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

[TonyW]

4. Couldn't the second Silver Lady - used on the inclined plane section - have stepped in when the first one had problems? (Actually I suspect it was provided on condition that it wasn't steamed and so could be resold, but it wasn't explained.)

I paused and rewound the section where the two locos pass and the downhill loco looks as battered as the uphill one! I don't know, but I suspect there were two locos used for the run, and this might (might!) explain the many losses of continuity between loco shots, some showing a dome and some not, handrails missing then reappearing, etc.

5. The carriages that Silver Lady started with were removed with a statement about adding weights, but were then never referred to again. (In retrospect, it is a pity that a vehicle - or even just that toy rhino - couldn't have been transported by rail all the way.)

Discarded on the basis that having the train derail every time the loco did would be a right pain, I reckon.

All in all, though, a fun bit of TV. If a completely bonkers premise.

I agree.

[tom_tom_go]

Can we start a petition to stop a second series?

[Lonsdaler]

No idea what the viewing figures are, and whether it appealed to anyone not already interested in model railways, but I do think it was a missed opportunity. A properly engineered railway over a shorter distance would have made for a much more inspiring programme I think, and would provide a draw for those wanting to go and run their own loco over the same route. Heck, it might even make some money!
There is no doubt that those involved enjoyed the experience (even if only when looking back on it afterwards! ). It was good viewing (in a voyeuristic, 'train crash' kind of way) and the technical build team achieved some great builds.

[markoteal]

Now that might be a second series - send just the technical build team to various famous places around the country and get them to design and build solutions to get a loco across/over/through the challenging terrain.

A third series could be they travel the globe meeting similar challenges

Fourth series - on the moon

Fifth series - the fifth dimension

Ok - I'm off for a lie down

[Killian Keane]

It might be blasphemy for me to say this, but if they end up doing a second series, I might suggest that they not use a narrow gauge locomotive, that would aid with the constant falling off problem, maybe gauge 3?

[JMORG]

Should use something like a Shay, quite stable and would've climbed every hill in the program.
Or (more likely) a WD Baldwin for even more chaos!

[Big Jim]

Rebuild the GCR and use mamods.

[TonyW]

Interesting reading: http://www.roundhouse-eng.com/slscotland.htm

[Big Jim]

Very interesting indeed.
Thanks for posting this Tony.

[LNR]

Thanks for posting Tony, I can't access the videos down here, so good to be able to read about some of it.
Grant.

[JMORG]

Honestly, after reading that article I'm surprised they didn't go for a Sandy River 24. It's a "grand" loco and has all the stuff that Silver Lady has plus the additions of pony trucks and a much lower center of gravity!

[Peter Butler]

An extensive article included in the Feb. edition of 16mm Today which arrived in the post this morning. Haven't got round to reading it yet but covers 'behind the scenes' detail apparently.

[Keith S]

Honestly, after reading that article I'm surprised they didn't go for a Sandy River 24. It's a "grand" loco and has all the stuff that Silver Lady has plus the additions of pony trucks and a much lower center of gravity!

I agree with JMORGthat an Accucraft shay might have been the machine for the job. ALL "pony trucks"...

I once saw a video of an Accucraft shay pulling a man on a 5"gauge wagon, with little 45mm rails on the sleepers between the 5" rails. It didn't appear too bothered by the load either.

Not without historical precedent, either, there was ONE shay in he U.K. at some point or other (there's a prototype for everything)

Although a shay would have been more difficult to repair if anything had gone wrong, and at its top speed we'd still be waiting for it to get there.

[Big Jim]

The article does mention that other manufacturers engines were tried and found wanting........

[FWLR]

Disappointing that a steamer didn't get to use the viaduct, but the trestle bridge came up trumps, and the spiral looks interesting - looking forward to the last episode next week.

Has was I Phil, it would have looked brilliant steaming over that vast expense..

[FWLR]

Considering I have not been too enthusiastic about the way the whole event was stage managed, in the end it was quite an emotional moment.

I agree Peter.

[FWLR]

Now that might be a second series - send just the technical build team to various famous places around the country and get them to design and build solutions to get a loco across/over/through the challenging terrain.

They can come to my house and build a new line for me...

[daan]

It might be blasphemy for me to say this, but if they end up doing a second series, I might suggest that they not use a narrow gauge locomotive, that would aid with the constant falling off problem, maybe gauge 3?

We would need Isambard Kingdom Brunel as a host for that program..