareness of archaeology.

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I enjoyed it again.  The programme on before it in our house was 'Dancing on Ice'.  Have to say that the people involved in building the railway were far more interesting and had far more character and personality than the so called 'celebrities in 'dancing on Ice'.  Well done to everyone involved in the railway, including those we haven't seen on our screens.

 

Presumably there was a team following along behind removing the track, amazing bridges etc.

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At one point it was said the railway modelling is the second most popular hobby in the UK - is this true?

 

 

Wow - second only to  post-17823-0-40903900-1516665069.gif  ?

 

Should we get the Ice road Truckers over to haul a bit of essential freight along the route?  Hugh would inevitably be driving Polar Bear......

Edited by Osgood
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Not seen this mentioned before and if it has I apologise but does anyone else get fed up of them calling it a train when it is in fact a locomotive?  Picky?  Maybe but when I first became interested in the hobby I had my head ripped off for calling a loco a train!

 

Apart from that it was good to see some thought going into the bridge building and the cutting down of maintenance time.  Shame it is let down so often by the thing just falling over so often but I guess the time between the track being laid and the loco passing over is enough to cause movement of the ground underneath especially with the weather.

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Presumably there was a team following along behind removing the track, amazing bridges etc.

 

Contractors according to a guy I spoke to yesterday who was one of the volunteers... He was involved in the trestle bridge... See below...

 

At one point it was said the railway modelling is the second most popular hobby in the UK - is this true?

 

I wish someone would show us where they got that from, if only to put the damn thing to bed once and for all! ;)

 

Roundhouse Bulldog, Accucraft W&L wagons.

 

And owned by one of the guys who helped build the bridge...

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As has been mentioned the information that model railways is the second most popular hobby is somewhat out of date. It might have been true 40 years ago but it is doubtful today.

EDIT. Dibber25 posted as I was writing the above.

Edited by PhilJ W
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I admit I am finding the 'story' a bit confusing to follow -

It's not that complicated a story to follow.

As you’ve assumed I’m a bit thick, you’ll be pleased to know that I am more than capable of understanding the story and the general gist of the series.

My comment was about the story in the context of ejstubbs saying that he found it confusing to follow. I made no reference to your level of thickness (your terminogy).

 

I am pleased to know that you understand it. ;)

Edited by Colin_McLeod
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Its not so much the story thats at fault, its more a certain waywardness in editing that confuses us bears of small brain....

 

Ok, I realise they like to

 

  • Show the viewer whats going to happen
  • Show the viewer whats happening (as it were)
  • Show the viewer what happened
  • With added bits of human interest

 

But sometimes, especially when viewing is interrupted, it takes a while to lock onto which part of the sequence is currently being shown.  Thats where confusion sets in!  :jester:

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See my post 482. (CJL)

 

I accept that is where they could have got it from, but I can't believe that they'd have used such out of date information, 50 years is two generations ago! A quick search reveals far more up to date information and I struggle to believe that they'd have ignored all that...  Are you really saying those are the stats they actually used or is it a guess? 

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I accept that is where they could have got it from, but I can't believe that they'd have used such out of date information, 50 years is two generations ago! A quick search reveals far more up to date information and I struggle to believe that they'd have ignored all that...  Are you really saying those are the stats they actually used or is it a guess? 

 

I first heard it when I started in the business in 1963 and for a few years afterwards. I haven't heard it since. I've no idea where they got it from as I wasn't involved. (CJL)

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The trestle was great but I was rather amused by Claire's dismissal of a suspension bridge asserting that "they are not suitable for railways".

 

When a very humble roadside tramway in deepest France encountered a not so humble gorge the result looks like a suspension bridge to me. .

 

 

attachicon.gif1tram_rn1.jpg

 

 

attachicon.gifViaduc_des_Rochers_Noirs_-2.jpg

Par MOSSOT — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0,

 

That looks more like, or it certainly has a strong element of, a cable stay bridge.

 

With a suspension bridge there are two main cables suspended between two towers and the main cables are not attached directly to the bridge deck other than sometimes at the centre point. Vertical support cables drop from the suspension cables and support the deck which is usually arched.

 

e.g. Old Severn Bridge.

 

post-6861-0-40199500-1516707767_thumb.jpeg

 

On a cable stay bridge several cables run over the towers and run directly down to the bridge deck, supporting it at various points. A smaller cable stay bridge can have just a single tower. They are considerably more rigid than a suspension bridge and the deck can be flat which makes them much more suitable for rail traffic.

 

e.g. New Severn Bridge

 

post-6861-0-31671200-1516708001_thumb.jpeg

 

Millau Bridge

 

post-6861-0-04256100-1516708518_thumb.jpeg

 

The French bridges have cable stays which seem to have subsidiary vertical support cables.

 

.

Edited by Arthur
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Just to add my opinion to the “story” debate. The show is depicting things in chronological order. Therefore the track laying teams are working ahead of the locomotive (train when pulling the coach) to ensure that there is enough track for it to run on. Naturally some of the bigger structures are shown being completed well in advance of the locomotive arriving. The first bridge was part of episode 1 as it was one of the first challenging builds on the route, but the loco did not reach it until episode 3. The editing showed a brief flashback to remind viewers of some of the challenges from that build prior to the loco reaching it so I think that was handled very well.

