Train Den The Dengineers

-I'm Lauren.

-And I'm Mark.

-And this is the Dengineers...

..the show that puts you in charge of building your very own dream den!

Wow!

-Indoors...

-Is this yours?

-Yeah!

-..outdoors...

-Oh, that's so cool!

-..even underground.

-Whoa!

-That's amazing!

-Whatever you want,

the Dengineers team are here to transform your ideas

into amazing spaces...

..built especially for you.

Here we go.

-ALL:

-The Dengineers' den!

Hello!

Amazing!

Whoa!

Ohhh!

-Wow!

-Oh, wow!

Welcome to The Dengineers.

Today, we're off to Huntingdon to surprise a boy who loves

-all things trains.

-He certainly does!

I hope you're ready to work your socks off, cos this den is going to

-take serious hard work.

-I am raring to go.

Our Dengineer right now is on his way to a train amusement park

that's not too far from here.

Shall we go and give him the good news?

Yeah, come on, hop on.

Sorry, do you actually know how to drive that thing?

Er...

Nah, not at all.

Brilliant(!) I'll be taking the car.

Yeah, good idea. Wait for me!

Today's Dengineer is Ben from Huntingdon.

He loves to play with his trains, and boy, does he have a lot of them.

This is The Flying Scotsman.

This is the Class 06.

Number 3 is the Class 31.

And it's not just trains that Ben loves,

he's a master track builder and has big plans in the pipeline.

I have a dream track

and I'm saving up money that I have earned...and...

birthday and Christmas money.

But our Ben has got a problem.

He shares his room with little sister Verity, and, unfortunately,

that means his trains are in serious danger of total annihilation.

What Ben needs is somewhere he can play with his trains.

Well, it's a good job he asked the Dengineers for help, then.

I really want it,

because I want to be able to get my trains out permanently.

It would mean a lot to me,

and I'd probably be disappearing at every part of my spare time.

This boy needs a den asap.

And that's exactly what he's going to get.

He just doesn't know it yet.

It's obvious that Ben is in need of his own space,

-so we'd better get this den on track.

-Yep!

Right now Ben is on his way to this amusement park with his mum and dad.

And little does he know we're about to give him

the surprise of a lifetime!

-Come on, you, let's get hidden.

-Yeah, come on.

Where is she going?

'We've got our hidden cameras set up all around the park,

'waiting for the main man himself.

'Mum and Dad are in on it, and Dad's being mic'd up for our big surprise.'

Right, John, you're part of the team,

-you're officially part of the Dengineers' crew.

-Excellent!

-Are you ready for this?

-I am.

I don't want to put any pressure on,

but this is basically all on you, John.

Thanks for that. Appreciate it.

You understand how important it is that Ben doesn't find out?

-I do.

-I think you'd better go and get him.

-Will do.

-Go, John.

See you in a bit, mate.

'Everything is set and bang on schedule. Here comes Ben.'

He's there, he's there. Be quiet.

He's going to come round there any second.

We've got our producer up there, who's on the lookout.

She's told us to move!

Shhh!

It looks like he's well into his trains. He's just

-looking at them all.

-This is so exciting!

'And Ben has no idea what's about to happen.'

-What can you hear?

-They're over the bridge. They're over the other side.

-The coast is clear.

-Amazing. Shall we give them the big news?

-Let's make it happen.

-Let's go!

Ready?

Quick!

Go on, ready. Let's go.

-Fingers crossed.

-Let's go.

Hello, hello. We're looking for a fella called Ben.

-That's me.

-We know that you're train mad. Is that right?

-Yes.

And we know that you've got nowhere to actually play with your trains,

-have you?

-No.

-Right.

-So, Ben...

-Yes?

-..you're in serious luck, cos we are from CBBC's The Dengineers and

you're coming with us to help design and build your very own dream den.

-How does that sound?

-Yes, woo!

-High five!

Yes, high five! Hit me up top!

How does that sound, Ben?

-That is brilliant!

-THEY LAUGH

-Are you excited?

-Yeah!

-Mum, Dad, we'll see you later.

-We're going to make this den happen.

-Bye!

-Come on Ben, let's go.

-Let's go.

'I was just having a look around'

to see if I could recognise, um... any of the trains.

Hello, hello. We're looking for a fella called Ben.

Yeah?

Very surprised!

I wasn't at all expecting it.

You're coming with us to help design and build your very own dream den.

-How does that sound?

-Yes, woo!

Ben's reaction was brilliant, I was really pleased...

