Channel 4 Programme

Turning 20 full meals out from Eagle's kitchen sent that restoration up a notch or two in my books .... even with a couple of light bulbs missing!

This series has certainly whetted a few appetites, though TV being what it is, I doubt we'll see another ..... worst luck! Something about freight stock restorations wouldn't go amiss .... there's an awful lot of that kicking around, some of it even lurking on overgrown sidings. The further in time we get from wagonload freight, the less folk will know how it all once worked .... and there's quite a story to be told there.

What there is, is the potential for talented amateurs and wannabe broadcasting professionals to get their YouTube clips noticed (some have viewing 'hits' well into 6 figures) and are quite capable of turning out very well produced footage of broadcast quality, not all of which is accompanied by fairground organs!

 

If you would like to get a copy of the story to restore No.10 then please send a cheque for £5 (£3.50 + £1.30 P&P) made payable to:-
‘The Isle of Wight Railway Co Ltd’
Addressed to:-
Commercial Office
Isle of Wight Steam Railway
The Railway Station
Havenstreet
Isle of Wight PO33 4DS
Of course another way you could get your copy is to visit the IWSR and see the carriage for yourself whilst buying copy for the story.
One very interesting thing comes out as to exactly why the IWSR didn't feature too highly when M Portillo visited the island in his last series. May be he'll come back and visit us again properly next time?

 

Yes, I agree. I can see after a few series it will be Rail Restorations "self propelled track maintenance vehicles"

 

So what if it does? Unlikely I would admit.
The great plus about the recent series is that it seems to have appealed to "normals" and not purely lococentric gricers.

PH

 

Yes island friends of ours who aren't "railway people" really enjoyed the programme and some have even ventured to Havenstreet because of the programme.

 

‘Pimp My Wickham’...

 

Because other railway themed programmes have never appealed to a broad demographic before?

 

Don't just take my word for it; see the posting of@dlaiow above. (Incidentally, he played a part in producing this piece of cabinet making on wheels)

PH

 

That wasn't the point; no one's denying that this programme appealed to a greater audience than just enthusiasts, but let's not kid ourselves that a similar programme with locos would have been any less popular.

 

Yes, I agree with that bit, and it is certainly a great thing. (I wonder if the show will get picked up by a network down my way? For the last few years we have had a quite a few railway offerings in prime time slots.) I was puzzled by the relevance of your "loco-centric gricer" comment - a show with that narrow a target audience will never fly, (has there ever been one on mainstream tv?). All railway themed shows surely seek wider appeal.

 

Imagine.....outshopping a 72xx in 6 months.....oh, happy days!

 

Now that matters!

 

I am sure that the bean counters will look at the audience figures add in the overseas sales plus the possible sale of box sets, pay for view etc and might think its worth another punt.

 

I do hope so, wagons through the ages could be interesting, and presumably cheaper than carriages too!

 

Not so sure this is entirely true. TripAdvisor is a haphazard source of evidence but there are enough postings there to suggest the condition of passenger vehicles, particularly their cleanliness, is of more importance to the bulk of passengers than the size of the thing pulling the train. Sometimes it seems difficult to get this across to the, yes, lococentric majority of NP correspondents.

PH

 

That's not the same as what people might find interesting on the telly, which was my point. You know perfectly well that I'm a C+W chap Paul, there's no need to drone on about lococentricity, especially here, in a thread about carriages that is generating a lot of interest.

 

Not a big part and most of what I did is totally hidden from all public view, missed the last 2 months of work as away on consecutive holidays.

 

Did not refer to you in particular at all. But, as you know this thread did get "invaded" by the lococentrics who had to be scolded off'. It's an N.P.problem.

PH

 

I wasn't able to watch episode 5 live yesterday so watched it this morning on catch up.

Congratulations to all the teams on four excellent restoration projects. Worthwhile and very different projects, I hope they will all soon be completed to a full operational standard so that the wider public can enjoy them.

After watching episode 5 I thought that I would watch the other 4 episodes again. Unfortunately episode 1 is no longer available and there are only 5 days left to watch episode 2. So if you want to watch again do it now!