0:00:02 > 0:00:04Hello, viewers. I'm James May, and this is The Reassembler,
0:00:04 > 0:00:07the show where we take everyday objects in their component form
0:00:07 > 0:00:10and put them back together, very slowly.
0:00:10 > 0:00:11That feels very nice.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13Oh, yes. Look at that!
0:00:13 > 0:00:17'It is only when these much-loved and iconic objects are laid out
0:00:17 > 0:00:18'in hundreds of bits...'
0:00:18 > 0:00:20Oh, man in heaven.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22'and then slowly reassembled
0:00:22 > 0:00:25'that you can truly understand and appreciate how they work...'
0:00:25 > 0:00:26Total rubbish.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28'..and just how ingenious they are.'
0:00:28 > 0:00:29It's good, isn't it?
0:00:29 > 0:00:31'And if painstakingly putting hundreds of pieces
0:00:31 > 0:00:32'back together again...'
0:00:32 > 0:00:34That's quite satisfying.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38'..wasn't hard enough, I then have to hope...'
0:00:38 > 0:00:39Deep joy.
0:00:39 > 0:00:40'..that they'll work.'
0:00:40 > 0:00:42There's some moisture on my spectacles
0:00:42 > 0:00:43because I started weeping.
0:00:46 > 0:00:47Now, if you're my sort of age,
0:00:47 > 0:00:50that is you were a mere boy back in the early '70s,
0:00:50 > 0:00:51then the most coveted,
0:00:51 > 0:00:53the most precious of Christmas presents
0:00:53 > 0:00:55would have been something like this.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57The Triang Hornby Flying Scotsman train set.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59And it was absolutely brilliant,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02because you just plugged the track together, wired up the transformer,
0:01:02 > 0:01:04plonked the locomotive and the coaches on the track
0:01:04 > 0:01:05and off it went.
0:01:05 > 0:01:06But not here.
0:01:06 > 0:01:11Because it's been dismantled into its 138 component parts.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14Now, if I was still nine, this would be considered cruel.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16But I'm not. I'm 53.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18So it's my job to put it back together.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20And it's your job not to turn over to BBC Two.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24Before computer games and iPads
0:01:24 > 0:01:26were at the top of every young boy's Christmas list,
0:01:26 > 0:01:29the world was filled with all sorts of disappointing
0:01:29 > 0:01:30and uninspiring toys.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34But one toy changed Christmas forever.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36The electric toy train set.
0:01:36 > 0:01:37In 1938,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41Hornby released their seminal 00 gauge train set,
0:01:41 > 0:01:43which meant that boys all over the country could spend their time
0:01:43 > 0:01:45joyously chugging in their rooms,
0:01:45 > 0:01:49as I did all through the 1970s.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51And this is the actual train set
0:01:51 > 0:01:54that Santa gave to me in the Christmas of 1972.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58Now, as this train set is powered by electricity,
0:01:58 > 0:01:59or as it was still known in the '70s,
0:01:59 > 0:02:01the miracle of electricity,
0:02:01 > 0:02:03I thought we'd start with the electric motor,
0:02:03 > 0:02:05which is these components here.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07And what would be really handy is if we had something like
0:02:07 > 0:02:11a little plastic tub to put bits in whilst I walk to the bench.
0:02:12 > 0:02:13Something like that.
0:02:14 > 0:02:15So, there we go.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17That's the frame of the motor.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20That is the armature and the rotor.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23Bolt or screw... We'll come onto that discussion a minute.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25..to hold it together.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27Backplate, and...
0:02:27 > 0:02:29magnet.
0:02:31 > 0:02:32What we have here
0:02:32 > 0:02:34is actually one of the most numerously produced
0:02:34 > 0:02:37miniature electric motors in history.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40This series of motors is known as the XO series,
0:02:40 > 0:02:41and it's a rather elegant thing.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43This is the frame.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45This is the rotor,
0:02:45 > 0:02:46with the armature on it,
0:02:46 > 0:02:47and the commutator,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50we'll come onto all that in excruciating detail in a minute.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54The first train set I got for Christmas was when I was very small,
0:02:54 > 0:02:56so it must've been about 1968.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58It was actually second-hand,
0:02:58 > 0:03:00because we were poor but we were happy.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02They really were absolutely brilliant.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04And although this is very crude by modern standards,
0:03:04 > 0:03:06it's still a rather gorgeous piece of miniature engineering.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09The commutator relies on being very clean,
0:03:09 > 0:03:10and it IS fairly clean on this one,
0:03:10 > 0:03:14but we can clean it a bit more with a brilliant thing I've got here.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18This is a fibreglass pencil.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21They're used by people who muck about with small electrical things.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24It's very good as a means of polishing things up very, very fine.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26So you can use it on copper contacts and so on.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30And you can use it on the commutator of the motor.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Again, being very careful not to catch the little copper bits.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37Clean, bright and tight is the maxim of old electrical engineers.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39Most of them are dead now, so don't worry about it.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Can you see the fibre bristles polish that copper up...
