Chris M

Although this is a competition and winning is obviously nice I don't think the programme is really about winning. I'm not at all keen on best layout or model competitions at shows because everyone who builds something has achieved and quite often the best model isn't the one which has had the most effort or thought put into it. For me the programme is about creative people enthusiastically building a model railway in a few days. Ok, the one which is judged the best gets extra kudos in some folks eyes but being part of the event is what it is really about. Whilst I concur with the judges decisions (based purely on the TV programme) I don't see who won as being all that important and certainly don't hold the winning team in higher regard than the others. For instance, although it was a long way from my interests and preferences, I probably admire the work done by the steampunks most of all so far. I think the right layout won that episode but I was really impressed with what the steampunks achieved; they certainly get 10 out of 10 for creative thinking. I was also impressed with the way the layout looked like it was going to be hopeless at the end of day one but in the end it turned out to look good and be entertaining. Once again, well done to everyone who was part of the teams seen so far. I regret that I couldn't take part this year because I was on holiday for a lot of the time the filming was being done and most of my modelling friends were a bit sniffy about the whole thing anyway. Maybe next year....

Mark Found and his programme caused me to spend a lot of money!

Has anyone else had this email?

I can confirm that this was absolutely definitely not from anyone connected with Warley club or exhibition. Lists of all exhibitors are shown on the exhibition web site so I'm not sure why anyone would want to buy a list.

My immediate reaction is that this must be spam. This is not what we would do. I'll pass this on to the people in charge.

I have some tickets, just got to remember to put them in the car.Just look for the N guage layout running mostly hydraulics.

Just to give another view. I know nothing about sewing but I enjoyed the sewing bee challenge. I only watched it because SWMBO wanted to see it . It was good to see people given a challenge and being creative. It was good to see a bit about what making a garment requires but without getting bogged down in detail. I won't be taking up sewing any time soon but the programme helped me to understand and respect those who do. I'm sure non model railway people feel the same about GMR.

I will have a few Warley advance tickets for sale at Taunton Rail-Ex this weekend at the Little Aller Junction layout.

Railway modelling is a broad church. If people want to collect locos and keep them in boxes that’s fine. If people want to build a highly detailed diorama with nothing moving then that’s fine. I have four railways in three different scales which are all very different but all share the ethos of having plenty of movement because that’s what I like. Each one of us will get satisfaction from different aspects; there is no right or wrong. The only important thing is that people derive pleasure from being involved in our great hobby. I see a lot of enjoyment on the faces of those working on the challenge and that’s great. People who don’t understand what Railway modelling is all about are watching the programme and enjoying it. What’s not to like?

Hobby is correct. These places, especially Switzerland, are very clean and tidy. Its about personal pride. I wouldn't want to emulate the reality of Italy with rubbish dumped along the roadside and graffiti plastered over stations and stock.

I thought the whole point of a model railway was that trains actual run. And that is recognised by the TV programme.

A pair of mk1 suburban coaches or a B set are more usual. The loco crew have to keep their heads inside the cab during this manoeuvre!

A few more random photos. What a great place to have a garden Not so great for drying washing. The houses and brewery form a scenic break between Worlds End and Ridgacre.

And Spring Hill

More photos of World's End station.

A rare working of corridor stock. The size of this layout 44" by 27" was dictated by the size of the boot if my car. The car was if course sold before the layout was finished. The run round loop was designed to hold two Farish mk1s, but only just.

I have been playing with my new phone so here are a few more photos. The end of the line Shunting round the back of the brewery. Farish and Dapol auto coaches

The BARB figures for the first episode show over 1.25 million viewers. That’s more than Big Brother or even walking britains lost railways but less than Paddington station at about 1.7 million. That’s probably a very good start. It will be interesting to see how the figures settle down in future weeks. If figures remain over the 1 million mark I guess it will be seen as a successful. I know nothing about the TV industry or expectations for this programme. I hope it becomes an annual thing.

I'm still loving the whole series. The steampunk layout started out looking like it would be terrible but ended up being very good in its own peculiar way. The result was right again - the Bodgers deserved to win over Steampunk but only just. Trowbridge did OK in the time but just weren't up to the same level as the other two. If I was going on the globetrotting theme I would have gone for either British or USA built locos in locations they were used around the world. That would open up a lot of possibilities for interesting modelling and a bit of learning but admittedly be of less interest to the viewers than either the Bodgers or Steampunks layouts. Looking forward to the coming episodes. Meanwhile here's my thoughts on the "fire & ice" theme.

So how long will it before visitors to exhibitions start asking to see your animations?

I agree Ropley is exceptional and exquisite modelling. This level can only be achieved by very careful and detailed study of the real thing.

Reality is that Dapol are unlikely to spend another £100k or so to re-tool the body. We have what we have. The perfectionist may decide not to buy it but the rest of us will. I do think those that are experts on this forum should offer their services to Dapol should they ever decide to took up for another totally new N gauge loco.

The CAD was discussed at length on the Dapol website with many people contributing in an attempt to get this loco right. Dapol did listen and did make changes as I recall. Its a shame that some of the experts here didn't contribute at a time when it might have made a difference. Interestingly the CAD does seem to show what looks like the correct profile of the bonnet but the route indicator box looks like it had problems then. Not that I i knew enough to comment at the time. The posts relating to the CAD have disappeared with the changing Dapol website but the last CAD before production can be seen here https://digest.Dapol.co.uk/forum/n-gauge-models/diesel/class-50-n/project-managers-blog-al/309-n-gauge-class-50-development

I would love to see photos of the layouts built by those who say this is a poor model posted on this thread. They will obviously be absolutely brilliantly accurate layouts in every way if this class 50 is poor or even “a right old mess” by their standards. I look forward to seeing what great N gauge modelling looks like.

Now you are going a bit far. I wasn't interested in the old Farish 50 because it didn't capture the look, likewise the old Farish Western. I need a large Prairie for my steam era but won't buy a Farish one because it looks so wrong. This model may not be perfect but in my view it is as good as my Westerns and Warships and makes a perfectly good model for a reasonably good quality N gauge layout. I spend my time building layouts and running trains rather than spending hours analysing as to why any model is not quite perfect. Like I said, if I wanted to do that i would go O gauge. We do need to think of what is possible within the realms of the scale we are using and the need to have a reasonable price. I agree with some others here in that these comments would be better sent direct to Dapol rather than bashing them in public. I'm can't see how this bashing helps the hobby or Dapol. As I alluded to a few pages ago there will be human beings at Dapol who have put hours and hours of their time into this model and will have a significant emotional investment in it. How do you think they will feel reading this? There is of course absolutely nothing stopping you from investing a load of your own time and money to make a perfect version...