YouTube is the home for this 2004 Freeview Channel programme

I am flicking through old Railway Modellers in the absence of other more meaningful work and have discovered a reference to a TV series called Model Town.

It appears on YouTube posted by Martin K Sankey.

Fronted by Simon Farmer in a very "down with the kids" style, it follows the development of a "400 square foot" layout featuring the town of Farmerton and its surrounds.  It includes a narrow gauge line and some trams along with moving road vehicles and, of course, trains - BR(S) Region stuff as you might expect from a "South Coast sea-side town" setting.

Strangely intertwined with the build is a bit of drama - the murder of the local GP.  Various model figures and buildings are introduced using this story which, if nothing else, is different.

I must admit that the presentation style takes some getting used to but it certainly does not conform to the "nerdy" image that a lot of non-modellers might have of us railway enthusiasts.  The model itself is no Pendon but, as the proponents of the recent C5 series pointed out, anything on the telly that inspires one new modeller can't be all bad.

Do I like this series?  To be truthful, I'm really not sure that I do - but somehow I keep wading through the 15 episodes so it must have something!!

See what you think.

Just got to episode 10 which features the gunpowder works in Faversham!!

Michael (Headmaster) may be interested - isn't his layout basd on Faversham?
 

Now you're wasting my time Barry - half way through episode 1 - wife isn't pleased !!!  

I have now watched all 15 episodes
 :thud
Bit of fun and perhaps a draw to younger modellers (although some of the dialogue is clearly aimed at adult viewers).  If nothing else, it was model railways on the telly.

Probably worth a look if the Christmas TV diet of soppy films plummets to its usual low-point!!

What a good find Barry.  I've watched the first couple, but jumped to have a look at #10…. for obvious reasons!  He visited the Chart Mills, which was originally the Home Mills, which is close to the centre of town.  Faversham had two larger mills built later - Oare Gunpowder Works and the Marsh Works.  The Oare works were built by Huguenot refugees, which is how my Grandfather's ancestors (on my mother's side) came to be in Faversham. While all three mills made gunpowder - a lot for the construction of railways as well as warfare, Oare also made guncotton - which is a high explosive and the cause of the explosion in 1847, which resulted in the works closing, although a fourth works was opened in 1873 and Faversham became the centre for the gunpowder industry until the threat of war in the 1930s.  I have promised myself I will model it all one day as there was a light railway used for transportation to the Creek for export by water. As I have mentioned elsewhere, the works were requisitioned by the Admiralty, rather than the army. 
As to the programme, I have found myself enjoying it when I thought I might not.  It won't be to everyone's taste, but once I got into the style of presentation, I found that it was at least about making proper model railways and it has some useful tips and techniques and explains things in a way that is not too technical.  So thank you for posting it.

Michael

Michael

I thought that the bit on Faversham's explosive works would appeal to you.  I liked the Blast Wall to protect the boss - not the workers!!!

Barry