Leaderboard

Hi guys, a "few" pictures of my layout. I started building it around 2013/14?, after looking at Johnathan and Barry's wonderful picture of Gort station, in their book 'rails through the west'. The initial plan was to try and build a 1970's Gort station,but as always with this hobby I got carried away, and it got bigger and bigger. So it is basically a fantasy Irish railway from the 60's, 70's and 80's. I really tried to stay ' supertrain', but I couldn't resist the Crossley A classes, and grey 121. It's hard to know if it will ever be finished, because I have chopped and changed a fair bit since I started building it. The terminus is the latest endeavor, so fingers crossed to see how that goes.? Paul.

A full year late but Ballyercall is in full test mode. Great to be running trains again

My Belfast and County Down stable has been quietly growing to the extent that it’s getting a bit crowded at Loughan Quay. I’ve been toying with the idea for a while now of building a small layout for this stuff to run on, something fairly simple that could conceivably be taken out to exhibitions. What I have in mind is a typical BCDR country through station with a goods siding. I don’t plan to model an actual location - that’s too constraining (actually too difficult if I’m honest) but places like Tullymurry, Ballygowan and Ballygrainey are the sources of inspiration. The intention would be to select features from various places and bring them together in one layout. Here’s a rough sketch of the likely track plan. Templot it ain’t but it’s fairly simple. I wanted the scenic area to be a single board but the minimum length needed for the track plan ended up 15 cm too long to fit in the car so it’s now two boards and that being the case, I’ve taken the opportunity to stretch it out to 2 metres. I’ve made a start on the boards, aiming to make them as light as possible, using plywood in various thicknesses (3.6mm, 5.5mm & 12mm) and MDF for the track bed, all largely assembled with wood glue. The strength of the design lies in the twin longitudinal L-beams on which everything is mounted. As far as I can gather, this approach to construction is fairly common but it’s the first time I’ve tried it. The end product is probably lighter than a traditional flat top with whitewood framing and it’s also considerably more rigid. We’ll see how well it stands up to handling. Landscape profiling from cardboard and cereal packet. I've parked work on the boards now to concentrate on some of the building and structures. I'm still trying to get an overview of how this thing will look and whether it will work. More soon Alan

Hi, I'm new to the forum, but not new to modelling. My real name is Paul but online I'm Mol_PMB which is based on my nickname and initials. Some of you may recognise me from the RMWeb forum. As a child in the late 1970s and the 1980s, we had a family holiday in Ireland every year. Normally about 10 days near Ennis (always at the same farmhouse B&B) plus a few days somewhere else, which was different each year. I was strongly into railways and modelling, and my first Irish models were a Lima 33 and a Mk1 coach in CIE livery, no doubt bought on one of our holidays. We used to visit the railway station at Ennis regularly on our holidays, although it was closed to passengers there was occasionally a freight train to be seen, and of course the West Clare 0-6-2T was plinthed there too. I think it was in 1987 when we found a poster advertising an excursion to Dublin by train, which would be happening a few days later. I was about 11 at the time and had just got my first camera. I begged and pleaded with my parents for us to go on it! Eventually they agreed. Our loco for the last leg from Limerick was A class 007. I had marked the rare occasion of a train ride in Ireland by wearing a jumper knitted by my mum, featuring a CIE train. Here I am with the real thing after arrival back at Ennis. Embarrassing now... I started more serious Irish modelling about this time, and got about half-way through building a model of Fenit in 4mm scale, EM gauge. Rolling stock included Q-kits locos, MTK carriages and MIR wagons, plus various kitbashed/converted items. But to be honest my modelling skills in my early teens weren't good enough, and the project foundered. I no longer have any of those models. My next attempt in my later teens was a model of Ballygawley on the Clogher Valley Railway, 4mm scale, 12mm gauge. My skills were improving and I think I still have some of the rolling stock including lots of wagons scratchbuilt on etched chassis, and a part-completed scratchbuild of the 2-6-2T. Life got in the way of this - a year out and then university, and my interests changed. Once I'd settled into employment, I decided to move up to O gauge. I mostly modelled British prototypes in 7mm scale, but I did try making a few Irish wagons and a coach in 6mm scale on 32mm gauge track. They were nice but I soon realised it was a dead end, and that was the last Irish modelling I did, about 20 years ago. I still have my 3 shelves of Irish railway books and retain an interest in the prototype; last year I visited the last of the Bord na Mona railways for a week: My major project at present is Swiss narrow gauge in 1:45, 22.2mm gauge track, but I also have a small O gauge layout based on the Manchester Ship Canal railways that were local to me. So why am I here, trawling the forum for information and inspiration? Well I blame Accurascale / Irish Railway Models! They've just announced those lovely NIR Hunslets, which have long been a favourite of mine. And then I discovered there are CIE Park Royal coaches on the way, which I have so many childhood memories of around Limerick. I have several friends with OO or HO scale layouts and I quite fancy putting together one or two Irish trains to run on them. But I'm also mulling over the possibility of a small shunting layout in 21mm gauge. Hmmm...

Hi everyone, Thanks to you all who dropped by our stand over the weekend. We had plenty of sales, great feedback and it was great to see people and say hello once again. Then again, bringing a celeb like New Junction with us helped too! The support we received regarding the ICR was brilliant too, and would like to thank you all who chatted with us about it. I think many of you were subsequently blown away by our EP samples in the cabinet, alongside our new Hunslet. Finally, and for me personally, most importantly, I would like to extend a sincere and big thank you to the MRSI team for a truly fantastic show. We had many members of the public comment favourably about the new venue, but from a trader point of view they were absolutely first class. It cannot be understated just how much work goes into setting up and creating a show like this, and completely on a voluntary basis to boot. Many people complained about the previous venue 2 years ago. We (IRM) felt a bit guilty about this as a big part of the jam on the Saturday was our sale of the “Dicky Tara’s” and the demand on space that whipped up. I think the MRSI should be commended on listening to feedback, going out and finding a more suitable venue and running an absolutely first class show. Well done to Tony, Dave, Ed and all the club members who gave us a brilliant show. You got bodies in the door and looked after us all superbly. This is why clubs need to be supported, as without them we won’t have shows to go to in the future. It’s great to see new clubs pop up in the Midlands and in Limerick. If you have one in your local area, go down and visit and consider joining. Theyre the ultimate men’s shed that operate in your area of interest. Cheers! Fran

Lads, just to inform you. Main hall was to small to accommodate our layout. We are in VIP section in canteen. It's a building next to main parking on the way to the main hall. Come around to see some proper scale there will be one of the most iconic polish passenger car on the track.

