Coppercap Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 It might have been an idea to have had pre assembled track sections on baseboards clipped together rather than use 'train set' track, these could have been made on a jig to ensure accuracy. What, 10 miles of it? Anyway, it looked like they had a little problem with expansion, and fitting it to boards might have made that worse for the track itself. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 Very enjoyable, I would like to see it become an annual event. Yes in a different and more ambitious place ... I have a suggestion if anyone knows 'anyone' who might take this up seriously. Use an existing stretch of preserved railway, put the model track on the railhead on dabs of double sided tape. This way you start with a trackbase that is carefully profiled and out of the general ground level dirt. Good promotional opportunity for the preserved line used, etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted June 13, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 13, 2011 What, 10 miles of it? Anyway, it looked like they had a little problem with expansion, and fitting it to boards might have made that worse for the track itself. Not the entire length but on straight and level sections. They had it divided electrically into 100 yard sections the same could be done with the baseboards and with the track fixed expansion joints could be incorporated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisf Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 I had a few good chuckles while watching. Quite a contrast from where I was earlier in the day - Roy Jackson's Retford! What both had in common was enjoyment. Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Nth Degree Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 Very enjoyable episode. Has anyone seen May's or the wine buff's layouts? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mike Bellamy Posted June 13, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 13, 2011 Missed it but I see the programme is being shown again on BBC2 tonight at 7.00pm Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 ... Has anyone seen May's or the wine buff's layouts? No idea about the vinophile, but unless he has got busy on something permanent since his 'Top Toys' programme (easily found on Youtube), May's trains are operated on a temporary set track layout on a table top. And if he has actually built a permanent layout, he will probably keep it a deathly secret until such time as the Top Gear franchise winds up; to avoid giving the brillopad-bonced one yet another subject to endlessly twit him on... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bike2steam Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 No wonder Simon Kohler had that grin on his face all the time, - all that free publicity. I wonder if it did any good for the reputation of model railways, James May openly admits that he is no model railway enthusiast, just that he had a train-set when he was a kid, and to think Buffer use (/used ?) him in their advertising . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 Not exactly free publicity - didn't Hornby donate the track? Even at cost price 10 miles of mostly double track would not have been cheap! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kernowtim Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 By my calculations 2402 pieces of R603 track are needed for a 10 mile run,1 mile = 160 934.4 cm,R603 67cm long,costing just over £6600 at a well known Liverpool retailer,although you may get a discount for bulk purchase Scotsman did well considering it only has pickups on 4 wheels,will we see a return of the "realistic chuffing sound" though.. Didnt see any mention of Hornby in the closing credits,but there were shots of large Hornby cardbord boxes (containing track)? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 I'm watching it again, and playing a drinking game: One swig every time he says "Toy Train". I think the only excuse for filming the re-run was for James to prove once again to a kid who used to pick on him at school that he actually had a Flying Scotsman, whilst his adversary had to put up with a Lord Westwood. Can't say I was too impressed with the choice of motive power, although I suppose it means Hornby have alot of confidence in an out of the box HST. I'd have liked to have seen some 16mm live steam, since they are also self contained and the wider gauge would mean less stability problems for the homebuilt things on wheels. I'm not going to work out how much that would cost in Peco track, but you could still enter into the spirit by moulding your own sections in plastic with an easier way of joining lengths together. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Phil Parker Posted June 13, 2011 Administrators Share Posted June 13, 2011 Can't say I was too impressed with the choice of motive power, although I suppose it means Hornby have alot of confidence in an out of the box HST. I'd have liked to have seen some 16mm live steam, since they are also self contained and the wider gauge would mean less stability problems for the homebuilt things on wheels. I'm not going to work out how much that would cost in Peco track, but you could still enter into the spirit by moulding your own sections in plastic with an easier way of joining lengths together. But the point was that the programme was on "Toy trains" - the sort of thing May had as a kid. 16mm live steam hardly comes into that category, especially if you have to make your own track. It's not something the avaerage person can relate to either wheras they might well have a Flying Scotsman or HST. I thought it was just nice to see model railways in whatever form on prime time television without the owners being murderers to even particually nerdy. In fact it was almost like (whisper it) a sport. And if that catches on our hobby could have a fashionable side. Who is our David Beckham ? Phil www.philsworkbench.co.uk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmnik Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 I was thinking that James must be around my age as I had the same Flying Scotsman when I was around 10 I can remember being so excited about my Christmas present that I put salt on my Weetabix in the rush to go and play with it. I also remember seeing how the "chuffer" worked but later being slightly disappointed that I didn't have a light in the firebox. Anyway, I looked James up on Wikipedia and it seems he is 13 days older than me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 But the point was that the programme was on "Toy trains" - the sort of thing May had as a kid. 16mm live steam hardly comes into that category, especially if you have to make your own track. It's not something the avaerage person can relate to either wheras they might well have a Flying Scotsman or HST. No, but the earliest Model Trains were Steam powered. One features in "The Railway Children", and in the remake they use a blue Roundhouse Katie (I think..). I thought it was just nice to see model railways in whatever form on prime time television without the owners being murderers to even particually nerdy. In fact it was almost like (whisper it) a sport. And if that catches on our hobby could have a fashionable side. Who is our David Beckham ? Pete Waterman...? Rod Stewart...? If I had 15 minutes from everyone who asked me whether I saw it last night I could have gone home at noon. I tried to explain it was very much the "Toy Train" side of things but we're all tarred with the same brush. