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Time to share my latest efforts!! Anyone of a railway persuasion who travels along the A6 road from Belfast to the North West will be familiar with the small station at Knockloughrim, located a short distance beyond the Castledawson roundabout. Knockloughrim was the first stop out of Magherafelt on the oddly-named Derry Central Railway, which meandered through the eastern edge of the county, almost in County Antrim. The line eventually closed completely in 1959 but most of the stations survive and Knockloughrim in particular is beautifully preserved, with station building, goods shed and adjacent road bridge all in excellent condition: I have long been an admirer of Knockloughrim so this year I decided to have a go at creating a winter diorama of the station. The owner Aidan was very welcoming and I have had the pleasure of visiting the station on a few occasions and he has even provided me with some very interesting historical photos: The last photo above is of great interest as it shows a Mogul passing through Knockloughrim - an unusual visitor. I also received a very useful plan of the smaller Derry Central stations from Kieran Lagan: I started into the build a few months ago and unlike my usual situation, progress has been fairly rapid and the build is almost complete. I decided that although it would be a diorama, I wanted to have trains moving, and that is still the plan. The station is depicted in the final years of the DC line, under UTA ownership, although modellers' licence has been used to make the station appear a bit busier. Passenger services stopped in 1950 but goods traffic lingered on until 1959, although by then the line was completely closed north of Kilrea. The 'Kilrea Goods' workings were the final regular movements on the line but there were also occasional passenger specials during the final years, some of which are described by James McIlfatrick, in his charming and highly readable 1987 memoir of the line ‘The Derry Central Railway’. The diorama is 41 in long with a depth of just 16 in, and the baseboard was constructed in foamboard - this material is not very strong but I do not envisage any outings for Knockloughrim. The landscape was built up using foamboard and plaster bandage, and winter scenics came from Noch and All Game Terrain. Gabor Evenich supplied three beautiful handmade winter trees and further trees were obtained from the scenics section of Hobbycraft. Buildings are my greatest interest in any project and all have been constructed with a mount board core. The exterior of the station building was finished in Metcalfe brick paper but the goods shed and bridge were finished using Das clay, with the stonework scribed once the clay was fully dry. Wills Random Stone sheets were used for the vertical platform face. I also made use of a suitably wintry backscene from Model Scenery Supplies and I am particularly happy with how this has worked. Final scenic work remains to be done and I am also hoping to add some basic lighting to the building and the platform. Motive power on Knockloughrim will mostly feature ex-NCC U Class No. 80 'Dunseverick Castle' which was converted for me a few years back by Colm Flanagan, from a Hornby LMS 2P. One of the recent Marks Models Jinty tanks will also appear, along with the OO Works ex-GNR UG class No. 49 - I doubt if either of these latter two locomotives ever visited Knockloughrim in real life but it would at least have been possible. A number of UTA-liveried wagons and vans from Provincial Wagons will also feature, along with a few ex-GNR vans, as well as Gareth Brennan's superb scratchbuilt UTA brake van. And I feel a story coming on............

This year the South Dublin Model Model Railway Club is celebrating 50 years in existence. From humble beginnings of a few like minded individuals coming together in a members workshop in Rathmines to where we are today in our purpose built club rooms in Knocklyon in Dublin. Our Exhibition in Blackrock College this year will have added significance and we are planning on it being our biggest and best show yet. Dates of our show: October 25th,26th & 27th. Thank you The Organising team.

Not sure if I ever posted these here. But this is from a local modeller who wishes to be anonamous. @Mol_PMB noted that many industrial lines were in the cork/Kerry region. And while I can’t speak for the rest of the network. The West Cork System had a number of private sidings. Beamish had one in Bandon. A small branch for the mills at Desert, Allmans Distillery famously had its own locomotives, Coffeepot and latterly a Peckett 0-4-0 which later became GSR 495. Ironically this locomotive was not only purchased for its age (being less then 10 years old at the time of purchased versus the rest of the aging GSR fleet!) and used for the Fords/Dunlop siding. The tight curves on some Cork City Railway Curves around the quays and the Corn Mills on the marina making it ideal anyways I’m missing a major one here. Shannonvale mill in between Ballinascarthy and Clonakilty still stands tall, it closed a year or two after the railway line that served it closed. Shannonvale mills had its own 400 odd meter siding off the Clonakilty branch. Rather than a private locomotive, a horse worked the branch. The last horse work the line known as paddy, who retired to a local farm rather then facing the scrap! Gravity would work the wagons into to Mill while paddy would bring them back out. A deadly dangerous quick release system would engage at the top of the gradient and paddy, along with the workers would have to dash out of the way. the track may have been lifted by CIE funnily enough as according the local accounts was lifted by a rail tractor (which CIE used to lift the T&C branch line among other light track some footage of paddy https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxL5hDnFAZ6geNU215dcVm84m_Tt7wHGfk?si=6t1xIjELaKddy9Dp https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxYZD5EQbx7WjEFkncZEAksHxedcphB8wA?si=O9mofvztnjWiukhZ interestingly Cork and Bandon Railway are recorded as saying that locomotives did end up going down there. Impossible the verify other then word of mouth and one recorded interview from the 1960s. Beet was certainly stored down there during a particularly busy season in the 1950s according to Ray Good 31/03/1961 taken from the cab of the last Ex-Clonakilty mixed train the pulls up to the mills where the last wagons will be taken (C) Brian Baker anyways this layout is supposed to capture the mill, not long after closure. Enjoy!

No more layout progress to report. However, my brother was home for a few days, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to avail of his photography skills.

Sporting its brand new 'Inter City' livery, 229 leads the liner waiting at Heuston North freight yard after earlier arriving from Ballina, before heading to Ocean Pier.

A short distance from Heuston North is Conyngham Road Garage (Dublin Bus)- a layout loosely based on the 2003 - 2009 era when a good variety of bus types still could be seen.

Happy Christmas to all.

Glazing added. It looks better on the photo plank in the spring sunshine! A few pics with a short train of equally grubby silver trucks.

