The Great Model Railway Challenge. Channel 5.

[Trainfan344]

Did anyone else watch the first episode of this? If not it's available on Catchup here http://www.channel5.com/show/the-great-model-railway-challenge/

Good first episode, although the team that deliberatly flouted the rules really deserved to lose, but the layouts and the presentation of the episode was something really good. Does anyone know where it was filmed, looked like it could possibly be Fawley Hill?

 

[DelW]

I rather enjoyed it, despite some of the artificial constraints that TV people always seem to want to impose. I thought the result was fair, one team had gone well overboard with their prefabrication and another were rather a long way short of finishing so the winners had about the best balance.
Followed by Rob Bell's walking old railway routes it made a pleasant couple of hours watching on C5, not something I'd have expected to say a few years ago.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Did anyone else watch the first episode of this? If not it's available on Catchup here http://www.channel5.com/show/the-great-model-railway-challenge/

Good first episode, although the team that deliberatly flouted the rules really deserved to lose, but the layouts and the presentation of the episode was something really good. Does anyone know where it was filmed, looked like it could possibly be Fawley Hill?

Was announced as such at one point by presenter James Richardson: I kept expecting to see a shot of him reading La Gazzetta or Corriere!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Was announced as such at one point by presenter James Richardson: I kept expecting to see a shot of him reading La Gazzetta or Corriere!

They also show the Fawley Hill entrance sign in the opening sequence.

 

[Trainfan344]

They did in the second episode but in the first to which I refer there was little mention of the location.

 

[Cowley]

I’ve watched the first couple of episodes this weekend and quite enjoyed it. A bit silly in places but still enjoyable.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

They did in the second episode but in the first to which I refer there was little mention of the location.

Ah... I missed the first five minutes of the first one so did not see the opening titles on that one! Unusual to change the opening titles during a series, though?

 

[GusB]

I usually watch catch-up TV via my Chromecast, and I've got no problems watching the first two episodes of this series. However, when I go to play the latest programme I get this message:
"Unfortunately due to rights restrictions this content is not available for casting. Please disconnect your device from the Chromecast in order to continue viewing"

Looks like I'll have to view the repeat on "live" TV.. What a pain in the arse.

 

[Trainfan344]

Just watch it on my5?

 

[Bedpan]

I thought that was what casting was - get it on My5 (in this case) on your computer/ipad/phone and then cast the picture/sound from there to your TV. I think sometimes the programme doesn't go straight onto My5 /iPlayer etc if there are going to be repeats during the week, ie if its on again on a Monday night, it won't be available on My5 until after that . I've just been onto My5 to have a look and it says that there are three episodes available now. I could of course be talking complete rubbish, and if somebody who knows better thinks that I am, please let me know.

 

[GusB]

I thought that was what casting was - get it on My5 (in this case) on your computer/ipad/phone and then cast the picture/sound from there to your TV. I think sometimes the programme doesn't go straight onto My5 /iPlayer etc if there are going to be repeats during the week, ie if its on again on a Monday night, it won't be available on My5 until after that . I've just been onto My5 to have a look and it says that there are three episodes available now. I could of course be talking complete rubbish, and if somebody who knows better thinks that I am, please let me know.

It's available to watch on My5, and there's no issue with watching on my phone - it is just the casting function that's blocked. The repeat is on Wednesday, so I've set a reminder, and I'll test your theory out.

 

[Spread66]

And in tonight's " fire & ice "episode the Fowley team won because of their exceptional modelling skills.
The layout bore practically no relation to the theme whatsoever but they won this heat.
Therefore if you want to win,
1. Be the home team.
2. Build a brilliant model but ignore the load of bollocks themes that the judges stipulate.
That is this program ****ed as for as a competition goes.

 

[JohnMcL7]

And in tonight's " fire & ice "episode the Fowley team won because of their exceptional modelling skills.
The layout bore practically no relation to the theme whatsoever but they won this heat.
Therefore if you want to win,
1. Be the home team.
2. Build a brilliant model but ignore the load of bollocks themes that the judges stipulate.
That is this program ****ed as for as a competition goes.

