LMS29

Pete, I drove over along Railway Road, past Spooners this morning. The old brewery building has gone and there are a number of large buildings which house very expensive looking flats. When I get a chance I will post a photograph, just to record the changes. Tom

To add to this, we were taking part in a TV competition but the real kick for us, came from challenging ourselves. Once we had agreed the theme for the layout there were then a number of challenges for individual members of the team which needed resolving on the day. I had never worked with G scale figures before and needed to construct the medieval Knights and followers. Graham and Andrew needed to scratch build the mechanisms to load the knight, make the lady rise from the lake and lower the drawbridge. Paul needed to build the scenery at 4x normal size. We needed to work out how to load the knight on a horse and unload the horse again with the knight still onboard, to say nothing of picking up the sword and working on a jousting tournament. Working with OO railways and road ways were the easy part.

To add to this, we were taking part in a TV competition but the real kick for us, came from challenging ourselves. Once we had agreed the theme for the layout there were then a number of challenges for individual members of the team which needed resolving on the day. I had never worked with G scale figures before and needed to construct the medieval Knights and followers. Graham and Andrew needed to scratch build the mechanisms to load the knight, make the lady rise from the lake and lower the drawbridge. Paul needed to build the scenery at 4x normal size. We needed to work out how to load the knight on a horse and unload the horse again with the knight still onboard, to say nothing of picking up the sword and working on a jousting tournament. Working with OO railways and road ways were the easy part.

Never mind Graham, at least you know the result! Can I also thank Pete for stepping in when I was unavailable. Tom

Barry, I have watched the wagon all weekend, but forgot to ask for some more detail, Tom

Tony, Great photographs, really shows the layout off to it's best and help team members understand what RL has created. Tom

I thought it was time I updated you on my Ilkley progress. I have been somewhat distracted by entering the GMRC as part of Team Grantham and helping with development work on Red Leaders, Grantham and Shap layouts. In between, I have been assembling stock to fit in with a summer 1947 timetable through Ilkley using mainly LMS/LNER stock. I attach a few photos of stock that I have weathered including a couple of coal wagons for S. Tipping (which I made up). Some of you may remember that Sam Tipping was the coal merchant based at the bottom of Wellington Road. I will be out and about as an operator on the two layouts over the winter, so if anyone sees them please make yourself known. Tom

Phil, even Team Grantham's layout was based on OO locos and track, but in our case the railway was relegated to a supporting role. We did use all our modelling skills to build the layout and meet the challenge set and for a couple of months this has proven to be an interesting and enjoyable diversion from our normal activities. But it may please readers to know that we have returned to reality and the team will be at the Hartlepool Show this weekend, either organising the exhibition or running our second layout The Spirit of Shap.

I was also disappointed that they cut that shot. Before the result was announced, there was some banter amongst the team along the lines of having thoroughly enjoyed 3 days of modelling but another 3 days straight after in the semi would be too much. So when we were declared the winners our reaction was genuine.

For me the process of assessing aspects of the build at the end of Day 1 and Day 2 and projecting marks was a bit artificial. As we saw each team had its own pathway to completion. I saw it simply as a device to build some tension on TV. We were not aware of the judges deliberations or these provisional marks during the competition.

I agree, I was confused. We had deliberately chosen limited scenery, we just wanted to set the scene with the surroundings as we wanted people to focus on the stage and the action. I would have expected a question on why we had gone from a complex scenic layout in Heat 5 to such a simple one in the Semi-final. I guess I forgot our basic premise that we were just making a TV programme. Still it was great fun.

It was very difficult to get to sleep after Heat 5, I did not know whether to enjoy thinking about our winning layout or worry about the build that was due to start in a few hours time. As Graham says we not had time to think the build through in the same detail and we were to work even further away from our normal modelling style.

The best information we have is that our semi final will be at a slightly earlier time of 7.45 pm on Saturday, but keep checking your TV programme schedule, it may change.

To expand on Red Leaders comments, we did within our budget and products available try to incorporate as many 'flying themes' as we could from the Flying Scotsman, the Rocket exhibit on the station, the Skytrain livery on the coaches, wagons and rocket to the Per Ardua Ad Astra names for the two stations on the mountain branch.

All I can say is that I found the judges to be very helpful with their comments off camera. I had a number of discussions with the judges during the production of this heat and the Semi final and I found both of them making helpful comments.

The reality was that the Producers were always on the look out for interesting shots and patrolled both main hall and the work room. As the work room was tightly packed with tables, once a Producer found an item they wanted to film and moved in with camera and sound recorders they really affected all three teams. I should add that the tea and biscuits were also in the room! This was all part of the fun of taking part!

Interesting discussion between competitors and those trying to rationalise what it was like taking part in GMRC. The challenge to me was using the modelling skills I have to do something new within a set time scale, with limited materials and in a a totally different setting and still achieve the best model railway that I could. Yes, I was aware that I was competing against other modellers and I did want our team to be successful, but that was not what motivated me, it was testing myself under these conditions. I am limited as to what I can say at the moment but suffice to say I did keep a couple of momenta for my display cabinet. A camera team did visit us in our usual haunt and did see some of the exhibition modelling the team had done, it will be interesting to see how much is shown during the introduction. Tom

It is worth adding that you loose a team member for part of a day doing the challenge so limiting the size of the challenge helps to keep the balance between the main task and the scratch build challenge.

it has been interesting reading comments from both viewers and fellow competitors. As a team we recognised at an early stage that we had to think differently, we were making a TV programme; the challenge was to make our model to a limited budget, often with materials that we had not used before and within a very tight time frame. To be successful, we had to 'complete the challenge' to our own satisfaction and the product had to work and look good to both the judges and a TV audience. This required us to use our modelling skills quite differently to the way we normally operated when building our own layouts. The enjoyment came from the having the opportunity to design and produce a presentable layout which met a design brief that was quite different to anything we had tackled before or were likely to do in the future. It was a unique opportunity to think and work "outside our box". Tom

Our team of experienced modellers had a serious discussion before entering the competition about how we felt modelling well outside our usual comfort zone. We recognised that we were making a TV programme, that time would be limited and had to be well planned. What really mattered was how things looked to the Judges and ultimately the viewers, so extreme levels of detail were not necessary. As you can see from Heat 1, the broad nature of the brief allowed plenty of freedom to interpret the brief as the teams wished. I think there were many challenges for modellers of all skills levels, we certainly found it so.

Barry, with all that electrical wizardry on show we will have more folks looking at the back of the layout than the front........ So you know it makes sense really. Tom

Andrew, I enjoyed reading Bill's book because Bill's recollections contained useful pieces of information, which have helped me improve the operational aspects of my model. I think it was well worth the money but cannot comment on the cost of postage! Tom

Tony, I had contacted BRM before I posted earlier and they were unable to help. Thanks for posting the photographs it gives me more useful guidance. Tom

Thanks anyway Phil. The annual is a new reference I did not have so will follow that up. Tom

I am starting to build 'coach conversions' using etched sides on donor bodies as discussed by Mallard60022 and would like to read the TW article mentioned which dates back to 2006. I have considered/tried the obvious sources with no success, so would welcome any help that readers could offer to find a copy. Thanks. Tom