LocoLaurie

I find not only kids but mum's and young families. The Dads might say they will build something similar for their family. It is trying to appeal to a broader market. (I make regular railways too). Here are some images of the 'TTT - Time Travel Train', now dismantled which is a shame as it has had 3 shows invites but we had no space (pardon the pun) for it. You should be used to puns by now watching James on TV.

You've hit the nail on the head with what we were trying to do. I did at one point have my 16 year old son involved but minors were not allowed in the end due to filming restrictions being tight (in the industry).

Time Travel Train was destroyed after filming as we had no way to get it home. We had to build it all there from a blank set of boards too. The nearest you can get is to see my sci-fi model 'Cato Pass' at shows as some of the items are now on that. That's Steampunk kind Sir :-)

Hi All SPOILER ALERT if you haven't seen Heat 3: Hope you enjoyed Heat 3. Firstly congratulations to the team that won. I thought they might, and they thought we might. And I liked Team Tonbridge's model too - they attempted some brilliant technical things. Here is a little video I can now put up, the first of five: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBhkZblpa_M showing us on set. The 2nd video covers the backstory filming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPIwLEe7JQU Oh and here is a layout I made in 9 hours that was referred to in the show, really a simple model, just to hopefully show would-be modellers that you can build something fairly quickly, so why not give it a go. It won't win any awards but it was fun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_8WzxHrhlI I tried to use a group of newbies to show anyone can give it a go. A noble gesture I hope. I also wanted women on the team who were very dedicated. My team did a wonderful job - special thanks to all of them. Even Dakota. I know I moaned at him a couple of times but he's a good mate of mine and we thought it might make good tv ;-) Oh and that 'rubbish' engine shed model was actually used on the sci-fi section. It just wasn't right for that section lol. Power of editing eh? I hope you enjoyed our model - sci-fi is my style - and maybe we inspired a few people. I do make traditional models too (see Oct 2018 Model Rail or Jan 2019 BRM). Thanks to Knickerbocker and everyone else. Yours 'Articulated Laurie' (James and his puns eh lol?)

Interesting point about laying track on baseboards beforehand, which was allowed. For our team, Team Steampunk, we simply had nowhere to store the boards to lay any track, so we did it all on set from blank boards. We are not a club, as we came from four different counties. So we were on our 'back foot' from the start but I had a cunning plan! Hopefully they will let me explain what we did on the show. I also decided to use a team of relative railway newbies (some are modellers through), and for pre-builds we only had a few singular buildings. For me I chose this approach because I really wanted to see what we could build in 24 hours. My choice. Did we get it right? Well you decide when you see the finished result. I'm sure you all will :-) But I was pleased with the finished look, even though it was more simplistic than my usual designs. Hopefully we will inspire some others into our hobby. Cheers, Laurie

Knickerbocker have assured us that the backstory filming they did at our houses and clubs will be used in online available videos shortly. I hope so, as some of our best stuff was there lol. Laurie Team Steampunk (with dinosaurs).

1.1 million viewers on the first showing on the first Friday.

I was one of the participants (Heat 3, Team Steampunk) and have enjoyed reading the comments so far (appreciate Andy's moderation). Of course I cannot give certain things away. The programme was designed to spark interest of course, and hopefully to a new group of modeller that see something can be achieved in just 24 hours (over three days filming). It shows what can be done in a short time - hence the word challenge, and is not of course trying to represent other aspects of our hobby such as massive layouts built without time constraints. So please bear that in mind. Also it is entertainment too. Six main sponsors were Bachmann, Deluxe Materials, Gaugemaster, Hornby, Metcalfe and Peco. Plus we had a misc budget (ours was £100 which is less than some others it seems). Total spend for each model was up to £3,000 but that soon gets spent as I'm sure you can appreciate. Also for us we could not get all of the pieces from the traditional manufacturers, so our build was challenged further but that was our choice. You will see why in Heat 3 - Team Steampunk. Exciting eh? lol Layout was made up of three boards, two of which you could lay track on beforehand to help speed up the build. Our team did not do any work on the boards beforehand as we had no club to store it at, so we did it all within the 24 hours on location at Fawley Hill. Unfortunately although we requested the three boards end-to-end it was stipulated that all had to be in the same 10x5ft configuration. Well that was what was meant to happen for all teams. Teams were allowed six pre-built items and it seems so stuck within the spirit of the rules, whilst others bent them a bit. Who was right is up to individuals reading this forum of course. We had very few pre-built items and they were small, meaning we did actually complete 95% of our layout in the 24 hours, I think keeping to the spirit of the challenge. I hope we did the hobby proud. Personally I think no pre-building should be allowed and the boards a bit smaller to compensate. Also I didn't see the point of scratch-build challenge, as it just gave us more to do in the time and adds no real value. If they want to vary the show they could do 5 mins visiting Pendon or something. Just my views. Themes were known a few weeks before the event and designs were asked to be submitted. So for me I do have to ask why some teams were allowed to submit such large pre-built items? Why were they not warned before? Maybe they were? It might not be their fault. Then again it might be? Regarding Missenden sounding perhaps a little arrogant, I must say many of us were encouraged to beef up our expectations, as it makes better TV. Some did it, some didn't. I said some things that it was suggested I say by the director each day, and as a film maker myself I get it. We need to sound exciting, enthused, and confident (hopefully not arrogant). But I did also refuse to say some things. Deep down I just wanted to show what I like to model in order to inspire, and getting into the next round was a bonus (not saying if we did or not). So me enthusing about winning is all 'acting' lol. I can see the Oscar nomination now. I had another motive - we had a team of newbies apart from me, so I wanted to show what newbies could do this with guidance from one modeller (me). That turned out to be the biggest challenge as you will see lol. I think it is a great idea if BRM cover the 'missing elements' that the show does not have time to cover. In our heat I did my ballasting a particular way, so I hope they let me explain it. I think offering varied techniques should be part of the shows' appeal. I've done a few shows (Robot Wars, Techno Games, Scrapheap Challenge), and I have to say this was fun, and I am glad I did it. I think it will encourage others into the hobby, and remember there were imaginative themes given, meaning creativity is at the fore. So don't expect too many GWR Branch Lines. The show is entertainment, so I do hope you enjoy it for what it is, and if you do, maybe series two will happen. Cheers, Laurie