2025 marks the 10th birthday of IRM! That's right, it's been 10 years since we first made a public appearance at the Dublin show in Blackrock with some CAD drawings of a ballast wagon and some leaflets on a school table. We've come on a bit since then! It's a major milestone for any business, and we've had some interesting challenges thrown our way over the years, but a lot of success too. That's down to you, and your support for us and what we want to do. So, with that in mind, we really wanted to mark our first decade with a truly special model. An icon of the Irish rails. We also wanted to produce the first highly detailed, ready-to-run, authentic Irish steam locomotive. There was only one place we could go to; the GSR B1A Class, or the 800s/The Queens as they are better known! Despite the high profile of the three B1a locomotives, and even with 800 Maeḋḃ, being preserved since the 1960s, we found ourselves in the position of having very few dimensioned drawings to work from, with just Rod and Pipe side elevation and front elevation official drawings being sourced. Thanks to the late Ken McElhinney, a few more drawings were shared which at least gave a starting point, but to really get to grips with the subject, it was decided to 3D scan the loco. Fortunately, we’d already decided to make a start on the Hunslet 101 project and so we found ourselves at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum in Cultra one April morning in 2022 with two locomotives to scan; our British based scanning company partners having made the trip across the Irish Sea for the occasion. A full photographic and measurement survey was also undertaken at the same time, which gave us the necessary information to begin the CAD process. As ever, a master drawing needed to be completed from the cloud point data and from there, using as many archive photos as could be sourced, the variations across the three locomotives were also drawn up, allowing the factory to complete the process by adding in the requested 5-pole, fly-wheel motor and the gearing, prior to tooling. There were two particular areas that we particularly wanted to address in the model; the realism of the sound and the connection of the tender to the locomotive. Steam tenders in the modern era of railway modelling tend to be connected to the locomotive by a fixed coupling, with a loose wiring loom connecting to the PCB via a ‘devil’s plug’ connection. We wanted to avoid this, and so tender and locomotive will be connected by a multi-pin connector integrated into a kinetic coupling, which will allow push fit/pull apart connection and, hopefully, a better tender to locomotive close coupling distance, with the cab fall plate covering the gap prototypically. Early testing has proved positive in this respect, and the full DCC fitted deco samples should refine this further. We also wanted to improve the sound ‘experience’ for customers, so in addition to the new ‘megabass’ main speaker that has been fitted into the tender (with suitable outlets for the sound to ‘escape’), a secondary sugar cube speaker has been mounted in the smokebox, directly beneath the chimney, and this should replicate the distinctive exhaust ‘bark’ of the B1a locomotives. The sound project has been built from the ground up, using a combination of newly recorded 4-6-0 3-cylinder sounds, which our sound engineer has then married to the sound curves taken from archive recordings of 802 Táilte. This should provide for a complete authentic sound file, with great drivability. With assessment of the first EP now completed, and very few issues, the artwork files are currently being finished off and passed to the factory to produce the deco samples. The PCB schematics have been completed by ESU as well, which means that the deco samples should also be fully sound functional, an exciting development in the project. Once the decorated samples arrive with us we will continue to test ahead of production of this very limited run. Like our NIR Hunslet locomotives, this is planned to be a very exclusive production run due to the nature of there being three class members in various guises during their all too short careers. We cannot guarantee that there will be a future production run of these locomotives, so we would advise anyone who wants a museum quality 800 Class locomotive in OO gauge to get ordering ASAP from this production run. With a large amount of diecast construction, a wealth of detail, separately applied parts, a museum quality finish, a vast tooling suite to cater for detail variations and a high quality drive and sound system, we feel that we will do the first ever, authentic highly detailed Irish outline steam locomotive justice! Due to the highly limited nature and quality level of this model, it is priced at €349.00 DC/DCC Ready and €449.00 DCC sound fitted. This is in line, and in some cases cheaper, than large British outline steam locomotives of similar or poorer quality, despite them benefiting from larger production runs and sales. Delivery of our Celtic Queens is slated for Q3 2026. You can reserve your loco below with a €40 reservation fee via the link below. Pre-Order Your GSR/CIE 800s Here! MODEL SPECIFICATION: Die-cast metal locomotive chassis and footplate, with ABS plastic body. Locomotive/Tender weight of 498g. Centrally mounted, high quality 5-pole skew-wound motor, with single flywheel. Helical gear box for maximum performance and slow speed running. Gearing arranged so locomotive can achieve a scale maximum top speed of 100 mph (128.75 km/h). Scale lengths: Locomotive: 163.917mm over buffers. Tender: 104.916mm over buffers. Operation over a minimum radius of 438mm (2nd radius set-track). Blackened 00 Gauge RP25-110 standard 11.3mm bogie wheels, 25.8mm driving wheels and 14.8mm tender wheels, set in blackened brass bearings or contact strips and conforming to Accurascale standards of 14.4mm back-to-back, on 2mm axles. Fully fitted brake rigging, aligned to wheel centres for 00 Gauge. Fully detailed die-cast underframes with all cylinders, linkages and piping applied separately. Eroded metal, plastic and wire detail parts, including (but not limited to) handrails, lamp brackets, running gear, brake gear, draw gear, nameplates, cab side plates. Prism free flush cab glazing. Duel-LED flickering firebox. Locomotive/Tender connection by multi-pin custom designed male/female connector. Designed to work with the ESU LOKSOUND V5 21-PIN Decoder. Decoder and main speaker located in the tender, for easy access. Supplied as DC Sound Ready, or DCC Sound fitted (based on archive recordings). Fitted 25mm x 25mm x 7.50mm rectangular 8Ω ‘Megabass’ speaker in tender, with separate ‘Sugarcube’ speaker fitted in smokebox. View the full article

I've been gradually working on the weathering on E410. It's so easy to overdo it and I fear I have ended up with something a bit more grubby than I was aiming for. It's not as bad as some of the prototypes though! It has moved on a bit since I took these photos, I have taken some of the weathering off and added more in different shades and places. I can't quite settle on the right look. A black one would have been much easier! The green on the transfers looks too bright in this lighting, that may tone down with some weathering, but it looks better in sunlight. Tomorrow I hope to fit the cab window glazing, then reassemble. That's about as much as I can do before the loco's trip to Cork and Fenit at the weekend. I think it looks a bit better now than in the photos above. If the weather stays sunny tomorrow I'll take the photo plank outside for some pictures. In due course I may revisit and refine the weathering. I haven't got a driver figure yet but I will need one. I also think there's some fine-tuning needed on the DCC motor control as the loco seems to almost come to a stop and then lurch forward a little. But it feels like I'm very nearly there. The instructions are almost complete too. Once I've finished them off I'll add them to this thread and then you can see what you're letting yourself in for if anyone wants to build one for themselves. I still plan to build a second loco in black livery, and I have the parts to do so. But I have an embarassingly large queue of other things to make...

My new adventure in Irish railway modelling has begun with my new micro/shunting layout Ballisodare mill, Set in Co Sligo-(of course)-the era will be 1970s through to the 1990s-to add variety of liveries. Thank you to @irishmail for initially building the diorama,I have plans to extend both ends to have a factory scene at one end, and a small fiddle yard at the other. Power is provided by an NCE power cab control system -which I purchased with a small collection a number of years ago. Once wired up-testing commenced using an A and a 121 class locomotives, Comments are welcome…. A few photos of the micro layout…..taken with natural sunlight shining