I was disappointed not to see the viaduct crossing in the latest episode but I guess that will feature next time along with the incline, possibly the Wild West style bridge will also feature. If it doesn’t then you would guess that the loco may not complete the trip in the allotted time due to the amount of miles still to be covered in the remaining episodes. I know some people know the outcome already but I don’t.

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The show is depicting things in chronological order.

 

Mmmm... Watch the condition of Silver lady in each episode, it goes from mint to rough and back to mint several times! It's obvious that whilst the story is told in some sort of order no-one told the cutting team!! ;) :)

 

Dibber, the only reason i questioned the accuracy of the "2nd most popular" quote is simply that since the internet we are surrounded by false information every day with people saying "this is what happened", etc. without any proof, so was trying to clarify where they got that information from... It seems, then, that we don't actually know... Unless someone on the Production Team sees this and can clarify... Perhaps best left at that...

Edited by Hobby
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Mmmm... Watch the condition of Silver lady in each episode, it goes from mint to rough and back to mint several times! It's obvious that whilst the story is told in some sort of order no-one told the cutting team..

I am sure if you watch carefully, the only time Silver Lady differs in condition is during those shots that show it close up running along a random piece of track. These are the fill in sections to allow the narrator to move the story on, update progress or explain the next major hurdle. In many ways it is like a random shot of a crowd during a football highlights package. The actual story is in chronological in order.

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Not seen this mentioned before and if it has I apologise but does anyone else get fed up of them calling it a train when it is in fact a locomotive?  Picky?  Maybe but when I first became interested in the hobby I had my head ripped off for calling a loco a train!

 

You should have ripped their heads off. I've just looked at my copy of the 1950 BR rule book and rule 16 clearly states. Except where otherwise provided the term train includes Light engine; i.e. engine without a train; also rail car; rail bus.  and in the 1904 GWR rule book- also Clearing House- the short form of Rule 27 (a)  is "Train" includes "Light Engine" or in full "Except where otherwise otherwise provided, when the word "Train" is used it must be understood to include "Light Engine" 

Edited by Pacific231G
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If I could only remember who it was I would be back to them straight away with that.  As it is my memory is so bad that I can't remember even what I went into the kitchen for.  Thanks for the information though and it is true that every day is a school day.

 

Now about Railway Station versus Train Station!

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That looks more like, or it certainly has a strong element of, a cable stay bridge.

 

With a suspension bridge there are two main cables suspended between two towers and the main cables are not attached directly to the bridge deck other than sometimes at the centre point. Vertical support cables drop from the suspension cables and support the deck which is usually arched.

 

e.g. Old Severn Bridge.

 

attachicon.gifE3470A22-1DA8-46B7-86D1-CF2B746307EC.jpeg

 

On a cable stay bridge several cables run over the towers and run directly down to the bridge deck, supporting it at various points. A smaller cable stay bridge can have just a single tower. They are considerably more rigid than a suspension bridge and the deck can be flat which makes them much more suitable for rail traffic.

 

e.g. New Severn Bridge

 

attachicon.gif2D5A85A1-FB47-404B-9B35-52EEF92304DB.jpeg

 

Millau Bridge

 

attachicon.gif2E4EE658-C49D-432F-969C-081FF0B91C7D.jpeg

 

The French bridges have cable stays which seem to have subsidiary vertical support cables.

 

.

In his own patent application Albert Gisclard clearly described his invention as a "rigid suspension bridge" http://www.google.com/patents/US671133

The US patent application was filed in 1900 and granted in 1901. 

 

There are some more photos of the Viaduc des Rochers Noirs here which clarify the design https://structurae.net/structures/viaduc-des-rochers-noirs and in particular the complex "rigging" of the cables. These provide far more detail of the cables than the two photos I posted originally. They confirms that the design IS primarily a suspension bridge as the stay cables coming down from each tower do not directly support the deck but instead support and give to the main suspension cables the greater rigidity required for a railway bridge (though there are Gisclard road bridges also)  .

 

The bridge deck appears to be entirely suspended from cables descending from the main suspension cables but only at the lower outer half of their catenary. Where each of the main suspension cables supports the deck through these cables  it is in turn partly supported by a fan of cable stays descending from the opposite tower.  You can see that the main support cable are each made  up of four cable elements while the cable stays are made up of just two.  There is also a pair of  cable elements between the tops of the towers supporting lighter vertical cables running down to the main support cables. I assume these are to give greater rigidity rather than being load bearing but they may also be to help support the towers in the absence of the usual complete catenary.

 

I'm grateful to you Arthur for querying the nature of this bridge as, although I've admired it for decades, this has caused me to study its design far more closely and that has been fascinating.(I must put the Milau viaduct on my bucket list!)

 

Had Gisclard not been killed in a site accident in 1908 while his first large railway bridge was being commissioned, one wonders what he might not have gone on to achieve.  (The Correze viaduct was actually designed by a M. Maret)

 

The other remarkable thing about this viaduct is how a very humble steam tramway trundling along the side of quiet country roads managed to throw itself over a wide gorge in such a magnficent way. There were a few other comparably lavish  bridges on local light railways but, for most of them, all that is now left are the abutments either side of some great river. These always seem a bit like finding that the Ffestiniog Railway had built something akin to the Britannia Bridge. 

 

P.S. The Tramways de Correze are at the top of my list of places and times to visit when I get my hands on a TARDIS, even above the IofW in its pomp. 

Edited by Pacific231G
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