With regard to parking at the show we have just finished negotiations with Dublin Fire Brigade who will now allow us to use the parking facilities at their OBI Training facility just opposite Mount Temple Great work by 2 of our members in arranging this, Brendan Kelly & Eamonn Greville Please use this car park if travelling to the show as parking at the school is limited and needed for wheelchair vehicles etc Access via Malahide Road D09 EW70 should get you there

The wisdom of good quality colour film in the 1950s and 60s may be seen with many colour slides from the period today. Some retain vibrant colour, others (like most of Cyril Fry’s!) were taken on cheap film and have deteriorated since. But our intrepid photographer in the south west in summer 1958, used only the best of materials when he captured the 11:40 mixed making a spirited departure from Dugort Harbour one sunny July day…… Once it gets to Tully Fish Siding, it will pick up three wagons of marine produce - which will end up in Farringdon Market in London less than 13 hours later, via North Wall and Holyhead.

When Fran wasn't looking, I sneaked the pre production Park Royals onto Bog Road.They are truly superb and look even better on a layout.

Congratulations on your big win at the Hornby Awards. For any of you who missed the announcement (sent to all IRM customers?) - here it is: "A massive thank you to everyone who voted for us in the 2024 Hornby Magazine awards. Our sister brand Accurascale won in all 5 categories we had an entry in, including the coveted "Manufacturer of the Year". We know many of our IRM customers vote for us, so thank you once again! One item that won was the joint project of our Mark 2 coaches, which were done for both Accurascale and IRM in our NIR and IR/IE coach packs." Think of HOW BIG YOU WILL WIN NEXT YEAR when your model of the GNR Q Class or "Merlin" is running on all of our layouts! Well done Leslie

Received the 800 last Friday, been working on her since! Good bit more detail and painting to do, lining needs to be added to the cab sides and tender, window frames need to be put in, number and nameplates need to be fitted. Here's how she looks so far

No, It's a Class WT. I've just ordered 1,000 Spoil Wagon kits which will be sent to the Philippines to be built in time for the iRM Christmas 2025 Boxed Set Offer - TWO Class WTs Twenty Spoil wagons as a Boxed Set, complete with oval of track and a few points and a Loading Bank so that you can have the whole Stone Train operation on your layout. Locos with sound, of course - digitally controlled from "Loud" to "Very, Very Loud" so that you can imitate the train going up the bank through Trooperslane.