-Yeah, his little face!

-It was like, "Yes! Get in there!"

And I think he's going to really, really like it!

-A dream come true, isn't it?

-Yeah!

-A proper dream come true.

-MARK:

-Our first port of call is the Dengineers Mobile HQ,

which has got some mega-cool technology to get this den on track.

On here, we've got, like, loads of pictures

to give us loads of inspiration. So shall we have a little look?

-Yeah!

-Let's go for it. Go on, Mark.

Let's start with the colours. What kind of colours do you want?

You know, like blues, whites, reds,

something bright, or even black and white.

-I think I quite like that...

-This one, yeah?

-Yeah.

Brilliant! I know, what about a picture of your sister in the den?

Cos she's going to be going in the den, isn't she?

Er, not so much, no!

What about, like, train stations? What do you think about that?

-I think we saw an old train station.

-There you go.

-Yeah.

-So do you like that kind of style?

-Yeah.

-Very old-fashioned-looking station, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Do you like the old-fashioned ones, or the modern ones?

Old, because I was thinking more of a country...

Mm, like we're in the middle of nowhere, in a little train station?

Yeah.

-So, guys, I think we've got it. What do you reckon?

-Yes!

Ben has set his mind on an old-fashioned, vintage look

for his den, with retro graphics to make it a throwback

to the old days of steam trains.

And we've got just the fella to bring Ben's dream den to life!

Meet Sege. He's been in the business for 36 years,

and is an expert at creating amazing dens.

He's the perfect designer to make the impossible possible.

So, Sege, we are raring to go!

Tell us about the ideas you've got up your sleeve.

Well, Ben, we've designed for you

-a beautiful railway station all of your own.

-Brilliant.

-Brilliant, yeah?

-It's going to have a signal box on the front,

so people will know if you're in or out.

Also, Ben, we're going to put your own sign

right across the front of it, so it's going to be Ben's Station.

-Would you like that?

-Yes.

I'd be very interested to know how you play with your trains inside.

You know, what... How are you going to set it up?

I put it on a, um...

a board that can come down from the ceiling.

And then you walk around the board, tending to the train set,

-is that what you do?

-I'd come up in the middle.

-You've got a good vision for this, Ben, I like it.

-Definitely!

-I've never done one of those before!

-I love this.

We've got one of the top designers in the country,

but you've given him a brand-new idea - that's quite cool!

Is there anything else we need to think about or are we ready to go?

Well, you can't do anything

-till we've got some electricity down here, I'm afraid.

-Oh.

There are lots of things in this den that need electricity,

so we need to see if we can get it down pretty quick.

If we can't, then I'm afraid it's game over!

Ah. Right, we don't want that!

Shall we go and find an expert to sort this out?

-Let's do it.

-Come on.

-OK.

This could be a massive problem for Ben's den,

so the first thing to do is call in electrician David

to see if it's possible to get power wired from the house

and down to where the den will be.

So, Dave, what is the situation with the lecky?

-The situation's good and bad, unfortunately!

-Oh.

We've got good news that we can get it down there,

but it's going to be a lot of work.

We've got to remove fence panels and take up a lot of slabs

-and stuff like that, so...

-OK. All right.

-What do you think about that, Ben?

-Sounds good.

-You reckons we'll be able to do it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

Show me the muscles.

Show me yours. Yeah, you've got better ones than me!

-Come on, let's go and do it!

-Yeah.

-We've got work to do!

The team need to send 55 metres of electrical cabling

from the house down to the den.

That's longer than an Olympic swimming pool.

However, there are loads of fence panels and paving stones

in the way, so it's up to Dad and the Dengineers to get stuck in.

Ooh! Harder than it looks!

Oh, I love this!

'While me and Ben clear the fence panels...'

Yes!

'..Dad makes short work of the concrete slabs.

'And it's not long until it's time for a digger to take centre stage.'

Ay-ay-ay!

I want to ride on that!

'This bad boy wastes no time in digging a trench

'down the side of the house and through the garden

'so that Ben's den can get the power it needs to run his trains.

'With the trench nearly done,

'Dengineer Frank lets me finish the job.'

Whoa! Whoa!

Wahey! This is amazing! SHE LAUGHS

Hey, look at this!

Argh!

Yes! Frank, look at that!

Oh!

And then to release it...

BEN LAUGHS

It's stuck!

'I think I should leave it to the professionals!

'Frank finishes the job

'and the electricians can finally put down the cable for Ben's den.