I couldn't believe they won either as clearly the challenge is trying to make a layout that fits the theme, if all the teams just made a layout they are familiar with that didn't fit the theme they'd be much higher quality.

 

[Trainfan344]

Think the Diesel Dynamos were hard done by this week, they had a great layout with lots going on, and they kept to the theme.

 

[JohnMcL7]

Think the Diesel Dynamos were hard done by this week, they had a great layout with lots going on, and they kept to the theme.

I thought they had it easily as well as that was a good layout that worked and actually fitted the theme.

 

[Cowley]

I was having a think about this yesterday:
If the show gets a second series, has anyone got any ideas for things that they could do in future episodes? Or interesting challenges that could be incorporated?

 

[GusB]

I'd forgotten about this thread, and almost missed the grand final - congratulations to the Aberdeen MRC who won the competition. Nice to see a local (ish) team winning

I had to look up the programme page on the C5 website to remind myself what the various themes were. We had:

1. Classic Movies
2. British TV
3. Globetrotting
4. Fire and Ice
5. Waterworld

I'm not sure what else I could suggest - perhaps a space theme, although that was sort of covered in the final. There was a separate thread about post-apocalyptic model railway ideas not so long ago, and there was a hint of that in one of the layouts built during the competition.

C5 are inviting applications for teams to be on the show - http://www.channel5.com/apply-to-be-on-the-show/ - so it looks as if they're looking to do a second series.

If I had to sum up my thoughts about the first series, I'd say it's a bit of a shame that the "purists" were given a bit of a hard time. Railway modelling is such a vast subject, and while some people will strive to get as much realism as possible into their models, others simply want to play trains and don't care which loco goes with those carriages (Peter Snow, I'm looking at you). I suppose a prime-time TV show has to have enough entertainment value to appeal to "the masses".

It'd be interesting to find out if the various model manufacturers experience an uplift in sales as a result of the programme, especially in the run-up to Christmas.

 

[SCH117X]

In terms of purists, I go the feeling the Fowley team were using the competition as a way of building parts of a larger layout. The fire and ice winning entry was frankly dismal in terms of the theme - they could quite easily have done as a snowy scene to some degree and then if they so wanted de snowed it. Their effort for the final was beyond dismal in terms of the theme, a "time machine" hidden behind the backscene. In terms of model manufacturers having an uplift in sales I doubt there will be much impact - the availability of train sets is pretty poor in terms of the high street and out of town centres and this year seems to be limited to Argos apart from a limited supply Lidl had of Hornbys cheapest offering. Once all the big supermarkets and the likes of WH Smith and Woolworths (RIP) had stocks.

 

[bassmike]

I'd forgotten about this thread, and almost missed the grand final - congratulations to the Aberdeen MRC who won the competition. Nice to see a local (ish) team winning

I had to look up the programme page on the C5 website to remind myself what the various themes were. We had:

1. Classic Movies
2. British TV
3. Globetrotting
4. Fire and Ice
5. Waterworld

I'm not sure what else I could suggest - perhaps a space theme, although that was sort of covered in the final. There was a separate thread about post-apocalyptic model railway ideas not so long ago, and there was a hint of that in one of the layouts built during the competition.

C5 are inviting applications for teams to be on the show - http://www.channel5.com/apply-to-be-on-the-show/ - so it looks as if they're looking to do a second series.

If I had to sum up my thoughts about the first series, I'd say it's a bit of a shame that the "purists" were given a bit of a hard time. Railway modelling is such a vast subject, and while some people will strive to get as much realism as possible into their models, others simply want to play trains and don't care which loco goes with those carriages (Peter Snow, I'm looking at you). I suppose a prime-time TV show has to have enough entertainment value to appeal to "the masses".

It'd be interesting to find out if the various model manufacturers experience an uplift in sales as a result of the programme, especially in the run-up to Christmas.

Glad someone confirms that I was right about P.Snow!