It's that time of year again; where the Dublin show rolls around for the October Bank Holiday weekend and we announce our next big project for the Irish railway scene. Many will have guessed it considering our recent delivery of NIR Enterprise Mark 2 stock, but perhaps few would really believe it. Finally, after many, many years of neglect, the iconic NIR Hunslet locomotives get the full-fat Accurascale/IRM treatment! History Having undertaken a programme of station refurbishment, improved its ticketing arrangements and introduced new on-track plant and shunting locomotives, in 1969 the still embryonic Northern Ireland Railways set out to improve the Dublin-Belfast ‘Enterprise’ service, by replacing the existing diesel railcar sets with a locomotive hauled service. Intended to reduce the time for the 180 km journey to just two hours, the NIR Class 101 (DL) locomotives were designed to run in a push/pull configuration, with a 270 ton 8-car set of BR Mk.2b stock, at a maximum speed of 80mph. When Mrs Joan Humphreys, wife of Northern Ireland Railways’ chairman Myles Humphreys, unveiled the nameplate of 101 Eagle on May 8, 1970, it was an astounding triumph for the Hunslet Engine Company of Leeds; having beaten off stern competition from the likes of General Motors in the United States for the contract, with the event marking the remarkable culmination of a ten-month delivery programme. The pace of the delivery programme was dictated by NIR’s lack of diesel-electric stock to haul the Enterprise to the new timings; the British United Traction 700/900 Class and UTA Class 70 railcars not being up to the task in hand and while Hunslet had secured the order, the company’s workshops were already full, being committed to other orders. For Hunslet, the answer was to sub-contract out the manufacturing work, so having designed the superstructure and bogies, fabrication of the superstructure, along with the final assembly, testing and painting were contracted out to British Rail Engineering Limited at their Doncaster site. Traction was trusted to English Electric/AEI Traction, who designed the English Electric 8CSVT Mk II design prime mover for the project, which essentially was an updated version of the Class 20's prime mover, fitted with an additional intercooler. Linked to a Bo-Bo bogie arrangement, this unit provided 1,350 hp (1,010 kW), of which 350hp was required for the Mk2’s heating system! Completed on schedule, 101 Eagle was handed over to NIR on May 8, 1970, with 102 Falcon following on May 22 and 103 Merlin on June 8 and all three locomotives (on temporary bogies) were subsequently shipped to Belfast on the Ferry from Preston (probably on the MV Ionic Ferry) and on arrival were moved to Queens Road for the fitting of the 5’ 3" gauge wheelsets. The Press Launch/Test Train took place on July 3, 1970, with 102 Falcon leading out to Dublin from Belfast’s Great Victoria station and 101 Eagle trailing, and aside from a few comments regarding ‘hunting’ due to the push locomotive, all went well. The three locomotives alternated on the Enterprise and continued to do so until they were succeeded by the General Motors’ NIR Class 111 fleet in 1983. When not required for Enterprise services, the 101s would run as single engines on locomotive hauled services such as the Saturday Excursion traffic to Portrush. This period also coincided with NIR being awarded the contract for the haulage of spoil from Magheramorne, to the Oil Terminal construction site at Cloghan Point (near Kilroot Power Station). Between October 7, 1974, and August 22, 1975 these spoil trains were generally headed by one of the NIR 101 fleet, hauling the Cravens built wagons from the steam hauled spoil contract of the late 1960s. Their ability to haul significant loads led to each locomotive being fitted with Multiple Unit cabling for Push/Pull working and after their replacement on the Enterprise, the three locomotives were moved to secondary services, such as to Derry and between Bangor and Portadown, along with working diagrams that included haulage of the CIÉ weed control train, freight turns with 42’ Fertiliser Flats and 40T Ballast Hoppers, as well as general shunting duties in Adelaide Yard. All three locomotives were gradually withdrawn from service as mechanical woes set in, with 103 Merlin being first in 1989 and 102 Falcon last in 1998, although after having spent four years out of service Falcon was briefly re-instated as a working locomotive in 2002, before being placed back into storage at Whitehead. 103 Merlin was scrapped in 1997, but 101 Eagle and 102 Falcon remained at Whitehead for some time until being offered by Translink for sale. Both locomotives were purchased by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) in 2005, with Falcon being selected for full restoration, utilising parts from Eagle where possible. Unfortunately, despite getting tantalisingly close to restoration back into working order, the task proved too much, and 102 Falcon was sold to the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum at Cultra in 2011, where it now resides. 101 Eagle had become no more than a bare shell, as parts had been stripped from it and when no buyer for it could be found the remains succumbed to the cutter’s torch the previous year, in January 2010. So, what of changes to the initial design, was there much variation in the designs of the three Class 101s? The answer, given their short working lives, is unsurprisingly not, but there are some subtle variations for modellers to be aware of. As built, 101 Eagle, 102 Falcon and 103 Merlin were all identical, but somewhere between late 1974 and early 1975, small sections were removed from the headstocks, with each locomotive’s being slightly differently shaped, indicating an ad-hoc modification (a useful identification guide in the absence of visible numbering). Around this time, the roof aerial clusters also changed from the original housing to the more familiar GSM ‘shark-fin’ type at each end. The next visible change came with the addition of Time Division Multiplex (TDM) cabling, allowing the transfer of multiple working data between locomotives and Driving Trailers. At some point in 1988, 101 Eagle obtained a second GSM aerial at No.1 End, but the greatest change in appearance belonged to 102 Falcon, with the removal of the buffing gear at both ends and the vacuum pipe being elevated and centralised at No.2 end. The Class 101s wore all their liveries well, with four distinct livery periods for the trio. As delivered in 1970, all three locomotives were painted in a deep maroon over the body, a light grey roof, with an arced golden yellow panel at each end and a small NIR logo amidships in golden yellow. From 1974 all three locos had the front panel revised to a ‘V’ shaped arced panel, with the locomotive number appearing on the front end for the first time. In mid-1979, the NIR mid-blue livery appeared, with the ‘V’ arc being represented in luminous red and a slightly larger NIR logo in white featuring amidships. As a body livery, the mid-blue did not wear very well, fading unevenly, and during 1988 the paint scheme was refreshed with new large NIR logos amidships, but this time with a luminous red chevron replacing the more elegant arc pattern which, again, faded badly and quite quickly. Of the three, only 102 Falcon received the revised darker NIR blue, sometime in 1996, with small yellow panel, black roof and ‘Zorro’ mask across the cab windows, again with large NIR logo. In preservation, this locomotive is now presented at the Museum at Cultra in a representation of its original maroon livery. The Model Following on from the success of our Mark 2 Enterprise coaches, we asked the question "Well, what will pull them?". While we knew of models of the 111 and 201s, we thought about these NIR icons. With a bucket of charisma and such unique looks, we felt the Hunslets would make for a cracking model. However, it's not all positive. Despite running to Dublin daily for so long, there were only 3 of these locomotives and they felt a bit niche. Buoyed by the sales of our Mark 2s, we decided to press on and make them in a strictly limited run. That's right folks, though we might be proven wrong bit massive demand, we envisage that this might just be a one-off run. With the real loco scanned and research progressing at a rapid rate, we have been able to get the Hunslets designed and tooled in record time and have been testing these samples for several months now. With just a trio of locomotives and a small pool to choose from for variations, we have decided to cover all major liveries for everyone in this first (and possibly only) production run. So, what is the cost for this charismatic, yet quite niche locomotive? Well, with a truly unrivalled spec and museum quality model including a comprehensive lighting package including cab lighting, day and night configurations, a wealth of detail, prism free glazing, operating roof fan, ESU loksound five and large speaker set up on sound fitted models, hefty diecast chassis, era detail differences, and more, they come in for a very reasonable £219.99 DC/DCC Ready and £319.99 DCC sound fitted, or €259.95 DC/DCC Ready and €379.95 DCC Sound Fitted. Delivery is slated for Q4 2025, with decorated samples due with Accurascale/IRM engineering team before Christmas. Tempted? You will be! You do not want to miss out on these beauties. Pre-order yours today for no money down via the IRM or Accurascale websites! As ever, the assistance of trusted stakeholders is vital to the development stages of any model, and we are pleased to acknowledge the outstanding co-operation and contribution of Clare Ablett and the team at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, Cultra, who allowed us to descend on them with our 3D scanning associates to map 102 Falcon to the finest detail. And just as important in the grand scheme of the project, we are indebted to Andrew Ross of the Hunslet Engine Company for supplying the original works’ drawings, as well as the benefit of his experience, which was instrumental in converting the project from a ‘what if’ to a ‘let’s crack on’! Click Here to Pre-Order Your Hunslet! MODEL SPECIFICATION: • Die-cast metal chassis, with ABS plastic body. Weight (without decoder) 406g. • Centrally mounted, twin flywheel 5-pole motor, driving both sets of axles, with all-wheel pickup. • Helical gear box for maximum performance and slow speed running. • Gearing arranged so locomotive can achieve a scale maximum top speed of 80 mph (128.75 km/h), with a load of 1.1kg • Supplied as DCC Sound Ready, or DCC Sound fitted. • Scale length of 180.71mm over buffers. • Bogie wheelbase of 30.71mm (93.781mm between bogie centres), allowing operation over a minimum radius of 438mm (2nd radius set-track). • Single style of 13.33mm solid locomotive wheel, correctly profiled both on the inside and outside to RP25-110 standard, set in blackened brass bearings or contact strips and chemically blackened, and conforming to Accurascale standards of 14.4mm back-to-back on 2mm diameter axles, over 28mm pinpoints (to allow for potential re-gauging to 21mm finescale standards). • Brake blocks fitted and aligned with wheel centres for 00 gauge. • Fully detailed die-cast underframe with all cylinders, battery boxes, cabinets and piping applied separately. • NEM pockets at both ends, fitted via full kinetic couplings. • Eroded metal, plastic and wire detail parts, including (but not limited to) roof details, handrails, door handles, kick plates, lamp brackets, nameplates, brake gear, brake discs, draw gear, bogie chains, vents and louvres. • Prism free flush glazing. • Easily removable roof section, to allow access to PCB for speaker and decoder fitting. • Fitted stay alive arrangement. • Designed to work with the ESU LOKSOUND V5 21-PIN Decoder with easy access via removable roof panel. Blanking plate to carry switches for limited DC lighting options. • Fully directional lighting, with full range of light options for day/night running and shunting/yard configurations. • Separate cab lighting configurations. • Working DCC operated roof fans (single fixed speed on DC). • Supplied DCC Sound Ready, with fitted ESU 22mm x 42mm x 8.0mm rectangular 4Ω speaker and Passive Radiator. View the full article

Here's a few... ... the glories of pre-grouping - including a certain WL&WR loco by the amazing Richard Chown.