Swillybegs out of Fintonagh Guess it is about time I started a new thread for the conversion of Fintonagh to Swillybegs. The work isn’t too drastic [& certainly far less so than Arigna Town to Belmullet], but an explanation as to my rationale may be useful first. The idea is that the Famine wasn’t quite as severe in this part of Ireland, which then didn’t suffer the same population decline as other parts of the country. Hence there was scope for the sort of railway development seen in Brittany, France, where in addition to the main lines and metre gauge systems like the Reseau Breton, various other feeder lines were built, including some roadside tramways. Hence, when the Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway arrived in Letterkenny in 1883, the County Donegal Railway came soon after [rather than in 1909]. The two companies then joined forces to construct a branch to the port of Swillybegs on the shore of Lough Swilly, somewhere near present day Rathmelton. Meanwhile, an independent roadside tramway, the North Donegal, was building a line from Downies [on the Atlantic coast], via Carrickart and Millport to Swillybegs. Downies was an important herring fishery in the 19th century [true], so there was a decent amount of traffic at first. However, this soon declined in the 20th century, so it is likely that the section beyond Millport gradually fell out of use. Indeed, both railways would have struggled from the 1930s onwards, but my assumption is that The Emergency [aka 2nd World War] kept them going. Redundant locos and stock from the Clogher Valley Railway found work on both lines during the fuel crisis, right up until the early 1950s, when both sections finally closed at the same time as the L&LS railway. The reasons for all this nonsense go back to the last Cultra Exhibition, when I took Fintonagh there and got several new books from the Donegal Society stand. From these, I learned about how Clogher Valley stock went to both the Donegal and the Swilly and with a long held admiration for both railways, the die was cast! However, both lines tended towards quite long trains and big locomotives, which made me think that the only way to do it would be a brand new layout. Equally, the smaller Donegal railcars and latter day trains on the Swilly – which could be as short as a couple of wagons and a bogie brake coach – gave food for thought that maybe Fintonagh could be adapted. Both the Barclay 4-6-0T and Kerr Stuart 4-6-2T would fit on the turntable, while from the CVR, Railcar No1 [Donegal No 10] and Phoenix diesel tractor were easily converted – little more than a repaint. CVR wagons went to both companies, but I still needed to find a role for my two 0-4-2T – hence the additional fiction of the North Donegal Tramway. Still with me? Well done! So what of the layout? The map below shows the geography, while the track plan shows how the two lines meet up at Swillybegs. If you haven’t clocked the name yet, it is of course a play on Killybegs, the actual Donegal terminus. There are no changes to the track plan of Fintonagh. All I’m doing is adapting the front edge of the layout to look like a quayside. The Donegal/Swilly line comes in, at the rear, behind the rebranded warehouse, while the Tramway enters at the front, squeezing between that warehouse and a new ‘flat’, complete with a bridge joining the two, which will also hide the exit to the fiddle yard. The Tramway is deemed to be where the goods yard is, so there is some transfer traffic, which will largely be in the hands of Phoenix. Swilly trains will most likely be short mixed ones, with a coach and a couple of vans, while Donegal ones will be railcars, one with a passenger trailer, the other with a couple of vans. There’s a temptation to enhance the layout wiring to enable two trains on the layout at once, but this will probably make the scene very crowded and also cause sight line problems for operators. So things will probably remain one train at a time, though [as on Fintonagh], a train loco can go to the turntable while Phoenix does the shunting. So, there we are – an introduction to my latest piece of nonsense. Most of the layout stays the same and the backscene is not entirely unlike the Rathmelton townscape anyway. The new and revised stock will partly set the scene, but presenting a convincing quayside will be the main challenge, especially with so little room to work with. The photos below show where I’ve got to and with this new thread to chart progress, more will follow in due course. Anyone invested in Fintonagh can find the whole story in the Layouts thread under Clogher Valley Project, while locos and stock are within David's Workbench in that section.

It has been a quiet week at Kilmore...

We've had some heavy rain this week after a prolonged dry spell. It's had an amazing effect on the countryside around Kilmore.

Hi everyone, As the village elders of this forum and the hobby may know, it's 10 years ago this very weekend since IRM first broke cover at the South Dublin Model Railway Show at Blackrock College. We were buoyed with a dream; to bring a detailed, accurate and Irish specific model railway wagon to market as good as any other Ready-to-Run manufacturer anywhere in the world could muster. We set out and dared to dream, with some banners and leaflets and a spot at the show very kindly provided to us at the last minute by @DartStation at the SDMRC Blackrock show. Soon our humble CIE ballast wagon was born, and with the support of many of you on this forum and beyond, IRM snowballed from a little acorn to a company with 20 full time employees today. We've come a long way, and that's thanks to your support and custom for our efforts. We've produced a multitude of wagons, coaches, locomotives and accessories in that 10 years, and there is more to come. Earlier this year, we said we would mark our 10 years with a very special announcement. We held a special evening at the Fry Model Railway in Malahide, where the first sample of our 800 class was unveiled. So, what else have we got planned to mark this milestone this weekend? Well, we have a new announcement on Thursday that will not be a surprise to many of you (and compliments our range quite well) at 11am, with samples available to view at the show this weekend. On Saturday morning as the doors open at the show, we will unveil another small new announcement, something very limited and very special indeed. Again, you will be able to see it in the flesh at the show. Dying to see our new Palvans, bubbles and unfitted H Vans? They will be there, along with decorated Hunslet locos, which are almost finished production at the factory. "But what about the 800s?" Well, if you come to the show you will see the first couple of decorated samples. They arrive on Thursday being specially completed for the show this weekend, so we wont have time to photograph them before the show to share online. Sorry. "Hold on, what about the Park Royals?" See the latest samples in the flesh as production motors on and is due to be stock in the new year. "Right, fine. But come on, what about these ICRs? It's taking forever." Yes, you have a point there. However, after much hard work behind the scenes, on the one project that techno wizards and lord of the DCC world ESU have said "is the most complex model we have ever worked on" a working sample will be on show too with a full update provided. It has more light shows than Las Vegas, and all off one decoder. It's rather special.... So, there will be lots to see and catch up on as we push on with providing the Irish outline model railway world with the latest and best models we can possibly produce, and are the envy of any market across the world. We can't wait to see you this weekend, please stop by and say hi. We won't be taking your money though, as we will no longer be retailing at shows. We will be there just to chat, answer your questions and shoot the breeze. Marks and Dave Bracken will have everything IRM you need on their stands if you have a few quid to spend. See you there!

3D print from eBay. Cleaned up the printing marks and added finials to the landings. Cheers Darius

After a racing start, this layout ground to a halt whilst a spate of engine building claimed the bandwidth. Now that there are enough locos to keep the works fitters in full time employment for a while we can get going again here, this time with a goods shed. After faffing about with various kinds of embossed plastic sheet and getting nowhere, I settled on a foam board shell covered with DAS then sanded smooth and scribed. This is my second attempt. The first one was just wrong but it's been useful for experimenting with paint and colours. For this attempt, I used photos I took of the surviving BCDR goods shed at Comber as a guide to the shape and size of the building and the stonework though it's not a slavish copy of that building (now the town's fire station). Quoins and arches were scribed first then horizontal course lines were penciled in and scribed. These help guide the scribing of individual stones and keep things under control. I have scribed stones in the shape of pillows in the past. Next, a thin wash of a pale colour and some individual stones picked out in stronger colour got things started. Painting was all done with artist's acrylics, mostly raw umber, titanium white and mars black. From there, more thin washes and retouching of the feature stones gradually built up the colour. A bit of black into some mortar lines and some dry-brushed yellow/green added a bit of weathering. I started out using the same ready-made roofing slate sheets that I used on the station (see above) and though they worked perfectly for that building they just didn't look right here- too small and too neat for a slightly decrepit goods shed. So it was back to the paper strip method using strips cut from grids drawn up on the computer. They're glued onto a plasticard base here. The method produces a slightly irregular effect - well it does if you're not too fussy about it - which I think suits this building. The danger here is that individual slates can curl up in a most un-slate-like manner as the paint dries. They can usually be glued down again. The roof isn't attached yet. I have some window frame etches on order and need to fit those before gluing it down. Gutters and downpipes are next. Back in harness, somewhere on the County Down. Alan

Life has quiet and busy patches and this week is a busier one, but I have got round to fitting the buffers and painting the bufferbeams, and it's a sunny morning today so another couple of pics. The electronics parts have arrived (DCC decoder, stay-alive, LEDs etc) so that's probably my next job.

