Great Model Railway Challenge - Channel 5

[Robin2]

Yep. A3. GWR.

That is specialist knowledge.....

Thank you for illustrating my point so clearly.

 

...R

[Hroth]

Quite - and the scratch-build challenge shows that sort of thing very nicely in a way that otherwise probably wouldn't come across.

 

Clearly most of us don't start with an object and insist to ourselves that it goes on the layout but I'm sure I'm not the only one who looks at everyday objects thinking about how they could be used. (And how many of us have boxes of left-over bits of packaging and the like on the grounds that it Might Come In Useful One Day?)

I've boxes of empty cereal boxes - excellent material for getting something off the ground.....

[Colin_McLeod]

Did anyone watch Eastenders instead? There were train sounds on it!

 

 

Hat, coat, animated umbrella and out

[Pete Thorpe]

Quite - and the scratch-build challenge shows that sort of thing very nicely in a way that otherwise probably wouldn't come across.

 

Clearly most of us don't start with an object and insist to ourselves that it goes on the layout but I'm sure I'm not the only one who looks at everyday objects thinking about how they could be used. (And how many of us have boxes of left-over bits of packaging and the like on the grounds that it Might Come In Useful One Day?)

A case in point is the black pipes on one of my 2mm tanktainers, which are whiskers kindly donated by my cat (and no, I didn't pluck them from him, he sheds them naturally). Another is also going to be used as an angler's fishing rod on one of our club's 4mm layouts.

Edited October 20, 2018 by Pete Thorpe

[wombatofludham]

 I suspect the real future of model railways for the young is in virtual reality rather than traditional modelling.

 

Been said before but didn't quite work out.  As someone who used to make content for Train Simulator 1 I haven't fired up a computer simulator in literally years and neither have any of my former collaborators on projects.  In fact a number have like me moved back to model railways.

 

There's a place for both but based on my experience of family crowds at exhibitions and with Dolgellau is there is a lot of excitement and interest in model railways from both youngsters and empty nesters looking for a new hobby whereas computer railway simulators are no longer as popular as they once were and have become a niche activity.  There's an intangible satisfaction to holding a model or creating a layout that even the most computer-game savvy youngster actually appreciates.

[dibber25]

Been said before but didn't quite work out.  As someone who used to make content for Train Simulator 1 I haven't fired up a computer simulator in literally years and neither have any of my former collaborators on projects.  In fact a number have like me moved back to model railways.

 

There's a place for both but based on my experience of family crowds at exhibitions and with Dolgellau is there is a lot of excitement and interest in model railways from both youngsters and empty nesters looking for a new hobby whereas computer railway simulators are no longer as popular as they once were and have become a niche activity.  There's an intangible satisfaction to holding a model or creating a layout that even the most computer-game savvy youngster actually appreciates.

 

Absolutely! It's the natural desire to create something and the pleasure of being able to say "I made that'. "i pressed three buttons and an electronic gismo did it for me," doesn't bring the same degree of satisfaction. (CJL)

[Pteremy]

Another victory for things that actually work. There is a basic lesson in that for everyone, whatever their/our railway modelling niche.

[Marcus-Jay]

As for the scratch build challenge, Santa's Toy Factory, a pre-build model, incorporated plywood offcuts, plastic drain pipe, plastic water pipe, two yoghurt pots, two plastic shot glasses, two old radio knobs a supermarket trifle bowl, Xmas wrapping paper and lots of coffee stirrers. It's what we do.

Good job you were not in our heat..You'd have been ahead of the game :-)

[Ian Morgan]

Actually, I had a bit of luck with our challenge. With the North Pole location, we had bandied about the idea of an igloo, and I had been on the lookout for something of suitable size and shape, but did not find anything. Then, when we were handed the sink plunger, all I could see was an igloo.

 

Edited October 20, 2018 by Ian Morgan

[rob D2]

I liked that ! Very good ...

The steampunk thing doesn’t offend me...it’s not really my thing, but we often hear “ how can we attract new modellers ...” then they get sniffy about somebody else’s interest

Edited October 20, 2018 by rob D2

[Zomboid]

Been said before but didn't quite work out. As someone who used to make content for Train Simulator 1 I haven't fired up a computer simulator in literally years and neither have any of my former collaborators on projects. In fact a number have like me moved back to model railways.

 

There's a place for both but based on my experience of family crowds at exhibitions and with Dolgellau is there is a lot of excitement and interest in model railways from both youngsters and empty nesters looking for a new hobby whereas computer railway simulators are no longer as popular as they once were and have become a niche activity. There's an intangible satisfaction to holding a model or creating a layout that even the most computer-game savvy youngster actually appreciates.

There's a place for Train simulator games, but I gave up on it because the content was biased towards the rolling stock and routes, but nobody was building the scenarios to give them a purpose, and too many of those that were there were "drive 50 miles non stop at 100mph".

