James May's Toy Stories and the Longest Model Railway in the World
BBC's Top Gear star James May did a six episode series called James May's Toy Stories in 2009. For the sixth episode, titled "Hornby", he tried to build a world record setting longest model railway. The railway went ten miles in southwest England, from Barnstaple to Bideford. James and his many volunteers laid the miles of track on an abandoned railway line, which is now a bike path. The railway was in OO gauge, which is popular in the UK. OO gauge is slightly larger than HO gauge. OO scale is 1:76, while HO is 1:87.
Here is a video of the effort, which I believe was shot by volunteers as they worked. Some very nice shots of the train line, the trains, many volunteers, and even James and his camera crew.
James May's Top Toys
Here is an older video from James entitled Top Toys. I'd guess that doing this was part of the inspiration for his Toy Stories series.