0:03:43 > 0:03:45..quite nicely? that makes a huge difference.
0:03:45 > 0:03:46I think we'll put the magnet in next.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49I'm going to show you something really brilliant,
0:03:49 > 0:03:50that somebody gave me.
0:03:50 > 0:03:51It is...
0:03:53 > 0:03:55a remagnetising device.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59No, it isn't. That's a polishing kit from the man who owns this workshop.
0:03:59 > 0:04:00Who's moved my magnetising...?
0:04:09 > 0:04:10So, that...
0:04:10 > 0:04:14is a small magnet remagnetiser.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16Magnets are weird things, really,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19because in some ways, magnetism is similar to electricity,
0:04:19 > 0:04:20but in other ways it isn't.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23For example, you can't really insulate magnetism.
0:04:23 > 0:04:24That was one of those very smug things
0:04:24 > 0:04:26that physics teachers used to say...
0:04:27 > 0:04:28..in the olden days.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31And study of magnets goes back to...
0:04:31 > 0:04:33well, the scientific revolution,
0:04:33 > 0:04:35and before that.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38And I can tell you just with a simple screwdriver test
0:04:38 > 0:04:41that that magnet is pretty weak.
0:04:41 > 0:04:42So we'll remagnetise it.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44So this device is marked on this side.
0:04:44 > 0:04:45North goes that way.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48So you put that between the two bars, the two pole pieces.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53It's thought that sharks are repelled by magnets.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55So if you always go swimming in the Bahamas with a train set,
0:04:55 > 0:04:56you'll be fine.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58Here we go. Ready?
0:04:58 > 0:05:00It's very exciting.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05That's it.
0:05:05 > 0:05:06However, I bet you...
0:05:08 > 0:05:12But I can already feel that that's much stronger than it was.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14And to do our little screwdriver test, if I put that there.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18Take the same screwdriver, I can now... There you go, look.
0:05:18 > 0:05:19I can pick it up.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21That's how much better the magnet is.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25And that will make the motor more powerful and less prone to overheat,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27because it will actually draw less current that way.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30Now, to hold that in place is...
0:05:31 > 0:05:33..this.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Begs a fascinating question that you can take down to the pub with you,
0:05:36 > 0:05:37later. Is that a screw...
0:05:39 > 0:05:40..or is it a bolt?
0:05:41 > 0:05:45Now, one definition says that a bolt is not threaded all the way up.
0:05:45 > 0:05:46As indeed this one isn't.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50It has a plain shank because its main function is as a dowel
0:05:50 > 0:05:51to line things up, which this does,
0:05:51 > 0:05:53cos it passes through the hole in the magnet,
0:05:53 > 0:05:55and keeps it all in alignment.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58A bolt is secured by a nut,
0:05:58 > 0:06:00which we also have, here.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03So technically, that, I think, is a bolt.
0:06:03 > 0:06:04The definition of a screw,
0:06:04 > 0:06:05or one definition of a screw,
0:06:05 > 0:06:07is that it passes through a component
0:06:07 > 0:06:09and screws into another component.
0:06:09 > 0:06:14So, say the screw that goes through the engine case on a chainsaw
0:06:14 > 0:06:16and then screws into the body of it.
0:06:16 > 0:06:17That's a screw.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19Another definition says that it's a screw if it's threaded
0:06:19 > 0:06:20all the way along its length,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23and a bolt if part of it is not threaded.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Another definition says that if it's small, it's a screw,
0:06:26 > 0:06:27because a bolt can't be small.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30But I think, technically, that's a bolt.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32Right, the 8BA spanner.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34It's a very old British standard,
0:06:34 > 0:06:35goes on that end.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37And we have to put the...
0:06:37 > 0:06:38what's called a hairpin spring,
0:06:38 > 0:06:40which is going to hold the brushes.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42I'll explain all this in a minute.
0:06:42 > 0:06:43I mean, I can hear you screaming,
0:06:43 > 0:06:44"No, please don't."
0:06:44 > 0:06:46But I'm going to anyway.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50It's a nicely designed little screw/bolt,
0:06:50 > 0:06:52because it has another shoulder on it,
0:06:52 > 0:06:55that means the spring remains free even though it's in place.
0:06:57 > 0:06:58And you can now feel...