Latest update. I have finally finished the goods yard section of the layout. I have based it on the one at Arklow, and while space was at a premium, I have managed to squeeze in all the elements I had planned. Paddy

Dear friends I am giving serious consideration to retirement. If I get to 2026 (DV), I'll be 80, so maybe the time has come to stop? Reluctantly, I will not deny as I / we get plenty of fun out of it but the "work and getting there" bit is a lot less fun! At present, postal sales are almost nil, thanks to Brexit - and of course the excellent products from a certain bunch of youngsters in Dublin! Any sales I make are at exhibitions in Ireland and an invitation to attend the NDMRC (Bangor) exhibition in April has provoked much debate between Richard McLachlan and I whether to do "one more year" (even to the extent of checking hotel rates in Blackrock in October!). We're sleeping on it! It is no exaggeration to say that each exhibition is knackering, takes up at least two weeks of time, each time - more if I'm bringing new product as I would be chasing the producer for months before! At best I cover my costs. I don't intend to produce more kits beyond what is on order now, or in my attic. That is: NCC Brown Vans 6 SLNCR Cattle 4 GNR Brake 0 Double Beet 10 GNR Y5 Van 3 GSWR Brake 4 CIE Cattle 12 GNR 10T Ftd 9 GNR 10T U/Ftd 6 GNR 9T U/Ftd 6 GNR Cattle 4 GNR 6 Plank 7 GNR 4Plank 7 GNR Loco Coal 3 Spoil wagon 0 (but some on order) Bread containers 17 I still have about ten Grey RTR CIE van with broken wheel and 20 or so Brown vans, also with a broken wheel.

It’s been a slog! It’s been a faff! It’s been a pain! But at last, there’s good news about our IRM CIE Park Royal coaches! First, let’s take a closer look at our latest samples of these wide and splendid coaches, which are set to establish a new benchmark in Irish outline models. After overcoming serious challenges in achieving the highest possible fit and finish as well as paint finish—and ensuring these coaches are the true show-stoppers they deserve to be—we’re delighted to confirm that our Park Royals are now on the production line, with completion drawing ever closer. With production in full swing, the factory has advised that these complex coaches are scheduled for completion at the end of November, with delivery to our warehouse expected in January 2026, at which point we’ll begin dispatching to customers. We sincerely apologise for the delay to the Park Royals, and we fully understand that the extended wait for these coaches—and the ICRs (more news to come in the weeks leading up to the Dublin show, so stay tuned!)—has tested confidence in our ability to deliver models promptly. However, we will never compromise on quality. From day one, our ethos has been to produce the very best models possible, and that remains unchanged. We’re confident the wait will be worth it. Both the Park Royals and the ICRs will set new standards for Irish outline model railways. Thankfully, our NIR Hunslet and 800 Class locomotives remain on schedule, with the Hunslets now in their final stages of production—proof that we’ve learned some hard lessons! A limited number of Park Royals are still available to order, so be sure to reserve yours as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. With a fully diecast chassis, a wealth of interior and exterior detail, beautifully subtle interior lighting, diagram-specific detail differences, and smooth free-running bogies, these coaches will set a new standard for 00 gauge models on both sides of the Irish Sea. Pre-order yours directly today using the link below—no deposit required and no hidden charges upon delivery to your doorstep in Ireland or the UK! Pre-Order Your Park Royal Coaches Here! View the full article

Irish Sugar 1960-xx-xx Thurles K12663'35 JGD600610. L&LSR 1949 CA Owencarrow viaduct after closure JGD5415 ref25j+006. L&LS 1952-06-16 Pennyburn, Derry 15 Mck025

Well, you know you've been neglecting things when a layout drops off the front page and am not sure I've actually made anything since before Easter. Getting Northport Quay ready for Railex, then the Club layout ready for the Chatham Show very much part of the 'problem'... Anyway, with the Club Show now out of the way, it is at last time to get back to some of my own modelling, not least because Swillybegs is due to make its debut at the Tolworth Show in November. There's been a list of things to do for quite a while, so it has been a case of just getting on with it, starting with a new station name board. Simple enough - white on black computer print out, stuck to a board made from plastic sheet and strip New fencing next: firstly fitting 0.5mm plastic road to the posts that have been on the tramway platform for ages, then some Parkside wooden fences around the buffer stops. Then came some detailing pieces for the quayside area. Below is an overall view of the station area, including a bit of gentle fettling for the track where I had to remove permanent [rare earth] magnets & replace them with Gauge 0 Guild electric ones. You can see the new buffer stop I made [front right] too. The rest of the pictures give a tour of the layout, with Donegal stock on show, alongside the 'West Donegal Tramway' train, using former Clogher Valley loco and new coaches based on Schull & Skibbereen types. Much to my surprise, it has only taken a few days to sort out the bits and pieces. So, overall, the scenic work is done. What needs to happen now is to make sure everything runs well, both all the newly built stock and the original CVR stuff. Much of the work revolves around getting my home made 'chopper' couplings working properly. Playing trains, in other words! However, planning for a new project is also getting under way, for which you will have to keep an eye on the 'David's 0 Gauge Stuff' thread in the British Outline Modelling section.

Fair Day, August 1966. A few scenes with cattle trucks being shunted, and B141 on the extra passenger service from Castletown West…. At the end of a long day, B141 idles at the platform before returning light to Castletown for the night. It’s been drizzling, the platform is wet. B141 will be on the Tralee goods in the morning… The three tin vans parked up on the back loop came down yesterday with crates of homing pigeons from Ballymena (once a lesser-known but occasionally busy part of railway life!)

NIR HUNSLET PRODUCTION UPDATE! Hi everyone, Our NIR Hunslet locomotives are racing through production, with moulding and painting complete. Next up is printing of the various logos, chevrons etc before final assembly takes place, keeping us on schedule for our Q4 2025 delivery date! Pre-Order Yours Today: https://www.accurascale.com/collections/nir-101-dl-class-hunslet Cheers! Fran

All being well,The Stone Yard will have an outing to the NDMRS Bangor show on 12 & 13 April at Bangor Grammar School. The fitters are busy prepping the locos.