I'm afraid he ended up being removed. The videos explain why. He got voted off stage by my YouTubers who didn't really like him. I thought fair enough. It made the scene more 'normal' if a cow on the line is normal lol.

I am finding this great fun. I have already made a sci-fi offering (called Cato Sci-Fi Tunnel). Now I have made a more traditional cakebox entry but I have decided to give it a story. Introducing ‘Pixton Halt’ (aka the Silly Moo). This was my thinking: You will see that a bit of fence behind the railway halt has fallen over, and this has allowed a cow to venture out into pastures new for greener, longer grass. It has ended up sitting on the railway track, and now a Peckett locomotive can’t get past. So the farmers are gathered next to the cow trying to get her to move with a stick and some food. Meanwhile another cow is seeing if it can escape, so a tractor is quickly closing in to stop her. In the river a guy on a fishing boat is capturing all the mayhem on camera. This means everything on the layout is connected with the story in some way. So there you have it, a little cameo scene in 8 inches square. I hope you enjoy it. Video of the build: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSultXyNJnw&t=1s Video of the ‘final look’ minus one character: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8savfOYLJFY

What a great idea BRM have come up with I thought. ‘Let your imagination run riot’ Phil said on his video. So this is my humble attempt to try and be innovative and imaginative - I'm sure people have had these ideas too but I had these all on my own :-) Firstly I am turning the diorama internal space on its side, so it will have a footprint of 8x6 inches and be 8 inches high. This is to be different and also because I need the vertical space for my raised track (more on that later). I will actually build it in a cakebox and on a cake base as it will have five sides. Secondly, I am using not just one but 2 mirrors on the sides. This gives an infinite depth to the interior of the design because it keeps repeating. It will seem to go on forever in the final photos, as the track kinks round on a slight bend from our viewpoint. This turns 8 inches into a much greater visual length. Thirdly I am giving it power, both on the track with a PP3 battery, and in the form of LEDs. A moving loco is not necessary for the competition/photos (just for me) but the red/blue LEDs will add something to the stills in my model. The batteries for the LEDs are inside the box. So within the rules. Fourthly I am letting my imagination run riot by giving it the sci-fi theme. This is based on my sci-fi show layout ‘Cato Pass’. The track will be raised into the air inside a tunnel cavern. The locomotive upon it will be truly out of this world, well out of my mind at least. It will also have a sci-fi wagon (2 railway items). I hope you like it, can appreciate the modelling and ideas even if it isn’t your style, and it may even get a few younger modellers interested? This is Cato Sci-Fi Tunnel. Video of the build: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKHq9xt-0N8 Regards, Laurie Calvert Cato Pass p.s. I’ll be taking the ‘Cato Sci-Fi tunnel Cakebox’ to a few shows with me.

Cato Pass, my latest sci-fi railway is now complete. It has a rocket as a centre-piece, and is a furturistic underground missile silo/launch bay based on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. It has Space Marines trying to invade the layout which these days is populated by a Steampunk Platoon. Aliens also live on the moon. I will wear a costume when operating the layout. I am hoping it might get some big show invites one day. Two videos below: Tour of the layout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElGTKeh4tlw Running Session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyrQgkrEKqA I hope you enjoy it. For its first event (in 2015) it is appearing at the Shoeburyness Model Railway Show Nov 21-22 Regards, Laurie - Calvertfilm on YouTube.