0:06:58 > 0:07:00You can't feel, because you're watching the television.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03But I can feel that now the magnet is in place and remagnetised,
0:07:03 > 0:07:05instead of that spinning freely,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08it now moves in a series of little clunks,
0:07:08 > 0:07:10cos there's a magnetic field in there.
0:07:10 > 0:07:11That's fab, isn't it?
0:07:13 > 0:07:16The brushes are made of copper,
0:07:16 > 0:07:18and have blobs of carbon on the end
0:07:18 > 0:07:22to transfer electricity to the commutator. These are quite grubby.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25See? Filth.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27The enemy of electricity.
0:07:27 > 0:07:28Whatever electricity is.
0:07:28 > 0:07:29Nobody really knows, of course.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33That goes through there.
0:07:35 > 0:07:36I've got to put the other one in.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40I can barely see it myself. I'm so blind these days.
0:07:40 > 0:07:41There you go.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Now, the interesting thing actually about a toy train from this era.
0:07:44 > 0:07:45We're talking about the early 1970s.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49It is exactly at that time that the video games started to emerge,
0:07:49 > 0:07:51things like the very first Ataris.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55In fact, at home we had the very early TV tennis game
0:07:55 > 0:07:57with the two white paddles that went...
0:07:57 > 0:07:58HE PINGS AND PONGS
0:07:58 > 0:08:00I mean, it was rubbish,
0:08:00 > 0:08:02but it was exciting if you'd never seen anything like that before.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04And things like model railways
0:08:04 > 0:08:06went into quite sharp decline
0:08:06 > 0:08:07in the '70s for that reason.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10And in fact, there was sort of a change of mood...
0:08:11 > 0:08:13amongst the people who made these train sets,
0:08:13 > 0:08:15because they had been toys, as I said earlier on.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18But after that period, they gradually started to realise
0:08:18 > 0:08:19that what they were for
0:08:19 > 0:08:25was for slightly nostalgic and sad, disappointed old men.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28I've got hundreds.
0:08:28 > 0:08:29Ha! Right.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33So there you go. That is a complete XO4 motor.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35A simple thing, but for...
0:08:35 > 0:08:39oh, four decades plus,
0:08:39 > 0:08:40a maker of dreams.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46It may have taken me two hours and 33 minutes,
0:08:46 > 0:08:48but that's the motor done.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50So now I can get some more bits.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Right, so next we're going to do the chassis and the main driving wheels,
0:08:54 > 0:08:56and there is a great deal to talk about here,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00because it's one of the bits that you can get utterly wrong on this.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02It will never, ever run properly if you get this wrong.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04That bush.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07That's it. Step this way.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11'Fitting the wheels can be a bit fiddly,
0:09:11 > 0:09:15'In the same way that keyhole surgery and hostage negotiations
0:09:15 > 0:09:16'are a bit fiddly.
0:09:16 > 0:09:17'This is because,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20'without going into quite as much detail as I would maybe like to,
0:09:20 > 0:09:22'the wheels need to be quartered,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25'which means that the wheels on one side of the engine are offset
0:09:25 > 0:09:28'from the wheels on the other side by a quarter turn
0:09:28 > 0:09:31'in order for the pistons to be able to drive them properly.'
0:09:31 > 0:09:35See, a lot of people think that toy trains is just a sad thing.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38You know how people like to describe things as, "Oh, that's well sad."
0:09:38 > 0:09:41And that's probably said about toy trains more than anything else
0:09:41 > 0:09:42in the world.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44But I don't think it's entirely true,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47because some very rock'n'roll-y people...
0:09:48 > 0:09:49..have great enthusiasm for toy trains.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Like Rod Stewart for example.
0:09:51 > 0:09:52He had leopard-skin trousers,
0:09:52 > 0:09:53so you can't really knock him.
0:09:55 > 0:09:56Neil Young...
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Missy Elliot's got a massive train set.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01That's not true, actually. I just made that up, but...
0:10:09 > 0:10:10Well, it's done,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12and it works.
0:10:12 > 0:10:13That is the trickiest part of it, to be honest.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Next, we can go and get the connecting rods,
0:10:16 > 0:10:18put those on
0:10:18 > 0:10:20and check that I've done the quartering correctly.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23'So, now I'm going to take the connecting rods,
0:10:23 > 0:10:25'the cylinder block,
0:10:25 > 0:10:26'the valve screws
0:10:26 > 0:10:28'and the spacer.'
0:10:28 > 0:10:29Right. Watch this.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31I bet you can't wait.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34The original Hornby trains were 0 gauge tin plate clockwork toys.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36They were quite big.
0:10:36 > 0:10:37And they were the work of Frank Hornby,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40who was also the inventor of Meccano.