Some small stuff for No.6. Step this way… A nice little hand wheel etch from Wizard Models (51L CWSHB)... Smokebox door casting also from Wizard (MT329)... Slight flaw in this one. Never mind. Scrap etch for a reverser lever... Some cut down wagon springs from Dart Castings (MJT 2284) plus 0.45mm brass rod Over time I have gathered a small collection of chimney and dome castings, none of which were right for No.6 of course so it was back to cobbling together bits of brass tube, washers and dowel. The old Black and Decker earned its keep yet again. Trial fitting of some of the bits. Fussy little blighter isn't it. Back to the tender now, I think. Alan

No sooner had we announced that our next locomotives for IRM would be the utterly distinctive and characterful NIR 101 Class "Hunslets", that we already had progressed to decorated samples and they have now landed with us for assessment! We have some minor amendments to make which we will go through below. But first, let's feast our eyes on some proper Hunnys! Quite tasty, right? We're so thankful to the Ulster Folk And Transport Museum for allowing us access to the Hunslet so we could scan and measure it up to bring you this model. If you haven't been to Cultra, make sure you put it in your diary. It's a great day out as explained by Clare Ablett, the Transport Curator at the museum. Of course, this is just the next step in the development process as we work toward creating the finished models you will receive. We have improvements to make at this point too, which include the following: Improve paint application on GSM aerials. Improve operation and alignment of sprung buffers. Factory fit drawhook, and separate couplings into accessory bag. Allocate accessory items to each SKU. Improve manufacturing process to eliminate ejection pin marks. Improve casting process on chassis block to eliminate odd areas of rough casting. Improve paint coverage on MU fittings. Want to know more about the project? Check out our video with Hunslet Project Manager, Paul Isles, below! Overall, we are very pleased with progress so far, and the above has been fed back to the factory already with these amendments now well under way. Production is due to begin just after the Chinese New Year break in spring 2025 with us still on course for a delivery date Q4 2025. Order Your NIR Hunslet Here! View the full article

I've been avoiding fitting the brake gear to the PPs chassis up till now though some of the work was already done. Brake hangers using 0.7mm brass rod were soldered in at the time the chassis frames were assembled and the brakes themselves were made up and drilled to fit. Stringing it all together was tricky but slightly easier than I'd been dreading. This loco has brake pull rods on the outside of the wheels. I used these to help line up the brakes and solder them onto the hangers. Cross shafts were then fitted and soldered into holes in the bottom of the brakes. Finally the pull rods were soldered onto the cross shafts which were then trimmed and filed to length. I fitted the outside brake pull rods as far outboard as possible to allow for the wheels to be removed if ever necessary. The superstructure now has most of its details added and is just about finished. I scribed a horizontal line along each side of the boiler to guide drilling the holes for the handrail knobs which were superglued in. The white metal castings were epoxied on. If this was a tank engine we'd be done now but there are the makings of a tender still in the box. Alan

I heard today that David Parks passed away.He was a member here as "Derailed".I got to know him a number of years ago and loved his recollections of Irish Railways.I have included two of his photos that are my favourite.First one is the last ever train over the North Kerry line on 23rd May 1984 at Lixnaw,with the weed killer train.The second photo is of the weed killer train on Ballyvoyle viaduct near Dungarvan in 1985 I think. Condolences to his family and friends. RIP David.

The morning local, ten years apart; 1960 and 1970. Todd Andrews has retired now, but strangely he overlooked the Castletown West to Dugort Harbour branch, despite it only seeing twenty or so passengers per day, except fair days. Nothing, of course, to do with who the local TD is……

HC Casserley from the 30's + Richard Casserley from 1955. SLNC 1929-09-20 Sligo 'Lissadell' HCC Glass 6323 Cas25008. GSR 1934-07-17 Westport. 530 HCC11201 Cas25166. DB&ST 1932-06-05 Embankment HCC8723 Cas25126. CIE 1955-04-14 Glenbeigh , 127. RMC83267 Cas25099.

Had a brief but excellent catch up with Alan this evening and he kindly permitted my taking of some photos of his current layout build ‘Kilmore’. No need for any descriptions for the photos - just incredible!

Cheers Darius

In the late 50s, steam still ruled at Dugort Harbour, especially on fair days, when three extra locos would be brought in. Here, our intrepid photographer captures a few scenes in July 1958….. From early days J15s were almost the staple motive power diet at Valentia, Kenmare, Castleisland - and Dugort Harbour. Here, an unusually clean 195 makes a brisk departure from Castletown West not long before the C class appeared, in summer 1958.

Spa: I’m nearly back in Tralee now, hopefully time for a beer before the train back to Cork. I can see why the GSRPS thought this would make a great tourist railway. As a Greenway it’s a lovely walk / cycle and there have been hundreds of people using it today.

I have had these UTA May 1964 slides for a few months whilst awaiting the rest of set of 130 odd images. Unfortunately the 65 odd missing slides have not come to light so I will start adding the ones already held. The 4 below are all Newry Edward Street. Railcar 104 failed on arrival so 36 was substituted for the run on to Warrenpoint and return. 45 was on a goods in the yard. 11 May 1964

I'm getting there, and thought it was time for a trial assembly and photoshoot. It presently works on DC power and runs smoothly. Things still to resolve: A few more details to paint Numbering (I've asked Railtec for some decals) Weathering Fit buffers, cosmetic coupling hooks and Kadees Fit LEDs for marker lights (now ordered) Fit DCC decoder, stay-alive and wiring (now ordered) Put some thin black platicard behind the bonnet grilles to block the view Fit the radiator fan and cab control console Fit glazing to the cab windows, and a driver It's riding about 0.5mm too low at present; I need to fit a couple of thin packers between the chassis and the footplate.

Many rural places like this could find a little yellow biscuit tin on wheels reposing at the end of an uncared-for siding. So Dugort Harbour ought to have one. Hence my first ever attempt at a brass kit this morning.

A smokebox for No.6. I don't think I've managed to make a smokebox the same way twice. The smokebox and saddle for this one were built as a single piece made from two matching formers, a front plate which is wider at the bottom than the saddle, a baseplate and a wrapper. In order to make as much room as possible for the DCC gubbins, the centres of the formers were cut away to keep an open space through the boiler and into the smokebox. The downside is that the smokebox can’t then be easily bolted to the front of the boiler. The wrapper is 10 thou brass, all the rest is 15 thou nickel silver. A captive nut inside the baseplate of the saddle will allow it all to be bolted down to the running plate, with peg into a hole in the cab front locating the firebox end. As is becoming standard with this build, it took a couple of goes, the first pass generating the mistakes to inform the learning process. Getting the wrapper on neatly was the hardest bit. !**!*!!? If at first you don't succeed, have a cup of tea before trying again. It keeps the big hammer at bay. The finished item was seam soldered to the front of the boiler. A few other details added and some holes drilled, mostly in the right places. We're getting towards the small bits and pieces now. Cab steps Alan

A wee bit more has been done... I've mainly focused on detailing work on the station model itself. I have a new baseboard cut and ready for assembly, so Mullingar will be relocated and linked up to Abbey Street. Truly a glacial pace...

…and to the up platform. Cheers Darius

Thanks to everyone who exhibited/traded and visited the show over the weekend - it was hectic but glad it all went well - Think its time to put the feet up for a rest now. For those not on facebook Here are the winners : Best Layout as voted for by the public - Dundalk Works by the Model Railway Society of Ireland Best Irish Layout - Donaghadee - by Gordon Hunt - representing the Ulster Model Railway Club Best Scenic Layout - Rathmichael from the Wexford Model Railway Club Best operating layout -- Ashley Park - MPD by Richard Brennan Thank you Paul Reynolds Exhibition Manager

Some shots of my Murphy Models - Cravens Interiors were painted, along with adding passengers. Weathering has been kept to a minimum, with the bogies and ends carrying most of the grime.

