REPORT: Thieves derail James May's bid for toy train record
Railroad enthusiasts are a pretty passionate bunch. They're not auto enthusiast crazy, but they're close. Top Gear presenter James May fed off that steam-powered energy by working with 400 volunteers to build the longest ever toy train track for his new BBC series James May's Toy Stories. The track was to travel 10 miles from Barnstaple to Bideford, North Devon in the UK, and the Guinness book of World Records was on hand to record the feat for prosperity in the event that it succeeded.As the Telegraph tells it, the ambitious toy track likely would have been a record setting effort were it not for some vandals who decided to sabotage the attempt. Sections of the track – which were laid with assistance from the British version of the Boy Scouts – were stolen, and two pence coins were dropped on the track to disrupt power and blow the train's battery. The cowardly acts of a few idiots ultimately resulted in James May and his gang of volunteers missing the opportunity to be added to the Guinness Book of World Records, but organizers decided to stay positive and call the event a success due to the fact that all 10 miles of the track were linked at one point.
We're guessing May will get another shot at Guinness with planned stunts like building a life-size Lego house or a life-size Meccano bridge, but it would have been nice if a few jerks didn't ruin the fun of hundreds of toy train
[Source: Telegraph | Image: Dave Hogan/Getty]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
AndrewNoNumbers 4:49PM (8/27/2009)
Well at least they got more press from this. Personally i haven't heard of his new show til now.
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Attila.S2C 5:32PM (8/27/2009)
What a bunch of Pillucks.
Papercutninja 4:51PM (8/27/2009)
I'm looking at you, Vicky Butler Henderson...or anyone else from the 5th Gear crew. They've set fire to Top Gear's set before, and they'll sabotage again! These rogue TV presenters MUST be stopped!
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Ricky 5:13PM (8/27/2009)
Actually, I'm willing to bet it was Jezza and Hamster, which only make it funnier!
Muscovy 6:23PM (8/27/2009)
Hahaha. I can totally see Clarkson and Hamster over the tracks at night giggling and sabotaging the track. And then May would later see the damage and be all, "Oh, c*ck!"
VVVM 6:29PM (8/27/2009)
If this was the doing of anyone but the Morris Marina Fan Club, I would be shocked.
spyker 7:01PM (8/27/2009)
I think it was Jason, trying to get back at James for stealing his spot on Top Gear. :P
Stumpy 4:52PM (8/27/2009)
Poor James. =(
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Ray 4:56PM (8/27/2009)
Stupid Brits.
See! I can make stupid generalizations about other people as well!
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Dru 5:06PM (8/27/2009)
well good job on that.. So would you like a cookie or in this case a crumpet?
Ray 5:24PM (8/27/2009)
I was merely joking. I'm a HUGE fan of Captain Slow and I really hate to hear this happened after the really neat slot car track he was involved in. I'm just really glad nothing was sabotaged when he flew in the U2 awhile back. Too bad we can't get this show or James Mays' 20th Century here in the US.
Affalterbach 5:27PM (8/27/2009)
Your obscure humor was lost to us.
Ray 5:34PM (8/27/2009)
Not my fault you couldn't see the sarcasm.
Nismodev 5:50PM (8/27/2009)
could you have meant "posterity", rather than "prosperity"?
Does Autoblog want a new senior editor? I'm available.
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Toy Yoda 6:43PM (8/27/2009)
That's too bad. I would have loved to been a volunteer doing this. I use to build model railroads when I was a kid; creating the scenery like mountains, houses, and rail depots and streaming brooks was just as much fun if not more than designing and laying down the tracks.
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J 7:01PM (8/27/2009)
I had really been looking forward to this, all the way from NY. Some people don't deserve to exist on this planet. They had nothing better to do than destroy a miniature train track? Like James May has ever done wrong to anyone. I would have loved to have been a part of this attempt.
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Michael C 11:05PM (8/27/2009)
The work of 5th Gear I'm sure....
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