0:10:40 > 0:10:41They were made in Liverpool
0:10:41 > 0:10:45and in 1938, Hornby made Hornby 00,
0:10:45 > 0:10:46which was half the size.
0:10:46 > 0:10:4900, half the size of 0 gauge.
0:10:49 > 0:10:50And that was quite successful
0:10:50 > 0:10:52and they were very, very nice metal model trains,
0:10:52 > 0:10:53very expensive.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55Excuse me, I'm just looking for my...
0:10:55 > 0:10:58very exciting new screwdriver that I've got.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01Anyway, they were reasonably successful,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04but they were very expensive. They were generally for posh kids.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06My mate Steve, for example, who came from a very posh family,
0:11:06 > 0:11:08had Hornby 00.
0:11:08 > 0:11:09And then in the 1950s,
0:11:09 > 0:11:13a company called Rovex Plastics invented a toy train set,
0:11:13 > 0:11:1600 gauge, again, for Marks & Spencers.
0:11:16 > 0:11:17And it was quite revolutionary,
0:11:17 > 0:11:19because it was made of injection moulded plastic,
0:11:19 > 0:11:21which was a new-fangled thing.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23And they made it quite cheaply.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25They only made, I think, a few hundred sets
0:11:25 > 0:11:27before they realised they didn't work very well.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31That was when Lines Brothers, who ran the Triang toy empire,
0:11:31 > 0:11:34saw what they'd done, bought the company,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37refined the idea and gave us Triang trains.
0:11:37 > 0:11:38So you had Hornby 00,
0:11:38 > 0:11:40which were the expensive posh ones, made out of die-cast metal.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43You had Triang, which were made out of the new-fangled plastic,
0:11:43 > 0:11:45so were much more toy-like. They had interchangeable parts.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49They sacrificed absolute accuracy in the interests of productivity
0:11:49 > 0:11:52and low prices and "play value", as we would say now.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Now, what happened next...
0:11:54 > 0:11:57I'm just going to have to pause, cos I can't find my new screwdriver.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59It's such an exciting screwdriver, you're going to want to see it.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03Because, if you were watching the last series,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06you'll remember those magic, gripping...
0:12:06 > 0:12:08Yeah!
0:12:10 > 0:12:13Gripping screwdriver, and I managed to find one for sale on eBay.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15There it is, we're going to use that in a minute.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18Where had I got to? Yeah, so,
0:12:18 > 0:12:23in the 1960s, the Meccano empire,
0:12:23 > 0:12:26which had Hornby 00 in its stable, went bust.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29And it was bought by Lines Bros, the owner of the Triang empire.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31And they promised all the toy train enthusiasts,
0:12:31 > 0:12:33"We will merge the Triang toy trains
0:12:33 > 0:12:36"with the Hornby 00 series model trains." And they didn't, really.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40They plucked a few bits from the Hornby 00 range,
0:12:40 > 0:12:42but mainly they just got the name.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45It then became Triang Hornby, and that was to placate the enthusiasts,
0:12:45 > 0:12:46that's all it was.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50It was still really the Triang toy trains empire.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54But the weird thing was, in 1972,
0:12:54 > 0:12:56Lines Bros went bust because the world was going mad
0:12:56 > 0:12:58and there were strikes, and there was an oil crisis,
0:12:58 > 0:13:00and all the rest of it.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04And the trains division lost the right to use the Triang name,
0:13:04 > 0:13:06but they still had the right to use the Hornby name,
0:13:06 > 0:13:09even though there wasn't really any of Hornby in the trains,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12so they became Hornby Railways, and now they're simply called Hornby,
0:13:12 > 0:13:14but actually the trains we get today
0:13:14 > 0:13:17are the descendants of the original Triang trains
0:13:17 > 0:13:20and the plastic train set that was made for Marks & Spencers
0:13:20 > 0:13:21in 1950.
0:13:21 > 0:13:22I hope that was useful.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Right, what we're going to do now is...
0:13:27 > 0:13:29Because a lot of people do get this wrong and they say,
0:13:29 > 0:13:32oh, no, I didn't have Triang, I had a Hornby train set, but they didn't.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34They actually had a Triang one. It was just CALLED Hornby.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Hornby had gone. The Hornby trains were lovely.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39The tooling was sold to GWR Wrenn,
0:13:39 > 0:13:41and they became Wrenn Railways,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44which was also actually a division of the Triang empire,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47so the whole toy business is very incestuous.
0:13:47 > 0:13:48Anyway, never mind that,
0:13:48 > 0:13:50look at this.
0:13:50 > 0:13:51Here's the brass screw
0:13:51 > 0:13:53that has to go in there to hold that extension in place.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55There is my new... Oh!
