GAUGE THE ISSUE: In Defence Of The Biggest Little Railway In The World 

You brits are lucky... I'm in the US, and we have nothing like this... I kind of wish there's be a paid-content downloadable version of the series, I'd pay every penny.

Sounds like the armchair brigade has struck again! Being an Aussie, I had only heard of the attempt and the show through social media and the odd google search, but glad they pulled it off, but what grinds my gears is that the armchair brigade always have something to say but never back it up by ever actually doing anything to help, such as volunteer, pay for content (Trainz, SLIPS, Train Sim to name just a few), pay a little extra for gala weekends (which we don't have here, dam gauging!) and other various issues. They really don't help the general public understand what we, the enthusiasts, really enjoy doing when time and money allow us.

For my part, I thought it was an amazing program covering an incredible achievement. I've mentioned this project to a few non-railway minded friends, and all have reacted in roughly the same way: 1. "That's crazy", 2. "That's impossible", and 3. "Wait, they did it?! That's amazing!" And the thing I perhaps most appreciate about this program is that barring the odd editing choice, it's all real. These people really did lay 71 miles of model railway track through some of the most hostile terrain in the UK, they really did only have 12 days to do it, there were problems that were overcome, it did come down to the wire, and they did succeed in the end. Pretty much all of the issues you mentioned here that folks have taken umbrage with I just flat don't understand. Of course Paul needed to be conscientious of his team's dietary needs; can you imagine how different this program would have been if people were needing to be rushed to hospital because their team leader insisted they crack on and damn their blood sugar? I shudder to think. That's not being a touchy-feely humanitarian who can't get a job done, that's called being an effective leader. And the disagreement over the ferry slip I feel was blown completely out of proportion more by the audience than even the editing; yes, the words exchanged could seem rather terse, but this was early in the project when everything and everyone was still getting their footing; folks didn't know each other that well at the start and things were already starting to fall behind due to people underestimating the scale of the project, of course language is going to be a bit stronger than it maybe should have been in retrospect. And those complaints about the opening segment taking too long; umm, do you people not know how storytelling works? Of course you need to establish the background before the audience, yourselves included, would give a toss about it. If they started with the train leaving, you'd have no idea of who these people were, why they were doing this, what was at stake, what challenges they'd face, or how much work had been done prior to that point. In short, start where you say it should have started, and you wouldn't care anyway. Personally, the only criticism I really have with this program was Dick's ferry; I do agree with some of my more learned enthusiast friends that more care should have been paid to the ferry's stability, especially given how top heavy it would be once the train was secured on, and Dick should have been more careful to maneuver away from the whirlpools and rough waters in the lock, or else should have taken a leaf from the Panama Canal's book and secured the boat in position with lined to both sides of the lock. Other than that, I would call this one of the best railway enthusiast programs to have come out in recent years and I cannot praise it highly enough. And those tossers who only watched the first 15 minutes and decried it as crap can sod off and shut up; your opinion counts for nothing if you didn't even bother to watch it. Hell, Channel 4 doesn't even stream to the US; I had to watch this program on illegal streams, something I'm not at all proud of, but I did it to see the whole thing, and I'm glad I did. What's your excuse?

I think this is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

And there was me thinking I was about the only person who watched Salvage Squad!

My friend Alex was on the programme (hes the one who did the final driving stint in episode 5). Having talked at length with him about the programme it seems the priority was to create an interesting programme with tension and a "will they/wont they" drama looming over the project. They genuinely nearly didnt complete the challange but I think that they (the volunteers) all did very well in everything they did. Its sad a vocal minority try to deminish their achievements but you dont hear the critics saying "ill show you how it should be done" do you? Great little programme and it'd be nice to see a similar series in the future.

10:34 I like how your program is in there: It shows a side of humanity, which most critics fail to show.

I know I'm American. But I need to find this show somewhere. The challenge looks like fun and would be fun to try my own hand at it if I could do it. But enough with that. I have a show to go find online.

I nearly succumbed to complaints about ancilliary issues (why if we're building a railway do we FLY the particiants in, when they could've come on the train!), and I missed the first few minutes of episode 3 until my wife encouraged me to continue. And i'm thankful I did watch from then to tthe end. It is a remarkable achievement and does put model railways and railway engineering on the TV map! Well done!