I had the good fortune today to collect two brake vans for the layout. I have two of Mayner's excellent JM design timber-planked CIE standard vans, and two of Leslie's Provincial Wagons old GSWR ones. With a layout based in a time period of mid 1950s to early 1970s, I needed two more at least, so I have added two of the new CKprints CIE standards to the collection. too. This gives an authentic mix of what you'd got about the place in that period. Older ones like the Provincial GSWR ones were still about in very small numbers - the Loughrea and Castleisland branches had the last two in operation into the 70s. Everything else was standard - most steel-sheeted, a few all-wooden, and the odd one like JM Design's "tin" one with planked balconies. As a digression, I MIGHT be wrong on this, but I do think that I once saw a planked one, a la JM Design's earlier example, with a metal sheeted balcony at one end.... but I cam't be certain. Anyway, as you can see, basking in the evening light at a Castletown West station still sparsely endowed with even basic scenery, we see two of CK's vans, designed and produced by Enda Byrne. To say these are SUPERB is an understatement of the highest order. The detail and accuracy is in every way TOP drawer. Very many congrats to Enda for these. I am advised they will be widely available now. I should add, for younger readers, you simply cannot have a goods train of old four-wheel wagons without a brake van. It's like running a train with out track, or without a locomotive, or carriages without wheels. ALL goods trains were loose coupled, meaning that no brake van = no brakes on the train. So, a brake van of some sort is essential. And this type, from about 1960 to the very end of loose coupled trains in the late 1970s, were the most common of all, and in the last few years actually the only types to be seen anywhere but NIR, which retained a few tattered and neglected old vans of GNR & NCC origin for ballast trains. Very highly recommended indeed, and the big news is that Provincial Leslie and CK Enda are now planning future collaborations. All good news for all concerned.

Cabin glazing completed. Cheers Darius

I've got back to work on the South end of "my" Portadown. The platforms need "planting" - ie a bit of ballast (a Black Art totally beyond me as you will see in a moment!), weedy grass round the back of the buildings, the barrow walk, water cranes and signals. First, I decided that the barrow walk needed fencing in, so I used a new toy to get bits of Ratio fencing together at right angles. I KNEW that these expensive magnet things would find a use! This where I was starting from. Last week, I did a part-barrow way and "sunk" the water crane in place - there should be one at the end of Platform One as well, but I think the slope of the roof will mean it will not be on my layout! Oh, a future job is to box the point motor in. ALL of mine are above board (unlike me!) because I found lying under the board to fix "invisible" ones just too much of a fag. Then I added the fence which you saw in the magnets, completed the barrow way, placed a concrete "pan" where the water crane should be on Platform one. Loads more to do like planting grass around that fence, finishing Platform One, then back to doubling the length of the water tower which appears earlier in this thread.

Two old photos have turned up of a goods leaving Dugort Harbour way back in 1927. The loco is ex-CBSCR 472, then recently transferred to west Kerry….. Happy Easter to all….

