Overview

The Biggest Little Railway In The World is a five part documentary series created by Love Productions. The show follows a team of 56 volunteer navvies, led by Dick Strawbridge, Claire Barratt and Hadrian Spooner, as they attempt to build a miniature railway along The Great Glen Way between Fort William and Inverness.

The show was first broadcast on Sunday evenings between 7thJanuary and 4th February 2018. The programme is available to watch in its entirety on the Channel 4 streaming service All4.

Pre-Production
Love Productions began research for the programme in early 2016, contacting a number of model railway groups. Initially, the producers intended for the project to take place between Liverpool and the town of Goole in East Yorkshire. Following this early research, it was decided to relocate the project to The Great Glen Way in Scotland.

Auditions for volunteers were held in London on the 29thand 30th April 2017. 56 of the attendees were chosen to take part in the final project. 

Production
Filming took place on location in Scotland from 18th June 2017 to 2nd July 2017. Volunteers travelled to Inverness, where they were ferried by minibus to the Linnhe Lochside campsite. On the 19th June, the volunteers attended a health and safety briefing at the Kilmallie Community Centre in Corpach. This session also included training on the safe use of power tools and volunteers were given their first opportunity to examine the bespoke track. A select number of the volunteers also received training on quad bikes.On 20th June, volunteers were gathered at Corpach Lock, the western entrance to the Caledonian Canal, where they were briefed by presenters Dick Strawbridge, Claire Barratt and Hadrian Spooner. The names of the four team leaders were announced as Lawrence (Team A), Charlie (Team B), Paul (Team C) and Jenny (Team D). It was also revealed that the locomotive to be used for the challenge was a roundhouse 32mm gauge locomotive named Silver Lady. In the afternoon, the volunteers were allocated to their teams. Tracklayers were allocated to Teams A, B, C and D. A small number of volunteers were allocated to the Specialist Build Team, led by Claire. The construction of the railway began shortly afterwards.

Construction took place over 12 days, with the train departing on Day 4 (23rd June). Several members of the track laying teams were selected to operate Silver Lady in shifts during the day, with members of the teams changing on a daily basis. Due to the locomotive’s progress falling behind, from Day 8 (27th June) a “night shift” was also allocated to the operation of the train. From Day 9 (28th June), the Day and Night shifts were then run by set volunteers who were familiar with Silver Lady’s Operation

Filming was concluded with the arrival of Silver Lady at Inverness Castle on 1st July.

Broadcast
The first episode of the show was broadcast on Channel 4 at 8pm on Sunday 7th January 2018. The show ran for 5 weeks in the same time slot.

Reception
Reviews of The Biggest Little Railway In The World were mainly positive, with one reviewer describing the show as "inspirational, charming, madcap, and in the best spirit of British eccentricity ." The show was also praised by members of the public, many of whom admitted they previously had no interest in railway modelling or engineering.

Members of the model railway community were divided on the show, with some claiming it showed the community in a bad light and reinforced certain stereotypes. Others praised the programme for bringing the hobby into the public domain.

International Distribution
The international distribution of The Biggest Little Railway In The World is handled Sky Vision, the production and distribution arm of Sky. The Sky Vision website features a detailed synopsis of the programme:

''Celebrating the love of model railway-making in Britain, uniting the model railway community, bringing them out of their sheds and attics and blinking into the daylight where they'll be challenged to tackle engineering problems on a scale they've never considered before. The logistical issues of building a world-record breaking model railway in the real world are considerable. Rain, steep gradients, power and finding or making enough track are just some of the challenges. But our experts are convinced that the collective expertise of Britain's army of 100,000 train hobbyists will be more than up to this micro-Herculean task. While the army of hobbyists lay the tracks and their miniature steam trains start to wind their way through some of Britain's most stunning scenery, we will weave in the stories of how Britain first built its great train lines. Everything our team encounters has a parallel in the full-size history of train building. And at a scale of 1:43 the task of building an 80 mile layout in miniature is a bigger challenge than anything attempted by the Victorians.'' In April 2018, Sky Vision attended MIPTV - The Global TV and Digital Content Market Event in Cannes, France. At the event, Sky Vision had a large display for The Biggest Little Railway In The World, featuring a short but fairly detailed model railway.

In June 2018, the show was broadcast on Australian TV channel Lifestyle.

Awards
In 2018, The Biggest Little Railway In The World was nominated for a TV Choice Award in the Best Factual Show category. Voting closed at midnight on Friday 1st June 2018. Unfortunately the show did not make it through to the final selection.

Love Productions has previously won several television awards for programmes, including The Great British Bake Off, Muslims Like Us, and The Chronicles Of Nadiya. Producers were hopeful that The Biggest Little Railway In The World would become an award winning show in it's own right.

Potential Sequel
Loose discussions about a potential second series took place during filming. Several possible ideas were suggested, including the possibility of filming abroad. At the time, it was believed that Love Productions would be interested in making a second series, but that this would be dependant on the initial viewing figures and interest from Channel 4.

To date, no announcement has been made regarding a second series of the show and it is believed that Love Productions currently has no interest in producing a followup.

In early 2018, Love Productions commenced production on a new show entitled Battle of Britain: Model Squadron. The show saw model aeroplane enthusiasts recreating the Battle of Britain in miniature. It is considered to be a spiritual successor to The Biggest Little Railway In The World.