I actually met one of the people who worked on this show today

Time spent having fun is never wasted!!

Didn't see series, although friends have. But in the history of railways, things like establishing the team, planning and surveying the route, building the infrastructure, having the site huts for tea and living space always took ages before track laying and puttting any form of locomotion on the track. So highly realistic.

Everything you have said, Chris, I agree with wholeheartedly. It felt like an achievement just knowing that the British of all people created the BLR in the world and to be proud of those who took part in this. Being in a railway enthusiast community doesn't just bring people together but can also help those with disabilities, such as myself, as proven in the show. This is the railway show we needed to inspire enthusiasts. thanks a lot Chris!

I Really enjoyed it. A good way of showing the masses that where not all nerds in sheds. That the hobby is more interesting than they think

dear mr green i watched this tv series when it was on the tv my mother also watched it as she also has a interest in steam engines we both found it nice to watch on a sunday evening while having a cup of tea. several parts were very intresting for us, one of them was when one of the drivers did not pay attention to what he had been told by one of the others which nearly resuited in sliver lady's boiler blowing up! another one was after she had been nealy lost after the ferry sank and the person who had built her had not steamed her to see if every thing was alright.

This was one of my favourite series ever! It was amazing!

Another Aussie here, would like to see it as well one day. whenI saw the title ofthis I initisally though "Biggest Little Railway In The World" referred to RH&DR. When there is anything decent to do with railway, and then model railway, we should be happy that they got to TV regardless what some analyse over and over - any publicity is good, and we all know how TVpeople like the drama making it out of nothing at times. Great effort on their part, and Chris a well done bit ( as usual)

Where the fuck can I find a version of this on US TV?!?!?! This is EXACTLY the sort of Rube Goldbergian thing I always dreamed of as a kid, so seeing this would be pretty close to living out a childhood fantasy.

I watched the hole thing and agree with everything you said, i loved the hole TV show as it shows there is more to modeling than my 00 gauge shunting layout.

As a lifelong railway buff who walked the Great Glen Way in April 2017 (without a midge in sight!) I was fascinated by this series and enjoyed every minute of it. I guess most people who watched it won't have walked the GGW, and I can assure you that it's exhausting enough without having to lay 70 miles of railway track along the way:-) So I can well imagine how tired people must have been and how frayed tempers must have got from time to time. It was, without doubt, a remarkable feat of engineering, and it was fascinating to see how everyone essentially pulled together and how a few really knowledgeable and capable people, for example Andy and Cameron, were key to the timely success of the project. I don't agree that too much time was spent introducing the people in episode 1, in fact after episode two I watched epsode 1 again on catch-up just to remind myself who was who. I'd also like to say that it was a damn good bit of telly from the production point of view; geat close-ups, superb (and numerous) drone shots (part of the intro reminded me of the intro to The Sound of Music, complete with twittery birds!), and many nicely-edited snipperts from the navvies that effectively conveyed a wide spectrum of emotions: pride, energy, determination, fun, delight, humour, and sheer exhaustion. At the end of shooting there must have been miles of footage to choose from, and the editors are to be congratulated for putting together a very well balanced record of the event. Altogether a fabulous bit of telly - congratulations and thanks to all involved!

Thanks very much for this critique thoroughly enjoyed your review. Fingers crossed we get to make another one for you to enjoy!

It was a great way to get people interested in one of the best hobbies in the world.

It was fun. It showed some interesting and novel solutions to the various challenges and made me consider modelling and a larger gauge than my usual one of N gauge.

