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

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

Post by FWLR » Mon Jan 15, 2018 10:55 am

Come on...hurt, a little scratch on his hand, and how the heck did he manage to still get it stuck or whatever when the path was at least six foot wide if not more......I am getting to lean more towards Tom and not bother watching it from now on and if he was turning it around, which I think that was the intention, why didn’t he not have a banks-man, with all that elf and safety going on, but then again why would he need one, from his back to the back of the quad must have been at the most 12inch’s.

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

Post by Peter Butler » Mon Jan 15, 2018 11:20 am

I must admit I am tiring of the whole thing, it could have been a great opportunity to show ambition, leadership, engineering solutions, model making etc. all combined to make entertaining TV. However, it appears to be a disaster due to poor team spirit and an extreme lack of control and organisation from the TV producers themselves attempting to make something suitable for a mass audience with no understanding of their subject matter.
I heard of a meeting held with potential participants and advisers, held over a year ago, where only two of the female production managers showed up without any of their technical support crew.
Much more entertaining and educational would have been a competition between teams tackling the same terrain.... my money would have been on German or Japanese contestants.
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Re: 71 Mile Garden Railway anyone?? Channel 4 - 7th Jan

Post by Big Jim » Mon Jan 15, 2018 11:26 am

Some of the individuals appearing on it are very watchable, the young lad who works with steam and got quite emotional when talking about his mum seems to have his head screwed on well.
One of the other team leaders with an 'elf and safety' fixation needs a little talking to about his management style. The fact is, he was probably right in what he was saying regarding hi viz and flotation aids. In the past I have been involved with the emergency services during recovery operations of vehicles and individuals and if you follow the recommendations regarding PPE and procedures it can get very daft very quickly. (I still think he was being a bit of a OTT pillock though)

I wonder if the quad bike incident was down to an individual who had not be properly trained how to operate one. I have never heard of one getting stuck in reverse before.
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Re: 71 Mile Garden Railway anyone?? Channel 4 - 7th Jan

Post by ge_rik » Mon Jan 15, 2018 6:15 pm

Watched episode 2. Hmmmmmm..... did you notice how many times they cut the shot just before the loco was about to round a curve? I suspect derailments were a lot more frequent than is portrayed.

Interesting insights on this website - https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/factual/ ... 23.article

I can just imagine the context which prompted the producer to say

If you are in a rush, never ask a model train enthusiast what their favourite train gauge is.

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

Post by Peter Butler » Mon Jan 15, 2018 7:58 pm

ge_rik wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2018 6:15 pm
I can just imagine the context which prompted the producer to say

If you are in a rush, never ask a model train enthusiast what their favourite train gauge is.

Rik
I suspect they wouldn't understand the question, let alone the answer!
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Re: 71 Mile Garden Railway anyone?? Channel 4 - 7th Jan

Post by listerboy » Mon Jan 15, 2018 11:56 pm

ge_rik wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2018 6:15 pm Watched episode 2. Hmmmmmm..... did you notice how many times they cut the shot just before the loco was about to round a curve? I suspect derailments were a lot more frequent than is portrayed.

Interesting insights on this website - https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/factual/ ... 23.article

I can just imagine the context which prompted the producer to say

If you are in a rush, never ask a model train enthusiast what their favourite train gauge is.

Rik
I see they're all wearing orange hi vis clothing, which when I started on the railway was a railway only colour. It's ludicrous them all wearing it and not on or near a running line.

I hated the programme after 30 mins of the first episode. A few people I know now dismiss 16mm as too expensive after seeing the price of a Lady Ann, and for some it merely reinforces the stereotype.

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

Post by DG » Tue Jan 16, 2018 7:03 am

It seems like I may be the only one but ...............I liked it. It is a bit of light hearted fun on a Sunday evening to contrast the frippery of the costume dramas. I click into "suspend disbelief " mode as it is telly and sit back and enjoy.

There I have said it.

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

Post by Big Jim » Tue Jan 16, 2018 8:17 am

I agree Dave, I quite enjoy it. I don't watch telly as a rule and tend to disappear into the study when the current wife switches it on. However this proves a bit of light relief on Sunday night.

If you think people are critical of this you should hear the vitriolic comments about the BBC2 programme A Vicars Life that are currently flying around the local clergy.
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Re: 71 Mile Garden Railway anyone?? Channel 4 - 7th Jan

Post by ge_rik » Tue Jan 16, 2018 9:51 am

I enjoy it in an analytical way. I like trying to spot the reality TV clichΓ©s which the programme makers have engineered into situations or in the editng.

For example, the Simon Cowell/Craig Revell Horwood type 'expert' who enjoys belittling the efforts of the teams and who has clearly been tasked with ruffling as many feathers as possible. How the editors have tried to include as many raised voices and altercations as possible.

It's encouraging that Silver Lady has been given the personality of the plucky little hero, pressing onwards despite the elements and the obstacles created by incompetent navvies and engineers.

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

Post by FWLR » Tue Jan 16, 2018 11:25 am

I also like it, but I still say it doesn’t show our hobby in the best light, to me it shows a little bit of incompetence. The Roundhouse guy forgetting to fire Silver Lady up before the next run after drying it out was stupid....