0:13:55 > 0:13:56..gripping screwdriver.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59Very difficult to find.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01And I managed to find one on eBay,
0:14:01 > 0:14:04I found several for sale in the States
0:14:04 > 0:14:05and they're very expensive,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07of course, cos they have to be posted to Britain,
0:14:07 > 0:14:09but there was one bloke had one in Britain, this one.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12And he knew what it was. He says it's a clever gripping screwdriver.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16And nobody else bid on it apart from me, so I got it for about five quid,
0:14:16 > 0:14:19which you're probably thinking is a huge amount for a screwdriver,
0:14:19 > 0:14:21but not for a screwdriver that changes your life.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24OK?
0:14:24 > 0:14:25Shut up.
0:14:25 > 0:14:26CREW LAUGHS
0:14:27 > 0:14:29Right, whilst I was telling you all that,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32the chassis extension went in and you didn't even notice.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34This is a moment of truth,
0:14:34 > 0:14:37cos we're going to find out if my wheel quartering is accurate.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39Right, this is a connecting rod.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43You see, the hole in the middle
0:14:43 > 0:14:45goes on the crank pin.
0:14:45 > 0:14:46The two pins at the end...
0:14:47 > 0:14:49..at the ends, they go into the holes
0:14:50 > 0:14:52..on the other driving wheels.
0:14:52 > 0:14:53That should all line up...
0:14:54 > 0:14:56..very neatly. Does it?
0:14:58 > 0:15:01Yes. Now, if I do the one on the other side,
0:15:01 > 0:15:05we will discover that my quartering is absolutely spot-on.
0:15:05 > 0:15:06Here we go.
0:15:13 > 0:15:14OK.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19If I've got this wrong, my reputation's just mud.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21They're not secured yet. Lots more to go on.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23But we'll give it an initial test.
0:15:23 > 0:15:24Oh, man in heaven.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29'It's been four hours and 20 minutes since we started,
0:15:29 > 0:15:31'and I've only assembled the motor,
0:15:31 > 0:15:33'chassis and drive wheels.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36'But as soon as I've connected the electrical collector plate,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38'things will begin to move on apace.
0:15:38 > 0:15:39'Honest.'
0:15:39 > 0:15:41When I was a kid,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44there was a great deal of excitement in putting the reassembled train
0:15:44 > 0:15:46on the track for the first time,
0:15:46 > 0:15:47but, to be honest,
0:15:47 > 0:15:49usually disappointment,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52because I wasn't as good at this when I was a kid.
0:15:52 > 0:15:53Now, it still runs smoothly.
0:15:56 > 0:15:57OK?
0:15:57 > 0:15:59I'm going to put the motor in.
0:16:00 > 0:16:01And attach...
0:16:03 > 0:16:04..the connections...
0:16:05 > 0:16:08..which should, with a bit of luck, make it come alive.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10Now, this is always a slightly tricky job,
0:16:10 > 0:16:12because we need to put this one screw,
0:16:12 > 0:16:13it's a brass screw,
0:16:13 > 0:16:15through the end of the motor plate
0:16:15 > 0:16:16to attach it to the chassis,
0:16:16 > 0:16:18and the problem is always that it's difficult,
0:16:18 > 0:16:20cos your screwdriver keeps sticking to the magnet.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23What you should really do is have a brass screwdriver,
0:16:23 > 0:16:24which I used to have
0:16:24 > 0:16:25and I can't find it,
0:16:25 > 0:16:27but these days, I've got my gripping screwdriver
0:16:27 > 0:16:30which will help with the job.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35It's still sticking to the magnet,
0:16:35 > 0:16:37but at least it's not jumping out of the screw.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39This is a 12 volt...
0:16:40 > 0:16:43..train and it generally draws, at the most,
0:16:43 > 0:16:45about a quarter of an amp,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48maybe a bit more if your magnet's slightly ropey.
0:16:48 > 0:16:49It's perfectly safe.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Some of the early electric toy trains weren't.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53They ran off really rather big voltages
0:16:53 > 0:16:55and blew children up quite regularly,
0:16:55 > 0:16:56but children were cheap in the olden days,
0:16:56 > 0:16:57so it didn't matter.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02When I was a lad I lost most of my mates to train sets.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06Now, a feature that Triang introduced,
0:17:06 > 0:17:07I think it was during the Triang years,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10and it extended into the Triang Hornby years,
0:17:10 > 0:17:13but it wasn't used very much and it was quite short lived,
0:17:13 > 0:17:15is this glowing firebox feature.
0:17:15 > 0:17:16It is just a little light bulb...