Well I watched all 5 hours and thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

This program i did enjoy, yes there was a lot of cringey moments and yes i was annoyed when the locomotive tipped over in the river but that was all part of the enjoyment of it, and it really did show that anyone from different kinds of intrests and races can work together as a team to complete probably one of the most ambitous tasks ever and it had a lot of heart warming moments as well, especially that guy who had autism who did that very heart warming speech at the end and did make me very warm inside since i have autism as well, even my parents who watched it with me said the same thing, not the best program but it was good. :)

Well done Chris! I thoroughly enjoyed the programme and have followed the many discussion threads with incredulity. This was great entertainment - though not without its flaws - and you have summed up series beautifully. I have absolutely no doubt that it has benefited our hobby and indeed I have today had an enquiry from a fellow member of our model engineering society. He has a 3" traction engine but his wife watched the series and said he should definitely get into 16mm :-) Thank you for summing it up so succinctly! Cheers chris

Never heard of this show before, but what an ambitious project for sure! Although I did see James May's Top Toys episode of the HO/OO layout on the former branch line that was ripped up. One thing that could've been a good strategy in the making of James May's Top Toys model train challenge was to use track that has roadbed installed on it like Life-Like Snap Track or Bachmann EZ track, it's much easier to install, especially for outdoor use.

Wow, Scrapheap Challenge! Man I'd forgotten about that show (We called it "Junkyard Wars" here in the states). I always remember it was on technically after my bedtime, but I'd either beg my parents to stay up or stick a VHS tape in to record it--man, remember those days?! lol. I know this is about BLR, I just had to comment that because you'd kind of taken me on a bit of a nostalgia trip. thanks for that if nothing else!

I admit I've had it on Sky+ & while I'm taking my sweet time watching it, it was intriguing to watch & yes while some moments such as the generational gap argument over the use of the pontoon in episode 1 was a bit uncomfortable, it was also good to see Claire Barrett back on our screens & for me, it rolled back a good memory of meeting her at the Shrewsbury Steam Rally in 2003 (when Salvage Squad filmed its last series & she was setting about starting restoration of a Sentinel lorry owned by a pair of brothers)

I found some of the people on it particularly grating, especially the presenters. Commandant Strawbridge was rather charmless. BUT I think it got better, especially in the last two episodes, and I actually cracked a smile at the very end. I was more interested in the people that did it. That generational gap bit was horrible to watch and I immediately took against the old boy. He did redeem himself a bit later on though, I'm not totally unreasonable ;)

I've only seen a few clips. (Since I'm Australian, and can't see the episodes until who know's when.) But what I've seen looks interesting. I think the only thing that I don't understand is why they didn't picked 45mm G-gauge, instead of 32mm O-gauge. My only reason for wondering is, wouldn't 45mm make the little engine a bit more stable being a wider gauge?

I watched it all the way through, really really enjoyed it, I found it great that it saw us in some aspects in a different light. Model making, engineering, history and so on... I did have a few issues, however but they were petty things. In the end they got to Inverses and you cannot take that away from these guy's & Gals, because they managed it. And I have to say bloody well done to them for that!

It was a great example of eccentric British community endeavour. The Brits love their toy steam trains. The old wag that was having a go at the teenager, needed headbutting, but the program was quite entertaining and the challenges presented interesting solutions. I enjoyed the series and although I do like railway layouts, I am by no means a 'railway buffer'.

I never got a chance to see the show, and only just got to see this. Thank you for posting it. I agree with you; it is a fantastic achievement on so many levels. The umbrella of our hobby actually has so many nuances and areas of interest that I can imagine the nay-sayers being from an entirely different branch and not really understanding what they were seeing. You actually misnamed the scale as G. G is standard gauge modelling while this is 16mm scale - 16mm to the foot. As the track is 32mm gauge it represents 2 foot narrow gauge. Narrow gauge railways are as different to standard gauge 'mainline' railways as cars are to articulated lorries and it takes that particular interest to get the point. A few of the faces that I recognised in your clip are standard gauge enthusiasts but they will also understand that difference. As to showing what may not have been the best side of what goes on, Channel 5 recently showed a series called "Inside the Steam Train Museum" filmed at Bressingham Steam Museum last year (2022) and Episode 2 shows our 16mm layout there. Some bits of the whole series were taken out of context to create a level of entertainment, particularly when I set a blaze filling my Darjeeling B Class with gas. I asked them not to show it but they did. I have heard that an exhibition banned the running of a 16mm layout because one of the organisers saw my accident on the TV. I am sorry for that.