'And the last job of the day is to lay a concrete base

'to support the den's weight.'

So, Dad, thank you very much for your hard work this afternoon but -

and I do mean this politely -

it's time for you two to clear off out of here

-because this is a Dengineers-only zone, so off you go.

-OK.

-Wave goodbye, Ben.

-Bye!

-Bye!

-Come on, get out, Mum and Dad. Out you go!

-Go! Shoo!

Out you go! In there!

'The next time Ben's family will see the garden

'will be at the big reveal in just four days' time.'

And that leaves little time for Sege and the Dengineers

to work their magic on Ben's den.

Inspired by Ben's ideas,

Sege has designed an old-fashioned railway station

with its very own sign and platform.

On the inside, Ben will have a remote-controlled table

that comes down from the roof for him to play with his trains.

Add to this a control booth where Ben can operate his trains

and you've got one brilliant den.

It's day two of the build and Sege's team are on-site and raring to go.

And they'll need to be,

cos getting this den built in four days is going to be a massive job.

And that job is about to get even bigger,

thanks to good old Mother Nature.

This is the worst possible news for designer Sege.

Sege, what stage are we at so far, then?

Well, we've put the floor base in.

We're trying to erect the walls and we need to get the roof on,

-but, as you can see...

-HE CHUCKLES

-Yay(!)

-It's really bad and this could hold us...

-Typical English weather!

-Typical English weather.

-Exactly!

How much of a problem is it?

It's quite bad - it's coming on really heavily.

We might have to wrap it up,

which means it's going to put us behind.

The team push on despite the wet conditions...

but, as the weather worsens, Sege has got to make a tough decision.

The weather's really, really coming down now.

We've only managed to put in about two hours worth of work!

We're going to have to leave it for today, I'm afraid.

This is a disaster for Ben.

And the team have to dismantle all the walls

so they won't get ruined by the bad weather!

I'm a bit worried that, in our grand plan,

it might not make the deadline.

We'll do everything we can to get there,

but it could look very, very tight!

-BEN:

-I think it will definitely hold us back a bit.

It means that we'll have to work even hard...harder tomorrow.

With the build being stopped in its tracks,

I reckon it's a good time for me and Ben

to head out to learn more about the world of steam trains.

So we've come to Nene Valley Railway in Peterborough.

WHISTLE TOOTS

Nene Valley Railway is based at Wansford Station

and is home to four operational steam locomotives.

Look, what's this?

I think it's an engine from a diesel.

-Probably.

-How do you know that?!

We're here to meet locomotive superintendent Paul Roe

to find out what they're working on at the moment.

This is our big workshop at the railway here.

We've got the big boiler -

this from a Battle of Britain class locomotive,

and that boiler's been overhauled.

And also, whilst in the shed, we've got our Thomas,

which is having its overhaul as well.

Hopefully, towards the end of this year,

our Thomas will be back out in steam!

You know what would be so good?

-What?

-If we got to ride on a train.

-That would be brilliant.

-Wouldn't it?

Funny you should say that, because we've got a train over there

with a steam engine on the front of it,

but I've got two jobs I need doing.

I need somebody to pull the signals that control the train

-and tell it where to go!

-I'll do that.

Excellent. Well, I need you to do something as well,

so you can come and I'll teach you how to drive the engine.

Yes, Benny boy! Double act! That's something to tell our mates, innit?

Definitely.

WHISTLE TOOTS

While the train gets all fired up,

it's time for Ben to do a very important job

and signal the train to go.

Keep going, right through to the back, and the handle up.

That's it, up there. It's ready to go now.

STEAM HISSES

Ooh! It's really powerful!

'The train we're riding on today is a Hunslet saddle tank...'

This thing is scary!

'..and was built in Leeds in 1940.'

That there is 1,500 degrees of heat

and that's how this whole train runs!

This train is powered by the steam that comes from this furnace,

which reaches a temperature higher than that of volcanic lava!

WHISTLE TOOTS REPEATEDLY

That's for Benny boy!

I haven't got a clue if he's doing any of the driving at all.

So, if it is him, he's doing a very good job.

Well done, Mark, you drove the train well there.

Just got to stop it now.

Wahey!

Ben, it's been a great day but the weather's getting bad now -

shall we make our way back?

-Sorry, Mark. One-way ticket!

-One-way ticket?!

-Bye!

-What do you mean? You can't leave me here!

-WHISTLE TOOTS

-Wait, no!

I thought Dengineers stuck together.

