71 Mile Garden Railway anyone?? Channel 4 - 7th Jan

[Killian Keane]

They musn't be including sport as a hobby, I wouldn't either

[tom_tom_go]

My wife just mentioned the Silver Lady drowned!

[Peter Butler]

My wife just mentioned the Silver Lady drowned!

So did one of their Quads.... and this is just the beginning!

[invicta280]

I was expecting to watch from behind the sofa, thinking it was going to be cringeworthy in the extreme, but overall I thought it positive. As has already been pointed out the some of the team leadership, man ( and woman) management, and co-ordination fell short but then I guess they were a thrown together bunch without much in the way of prior planning meetings.
I thought the Silver Lady probably the ideal loco for the job.

[Killian Keane]

Nice to see that Teddy Boston got a mention
People are already flogging the track on facebook

[Peter Butler]

Many years ago we went to a running day at Cadeby Rectory where Teddy Boston was active on the footplate of 'Pixie' dressed in his usual oil-stained black robe and 'safety' sandals, as was his usual attire. He certainly was a larger than life character and one whose enthusiasm for his hobby radiated from him.
He organised the local model railway exhibition in the village/church hall and we showed a 7mm narrow gauge layout with the fiddle yard pushed through the gent's toilet door as the space allowed was too short..... did it matter?.... of course not, we all had a great day.

[Killian Keane]

https://youtu.be/ah9HFuo_qKw

[Big Jim]

This is the first bit of telly I have watched this year. Very good indeed and so far a good balance between all the various factions involved.

[Peter Butler]

Thanks for the link Killian, great to see that again.

[ge_rik]

This is the first bit of telly I have watched this year. Very good indeed and so far a good balance between all the various factions involved.

Sounds promising. I've recorded it as was on cat repatriation duty yesterday.

Rk

[tom_tom_go]

Watching it now.

[tom_tom_go]

The woman in charge of one of teams is this person I believe:

[tom_tom_go]

Why are they all wearing life jackets? Do people walking their dogs near the canal have to wear them?

[tom_tom_go]

Well I just saw the Silver Lady end up in the drink, oops!

Fun to watch although not sure about the stereo type model railway people they have cast for the series, not doing the image of train enthusiasts any favours.

[FWLR]

I thought the same Tom, yet I did enjoy it, but why did they start to lay the track without joining it up, some guy was just going along dropping track. But still it was very good I thought, roll on next week.

[bazzer42]

Well I just saw the Silver Lady end up in the drink, oops!

Fun to watch although not sure about the stereo type model railway people they have cast for the series, not doing the image of train enthusiasts any favours.

No mirrors in your place Tom? we are a bit odd but have to agree with you there are some extremes there. I think I liked the David Brent type manager....

[ge_rik]

Why are they all wearing life jackets? Do people walking their dogs near the canal have to wear them?

'Elf 'n Safety Risk Assessment no doubt!

Watched it last night after getting back from London after repatriating my daughter's cat (she spends Christmas with us - and she really like the garden (closet garden railway enthusiast methinks)).

I actually quite enjoyed it. Normally, I shun these 'reality' type of programmes but it was quite interesting to get the little featurettes on railways and railway modelling in between the silliness of the track laying etc.

They seem to skip over some sections of tracklaying though (eg up the paths in the woods), to focus on the traumas - eg people getting huffy and disagreements over what to do next. I thought the business with the train ferry was deliberately engineered to make 'good telly' - ie not letting them see the actual ferry boat before they had to design and make the transfer system!!! The snippet from next week's show gives a flavour of the inevitable next traumas in store.

Let's hope it encourages at least half a dozen more latent modellers into the fold.

Rik

[Big Jim]

It appears to have been a great boost to the hobby. I was looking at fb last night and Ivan Prior (IP engineering) mentioned that he had had a vast amount of enquiries and sales on the back of it. Apparently RH have also had much interest as well.

Any form of publicity for this strand of the hobby has to be good and anything that raises the profile of any type of modelling has to be a huge bonus. The more people that start to get involved with garden railways has a great benefit to all of us.

I would image that the sole goal of the production team is to make 'good' telly. This will mean that the various traumas and personalities will be shown in the most entertaining way possible in an effort to appeal to the widest section of viewers.

I find it interesting that there is a certain stigma attached to 'Playing Trains'. Perhaps this will help some of our fellow modellers come out of their sheds/attics/spare rooms and declare "Ich bin ein railway modeller" and wear their anoraks with pride.

[JMORG]

Saw the after picture of the Silver Lady on the Roundhouse page, they really did ruin that didn't they!

[philipy]

Didn't see the first one because we were away, but saw last nights and really wished I hadn't. I simply can't find anything good to say about it and all that pathetic nonsense with the boat made me want to scream.