I seen photo's and clips on RU-vid about this. ( I live in the States ) I thought the whole idea of it was awesome. I especially like the helix ( the spiral ) they used. I've seen this used on smaller scales ; but never G scale ( I plan on using one on my G scale outside layout myself. I found this extremely helpful. ) . The whole point of the hobby, is like you said; " finding ways and solutions to problems, through teamwork and engineering. There are many aspects to garden railways. From people who are rivet counters, to whimsical fantasy rail-lines. I think the naysayers, are missing the whole point about this program. It's about having fun, and " playing " ; no matter the way you find your enjoyment. This is the way THESE particular people, found THEIR fun. So, I totally agree with you. Maybe they should visit the U.S., where there are NO such railway based shows at all, on the air. I'd watch these five shows in a heartbeat, if it ever comes on the BBC channel here.

I loved the whole show from start to end. Great series showing ordinary people together doing something extraordinary by overcoming human and environmental problems by working as a team. One of the best to shows of 2017

Hello Chris, Im hoping it comes down here in Australia as I wouldnt mind seeing it.

A point very well made Chris. The trouble is, and this goes with most hobbies, you do get that certain core element of nutters that take it, and themselves, a little too seriously. Yes, the show did cherry-pick some of the more cringe-worthy moments, but that is what sells it to the viewing public. I took it for what it was, a harmless piece of sunday evening entertainment.

My only real complaints would be the things you mentioned Chris: exaggerating problems and swapping things out of context. But as a creative media graduate, I know all too well that so many television programmes do this, and it's not a problem that's going away in a hurry. I'd happily try to fight that trend if possible. My two cents on this: Whether you've already seen the show yet or are about to, I'd highly recommend checking out the twitter feeds of people like Lawrence, Simon, Jenny etc. for another flavour of the show. They all tweeted as the show went out and I found their tweets an interesting accompaniment to the events unfolding on screen. Good GTI as usual Chris :)

Thanks for showing this video. I hope to see the actual program here in Australia sometime soon. Is it available on line anywhere?.

I just love the total eccentricity of this whole idea...

As you rightly point out, it is first and foremost entertainment, and in that respect i thought is was great. I described it as bonkers but brilliant because, only in the UK would you get a group of model railway enthusiasts give up two weeks of their holiday to contemplate such a project. From reading posts from those who took part there were things taken out of context, which probably made for good TV, but apparently did not represent the people or real life situations. If this was the case then it is a shame that the production company did not set the record straight. I believe they were few in number and that those impacted were not overly concerned. As a piece of entertaining TV it was in my opinion great to watch on a number of fronts. The subject matter was always going to be of interest, who doesn't like a live steam model railway, let alone running it from Fort William to Inverness? To see a group of strangers come together and form teams to overcome some challenging obstacles was nice to watch and you rooted for them to succeed. The competitiveness between teams was also entertaining at times. Silver Lady had a personality, not matched by the battery powered 'loco'. I thought it interesting to see the contrast between Dick Strawbridge, who I assume as a military man was going to achieve the objective of getting "a" train from Fort William to Inverness, whereas the volunteers were going to get "a steam train, Silver Lady" from Fort William to Inverness. Seeing the battery powered engine traverse the viaduct was a letdown, it would have been much much better to have seen Silver Lady cross it!. For me, the programme me had many human moments as well as the technical and engineering successes. Lawrence sharing details of his relationship with his father, Alex sharing the challenges of autism and forming friendships and Martin sharing how he was brought up by his father and how he was proud of his kids all added, with others the human dimension that is often lacking in such programmes. It would have been nice to see a gallery and names of all 56 volunteers, they all deserve credit and hopefully, a DVD set of the series is released. All in all a great programme. Maybe some or all the team would reform at a future date to take on another challenge?

Exactly right, I've watched the whole series through about 3 times now and think it is really good, agreed that some parts were badly done but not to the detriment of the series.