Hi everyone, One of the stars of the show at the recent MRSI show in Dublin was the unveiling of the decorated samples of our Park Royal coaches in CIE black and tan, IR orange and black with white strips and classic CIE green with silver underframe and bogies liveries. For those of you who missed them, here is a closer look! As per our most recent update, there are some tweaks and adjustments to be made ahead of delivery next summer. Pre-order yours below before the order book closes ahead of production! Pre-Order Your Park Royal Coaches Here!

"Buffers Lock" has won the judges' Best in Show Award at the MRSI Dublin Exhibition 2024! This was the layouts fifth public outing and third award. I am honoured and delighted needless to say. Thanks to all who assisted me over the weekend especially my wife Jenna.

Thanks for the support and feedback everyone. We’ve seen some orders for ICRs come in since the update which is fantastic and we thank those of you who have placed an order sincerely. We’ve felt quite deflated in recent weeks about it, is it is heartening to see this support.

Textbook example of manufacturer transparency and respect for customers. Kudos to IRM.

Another long overdue project update is finally here, and thankfully it's much more positive as we get to reveal decorated samples of our hotly anticipated Park Royal coaches! Firstly, we shall let the images do the talking, as a splash of colour adorns these splendid vehicles. Arriving just in time for the MRSI October Bank Holiday Weekend show in Dublin, we have received decorated samples in green with silver underframe, CIE classic "Black and Tan" livery of orange and black, and IR Orange and Black livery of post 1987 with white pin stripes, the final livery they wore in squadron service with Irish rail. We are delighted to see colour on these models, so we can get a real feel for the coaches and the progression of the coaches. We still have work to do though! When the first engineering samples arrived, we noted that the bogies had been incorrectly moulded in the wrong type of plastic, which would cause significant operational issues and a high failure rate as it is difficult to glue. Thankfully, this has now been sorted, and the iconic commonwealth bogies, a signature of so many Irish coaches from this period, look and perform superbly. Paint coverage needs to be and will be improved and some of the colours will be tweaked before production, along with a general improvement in build quality, but that is typical of samples at this stage. Once this issues are resolved we will progress to production. The revised delivery date of these models is now mid-2025. Drop by our stand this weekend and take a closer look at these beauties. If you have experienced our Mark 2 coaches, then you know how special these are going to be! We still have a limited supply of Park Royals available for pre-order. To add some to your collection, place your pre-order below! Pre-Order Your Park Royal Coaches Here! View the full article

On behalf of the organising committee for the Model Railway Society of Ireland Model Railway Exhibition we would like to thank everyone - exhibitors, traders and enthusiasts for attending our 2024 exhibition which exceeded all expectations and showed that interest in Model Railways in Ireland is very much alive Attendance figures were very healthy in total over the 3 days with Saturday being by far the busiest and Sunday/Monday having similar attendance figures Even the largest of exhibitions (e.g. any major UK show on a Saturday) get overcrowded, and by 2pm on Saturday the heavy crowds had decreased. Lessons have been learned and will be even smoother next time around A special mention to those traders and exhibitors who made their exhibition debuts at the show and hope the experience was a memorable one and that they will return. Sadly some traders are now very much in their senior years, and its refreshing to see new ones taking up the baton Onto 2026. Probably the same venue too

All set with Bog Road at the Show today.

Disagree - IRM have time and time again demonstrated their respect for their customer base so this comment is way off mark.

Hi James, We certainly did do our market research and we know that our biggest customer base is in the 30-45 age bracket (which is at odds with Accurascale, being 60+). As for blaming customers? I'm sorry, but that is not what we were doing. We appealed to customers. As it stands we believe that the ICR is still viable, and it's why it's proceeding, just not at the price point and number of variations we had hoped for. We are giving customers fair warning that about getting on board with it if they can. Cheers! Fran

Back to Ireland now! CBSC 1954-09-04 Baltimore F2 , 432 K Cooper ref249011. NCC 1967-05-12 Larne Harbour ,Dual gauge track yj089. GMK047 GNRI 1955-xx Dublin Amiens St. B7

As promised, a few pictures from Tolworth. It was lovely to meet with David, Leslie and Andy over the weekend. Northport Quay, despite operating well at home the week before, struggled for much of Saturday - some of which was undoubtedly down to being loaded in the car overnight and then finding itself in a very hot and humid exhibition hall. However, repeated derailments in the loop, over the baseboard join were frustrating, as was the failure of a push to make switch for one of the uncoupling magnets. Later the wire in tube connection to the signal came adrift - a two minute job to fix at home, but not at a show. Take my word for it, David's models are every bit as good in the flesh as they are in photos and it was great to have visiting 7mm broad gauge locos on my layout because the fact is, we are a very small group. I had the delight and privilege of having Richard Chown's Lissadel run on Arigna Town at the Manchester show, but David's model's are the only other ones [including those owned by Leslie], so it was a rare treat to have them along. Surely, we aren't the only two people in the world modelling 7mm scale Irish 5'3 though?? Back home today, did a bit more investigating and found that one of my trestles was a centimetre taller than the other [!] - so no wonder some engines were struggling to get out of the fiddle yard. Across the baseboard join was a definite ridge, which needs sorting, as does a section of out of gauge track into the left hand siding. Nothing derails here, but it nevertheless points to why my AJ couplings can come undone because there is too much sideways movement on short wheelbase stock. Anyway, a few pictures of my stuff, taken from unusual angles not normally available. And now the visitors. Couldn't resist having the GNR JT alongside my F6 and likewise the rail buses. Sadly my photo of Leslie's E class was out of focus.