0:17:17 > 0:17:19..behind a piece of...
0:17:20 > 0:17:25..a little piece of coloured semi-translucent plastic, there,
0:17:25 > 0:17:26so the bulb is on behind,
0:17:26 > 0:17:27gives a sort of yellowy orange glow,
0:17:27 > 0:17:29as if the fire is burning
0:17:29 > 0:17:31in the locomotive,
0:17:31 > 0:17:32which was very innovative in his time.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35You have to remember that a lot of things hadn't been invented then.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39There were no computer games, none of that stuff that,
0:17:39 > 0:17:42you know, we'd spend all our time on these days.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44You young people don't realise how lucky you are.
0:17:46 > 0:17:47I think this was so short lived because...
0:17:49 > 0:17:50..to be honest, it was a bit fiddly...
0:17:55 > 0:17:56..and I think it reduced
0:17:56 > 0:17:58the effectiveness of the motor, slightly, as well.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01But it's here, so we'll have it.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04All that is is a bulb, so we have to have a feature on both sides.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07There's a clip taking it from the insulated side,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09if I can work this other one in here.
0:18:10 > 0:18:11It's always tricky.
0:18:13 > 0:18:14We will have a feed...
0:18:15 > 0:18:17..to the other side, and we should see the bulb come on.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23Right, so where you're looking is...
0:18:23 > 0:18:24there.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26I don't know if it's going to be dark enough for you to see it.
0:18:26 > 0:18:27Ready?
0:18:29 > 0:18:30Glowing firebox!
0:18:30 > 0:18:32TRAIN WHIRS
0:18:32 > 0:18:33Like it?
0:18:36 > 0:18:39I'm sorry, there's some moisture on my spectacles
0:18:39 > 0:18:42because I started weeping when I saw that going.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51I mean, I am not the same person as I was when I was nine years old
0:18:51 > 0:18:55because, as we know, biologically, we are constantly regenerated
0:18:55 > 0:18:58and there are very few molecules in me now that were in me then,
0:18:58 > 0:19:02but this train is still the same thing.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Made out of the same stuff.
0:19:05 > 0:19:06Look at that.
0:19:08 > 0:19:09That's all it does.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19Now, I think I'm right in saying
0:19:19 > 0:19:22that this one at the front is called a bogey.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25That's those bits and those wheels.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29And then this one at the back,
0:19:29 > 0:19:31this is known as a pony trap.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33We'll talk some more about this over here.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37Did you know that, when these were still made in Britain,
0:19:37 > 0:19:39down in Margate...
0:19:40 > 0:19:43the vast majority of the assembly workforce were women
0:19:43 > 0:19:46cos they were thought to be, A, better at it
0:19:46 > 0:19:49and, B, they had nicer, slenderer fingers
0:19:49 > 0:19:51as a general rule,
0:19:51 > 0:19:53so they could handle these little bits.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04Can you see how much more train-y that is looking,
0:20:04 > 0:20:05now that bit's on?
0:20:05 > 0:20:06Wait until you see this bit.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10It's going to go...
0:20:10 > 0:20:14in there onto the little shoulder on the screw, and...
0:20:19 > 0:20:20Those, by the way, are screws,
0:20:20 > 0:20:22definitely not bolts,
0:20:22 > 0:20:23because they go through a component
0:20:23 > 0:20:25and then screw into a thread
0:20:25 > 0:20:27on another component, not a nut.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29So, that's a screw.
0:20:29 > 0:20:30Nobody cares.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38'I'm six hours and 21 minutes into my reassembly.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40'I've constructed the motor and the drive wheels
0:20:40 > 0:20:43'and I've attached the motor and glowing firebox to the chassis,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47'which means I can return to the glorious table of bits.'
0:20:47 > 0:20:49What we are going to assemble next
0:20:49 > 0:20:52is something that was deeply innovative back in the day.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55It is the locomotive tender with...
0:20:55 > 0:20:57Are you ready?
0:20:57 > 0:20:59..realistic chuffing sound.
0:20:59 > 0:21:00Now, that may not sound like much,
0:21:00 > 0:21:02and it wasn't much.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04You young people today are used to having the equivalent of
0:21:04 > 0:21:07all the world's libraries in your pocket.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09We had...
0:21:09 > 0:21:12a little metal clip that acted against a piece of sandpaper
0:21:12 > 0:21:15and made a noise vaguely like a steam locomotive,
0:21:15 > 0:21:16and we were happy.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19We weren't, actually,
0:21:19 > 0:21:21we were bloody miserable cos the '70s were awful.