As we spend huge amounts of time going to preserved railways! Visiting the Reading Model Engineers track and playing Trains! Being in our workshop building Live Steam Locomotives! AND watching Steam on RU-vid because I swapped this year's Licence money FOR A SET OF 5 INCH GAUGE BLACK FIVE DRIVING WHEELS! Priorities! I missed this?? But great fun and now well worth a watch! And it HAS CLAIRE IN IT!!! ok shes English and I do have this passion for Chinese....... Locomotives especially the C2 but! What did I miss?? David and Lily.

think you deserve 2 bottles of spitfire for this :)

Well myself and my family sat down and watched it every sunday, yes it had its moments of stupidity and poor editing. However it was good to see enthusiasts and non enthusiasts have a great time. So from me its a thumbs up and i agree with what you say chris

I really enjoyed the program.

I haven’t even seen BLR yet and even when I haven’t I still think it is a good work of fun! Everything I’ve read about in the press has got me feeling like it’s a must watch for when I get a chance. I’m shocked to hear that there are some people who are into the hobby didn’t like it...

Great to see ,really enjoyed the program ,so what's the beaf about the gauge 32 or 45 at that scale it's always going to come off the rails in that terain ,the track was thrown down what do you expect ????

In Canada I had to resort to "stealing" in order to see this show. It's almost impossible to see British TV outside the UK. I really enjoyed it. Yes, it was a bit silly sometimes, and the binfuls of 'elf-and-safety gear the participants were constantly swaddled in was horrible to see, but it was nice to see the little steam-engine doing (as Roundhouse puts it) "a job of work". Overall the programme was good fun even though the reality-TV format is a bit predictable. I even got to see the locomotive in question on display on Roundhouse's table at the Peterborough garden railway AGM, and you know it was kind of impressive to see in its own way- they are such robust little machines, again as Roundhouse puts it, "they are not models, they are real steam locomotives built to do a job of work in the garden". To me there is nothing more British than slightly mad railway enthusiasts trying to get a little green tank-engine to accomplish a geographically unlikely feat. The only thing I really wish they could have done is to have the locomotive pull its little I.P. Engineering panel-sided coach the whole way, and to have the steam engine cross the viaduct instead of the little yellow battery loco.

I thought this program was Great! The record belonged to James May for Barnstaple - Bideford in 00 Gauge back in 2011. (Toy Stories) But I thought it was a very nice program with a unique feel to it, and with a challenging task. However 00 Gauge is like proper proper Model Trains, but G scale is meant to be faced with outside elements. Not quite this harsh. But G scale isnt exactly Fully Model.

I agree with you Chris it was good to watch and to see Simon too taking part

Excellent and thorough review Chris. I enjoyed the whole series.

I never could see the shows, but they sound intelligent and interesting. This far too rare in any TV to be ignored. Heck Tom Hanks admitted to those who were there "Saving Private Ryan" wasn't 100% accurate. It was something to carry the feel of things as best they could do. This series is much the same. If TV gets things close to correct, they are lucky. These folks did what they were going for, and TV got it nearly right. Good for them!

I’m highly impressed by the length this little engine went. Even if it is a model, I still love the little guy.

I saw some RU-vidrs in the show and I enjoyed it. :)

I first found out about it literally right after I watch this video

Just for the record, the Silver Lady loco is NOT G Scale. How do I know? Well I own a Silver Lady, had I many years before this programme was made. G Scale is 1:25 Scale and runs on 45mm gauge track. The Silver Lady is a SM32 gauge loco at a scale 16mm to one foot running on 32mm track, hence SM32 or 1:19 scale.

I actually enjoyed the show. Some of the ‘elf-an-safety stuff was a bit maddening, but the rest of it was lighthearted fun. And the Roundhouse locomotive was certainly plucky enough wasn’t she. Who cares what people think. People are idiots.

After I first saw this on the tv I saw a add for it

As a garden railroader, I'm try to watch it, it's looks interesting.

The biggest little railway was amazing when they talked about the history and the minds of for the structures

I’ve always been of the opinion that before criticizing any form of media, one should at least give it a fair shake before denouncing it

Even further back in the 70s there were shows on BBC2 like The Great Egg Race. Channel 4 used to be ITV's "BBC2" a place for science and culture. Now for the most part it is pap.