Having recently taken advantage of the flash sale of the IRM Mk2 a/b coaches we see the final coach 4112 arrive into the Lakeview freight yard on a low loader, The next selection of photos show the unloading and shunting process, as there is no EGV attached to the four coaches-they don’t have lights working-the last few photos see the final shunt movement taking place where the Shunter couples up the jumper cables and power is restored to the full set. locomotive 085 was used for the shunting movements.

First structure, a bridge. As far as I can see, BCDR bridges varied in style and construction but there is a bit of a house style and they do share one quality - they're indestructible. Witness the number which still stand beside realigned roads, in the middle of fields, in people's gardens or on country roads where they're still in use 70+ years after the railway closed. They never fall down. This one might be a bit less robust being made from foamboard, card, plastic and DAS clay. The Wills rough stone sheets were sanded and filed back to flatten the stonework a bit then coated in filler and wiped with kitchen roll to reduce the depth of the mortar lines. I haven't modelled round the back. This will be buried in the landscape. Paint does the rest. The brick lining the inside the arch has been added since the photo was taken. The bridge will form the scenic break at the left hand end with a country lane over it. Station building is underway. It's been a challenge with a fair bit of back and forward mainly because I struggle with weathering. More pics as soon as it's fit for human consumption. Alan

The new train is already in service, it seems - on the excellent Dun Laoighaire layout. This was a hurried "Phone shot". I've just woken up after a long sleep - Richard drove me back to Reading from Holyhead - a one-man effort by him. Thanks! Yes, may I echo Fran's thanks to David, Tony, Ed and a host of other MRSI guys for putting on a great show (even if my "pitch" was a bit cramped between Eamon's "Bog Road" (I only really saw the back!) and the two Michael's with their N Gauge layout where GNR locos brushed shoulders with Norfolk and Western diesels!). See Patrick's photo of me counting my ill-gotten gains and you'll see what I mean! I'm sold out of another two of my RTR vans, bar the remainder which is off to a man in the Canaries. Best of all, the people you meet - the Annual Dublin show has replaced the defunct club-run Warley as the place for Irish modellers to meet. More later, when I come round properly - I was so tired that I couldn't remember this computer's password! Thanks again guys!

Sometimes, things just don’t work out as well as we had hoped! When we first announced the ICR 22000 models back in October 2022, with eight variations covering 3-car, 4-car and 6-car sets from their initial delivery, to their most recent livery updates, we had very high hopes for the project; hopes that were backed up by the high initial sales. Emboldened by this, we moved through the project at good pace, with tooling underway by April 2023 and 25% of the anticipated run sold. By October we were proudly showing off the engineering samples and looking forward to getting the samples comprehensively tested and the complex electronic design finalised as we entered into 2024. And this is where things started to get complicated, on two fronts. At the beginning of February, Project Manager Paul Isles and Sound Engineer Jamie Goodman spent several days working on obtaining the audio recordings for the ICR project, with Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail kindly working closely with us to facilitate sound recording, both at the Portlaoise depot and during two test train diagrams between Heuston and Mallow. With such a range of awesome audio recorded, and standards in lighting design moving forward exponentially, it exceeded the scope of the electrical design created for the project back in 2022/23, and a rethink by the project team was required. We learned that the existing electrical design would require a DCC decoder in each car, and a significant increase of components in the DC/DCC Ready models. This would come at a huge cost to our customers. We have since worked with our friends at ESU to overcome this hurdle, and can now confirm that we will lead the way in functionality but only needing one decoder. This did mean that we would have to retool part of the model for new connectors and circuitry. At the same time, we were seeing some concerning sales trends emerging across the range of SKUs, and while certain variants were selling close to their potential, others were slowing down and, in some cases, were static. As a multi-vehicle railcar model, even without a huge degree of variation between prototypes (compared to other models), the tooling costs are huge and while we had taken every step we could to keep costs under control, to achieve the RRPs we have put in place we need to meet stringent Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs) across the range of models offered. And, to be bluntly honest, four of the variations offered are not meeting the necessary sales figures to be commercially viable, by quite some margin. This means that the project has slowed. Behind the scenes, the project team, along with ESU and the factory technicians in China have been working on solving the complex electrical and audio demands. This has been made slightly easier in that the ICR project is being manufactured at the same factory (and by the same project team) that is producing a new high specification UK Multiple Unit project, and so the lessons learned with each project are being applied across both projects in tandem. And, if we’re honest, we’d hoped that with the extra time being spent on the project behind the scenes, the delay would allow ICR sales to meet the MOQ needed to keep the complete range financially viable. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. We’ve noted the growing number of requests for an ICR project update, and with the Dublin show at the weekend, we knew that we would have to take a decision as to how we are are to proceed and so we’ve decided to take some drastic action to keep the ICR project viable and move it towards production. Firstly, we will be cancelling the following running numbers in both DC/DCC ready and DCC sound fitted variants due to lack of interest; DC/DCC Ready IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 3-car in post-2013 IR livery, RTE Music Week vinyls IRM1177 IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 4-car in post-2013 IR livery IRM1181 IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 6-car in original 'Intercity' livery IRM1179 DCC Sound Fitted IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 3-car in post-2013 IR livery, RTE Music Week vinyls - DCC Sound Fitted IRM1185 IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 4-car in post-2013 IR livery - DCC Sound Fitted IRM1189-DCC IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 6-car in original 'Intercity' livery - DCC Sound Fitted IRM1187-DCC If you have ordered these models we will automatically transfer your order to the following 3, 4 and 6 car unit: DC/DCC Ready IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 3-car in original 'Intercity' branded livery IRM1175 IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 4-car in 2020 IR livery, with blue doors/cycle graphic IRM1182 IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 6-car in post-2013 IR livery IRM1180 DCC Sound Fitted IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 3-car in original 'Intercity' branded livery - DCC Sound Fitted IRM1183-DCC IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 4-car in 2020 IR livery, with blue doors/cycle graphic - DCC Sound Fitted IRM1190-DCC IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 6-car in post-2013 IR livery - DCC Sound Fitted IRM1188-DCC If you wish to have an alternative ICR instead, or wish to cancel, please email us with your order number and we will sort you out! Updated Pricing As we have to face increased costings for the new electrical componentry, and as we have to dramatically cut the production run, we are forced to increase the RRP for these models. Now, before you panic; IF YOU HAVE AN EXISTING PREORDER FOR AN ICR WITH US, THEN WE WILL HONOUR THE ORIGINAL PURCHASE PRICE! However, the new purchase prices for each model are detailed below; DC/DCC Ready 3 Car - €439.99 4 Car - €549.99 6 Car - €799.99 DCC Sound Fitted 3 Car - €559.99 4 Car - €669.99 6 car - €919.99 These new prices are now in place on the website for pre-ordering. While the increase is regrettable, there is simply nothing we can do due to demand drying up on these units resulting in a cutting of production numbers. However, when compared to most UK or continental models, they still represent excellent value for money considering the technology that has been built into these units and the niche market that is Irish outline model railways. With the sound project, lighting options, operational functionality and finesse, our ICRs will absolutely be next level units. We are currently awaiting the tooling modifications to be completed by the factory for the new electronics system. Then we will receive a full decorated sample to sign off. Should the numbers of sold units improve we will be able to kick off production. So, if you really want to see the ultimate Irish unit on your layout, we encourage you to place an order today to support this model. Until then, we cannot give a firm date for delivery of the models, but we know it will be at least mid-late 2025. We will have a proper and full update on this before Christmas as the decorated development sample arrives. In the meantime we had the first painted bodyshell (above) and the first decorated sample of the sculfort shunter from Portlaoise Depot that is included in every 6 car pack! Finally, we would like to thank each and every one of you who has ordered one of our ICRs and supported this project to date. We fully understand the disappointment around the delays to date. We will endeavour to make it up to you with a first class model for the original price point to reward your support with us, and continue to bring more great Irish outline models to the market in the coming years. Pre-Order Your ICR Here! View the full article