I made a few myself, but it was a lot of work and by the time I'd got them working how I wanted I didn't want to run them again.

I found that like with models, what I liked best was shunting, which was hard going on MSTS at least.

[wagonbasher]

That sounds you hear? It's a million non-enthusiasts changing channel.

 

One of the challenges for the TV company was to make the show televisual - something has to happen on screen and be pretty obvious. A stay alive capacitor is slightly less interesting then watching paint dry. A lot of railway modellers wouldn't be interested, so the rest of the world certainly won't be.

 

Last night's scratchbuild challenge showed off the innovation and skill of railway modellers. There will be plenty of people impressed with the use of the sink plunger to make an igloo and turning the sponge into a bouncy castle was pretty clever too. In week on, re-using dust from a cut up shoe as coal was genius. I'd say being presented with a random object and told to make something of it is a harder job than being given some sheets of Plastikard. OK, maybe this is a return to the sort of modelling carried out in the 1950s when there weren't as many specialist materials out there, but it's also the sort of modelling the gets kids interested.

 

Some of the techniques you don't approve of might have been scorned by the judges, but in a short programme, there isn't going to be time to include absolutely everything. As those who took part have said, there is a vast amount of footage that didn't make it on to the screen.

Not a fan of the steam punk type of genre myself but is a shame there wasn't time to show the folk at home how lori (sorry don't know how to spell his name) just sticks house hold objects to reliable RTR locomotives with a squirt of magic space paint to achieve his space locomotives. 

 

I think I've moved on but when I was 12 that stuff would have blown my mind.

 

Andy

[phil-b259]

After watching the third episode I'm losing patience with it.

 

I thought the Blackadder layout in the second episode was good because it used the TV series as an excuse to portray something halfway representative of the real WW1 railways. But the third episode was just dire. It's not that I mind gimmicky layouts but the only team that attempted something that looked like a model of an actual railway got criticised for lacking imagination. The great majority of model railways are attempts to portray an actual railway, real or imagined, with some degree of authenticity but this series shows none of that.   

 

The problem is the idiotic themes and it would have been so easy to come up with themes that allow for either a realist or an imaginative interpretation. 

 

 

I do have to confess that I would interpret 'globe-trotting' as something like a tiny Miniatur Wunderland setup.

 

As such I'm not surprised the Santa layout won, and I suppose the use of Santa allowed for a single train to traverse every area.

 

As far as the theme choices go, you need to remember that users of this forum are NOT the target audience! The people who Channel 5 are targeting are those who might have had a Hornby train set (most of which are hardly accurate portrayals of anything) in their youth or who have young children who are into trains. For such persons an 'accurate portrail' of railway history would be as dull as ditchwater to watch - they want entertainment not lectures on a specific location or time period.

Edited October 20, 2018 by phil-b259

[RJS1977]

There's a place for Train simulator games, but I gave up on it because the content was biased towards the rolling stock and routes, but nobody was building the scenarios to give them a purpose, and too many of those that were there were "drive 50 miles non stop at 100mph".

I made a few myself, but it was a lot of work and by the time I'd got them working how I wanted I didn't want to run them again.

I found that like with models, what I liked best was shunting, which was hard going on MSTS at least.

 

Plenty of 'activities' for routes on UKTrainSim.com

[TheQ]

What amazed me was no one used the foam for cutting up into hedges and other vegetation. I've seen that done without a contest.

I've met the leader of the steampunk team at our Broadland model railway club show with his railway, it's definitely not my style but the kids loved it.

[sb67]

Another enjoyable episode and for me the best model won again, I really liked the dock and felt really sorry for them when the train derailed. I'm really liking this show and enjoying finding out who on here has taken part, another well done to all involved.

Steve.

[sharris]

If this gets as far as a second series, I'd like to submit my idea for a new challenge.

 

The Carpet Challenge.

 

"There are 5 pieces from an etched kit hiding in the carpet - teams have 15 minutes to find all the pieces and complete the kit. One point for each part found - bonus points for filing replacement parts from a piece of fret."

[Legend]

I still love Triang operating gimmicks and have a growing collection which is being augmented by the Bachmann versions when I can find them - https://philsworkbench.blogspot.com/2016/07/Bachmann-action-depot.html

 

but others spending all day staring at screens may wish to do something that's not on a computer.

 

Quite a quote from someone trying to convert us to digital magazines!