We know we say this every year, but 2024 has been our biggest yet. Our 2023 has been a year of growth, rivalry, intrigue, charity, taking on the great work of others and delivery. Indeed, so much has happened it's likely that we have missed something! However, there is plenty to reflect on as we build towards 2025 as we aim to grow even more! So, pour yourself a beverage of your choosing, crack open a selection box or the biscuit tin, and join us as we look back on 2024! Hattons Originals Join The Accurascale Range 2024 began in a rather negative mood for the hobby in general as one of the biggest names in the industry, Hattons, announced that they were to close. The news sent shockwaves throughout the hobby and industry, transcending into the mainstream news media who howled that it was the death of the hobby, along with the cancellation of the annual Warley show. Thankfully, us enthusiasts knew that this simply was not the case, but losing Hattons has been a sad loss with many fine people losing their jobs. Thankfully, many have found roles elsewhere in the industry since the closure, giving other businesses the benefit of their experience and expertise. Primarily known as a retailer, Hattons had also designed and produced a significant amount of models themselves in the years prior to their closure which had been very well received. Possibly the most famous was the Class 66, which had previously joined our range (more on that later!), but what of the other models? Following weeks of negotiations, and having built upon our already strong relationship with Hattons as a supplier and purchaser of their Class 66, a deal was struck between us to take on a significant portion of the "Hattons Originals" tooling. Already delivered are the OO gauge Warwells and Andrew Barclay tank locomotives, with the P Class about to commence delivery to modellers in January and the Beilhack snow ploughs due in 2025, along with the ICI hopper wagons. Further announcements from the old Hattons range will continue throughout 2025, so keep an eye out for those. You never know what might still be in our tooling bucket from Hattons! We Raise £35,000 For Two Wonderful Charities 2024 saw the delivery of our first production run of Class 66 locomotives in OO gauge, and with it our two charity special fundraisers for Prostate Cancer UK and Samaritans UK. We were delighted to work with both charities along with GBRf and Freightliner UK to raise these much needed funs for two brilliant causes. We were honoured that the CEO of Freightliner UK CEO, Tim Shoveller, could join us for the handing over of the cheque for £10,000 to Samaritans UK too, and very thankful to Freightliner UK for having 66415 present for the handover! Our first announced fundraiser was for Prostate Cancer UK with a model of 66769 in its unique livery. Modellers got behind both models, but one customer who wishes to remain anonymous was so inspired by our initiative that they donated £15,000 to Prostate Cancer UK by themselves. A huge thank you to them and all modellers who both both models! 2025 will see the delivery of our next charity locomotive, as we work with DB Cargo UK this time to deliver 66190 "Martin House" with the aim once again to raise £10,000. We will have an announcement of a further charity fundraiser or two in 2025, so make sure you keep an eye out for those! We Help Raise Funds For Railway Preservation Samaritans and Prostate Cancer UK weren't the only charities we worked with in 2024. Naturally, we work close with and support a number of railway preservation groups to ensure the wheels of our railway heritage keep rolling, and 2024 was no different. This year saw the delivery of our limited edition model of 37714 for the Heavy Tractor Group, as well as Deltics for our friends at the Deltic Preservation Society and Locomotion. These models help raise vital funds to keep these English Electric greats rolling, and benefit greatly from your purchases. You win by doing your bit to keep these amazing machines rolling, and you get a beautiful model for your collection. Everyone wins! In 2025 we will have further preservation fundraisers, including our special edition model of 37403 for our friends at the Scottish Railway Preservation Society to celebrate 60th birthday of the locomotive in 2025! We Introduce "AccuraCare" And Open Our Warranty Repair Facility We started 2024 with something that may well revolutionise the model railway industry, the introduction of our lifetime limited warranty! Not only did we announce it for new models, but also backdated it to cover previously released models too, including all locomotives, coaches, wagons and accessories. It certainly struck a chord with the public, as it picked up the "Innovation of The Year" award from Hornby Magazine, as voted for by the public! The introduction of our lifetime warranty coincided with the opening of our dedicated repair facility based in Darlington, which handles repairs for our growing range with our UK based customers. So, if you ever have a problem with your Accurascale model, hit that chat icon on the bottom right of the screen and you will go through to our warranty repair and customer service team! Speaking of awards.... Accurascale Wins Again, Thanks To YOUR Votes! We dont know quite how we manage it, but once again we retained the "Manufacturer of The Year" and "00 Wagon of The Year" across all the major industry awards this year. Simply amazing! We were especially delighted to see our Class 66 take the 00 Locomotive of The Year" crown in the recent Hornby Magazine Awards. It was a brilliant recognition of the improvements we made to the model to make it the model it always could be, and bring it into line with the rest of our range. Once again, a big thank you to everybody who voted for us. We're working harder than ever to try secure your vote for 2025 with the models that are on the way! We Take A Class 37 To A Show As mentioned earlier, the discontinuation of the annual Warley show at the NEC had even the mainstream media bemoaning the demise of the hobby along with the closure of Hattons. "Hogwash!" was our response. Not satisfied with taking on the Hattons toolings, we decided to throw our weight behind the TWO new NEC shows that took place this year. For Model World Live, we went big for the first edition of this new event, and teamed up with our mates at the Heavy Tractor Group and bring 37108 to NEC as the centrepiece. It certainly made an impact, and even ended up on the news! We also attended and sponsored the replacement event at the NEC for the Warley show in November. We brought along a smaller train for that show, but it was able to move under its own power and operate throughout the weekend! 2024 was our biggest year for shows, doing 5 of the biggest shows around the country, beginning with Glasgow in February and ending with the NEC in November, with specialist and regional shows such as the Darlington show, DEMU Showcase and Irish shows such as Dublin and Wexford thrown in for good measure. We'll see you at a show in 2025! We Hit The Road And Visit Our Retailers Supporting our retail network and meeting our customers who purchase our models via their local model shop. This year we paid a visit to our friends at Rails of Sheffield, Malcs Models, among others! Thank you to all the model shops who hosted us this year, and to everyone who came out to see us when we were in your local area. We plan to visit more retailers in 2025, so if you want us at your local model shop, let them and us know! New Models Announced Class 60 Back in June we caused quite a stir when we announced our latest diesel locomotive project; the Class 60. Why the Class 60? It fits our range beautifully and we explain more in our launch video! These will roll onto your layouts in 2025, with sound recordings including doing what the Class 60s do best; hauling heavy loads (in this case 2500 tons) at 60mph on the mainline... A big thank you to the folks at DCR and DB Cargo for their assistance with our Class 60s! Pre-Order Your Class 60 Here! Hunslet Austerity Saddle Tanks Our final locomotive announcement of 2024 was another essential part of our "Powering Britain" range along with the Class 60, the Hunslet Austerity tank engines in OO. We have just received the decorated samples of these over the Christmas holidays, so keep an eye out for some rather lovely images of those in January when we return to work! Also, it was not the only Hunslet locomotive we announced in 2024... Pre-Order Your Hunslet Austerity Here NIR Hunslets October saw the latest diesel locomotive announced, and one that is both a bit niche and a bit quirky; The NIR Hunslet locomotives. Announced under our IRM brand which covers models of the Emerald Isle, they will mark a closer synergy between IRM and Accurascale which will become clearer to modellers in 2025. Exciting times! Pre-order Your NIR Hunslet Here Class 37/9 Although the Class 37 has been a part of our range for a couple of years now, the Class 37/9s are such different beasts to the mainstream tractors we felt they deserved a mention all of their own. We are covering the Mirrlees variants in our first production run of these interesting machines, with their much modified roof sections and detail differences between each other, not to mention the other Class 37s. A variant of the iconic EE Type 3 story that has been on our radar since day one, we are delighted to bring these to you (along with the original 37/4s of course!) in 2025! Pre-Order Your Class 37 Here BR 21 Ton Hoppers HTO HTV As you probably know, we love our wagons here at Accurascale, and 2024 saw us announce some much needed "missing links" in OO wagons. First up was the humble BR 21 hopper and their rebodied stablemates, TOPS codes HTO and HTV, along with engineering ZDVs! We still don't quite know how these stalwarts of BR coal operations have never been produced in model form before, and were a must on our large list of projects from day one. Fitting perfectly into our "Powering Britain" range and complimenting our 16 tonners, 21 ton MDO and MDVs and of course our HUOs, these will be a large slice of our 2025 wagon range and currently are in production. Pre-order Your 21 Ton Hoppers Here! FCA Family of Container Wagons Another large "missing link" in the 00 gauge wagon world are the FCA container flats and their variants. Again, we're a bit astonished that there has not been a "Binliner" or MOD traffic train offered in ready-to-run model form to date, so we set out to rectify that with our first run consisting of MOD containers and 20ft waste containers. Perfect for our Class 60 and 66 too, these are due in 2025 with decorated samples to be revealed in the new year. Pre-order Your FCAs Here! IRM H Vans, Grain Wagons and Bulleid Tankers All new wagon announcements weren't just confined to Accurascale, as IRM