0:21:21 > 0:21:22Nothing worked properly,
0:21:22 > 0:21:24the lights were always going out,
0:21:24 > 0:21:25everything was filthy,
0:21:25 > 0:21:26the food was terrible,
0:21:26 > 0:21:28parents were largely drunk.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30It rained a lot as well.
0:21:33 > 0:21:34The tender chassis...
0:21:34 > 0:21:36features, as I mentioned earlier,
0:21:36 > 0:21:38the realistic chuffing sound.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40And please be aware that,
0:21:40 > 0:21:42at its time, this was the...
0:21:42 > 0:21:44the sort of magic ring tone,
0:21:44 > 0:21:46the fashionable computer jingle
0:21:46 > 0:21:48of its day.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50Whole families would come round to our house at the weekend
0:21:50 > 0:21:53to hear the realistic chuffing sound from the Flying Scotsman tender.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55And I'll explain to you how it works.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58Inside the tender is that.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01It is a miniature soundbox.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05It's really the way a violin works,
0:22:05 > 0:22:06only a lot cruder.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08RESONANT METALLIC SCRAPING
0:22:08 > 0:22:09You can see...
0:22:09 > 0:22:10HOLLOW SCRATCHING
0:22:11 > 0:22:13..how this can be turned into a realistic chuffing sound.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18I'll just have to carefully remind myself how it all goes together.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27RAPID SCRATCHING
0:22:28 > 0:22:29I know it's not that good,
0:22:29 > 0:22:30and it's quite worn out.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32It's only really a piece of sandpaper but...
0:22:32 > 0:22:34come on!
0:22:34 > 0:22:35METALLIC SCRATCHING
0:22:35 > 0:22:37- What do we think?- Cracking.
0:22:37 > 0:22:38It's brilliant.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40It's a realistic chuffing sound.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44This model of the Flying Scotsman, you will notice,
0:22:44 > 0:22:46has the so-called corridor tender.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50This is so that when the Flying Scotsman did nonstop runs
0:22:50 > 0:22:52from London up to Scotland,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55a second crew could be having a snooze in the coaches
0:22:55 > 0:22:57and they could walk through the coaches
0:22:57 > 0:23:00all the way through the tender, there's a tunnel through the middle,
0:23:00 > 0:23:02and emerge onto the footplate to drive the train.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04Then the other crew could retire.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06Brilliant.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08They could also pick up water on the move because of the...
0:23:08 > 0:23:10trough system and so on.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12They really thought about this stuff.
0:23:16 > 0:23:17Built in 1923,
0:23:17 > 0:23:21the Flying Scotsman is the most famous of all locomotives.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25It was the first loco to travel from London to Edinburgh nonstop,
0:23:25 > 0:23:29and it was the first British train to reach speeds of 100mph.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31It is a true record-breaker,
0:23:31 > 0:23:35having travelled over two million miles in its lifetime.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37And like my toy version,
0:23:37 > 0:23:39it's something we should cherish for ever.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41ENGINE SCREAMS
0:23:41 > 0:23:44What we're assembling here are the teak coaches of the LNER,
0:23:44 > 0:23:49the London and North Eastern Railway, post-grouping,
0:23:49 > 0:23:51which was 1923, I think,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54but pre-nationalisation,
0:23:54 > 0:23:55which was 1968.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57Right enough, I've got that wrong.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59And I was going to say, actually,
0:23:59 > 0:24:00since the train set was one of
0:24:00 > 0:24:01the greatest Christmas presents
0:24:01 > 0:24:03I ever got, I can also tell you what was the worst,
0:24:03 > 0:24:04I think,
0:24:04 > 0:24:08which was a combined, folding,
0:24:08 > 0:24:10shoehorn and clothes brush.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12It's never even been unfolded, actually,
0:24:12 > 0:24:13let alone used.
0:24:15 > 0:24:16I'd like to tell you about my mate.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19I'm not going to use his real name in case he's watching.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21Let's call him Bill.
0:24:21 > 0:24:22Bill, at the age of ten,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25desperately wanted a train set, and about...
0:24:25 > 0:24:28..two weeks before his birthday,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31he saw his birthday present
0:24:31 > 0:24:32in his parents' bedroom,
0:24:32 > 0:24:33wrapped up.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35It was a train-set-shaped box.
0:24:35 > 0:24:36They were distinctive,
0:24:36 > 0:24:38you knew what a train set looked like.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40And he spent two sleepless weeks
0:24:40 > 0:24:42thinking about his train set
0:24:42 > 0:24:43that he'd wanted for so long.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45On the morning of his birthday he came downstairs,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47and his parents, being quite old-fashioned and proper, said,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50"You can't have your present yet, you must breakfast first."