To be honest James your argument falls flat on its face when we see wagons like the bulleids still in stock, a decent amount of Park Royal’s available to pre-order, and our orange and black mark 2s currently on sale following poorer than projected sales. I was glad to have a call from Paddy Murphy today who has read this thread and said he also has noted a slow down in the market when it comes to his releases in recent years. This is beyond merely the ICRs.

As the evening sun sets, the stock for tomorrow’s mainline train reposes in the carriage siding at Castletown West. Once the one-coach local comes in from Dugort Harbour in the morning, it’ll be off to the junction to connect with the Tralee and Cork trains….

Managed to get on the first train into Grand Central this morning, 09:05 from Finaghy arriving at 09:15 First impressions are - it’s superb, very spacious, and modern, and definitely much needed. Some photos below, will post videos shortly.

About 25 years ago I started my career in Derby, at the Litchurch Lane works which had been opened by the Midland Railway and still exists today as part of the Alstom empire. In the 1990s and 2000s the name on the gate seemed to change almost annually! Anyway, one quiet afternoon I hid myself away in the Microfiche viewing room and trawled through the drawings for anything of Irish interest. The archive didn't go back very far, but did cover some interesting things in the 1970s and 1980s. For example, there are some nice drawings of the BELL containers built in Derby, and of the International Train demonstrator which was later sold to Irish Rail. But both of those really existed. Here are some drawings of rolling stock for NIR that didn't see the light of day, or at least not in quite this form. Might be of some interest to those who like 'what if' models. Some of these are related to the 1980 additional Enterprise coaches, for which BREL proposed to build new stock but eventually NIR bought second-hand vehicles from BR. 'Shortie' Mk3, with windows like a Class 317 EMU: Somewhat like a Mk2a, but with inset, inward-opening doors more like the Mk2 Pullmans: This is a drawing for a modification to convert a Mk2b BFK to a brake generator buffet car: And finally, an early scheme for what became the Castle class, but with a large van area in the power car and a different arrangement of doors. This was more like the power car of 210001 than what was eventually built for NIR:

Coaches are a difficult one to do when it comes to manufacturing. The factories feel that they are the work and assembly complexity of a locomotive, just without the motor, but know they cannot charge locomotive prices to assemble. I know from our own POV we have to fight tooth and nail to keep the prices on our coaches somewhat respectable. Still, we always welcome coaches that make ours look like bargains, and when you look at our Mark 2s, Park Royals, Mark 1 Suburbans for Accurascale etc you can see what value for money they really are. Cheers! Fran

CIE 1962-09 Youghal 262 yj203. CIE 1961-3 ca Roscrea 125 xing A16 yj205. CIE 1982-03-15 Thurles 052 fertiliser yj204.

Speaking to Paddy, these aren't a solo project, Alstrom have asked him and provided CAD and the sort to help him produce this, hence why a 3D sample model of a full set appeared before real thing!

Just arrived at Clogherhead, all the way from New Zealand, courtesy of John @Mayner Another exquisite brake van - thanks John!

As the dark evenings move in we see the interior lighting on the superb IRM Mk2 a/b coaches to good effect here as the evening Galway-Dublin Heuston service at the platform on Tara junction.

@Past-Avenuedoes a superb 3D print of the 10’ Uniload containers.

It was my first time to bring Bog Road to Dublin,and I enjoyed chatting to people.The larger venue was a game changer and well done to all in MRSI for a great job.