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium spamcan61 Posted June 13, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 13, 2011 I'd be quite happy to be tarred with the same brush as James May. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew1974 Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 Just spent an enjoyable hour watching it on iPlayer. Link if anyone is interested http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0120z75/James_Mays_Toy_Stories_The_Great_Train_Race/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted June 13, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2011 I watched the repeat this evening - all good fun and that was about it, definitely not in the same league as the Canadian Grand Prix (which very considerately halted long enough for us to pop out to the local Chinese restaurant, have a meal and be home just in time for the restart). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torn-on-the-platform Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 I may as well add that I very much enjoyed the programme. A little surprised at the Scotsman's performance but thinking about it, I'd expect that some of my older locos would run further and faster than the current, smooth running offerings. I think that with a bit of maintenance and a good clean track, my Margate 8F would go a pretty long way towards completing the journey! If driven carefully, a Smokey Joe or GWR 101 would perhaps do the job faster for Britain? Perhaps with a Mk1 or two just to weight it down. The challenge was based on train sets, not model railways after all! I don't blame James for wanting to use his own loco though, I almost feel proud when my locos pound past whilst running at my club. It was also a little surprising that most of the trains reached their destinations, I suppose that the new mode of control was a major factor. Very impressed by the 125 - it seemed to be the only train which didn't have to stop for maintenance? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMJ Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Looking on the BBC news site it would appear that the share price for Hornby (I own some) has gone up by about 2% during the day. How many folks thought if the trains run for that distance then I want a piece of that? Very entertaining programme. As others said might have been interesting with say a Smokey Joe - but I'd have done like the Trix Scotsman has which is additional power pickups on other vehicles. This would be where power couplers come into their element.. As said above nice to See Simon K and also Gerint getting a reasonable airtime along with a few shots of Hamburg. I wonder if that will get a few more visitors from the UK. Maybe after this Minature Wunderland might be planning a British extension - they have a lot of Europe covered. Probably 2020? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Maybe after this Minature Wunderland might be planning a British extension - they have a lot of Europe covered. Probably 2020? And renew the debate about British outline in H0?? Lot's of serious modelling for them if they do! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
37114 Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 No offence, but that calculation is wrong. You may pay that in the shop, but for Hornby you'd be talking at cost-price, say 40-50% of that. Still a considerable amount, but on the whole of the company a pittance and probably written down in the "advertising/promotional" section of the books One would have thought they would have reclaimed the track and be selling it to collectors, if it had been me I would have collected it up after the last train then had a sale to the public at Barnstaple and Bideford the next day with the rest on ebay. May even make a profit on it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CullingworthGNR Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I *think* the Scotsman had been modified slightly, possibly with a new (5-pole?) motor. After all, it only managed about 20 metres last time! He did say at one stage that the two diesel locos were the only un-modified models there, which got me thinking.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 One would have thought they would have reclaimed the track and be selling it to collectors, if it had been me I would have collected it up after the last train then had a sale to the public at Barnstaple and Bideford the next day with the rest on ebay. May even make a profit on it! After the last May attempt the lengths of semi-flexible track went on eBay, most attracting close to discounted "new" prices. I really don't understand why anyone would want to pay a premium for used track that h been laid in the open air! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Finally got to watch it (recorded on Sunday, rather than one of the endless repeats), and I agree with Mike that the Canadian GP was far more entertaining. Is it me, or is the whole James May speechifying thing, town criers, vicars blessing trains with malt whisky, etc. just becoming slightly irritating? Still watchable, but not something I'd care to watch a second time. As a formula it was well executed, and I would like to know more about the "concept" trains. Was the "sauerkraut" one just a pure joke, designed to explode as it did? Hats off to the hydrogen cell propulsion method (lithium batteries are hardly leading edge), and why didn't the turbo train (surely an update on the old Triang "Battle/Space" jet-propelled rocket car?) simply pull its carriages to avoid derailments? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted June 14, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 14, 2011 Great ending to the show with the German steam loco arriving at its destination in the middle of the night. At first I thought that James May should have been there to welcome his German friends, but on reflection, the lonely arrival in the middle of the night was quite atmospheric. A great programme. Congratulations to all involved. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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