I'm kind of at a loss what to make of the programme to be honest.
I first heard of it perhaps this time last year on a couple of model rail forums. I costed out the length of "O" gauge track alone and couldn't make the maths add-up for a complete length in one go. Since then as I live in Inverness I thought there would have been some local "drumming up of enthusiasm" but heard nothing. They seemed to have done it all from afar and taken / invited allot of folk up to make the programme?
The lengthy pre-amble at the start of each show says "to do what the Victorians failed to do", but in this second episode they clear-enough explained they didn't fail. They got part way and a different railway company beat them to do it -so there would have presumably been not enough returns on the investment and work was scrapped. That's different.
That said, I suppose it is supposed to make new folk think about trying the hobby -but I'm not sure whether to feel ashamed, embarrassed or angry. It's a clear demonstration that not all engineers are modellers (not many engineers are very good when you take them away from their desk either!), not all modellers are engineers (obviously) and not everyone gets on when you throw them together in groups.
Some really blindingly obvious things for me from the first 15 mins of show 1: Alarming how they can't keep the locomotive on the track -but they haven't laid any obvious foundations, in some cases it looks like there's little attempt to even get the track flat.
In episode 2 some poor beggar offered an old PSV model -with duct taped sponsons which looked pretty rough and undersized for the load, or what would obviously be the water conditions encountered. Am afraid I thought this very poor of model ship modellers. With the gaffer taped hull and the locomotive tie-wrapped to the deck, the fairly pathetic attempt at a launching cradle, I'm not surprised it sank. That was a fail on so many strange reasons.
The truss bridge in episode one I guessed almost immediately would break at some point. They made a big deal of trusses but failed at almost the fist point of demonstrating you need a bigger section to resist the biggest bending moment. Duhh, that's why most of the real examples shown are arch shaped. I thought the 60m viaduct in this episode was very good though -I suspect there was never really any danger of it being washed away though otherwise there would be no drama!!! I expect they have been provided very limited materials and tools to create some form of a challenge and drama, but I haven't seen much common sense into using them so far.
Re presenters -well it's the scrapheap challenge gang though I doubt everyone participating would remember them. Claire Barratt is quite good and I like here in her other programmes. The big guy the "HSE Brat" keeps on bleeting to I can't remember but I admire his patience. Dick "hoddit and bodgit" Strawbridge I'm afraid I can't stand in any of his shows. He may not be as rough as he's made out but I doubt it and I think there's allot of others better than him.
.........Sorry, that's turned into an essay! I imagine it makes "good viewing" for the masses but I think it's a pathetic showcase for modelling and most of the folk involved. I don't like any of the voyeur rubbish that's on so I may be biased. I can look past calamities like ditching quads -I kind of expected drama like that. Half way through episode 2 and I've pretty much given up which is a shame as it's topical for me. I'd say good luck to them but there's no real drama -they must have reached town otherwise there'd be no show!
Rich