Hello all! Thank you for all the kind comments above and I'm delighted to share the progress from the last year. As you can see, the videos are posted above but I'll be able to show more detail in some of the photos below. Hope you enjoy! 1. Baseboards With the frame built, it was time to start adding baseboards. Although I had bought MDF for this and the cabin is insulated, I decided to go with 9mm plywood to reduce the risk of warping due to moisture absorption. With my trusty jigsaw and circular saw in hand I was off! The layout will be open plan, meaning once the track is laid, I will cut the baseboards around the track, instead of covering the entire frame. I'm doing it this was for 2 reasons: 1. It will make it easier to vary the height of the scenery both above and below the track level 2. There are multiple levels, with large sections of the lower level covered, so I need to be able to access the underside of upper levels for wiring, point motors and accessing derailed locos etc. This quick mock up shows where the main terminus station will sit over the fiddle yard. At this point I'm just mocking up the boards to get a rough idea of how it will all fit together. Thirsty work this, you can also see my sunglasses which were my "safety glasses". After seeing some YouTube videos with broken circular saw blades embedded in proper, toughened construction safety glasses about half an inch from eyes, I quickly replaced these with a proper pair of DeWalt safety goggles... 2. Mockups With the baseboards in place, I wanted to loosely place the track to get a sense of where it will go and confirm that I had enough track. And also to mock up the upper levels to make sure everything would flow correctly. Technically it didn't need to be done, but I really wanted to get some idea of the final picture in my head as inspiration for the long slog it will take to get back to this point The fiddle yard, 15 tracks with the longest sidings approx. 4 metres long. Here you can get an idea of the amount of free space that will be opened up when I cut away baseboard that is not supporting track. I was trying to figure out how to support the terminus station baseboard, without needing to place pillars on the lower level, which would take away storage space. The answer? 12mm rebar rods. It's strong and straight enough to support the baseboard and I can attach it to the wall on the inside, to some supports on the outer edge of the baseboard and clip it to the underside of the baseboard with steel U-shaped clips to prevent movement (You should have seen the look on the guys face in the hardware when I told him the steel rebar rods were for a model railway ) Starting to mock up the terminus station and the upper level main line that will run around the outside of the layout. The middle level here is the beginning of the entrance to the station. Where the laptop is will become the depot area on the approach to the station. You can see why I will need that access from underneath. This will be the upper scenic level curving into a viaduct / bridge across the corner of the layout. A view of the ramps leading from the lower fiddle yard, all the way up to the upper level about 5 metres away. This is why the door section will be complex. All of these tracks and baseboard will need to be cut, and then realigned perfectly when the gate is closed... A good 3D view of the multiple levels and ramps needed. This is to give an idea of scale for the terminus station - it's making me very happy! The central section will contain two long sweeping curves through a town through station. This corner section will hold a viaduct connecting the scenery across the right and left of the photo. A seven carriage loco at the town station. This top down view gives a better idea of how many tracks will run around this corner at various levels and on the ascending / descending ramps. 3. Track Laying At this point I know I have all the required track, so regretfully I started taking apart everything I had just done. The goal now is to fix the lower level track in place, exactly where it will go, including cutting the track to size where needed. I needed to do this now to get the track fixed in place, which would then tell me where I needed to cut the baseboards to create the open plan layout. If you don't have rail setter guides and you're laying track, do go out and buy them. They're fantastic, accurate and sill save you a huge amount of time and error You can buy a track spacing guide but I decided to make my own, very handy to have. Although I took the mock baseboards up, I numbered and labelled them all and left some track pieces in place to avoid having to figure it all out a second time. The fiddle yard being fixed in place. Love this long sweeping curve coming across the countryside. One of the videos on the Riverbank Railways YouTube channel shows this in action. 8 carriage train stopped at the town station. There's also room for a loco. 4. Baseboard Cutting At this point all the lower level track has been cut and screwed (loosely) to it's final location. I now have to take it all up, in preparation for cutting, priming and painting the baseboards. So I numbered every individual piece of track and took photos for when it needs to be relaid. In this photo you can see the guidelines drawn on the baseboards which will tell me where to cut. I also carved grooves into the baseboards alongside the edge of every piece of track. This was done so that when primed and painted, the grooves will remain and I can replace the track exactly where it was located, so I don't need to try and figure it out all over again. There will be cork under the track, which I will cut into strips to allow it to be placed alongside the grooves in the correct location. In the garage, each baseboard piece is primed and sealed with white sealer. And then given 2 coats of dark brown paint to provide a base colour for the layout. My nifty little baseboard holders Two sections of baseboard, ready to go. Now you can see the open plan coming together and the amount of space gained by cutting away excess baseboard. Because the support parts of the baseboard are thinner and the horizontal frame supports are about 75cm apart, there is a little give in the thin baseboard supports. This will be solved by adding 1 x 2 supports where needed. 5. The Gate The moment I was dreading for 2 years. How will I cut the baseboard and frame at the gate in such a way that the track will realign perfectly when closed with no vertical or horiztonal movement, especially given the gate rotates into place? Solution 1: For the section that is closed by the gate rotating I couldn't use a dowel or other form of baseboard connector which relies on straight movement, because of the rotation. However I figured a slot system would work. I used a router to create a tongue and groove connection. All the parts were clamped and screwed in place before the cuts were made, to ensure everything slotted back in perfectly. Which it almost did The right side of the "tongue" was a tiny bit too slim, resulting in about 1mm vertical movement. I added some Gorilla Glue to the "tongue" which bubbled up when dry. I then sanded it down to the perfect height and it made the slot connection nice and snug, with absolutely no vertical movement. Solution 2: The section of baseboard that swings freely out posed a different kind of problem. I couldn't use the slot method above, because anything which sticks out past the cut would prevent the frame from opening. I had to figure out how to align the cut baseboards vertically and horizontally after the gate was closed. The solution was to use a sliding 12mm dowel. With one socket fixed in place and the end of the dowel glued into a "handle", it can freely slide through a second socket which is fixed to the free part of the baseboard. When slid back, there is nothing protruding to prevent the gate from rotating. And when the gate is closed, the support of the baseboards is very strong. Although as I suspected there would be, there is a tiny 1-2 mm vertical movement on the unsupported side of the connecting baseboard (the near part on the left of the cut in the photo below). However once the dowel is slid into place, it fits perfectly into the hole and locks everything in place, with no movement at all. The end of the dowel is tapered and sanded to allow easy movement. and it's a snug fit My single concern at this point is that wood expansion may cause the joints to misalign - however: 1. The wood has rested in this cabin for a year 2. The cabin is insulated and the heat comes on nightly for 30 mins to prevent damp 3. The layout frame and gate has been in place for over a year and hasn't encountered a problem So, finger's crossed And if something does cause a problem, I'll figure it out. See that mitre saw on the table? Why, oh why didn't I buy that before building the frame and hand sawing almost every piece of wood and 45 degree support block Lesson learned!! Thanks for reading all, hope you enjoyed it! With the gate complete, it's now time to start adding cork, relaying track and running wires - exciting

The last two buildings for the Club layout are now largely done, so will post some pictures later of them all in situ. Looking at my stock prior to Tolworth, have decided to pass on the Ixion Hudswell Clarke. Although a very nice model, needs eventually trumped wants because I already have seven locos for my 1900s period and only five tracks in the fiddle yard! For the uninitiated, shown below are WL&W 0-6-0 Shannon, MGW 4-4-0 Wolf Dog and E class 0-6-0T, GS&W 2-4-2T and 101 0-6-0, plus a Hunslet 0-4-2T and Sligo Small Tank. However, the ultimate deal breaker was the main gear on the middle axle, as [being nylon] I am far from confident that I could remove it without damage. Also realised that I do already have a little contractor's loco sitting on the shelf. My very first 0 gauge loco, it was made from an MTK kit [I think] about 30 years ago and has [sadly] mainly been used to practice painting and lining since then. One day, I must build a new chassis for it and give it a good makeover too.