 

Train simulators are excellent. I have actually used mine to recreate layouts that I saw at exhibitions. You can then operate them. Of course you can join them all up and have a huge layout that you could never have in your wildest dreams . But as has been pointed out if you spend a lot of your working day staring at screens , it’s not ideal to spend further hours staring at screens at home. It is absorbing . An update from Windows 8 to 10 meant that I couldn’t get my old version of Aurans Trainz working . I did upgrade but having essentially to recreate the layouts again I somehow have never got round to using it. It is fairly niche and I always thought it complemented Model Railways rather than replacing it. It was easier to do than going up into the cold loft though and you don’t need to have space for a large baseboard. I think there may now be functionality on tablets , making it even more accessible, whereas I was using a home computer with high spec video card

 

Back to the program. This is still enjoyable telly and speaking to people at Greenock MRE today it seems to have got people talking about Model Railways , so in that respect the program is proving succesful. I also appreciate that it’s meant to appeal more to the general public rather than the enthusiast . However I did find this edition less enjoyable than the previous ones . Are we really saying that we need Sci Fi models and dinosaurs to make Model Railways interesting? What about High speed trains running through stations at speed , or if you want animations how about a working container terminal . I too thought globe trotting might mean different railway systems , countries , maybe a Shinkansen or a mountain railway . I do think there is enough of interest there and to maintain viewers rather than resorting to Santa or Flying Saucers. That said the winning layout was very good . I like the effect of different scales of the same train, and the Steampunk team had the best running layout, even though its basis just did not appeal to me at all.

 

We should be showcasing our hobby and there’s plenty of great stuff to show without resorting to other genres . I’m hoping we will get something more representative in the last two programs .

Edited October 20, 2018 by Legend

[colin smith]

The problem with that is that, while it may be very satisfying to build and will look fabulous in photos it is boring as hell to watch unless you are already a railway geek.

 

 

...R

 

Not necessarily. Watching people build a house is boring but somehow Grand Designs makes it interesting without turning house construction into a circus. Obviously, plonking a camera in front of the average layout will result in boring footage, but showing the research involved and all the compromises involved in modelling would be interesting. The problem is that Bake-Off was the model rather than Grand Designs. 

[chris p bacon]

Not necessarily. Watching people build a house is boring but somehow Grand Designs makes it interesting without turning house construction into a circus. 

 

 

Watching from a professional point of view, that's exactly what happens.

 

And considering there's at least one pregnancy per house build, that's something I'd rather not see in a Model railway challenge.... 

[colin smith]

If you prefer a P4 branch line to a Battlespace Turbo car, that's fine. Just accept that others feel differently. 

God no. I'm all for a variety of prototypes and scales and I'm irritated that apart from a couple of bits of N gauge and OO9 everyone has gone for British outline OO. I love foreign railways and especially narrow gauge and like different scale combinations. More obscure the better. For example, I'd have done the movie challenge as High Noon in Fn3. 

 

But whatever the prototype, for me the emphasis is on translating that prototype into model form with a degree of verisimilitude. GMRC has almost no proptype element at all and gives the impression model railways exists in a bubble completely separate from real railways. 

[colin smith]

Been said before but didn't quite work out.  

 

I was thinking specifically of this site which is a virtual model of a 2' gauge railroad in Colorado. http://gilpintram.com/

 

Tons of research and great 'modelling'.

[sharris]

apart from a couple of bits of N gauge and OO9 everyone has gone for British outline OO. I love foreign railways and especially narrow gauge and like different scale combinations. More obscure the better. For example, I'd have done the movie challenge as High Noon in Fn3. 

 

I suspect this may be more down to the model companies sponsoring the show than the imagination of the contestants.

 

(Two shows left to prove me wrong)

 

I did think the use of N gauge this week was imaginative.

[Phil Parker]

Not necessarily. Watching people build a house is boring but somehow Grand Designs makes it interesting without turning house construction into a circus. Obviously, plonking a camera in front of the average layout will result in boring footage, but showing the research involved and all the compromises involved in modelling would be interesting. The problem is that Bake-Off was the model rather than Grand Designs.

 

Have you actually watched Grand Designs? A smug couple with too much money, come with a whacky scheme, argue with the architect, decide to project manage the job themselves and find out it's hard, miss deadlines, run out of cash, get pregnant and ultimately sort of pull it all off. It couldn't be more circus if Kevin wore a ringmaster costume. As for the false jeopardy before every add break...

 

I can see where you are coming from though but you need several VERY different layouts each series or the public won't be able to tell them apart. Maybe there is space for this show as well, but I suspect it would need a more healthy budget than GMRC to ship film crews around the country.

[Robin2]

 

The problem with that is that, while it may be very satisfying to build and will look fabulous in photos it is boring as hell to watch unless you are already a railway geek.

Not necessarily. Watching people build a house is boring but somehow Grand Designs makes it interesting without turning house construction into a circus. Obviously, plonking a camera in front of the average layout will result in boring footage, but showing the research involved and all the compromises involved in modelling would be interesting. The problem is that Bake-Off was the model rather than Grand Designs.

 

 

I was not referring to a film about the prototypically accurate model railway but, rather, seeing it in the flesh at an exhibition. Film editing improves a lot of things.

 

...R