announced and delivered some rather tasty models on the common Bulleid triangulated chassis. These included the announcement and delivery of some rather smart fuel oil tankers, which sold out in a blink of an eye. We have also announced grain wagons converted from H Vans and the fitted H Vans which will arrive with us in early 2025! Keep an eye out for them. Speaking of IRM and tank wagons... IRM Teams Up With Heljan To Cover The Esso Tank Wagons We're delighted to have been approached by our friends at Heljan to collaborate on a wagon project covering the BR A and B tanks as they were sold and repurposed for use in Ireland in the late 1960s. With the distinctive additional bracing tooled and added, these quad packs allow modellers to build an authentic "Sligo Oil" train. These are on the high seas and due in stock in early 2025! Pre-order Your Esso Tankers Here So, that's what we announced. But what matters most is what we delivered. Let's have a look at what we landed in 2024! Delivered Models Class 66 It has been very much a "Type 5" sort of year for us as our first run of Class 66s arrived in the summer just ahead of our Class 60 launch. Our sheds have gone down very well indeed and are already winning awards, picking up the "OO Gauge Locomotive of The Year" gong in the Hornby Magazine awards. Indeed, our first run proved so popular that they virtually sold out just after arrival direct and with retailers so we announced batch 2 which is now in production. Batch two includes "Euro" Class 66 for the first time, featuring machines built for use on the Continent which have since been brought to the UK and modified for UK operations. Look out for their delivery next year! Pre-Order Your Class 66 Here! Class 37 Run 2 Autumn saw the arrival of our second production run of our beloved Class 37s! We offered a variety of eras from BR Green through to current day operations and once again they sold out rather quickly indeed direct, and are becoming scarce on retailers shelves too. Following on from delivery of this batch we announced run 3, which consists of the classic Class 37/4s and the Class 37/9s as mentioned earlier. Look forward to these in 2025! Pre-order Your Class 37 Here! Class 31 Autumn was really busy for us as it saw the long awaited arrival of the first batch of our Class 31s! Our BR Blue locos arrived to much fanfare and positive feedback, with favourable feedback on the performance, shape, sound and decoration. Once again they have become scarce, but never fear! The second batch from the first run in BR Green and our 80S/90s era liveries such as Dutch and Railfreight land in about 2 weeks' time! We will also see the announcement of an all-new production run after the final deliveries of our Exclusives and Retailer/Magazine limited editions in 2025. Andrew Barclay Tank Locomotives With the Andrew Barclay tanks already in production when we took on the project, we were able to deliver this production run in 2025. It has come to our attention that the pre-existing inner packaging design was not adequate enough to protect some of these models, particularly the open-backed cab variants. We have also noted that there was a design flaw with the clip that holds the motor in place which can become dislodged if jolted in shipping. We can now confirm that all the packaging clamshell casings and motor clips have been re-engineered and replaced on the remaining stock to rectify these issues and we will have replacements for both available to existing customers should they want them in the new year. Watch out for further updates. Order Your Andrew Barclay Here! Class 55 Deltics Our final loco delivery of 2025 (not accounting for our P Class tank engines, which have arrived too!) was the second production run of our mighty Class 55 Deltics. They arrived just in time for Christmas and have been finding favour with modellers around the world. Usually the first production run of any new model is the biggest, with subsequent deliveries always a bit smaller, but due to the popularity of Vulcan Foundry's favourite beasts, our second production was actually larger than the first. We are sold out direct, but you may still find the locos you desire with your local retailer. We must do another run of these soon.... SR Banana Vans Our major wagon arrival for 2024 was the SR D1478 and D1479 Diagram Banana Vans in OO/4mm. These distinctive vans were very much another "missing link" in the OO gauge ready-to-run wagon market so we are delighted to plug yet another gap! We still have some available direct and via retailers, with all eras covered including departmental "Tadpole" variants. Another award winner for "Best OO wagon" in the wagon of the year voting with Hornby magazine! Thank you to everyone who voted for them. Order Your Banana Vans Here! Mark 2b Coaches It was very much the year of the coach for us as we delivered our long awaited and highly anticipated Mark 2b coaches. From our exclusive RTC pack above to the bog standard Blue Grey and NSE variants, along with West Coast and Provincial, they have gone down a treat with modellers and plugged a much needed gap in the Mark 2 story. Sold out on arrival, we will be looking to do another production run soon, so keep an eye out for that. Mark 1 Suburban Coaches It's been a bit of an Eastern Region flavour to our arrivals in 2024, with Deltics and of course our Class 31s in Blue and the matching Mark 1 suburban coaches arriving in stock together. Although a humdrum prototype, we have gone to town on the detail, with the interiors being a particular highlight, along with a fully diecast chassis to provide the smoothest running and of course, full interior lighting! Some of our blue coaches have no sold out, and the others are shifting fast. The carmine variants have just arrived with us too, and will begin shipping out to customers in the new year. Order Your Mark 1 Subs Here! OO Warwells Our first arrival of 2024 was a surprise to many as we delivered the production run of Hattons warwell wagons in OO. These were finished production when we agreed to take on the production costs and tooling for these superb wagons and we then delivered them to Hattons pre-order customers. They sold out rather quickly, so perhaps we need to consider another production run of them in the near future? Let us know! IRM Bulleid Open Wagons IRM saw delivery of a plethora of new wagon models built on the famously versatile Bulleid triangulated underframe. The first arrival was the iconic corrugated open wagons, which are a must for anyone modelling from the 1950s to the 1980s, particularly on beet traffic. Order Your Bulleid Opens Here! IRM Bulleid Flat Wagons Hot on the heels of the Bulleid opens was their flat wagon counterparts. Perfect for mixed goods trains carrying anything from rails to cars, these wagons again were part of the Irish scene for decades. Probably the quickest selling Irish wagons since we did our Bell Liner container wagon sets, these CIE tanks went in record time. Looking at them though, it's easy to see why as they turned out rather cute! NIR "Enterprise" Mark 2 Coaches Rolled in as part of our Mark 2 project, our Enterprise Mark 2 coaches did feature unique tooling to cover the generator, grille and driving cars which were ordered by NIR to form the premier train to Dublin. We did put the "cart before the horse" with these a little bit, releasing them before the NIR Hunslet locomotives in two liveries, but they proved so successful it made our Hunslet project a "no brainer". We now must get on with that iconic maroon and blue livery to match the early Hunslet liveries... IR and IE Mark 2C Coaches Our final arrival for 2024 for IRM was the first lot of our Mark 2c tooling in the iconic orange and black livery with IR and IE markings. Capturing the refurbished coaches bought from Vic Berry's scrap yard in exchange for withdrawn C Class locos. Once again, the exquisite detail and package of full interior detail, decoration and lighting, coupled to a museum quality finish, set the tone for 2025 arrivals such as the Park Royals and ICRs! New Team Member We made a further addition to our growing team in 2024 with Andrew Faulkner joining us as Operations and Logistics Manager. Andrew brings a wealth of experience with him and is familiar with him, having been our account manager in his previous job, and was tasked with bringing our models from the far east to the UK and Ireland. We have now brought that role in house, while Andrew also works to streamline and improve our warehousing and dispatching operations to customers. And A Fond Farewell... The end of 2024 sees the retirement of Graham Hubbard, who has been a Development Consultant to us for a number of years now. Graham's wealth of experience from building the Bachmann brand in the UK for over 25 years, and of course revitalising Graham Farish. Graham is now taking a well earned rest as he retires from the industry, but will still be present in the railway preservation scene as a member of the Heavy Tractor Group. We wish Graham all the very best for the future and thank him for all his help in our growth and development into the business we are today. It's been invaluable! We're sure he will still keep in touch with ideas and assistance when we need it too! And Finally... If you've made it this far, then well done! We had a lot to pack in this year, and there is plenty we left out too! It's been our busiest yet, but 2025 is already shaping up to be even bigger for us. In the coming weeks alone we will see the arrival of our first O gauge loco, the Ruston 88DS (and our first loco delivered on time. See? We're learning!) the Mark 2c coaches, the Mark 1 subs in carmine livery, the second batch of the Class 31s, the 16 ton mineral wagons, the Wainwright P Class locos and the CDA wagons. Just behind that little lot we have the Class 50s, the Class 89, The 3rd part of the Class 31 deliveries, The Class 60, The Buckjumpers, The Panniers and Class 66 run 2, NER hoppers and not to mention the blue HYAs and the grain wagons and H vans for IRM. In fact, we are about to deliver so much stuff in the next few weeks and couple of months, that we wont have many outstanding announcements left to fulfil and our backlog will be cleared. With that in mind, expect to see some rather juicy announcements in 2025 as our record investment in new toolings made in 2023 and again this year begin to come on stream. We will be kicking off with a brand new wagon announcement in early January. Exciting times! We will sign off by thanking you all so very much for your continued support and custom, as well as votes in awards and well wishes via social media, RMWeb or in person at shows. We could never do all this without your support, so thank you! We would like to wish you all a very happy and peaceful new year and here's to a mega 2025 for us all. View the full article