-No, sorry! Bye!

-You're forgetting me? No!

-Bye!

-Hey! I can't believe it!

Back at the den and, having lost a whole day to bad weather,

it's really important for the team to get back on schedule.

The rain has made a right mess,

and so the first job is a spot of cleaning.

-That's coming off well, isn't it?

-Yeah.

As the sun finally comes out,

the Dengineers work double time to get back on track.

The den walls are erected.

Again.

And the roof goes on.

And Ben helps Sege with the platform floor.

Excellent! Excellent!

All this graft is hungry work,

and Sege seems to have a taste for the sweeter things in life...

..or chocolate brownies, to be more precise.

'I don't know how many chocolate brownies I've had today,'

but I've loved every single one of them.

They've been delicious!

HE CACKLES

As the day comes to an end,

the Dengineers have worked their socks off,

and the team are in a positive mood.

We were very worried at the start of the day

because we thought we were going to get more rain,

it was going to hold us up even further,

but we've really cracked on. Today's been brilliant.

It's gone really well.

I think we've managed to catch up and we've managed to skip the rain.

This is the last time Ben will see his den before the big reveal

and there's still loads to do.

Hey, you and you and you and...

probably not you!

Have you ever had loads of stuff but nowhere to put that stuff?

Of course you have. Who doesn't?

It's the cereal box storage hack!

Just take a few cereal boxes and eat the contents.

Then grab some wrapping paper.

Cut the ends off the boxes, keeping the lengths the same.

Flatten them out and get wrapping.

Put the boxes back together and put all your bits in.

Goodbye, clutter.

Hello to a world of organised tidiness!

Back at the build, it's the final day before the big reveal.

Sege, what stage are we at?

Well, there's still a lot to do.

All hands on deck for the last day.

We've got a lot of painting to do outside still,

we've got some doors to hang, we've got the floor to finish.

One of the most important jobs, though, is the train set table,

and you and Ben could help me paint that, if you would, please,

if you're not doing anything - not too busy, are you?

-No, not too busy.

-No.

-I suppose I could help out.

So, yeah, I'll spare my time for you.

'This is the crucial part of the den,

'and the team can't afford any mistakes.'

Argh!

Look what I just did!

HE LAUGHS

I feel like mine's not as neat as yours.

How are you doing that so well?

I've had practise.

'While Ben continues his expert paint job,

'I catch up with Mum and Dad

'to find out more about why Ben needs this awesome den.'

How difficult is it for him to play with his trains?

It's really hard for him,

because we've only actually got two bedrooms upstairs,

so both Ben and Verity have to share

and, for Ben, I think what's particularly hard

is that it was his bedroom for quite a long time, on his own,

and it's not unusual for The Flying Scotsman

to go racing past a baby doll or a pony or...

SHE LAUGHS

..or what-have-you, because Verity's things...

-A massively out of scale pony at that!

-Yeah!

THEY LAUGH A giant pony on the train track!

Unicorns are particularly hazardous.

-MARK:

-Back in the garden, and the Dengineers are working hard

to get the den finished in time for the big reveal.

And Sege has come up with a cool upcycle for Ben's den

using two old walkie-talkies and some spare bits of wood.

-What we're going to do is take this radio set, OK?

-Yeah.

With its little sort of speaker terminal if you like,

and we're going to make you a really cool box

that's sort of a bit old-fashioned but matches the den.

This upcycle will mean that Ben can communicate with the house

whenever he's in the den.

It's like a postbox!

Perfect!

Ben helps to drill in some wooden discs,

which will eventually look like old-fashioned dials.

And Pete finishes it off by adding some hinges for the terminal door.

The next time Ben will see this communications terminal,

it'll have two old walkie-talkies in it

and it will be on the wall of his den.

So, Sege, we're getting close to the reveal of the den.

-How's it going?

-Well, Lauren, it's going really well.

I'm still worried about the train set table.

We haven't got that installed yet.

Just waiting for the electrician to finish off a few bits

and then, hopefully, all's going to go well when we start to fitting it.

So I'm guessing, without that, we're in trouble, really, aren't we?

Because that's the point of the den.

Well, that's it. Without that, there's no train station den.

No pressure, then. No pressure whatsoever(!)

Electrician Paul is fitting a consumer unit into the den,

which will feed electricity to the lights, Ben's trains

and, most importantly, the hoist that will operate his table.

The hoist will be able to lift 200kg.

That's the weight of three average dads!