0:24:50 > 0:24:53So he had a boiled egg and a piece of toast and all this stuff,
0:24:53 > 0:24:55while he slowly wet himself with excitement.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Then his parents said, "Right, you can open your present now."
0:24:58 > 0:25:01And he tore the wrapping paper off the box to reveal...
0:25:01 > 0:25:02HE LAUGHS
0:25:05 > 0:25:07..a picture framing kit.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11But the real tragedy of it was that my mate Bill was left-handed
0:25:11 > 0:25:13so he couldn't use it anyway
0:25:13 > 0:25:16cos it was designed for right-handed people!
0:25:16 > 0:25:19I still ring him up on his birthday every year to say, "Are you gloomy?"
0:25:19 > 0:25:23And he goes "Oh, yes." He's always got a terrible gift of some sort!
0:25:25 > 0:25:27Right, that's all there is to it.
0:25:27 > 0:25:28It sort of snapped together.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31'So, once I've attached the wheels
0:25:31 > 0:25:33'and assembled the rest of the carriages,
0:25:33 > 0:25:34'we're laughing.'
0:25:35 > 0:25:36We have a train.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39When you look at old pictures of railway travel,
0:25:39 > 0:25:43especially pictures of the insides of coaches from the '20s and '30s,
0:25:43 > 0:25:44even the '50s in fact,
0:25:44 > 0:25:47you realise that they became very, very luxurious,
0:25:47 > 0:25:51very ornate, but that was a massive contrast with the...
0:25:51 > 0:25:53medieval toil being endured by the people
0:25:53 > 0:25:55who actually had to drive the locomotive,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58cos I've had a go at it, firing it and driving it,
0:25:58 > 0:25:59and it's just... It's horrendous.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02It's like something Hieronymus Bosch would have come up with,
0:26:02 > 0:26:04and then thought, "No, that's too ridiculous,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07"hell can't actually be that bad. I'd better tone it down a bit."
0:26:07 > 0:26:10And people sort of lament the passing of the steam era
0:26:10 > 0:26:14and say, "Oh, it was fantastic when you had the 462 and 460,
0:26:14 > 0:26:16"and the Britannia class and so on."
0:26:16 > 0:26:18But they were just inefficient,
0:26:18 > 0:26:19they made a terrible mess,
0:26:19 > 0:26:21they were awful for the people who drove them,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24and the idea that you went from that and then got into a diesel electric
0:26:24 > 0:26:26where you pressed a button and then just move a lever
0:26:26 > 0:26:28and sat there in the warm,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31with a windscreen wiper clearing the window right in front of you,
0:26:31 > 0:26:33it must have been fantastic.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35Right, I think this is, philosophically,
0:26:35 > 0:26:36quite an important moment
0:26:36 > 0:26:38cos as I put the body shell...
0:26:38 > 0:26:42That's not really a proper railway term, but it's what it is.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44I put the body shell on,
0:26:44 > 0:26:46and then it hides all the things
0:26:46 > 0:26:48that reveal that this is really just a trick,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51and it becomes a locomotive.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01Are you ready?
0:27:07 > 0:27:09And there it is.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12The Flying Scotsman.
0:27:16 > 0:27:17How brilliant is that?
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Sorry, shall we see if it works?
0:27:27 > 0:27:28Put the track together.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Now, of the 138 parts we started with,
0:27:32 > 0:27:35we should have eight there, cos that makes a complete circle.
0:27:35 > 0:27:36Yes, it does.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Four of those for the straight bits.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41And finally,
0:27:41 > 0:27:43the power connecting clip,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46which connects the transformer to the track.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55'After seven hours and 42 minutes of carefree reassembling,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58'I can feel the approach of that bittersweet moment.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01'Sweet because hopefully my toils will have been productive,
0:28:01 > 0:28:03and the train set will run. TRAIN WHIRS
0:28:03 > 0:28:06Yet bitter because I know that assembling the track
0:28:06 > 0:28:09will bring the process of reassembling to a close.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11It was the best of times,
0:28:11 > 0:28:13it was the worst of times.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17There are many important questions being asked in the world today,
0:28:17 > 0:28:19but few as important as this.
0:28:19 > 0:28:20Will it run?
0:28:20 > 0:28:21More to the point,
0:28:21 > 0:28:23will it chuff realistically?
0:28:23 > 0:28:25Let's find out.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28TRANSFORMER HUMS
0:28:31 > 0:28:34TRAIN WHIRS SLOWLY, SPEEDING UP
0:28:34 > 0:28:37CHUFFING INTENSIFIES
0:28:39 > 0:28:42TRAIN CHUFFS
0:28:51 > 0:28:52A happy Christmas.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55I hope all your toys reassemble as well as mine did.