It was a good program in general - just slightly annoying to see how little care was given to the locomotive. It was clear that Chris from Roundhouse was slightly annoyed by how others were treating the loco. The fact it made it all the way just goes to show how well engineered their locomotives are - I own one myself and it takes a great deal of care to operate the loco properly which is probably why I cringed every time I saw it fall off the track after travelling a stupid speed. According to the Roundhouse engineering website, the actual loco used in the program will be on display and in steam at the 16mm National Show in Peterborough in April this year. I'd definitely recommend a visit, it's always a great show.

Great discussion about the program! Didn't see it during airing, but sought it out after seeing how polarizing it seems to be. Although, I'm still not sure about all the unnecessary life jackets... _la la la You're standing on my neck_

I loved that show it was very good!

10:14 *points at 'animal welfare organisations'* Same thing but three times the salt (Heck, imagine getting the parents of 8 children arrested for animal cruelty because they cut a pig down just so they didn't starve.)

I enjoyed it and was tempted to apply for it as I live only a couple hours south of Fort William, but I am an easily frustrated person and take a sheer dislike to bad organisation and general stupidity, a lot of what I watched nearly sent me over the edge without even being there! So rather glad I didn’t ;D but it was entertaining to watch when everyone gathered a bit of common sense and organisation.

the train is 16mm not G scale

In the netherlands we train drivers have “really” nice names for trainspotters

This railway modeller loved it.

Echoes of that rubbish on Channel Five this year. That model railway competition thing

Great vid, Chris. Personally I really enjoyed the BLR, no complaints. Don't know why everyone was whinging. Lol at your Oh F factor!

next time can we relay it in 12 inch to the foot scale

Enjoyed the programme and this video !

Rip salvage squad

I loved it I am surprised that there are people who didn't like it

It was kinda amusing tbh. Good video Chris. :)

I thought it was a very good show, I'm surprised the engine survived sinking.

Personally I like stuff like this. Railway modeling shouldn’t be all about accuracy and realism. We should be able to have some fun with our locos. Why not have a RC ferry ferry a train across a river? Sound like a good time to me!

For me it was great with a few bits here and there but apart from that it was great

Thought they might of made use of the Jacobite steam train running right past the route.

I didn't see it, but I wish that I had!

I only saw episode one, so whenever I talked about it I always mentioned that part. But tbh it wasnt as gripping as I would have wanted it to be for me. Thats just personal to me and yea, if you want to actually get an opinion on it the best thing to do is to actually watch it rather than take someone else's side

The program was very good I agree with you 100%

A very fair assessment imho.

It was always going to be a "Marmite" event, "love it or hate it" being the result with enthusiasts of all kinds. There were some great moments, the "trestle" for example, and then nonsense such as the "ferry". Had I been one of the volunteers being sworn at then that might have just provoked a build if yourself then walkout. The only problem that really grated was the pretense that the Victorian engineers had been beaten by the terrain. In reality it was a cool headed business decision not to build a railway to a destination that was already served by a competing railway company....

5:35 - What's that footage used where the very ancient looking railway tries to haul a coach with a bit of rope? Some old movie.. anyone recognize this?

great video, i'm american, so i don't know if i will see the series

Can you do a sole slip about Stephenson’s Rocket?

My problem with the program, was the way solutions to problems were approached, trying to span a canal with a plywood bridge was plain silly and done for effect, especially when there was no structural reason for trying to make it look like a truss bridge, the actual track used was the reason the engine kept falling off it, did no one test the track before they decided to make 70 ofdd miles of the stuff. As theprogram got underway it was obvious C4 had taken the volunteers away from their natural expertise to create 'tension'. The building of the massive viaduct was great to look at, but the smae could of been achieved without trying to make it look like the Ribble Valley Viaduct !

I quite liked it. Was definitely something something different but that different was enjoyable. Would have preferred it if it had been 6 episodes though not 5.

id love to see you do a gauge the issue or just a review on the British railway story's, as then you can say why it's so significant and much better then Thomas the tank engine

I like this.

A really big issue is that this is yet another example of the strange and unwarranted bias against those who "play with trains" or "like their Choo Choo's". I just don't get it.

Can you do a Gauge the issue on unstoppable?

I just found out you can go higher then 1080p

It's very intresting idea, though it could have been done better, but it was fun to watch.

I live in Fort William :D