So it shouldn't have any problem with a wooden table

with a few trains on.

No, it won't go in, just need a bit more...

But there is a problem.

There's always one little thing!

Sege is worried that the consumer unit is sticking out too far

and that the train table won't be able to pass it

when it comes down from the roof.

I don't mind what it looks like - it's got to work!

The box has already been fitted to the wall

so there's nothing that Sege can do.

If the table doesn't pass the box, it's a disaster for Ben's den.

HOIST WHIRRS

This is the moment of truth.

Misses it!

Look at that - missed it perfectly...

Actually, it's a perfect fit. See?

-That's how lucky he is!

-Yeah!

When we got the hoist working and the table went up

for the first time and it just missed, I was absolutely elated!

It was almost like my favourite football team

winning the FA Cup, it was that good.

Really. Believe you me, it was that good!

And that was a close one, but there's no time to celebrate

because it's all hands to the pump to get this den finished.

Is that level?

I think I'm most excited about how the interior's going to turn out!

After a monumental effort, the den is complete.

This garden used to be an empty space.

But not any more.

Sege and the Dengineers have created one epic den.

It's taken 55 metres of electrical cabling...

..over 90 metres of timber and 15 litres of paint

to construct an awesome den

where Ben can play with his trains whenever he wants.

Ben, out you come!

'But what will he think of it?'

Oh!

Oh...my gosh!

-What do you reckon, Ben?

-This is...

better than I was expecting. This is brilliant!

What do you think about the sign up there? What does that say?

Ben's Station. It looks excellent!

-Cool, right?

-Yeah.

-You can't stop smiling, I love it!

-LAUREN LAUGHS

Inspired by Ben's love of steam trains,

this vintage railway station den has a traditional platform,

customised signs,

and even has a railway signal light

to show his friends and family when he's in the den.

And, on the inside, things get even better.

-In you go.

-Get in there!

Oh, wow!

-You know that thing that you're touching now?

-Yeah?

-That goes up and down on that cable.

-Brilliant!

That can lower now, Ben, and you can play with your trains.

Ben wanted a table that comes down from the ceiling

to race his trains on, and Sege has delivered big time.

Not just that, but there's a souvenir from his Den Day Out...

..and his very own communications terminal,

so he can talk to the house whenever he wants.

And there's one last thing to give to Ben.

Do you remember when you said you would love your dream train track?

Yeah.

-It sounded quite cool, didn't it?

-Yeah.

-Because...

-# Da-daa! #

..we've got a little surprise for you!

Have a look at that

HE GASPS

-How is that, Ben?

-Oh, my goodness!

This den is not done until you have set that up!

Get cracking!

I shall!

Ben's got all the pieces he needs for his dream railway creation

and, after some super-speedy track laying,

it's time for Ben to sign off the team's hard work.

This den...is done!

-Yeah!

-Yes, love it!

We've got to do one more thing -

-get your mum, dad and Verity down here, yeah?

-Yeah.

And there is only one way to do it.

Go on, call them in!

Here we go. It's getting used for the first time.

Mum, Dad, Verity...

-OVER WALKIE-TALKIE:

-'..you can come down now!'

We're coming!

OK! See you in a minute!

Ben's family haven't seen the garden since it was an empty space.

What will they think of Ben and the Dengineers' work?

-MUM GASPS LAUGHING:

-It's gorgeous.

That is properly cool!

What do you reckon of the outside?

-MUM:

-It's amazing!

-That is cool!

-I love it! I love it!

-THEY ALL LAUGH

And was it what you were expecting?

No, I was expecting a shed!

I was expecting a shed, I really was!

-We do better than a shed here on Dengineers!

-Yeah!

Much better than a shed! That is so cool.

Do you want to come inside?

'The family love the den...'

In you go, guys!

'..and now it's time for the first race in Ben's Station.'

I think my favourite bit is...

all of it!

'I think the den is brilliant.

'I was expecting a shed with maybe an extension cord,'

possibly a light, but this is just a whole different ballgame!

'Perfect! It's just perfect for Ben.'

We're so lucky.

Luckiest little boy on the planet, I think, at the moment.

'The experience has been brilliant and I've loved all of it.'

If I had to rate it, ten out of ten.

-ALL:

-OH!

This den is unbelievable, isn't it?

Absolutely awesome.

But there's no time to stop, we've still got dens to make.

Now, what time does that train come?

Lauren, it's not ACTUALLY a station!

Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean... I-I knew that.

Whatever! Come on, let's go!