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

Post by DLRdan » Tue Jan 16, 2018 7:39 pm

I think calling him that is bit much, after everything else that happened he probably had other things to think about.
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Re: 71 Mile Garden Railway anyone?? Channel 4 - 7th Jan

Post by Soar Valley Light » Tue Jan 16, 2018 9:38 pm

Peter Butler wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2018 11:20 am I must admit I am tiring of the whole thing, it could have been a great opportunity to show ambition, leadership, engineering solutions, model making etc. all combined to make entertaining TV. However, it appears to be a disaster due to poor team spirit and an extreme lack of control and organisation from the TV producers themselves attempting to make something suitable for a mass audience with no understanding of their subject matter.
I heard of a meeting held with potential participants and advisers, held over a year ago, where only two of the female production managers showed up without any of their technical support crew.
Much more entertaining and educational would have been a competition between teams tackling the same terrain.... my money would have been on German or Japanese contestants.
I think you've summed it up very well there Peter. Sadly the modern trend of ANY TV production seems to seek out and exaggerate the negatives of almost everything. It seems that concord, consideration and care are perceived as poor viewing, whilst aggrevation, annoyance and apathy are the goal. :evil: Yes, this is a somewhat jaundiced generalisation I know, but watch anything from the average soap to quiz game shows and you'll see it. Something about the modern world seems to make it very self centred and people seem to enjoy seeing others made to feel uncomfortable. Whatever happened to team spirit and bon hommie? Rant over, I'll go and put my helmet on ready to dodge the brick-bats! ;)

As far as this weeks programme goes I actually enjoyed it more than I expected. Am I the only one who was didsappointed that it was the loco that landed in the drink and not 'Dick Handlebar-moustache'? :roll: It's clear that the whole things is either carefully stage managed, badly organised or a mix of both. The achievements of some of the teams, especially in the face of all this, is quite remarkable. That viaduct was an absolute work of engineering art and the designers and builders should be extremely proud of themselves. Overall I reckon it's a pretty good effort. :thumbup:
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Re: 71 Mile Garden Railway anyone?? Channel 4 - 7th Jan

Post by philipy » Wed Jan 17, 2018 6:14 am

Soar Valley Light wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2018 9:38 pm Am I the only one who was didsappointed that it was the loco that landed in the drink and not 'Dick Handlebar-moustache'? :roll:
No, you're not the only one, Andrew. As I said on the other thread, right at the beginning, I can't stand that man.
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Re: 71 Mile Garden Railway anyone?? Channel 4 - 7th Jan

Post by FWLR » Wed Jan 17, 2018 9:22 am

DLRdan wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2018 7:39 pm I think calling him that is bit much, after everything else that happened he probably had other things to think about.
Don’t think I called him stupid did I.....the whole program is stupid, apart as I have said the Viaduct was brilliant...I am going to record the further episode’s and fast forward to the builds...looking forward to the Bridge this week....

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

Post by DLRdan » Wed Jan 17, 2018 11:42 am

FWLR wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2018 9:22 am
DLRdan wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2018 7:39 pm I think calling him that is bit much, after everything else that happened he probably had other things to think about.
Don’t think I called him stupid did I.....the whole program is stupid, apart as I have said the Viaduct was brilliant...I am going to record the further episode’s and fast forward to the builds...looking forward to the Bridge this week....

In which case I appologise for my comment
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Re: 71 Mile Garden Railway anyone?? Channel 4 - 7th Jan

Post by FWLR » Wed Jan 17, 2018 11:49 am

No problem Dan. :thumbright:

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

Post by Killian Keane » Wed Jan 17, 2018 5:29 pm

R.e the viaduct, I agree thats it's a very impressive bit of work, but did they not consider the possibility of it floating had the water risen further?
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Re: 71 Mile Garden Railway anyone?? Channel 4 - 7th Jan

Post by FWLR » Thu Jan 18, 2018 6:41 am

It was mentioned by someone, I believe it may have been the lady in charge of that group, not to sure! :scratch:

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

Post by Chris Cairns » Thu Jan 18, 2018 3:06 pm

Discussion of this project has gone rather vocal online elsewhere, and indirectly has caused a Moderator of the 16mm NGM Association Facebook Group to resign.

But consider this. It was never intended initially to build a garden railway. It actually started out as a model railway from Liverpool to Goole (160 miles) before the venue changed to the Great Glen (71 miles). Various motive power options were considered in 7mm scale, and the extruded plastic track was likely designed for that purpose ( https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/wp-co ... 074787.jpg ), with the decision to use a Roundhouse Silver Lady coming quite late on. This helps explain why no-one seems to have the scale & real world distances & heights quoted sorted out properly.

Rod Nipper (Team C member) is writing an article for inclusion in February's SMT, and similarly Phi Parker is writing an article for March's Garden Rail after discussing the Silver Lady woes with Chris Lee.

Following a comment on the RMWeb Forum discussion I've found out that the Silver Lady had been modified with a toothed belt pulley wheel on the centre axle, and hopefully we are going to see how this is used in future episodes - a rack railway?

Silver Lady Secret Weapon.jpg
Silver Lady Secret Weapon.jpg (126.03 KiB) Viewed 7961 times

As someone else said elsewhere online, if you treat it as a 21st Century Carry On style production it can actually be interesting in places, and has already generated new interest in SM32/16mm scale products.

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

Post by listerboy » Thu Jan 18, 2018 4:45 pm

Chris, the fact that it was originally planned for 7mm explains a lot.

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