Surely the National Transport Authority should have to approve an infrastructure project on this scale?

It was a good weekend Mike but not so good since, as apparently on the Saturday I was bitten by something on the hill above Tank Curve. What I thought was a scratch had turned in to a 4cm red circle by the following week and a quick trip to Casualty (5 min walk) resulted in a course of Anti-Biotics plus last week I have had my Covid and Flu Jabs! On with the Show! GNRI 1953-07-xx Portadown 85 ADH yj044. C&L 1955-CA Ballinamore goods sdgs. yj048. CIE 1961-06-08 Sligo B132 yj046

I've been making some more progress on the photo plank today. A slight frustration is the code 75 rail which was supposed to arrive yesterday still hasn't turned up. So I've had to focus on other things. Firstly I put the final layers of brown gunk on the 'ground' and topped it with a sprinkle of fine brown ballast which I find is a good foundation for subsequent scenic treatments. This will need a few days to set hard and then I'll shake or brush off any loose bits: Next I painted the panels of sleepers. A coat of sanding sealer followed by a sprayed coat of mid-brown. Once that was dry I used a palette of grey, black, brown and bauxite to brush-paint some more varied colours. This is still wet but will hopefully dry to something that looks plausible: My childhood memories of Ireland include a lot of Gorse and Fuschia. They flower at opposite ends of the year so I can't have both in bloom, and have decided to go for the Gorse. Using Eddie's excellent photos as inspiration, I'd like a bit more than the first image, but not as much as the last! To try and make some Gorse bushes, I'm experimenting as follows. 1. Take an offcut of sea foam. Also some fine florists' wire, and bend a loop into one end: 2. Dip the looped end of the wire in superglue, hook it over the first branch in the sea foam,and let the glue stick the wire to the main stalk. Repeat until you have enough bushes for a thicket: 3. Set up the static grass machine, and a small tub of PVA diluted to a cream. Attach the earth lead to the wire 'stalk' of a bush, and dunk the top of the bush in the glue. 4. Tap off excess glue, and then apply static grass, turning the bush so it is well covered. I used 6mm dark green static grass. 5. Repeat. Note the use of a tub to recover static grass for re-use, as 90% of it would otherwise go to waste. These are now left alone for the glue to set. What I can't decide is whether the next stage is the flowers (using fine yellow ground foam) or whether I should add a layer of dark green ground foam first, and then the flowers after that. If I was working in a larger scale I'd probably use the green foam first, but in 4mm scale I suspect it'll be best to go straight to the flowers. Of course I could have just bought some of these, but where's the fun in that? I think my method gives a better impression of the spiky shape of a gorse bush. https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/k-m-model-gorse-bushes-assorted-pack-of-12

NIR 112 undergoes load bank testing under the watchful eyes of Mr C…

A few pictures taken down the Club last night, showing how the warehouses are coming together. The biggest was certainly a trial of endurance, because although the basic structure is simple, there are 44 windows, each requiring a hole to be cut out, then a sill, lintel, frame and glazing, along with wrapping the brick paper around the inner walls. Literally hundreds of separate pieces and actions. The other warehouses are on a smaller scale, while there is also a 'north light' small factory. As you can see, the buildings are either side of the double track railway, with a small section of canal running through the scene too. Another possible project emerged last night too, with the opportunity to acquire a 7mm scale Ixion Hudswell Clarke contractors 0-6-0T. Have long thought one might make a worthy conversion to 5'3 gauge and it is certainly a very nice model - never mind RTR steam locos for the Irish scene being as rare as unicorn droppings. As you can see, there are no splashers to worry about, so it is mostly a case of can the wheels be moved out from 28mm back to back to 34mm? The answer to that is not initially, but the axles are 1/8th inch, so it should be possible to fit new, longer ones. An alternative idea is I have a set of Slater's Manning Wardle style wheels of the same diameter, which also use the same diameter axles. So, certainly a possibility, but what about prototype fidelity? Well, the Green Book has two options, namely Classes 299 and 300 [see below]. Both of these were built by Hunslet, but for 299 especially, the similarities are significant, though it does lack a clear coal bunker. Little locos like these were used by contractors when lines were first built and a few actually stayed on to work the smaller lines afterwards. Some actually got taken on by the mainline company and in the case of 299, even got an official number, while others [in best Sligo Leitrim fashion] just had a name. Ideally, I suppose, livery ought to be lined back [maybe with WL&W style lining], but for my early 1900s period on Northport Quay maybe the contractors red livery could yet prevail for a couple of years? Thoughts welcome!

SUNDAY ONLY 'We are going to take D376 out on Sunday 27th to operate a free shuttle from Hawkins Street (Outside Marks Models) to stop 670 on the Malahide Road departing at 12:00, 12:45, 13:30 and 14:15. The bus can also be boarded at stop 670 for the return into the City Centre roughly 20 mins after the departure times. This is a free service so please come along if you have time, all are welcome. ' Thanks to Irish Bus Restoration https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0EGBCopUbxRQmvRwTUkWj7vm69FcdRhWTk3zRNRyGNjypCwGwA1A48MJfU5cAH31xl&id=100070939576381&__cft__[0]=AZXNgz7h1uv5KwTAtOT8bGWfOufdw3eHi3KEHwcAPXL0_sBvlMOIOmDikGQXpEJvoHkwhNI98s6dSFi9srRWITZmohD7NPpf-4PJhcEjbqHELa966HCmw6dFy3yfmvGq_H014JtW1KX2G6ranyk1KDK2Wm87kFMG6Le_qdoWhATu11ICPwbhQV1AGegjxITcO5g&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R