Ironroad

9 minutes ago, BosKonay said:

We can’t be confirming or denying

all rumors now can we

You are tormenting us.       

9 minutes ago, Warbonnet said:

but who is to say no current manufacturer isn't considering or indeed working on Irish steam? Or Railcars? You never know what some of these companies get up to of an eve...

 

Hi Fran, I expressed disappointment at a comment you made a few weeks ago which seemed to say the exact opposite of this, (as regards steam) you have me confused.

The primary objective of the Facebook page as stated to promote Irish Railway Modeling to a wider market and to help with measuring interest in RTR models.  I would be inclined to be supportive of that because I wonder if it wouldn't have greater reach than this forum. Personally my interest in Irish Models was sparked by the MM/Bachmann trainset when I saw it in a store here in the US about eighteen years ago. But I was completely unaware of this forum until about 2017 when I discovered it by accident.  This forum is invaluable there is no disputing that but 1500 members is a very small club and the actual number of really active members seems to be a small percentage of those 1500, so are we really reaching the potential audience and can we really gauge potential etc. on that? 

This forum and the Facebook page can be complementary so let's give it our support.

30 minutes ago, Westcorkrailway said:

What I will say is if 2 manufacturers are making 3 wheelers

Hmm  3 wheel coaches, that would be interesting.

All joking aside, I have an abiding dislike of the company that calls itself Hornby and have never bought their products. Leopards don't change their spots, This is the entity that drove the real Hornby out of business almost 60 years ago, took their name and discarded their products, which were far far superior. 

Steam engines were still in use and when the A class was introduced in silver livery, and steam was still around (phasing out rapidly) when the green liveries appeared.  I think you can safely run A's in these liveries hauling similar rolling stock as was hauled by steam. Much has been said elsewhere on this site about the variety of rolling stock in use in that period, there was little standardisation.   

2 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

Why is it that in Ireland we have to have tiny little goods trains of only 18 wagons? I know they did tests with more, but decades ago they were well able to operate trains of twice that length and weight. So it can't be weight, it's can't be station size, it certainly isn't lack of power from a 201 or 071?

I have no idea and would also like to know the reason. Why run three Tara's daily when it could be reduced to two, or even one?

This is an extract of regulations published in 2019 on train lengths (full document in in the resources forum), but no reason is given.

Except where specifically authorised, the number of vehicles attached to fully braked freight trains must not exceed 36 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs). For the purpose of calculating train lengths, one 18.6 m (62’ 9”) bogie wagon or one 22 m bogie pocket wagon is counted as 3 TEUs, all other bogie wagon types are counted as 2 TEUs and 2-axle wagons are counted as 1 TEU.

On a selfish note I'm not complaining because a great reason for modelling Irish railways is that prototypical train lengths is possible.

Did anyone notice the drivers cab door on 072 at 6.59, 11.33 and 13.54 in this video?

4 hours ago, murphaph said:

I forgot about the LHB bogies. That's going to be an interesting decision for MM to make. Most people probably want to run them in the earlier configuration with 121s.

My preference is for the early configuration  with 121's. that's an image fixed in my memory.

3 hours ago, Wexford70 said:

The Push-Pull were used on the Dublin Rosslare line for a while also.

I have seen photos but can't find one now.

 

I'm open to correction, but I thought they were used on the outer suburban services between Wicklow and Dundalk, I remember seeing them un Tara St in the late '80's 

4 hours ago, murphaph said:

With Hattons the pre-order is only charged to the card once the item is in stock and is being shipped or placed in the trunk, but of course you have no idea what you're agreeing to placing a pre-order for a product that far in advance. I think it's really more than a bit premature to be sticking up vague placeholders for products that are possibly over a year away, but it's their business I suppose.

 

3 hours ago, Irishswissernie said:

I have pre-ordered from Hattons for many years and whilst you don't pay up front on a number of occasions the order was cancelled by them as they didn't receive enough stock from the manufacturers.  I noticed yesterday that I had requested an e-mail for pre-ordering a new Hornby model. The email hasn't been sent and the model is now sold out on pre-order. 

I agree it may be premature of Hattons to advertise these items and indeed for anyone to pre order without ultimately knowing the bottom line but the frenzy of buying at the point of release of  of Irish models is difficult to deal with and I prefer to try to secure what I want ahead of that. Missing out is disastrous and leaves us at the mercy of mercenaries on EBay.   But a word of caution,  a preorder with Hattons is not necessarily secure.  It would seem they don't have the courtesy to advise they are sold out on pre-order nor do they operate on a first come first served basis. For example I  pre-ordered eight 121s as early as April 2019, I only got six of these. One was cancelled arbitrarily by Hattons the other is still recorded as being on pre-order and Hattons are still insisting the will supply when they get it, but that is nonsense.   One other thing to be aware of is that if you update your credit card information in your profile on the Hattons website, this does not change the credit card details associated with your pre orders and you must also separately update the credit card info on each order.

6 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Actually, Hattons have gone to shit lately.

I agree and say this with a heavy heart as a customer of theirs for over 40 years. I have no complaint about packaging but they arbitrarily cancelled one of my pre orders for a 121 while another one is still recorded as being on pre order and still pending delivery and they insist that is the case despite the fact this version has long since been released to the trade by MM.

7 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

I'd say that we need to give things time to settle. BrExit is new, we don't know where we're going with it, we don't know if there'll be any political spats between the UK and European countries in the future to make things worse, or will they both sit down at a table and agree that it's ridiculous dividing rather than uniting, and agree on some common tax and import / export policies which make things better.

 

The fact is the UK decided to leave the EU. And in fairness to the rest of the member countries there is no way the EU can grant concessions to the UK that only come with membership. The UK cannot have it both ways. So it is what it is, something very divisive and all of us need to come to terms with that. 

13 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Very nice.

Did Guinness actually use those trucks in real life, or is that a special for the "Brewery Series"?

For what it's worth, the registration number on the model is TZI 205 (Dublin 1966). I doubt that was picked out of the air.  

This may be of interest https://www.ebay.com/itm/353399356527?ul_noapp=true

Is this another one https://www.ebay.com/itm/303899449654?ul_noapp=true

2 hours ago, Mayner said:

 

Interestingly the regional councils rather than a national body like the NTA are responsible for the funding and provision of public transport, so the local rate payers know exactly how much they are paying in terms of subsidy for the public transport services in their region or locality.

That makes a lot of sense and is akin the the concept introduced by the Tramways Act of 1883 which allowed Baronies (forerunners of the County Councils) to underwrite interest on capital and working losses on lines in their districts. In effect local ratepayers got to decide the fate of a line not central government (either directly or indirectly) and this neatly steps around the idea that one place is being disadvantaged at the expense of another.  These subsidies were legislated out of existence in 1924 and taken together with various actions over time including the abolition in the 1980's of domestic house rates had the effect of making Dail Eireann a big county council rather than a national government. (we don't need 160 TDs). It would have been more pertinent a few years back to ask whether the County Councils had any relevance than a referendum of the relevance of the Senate. 

While national strategies are a necessary part of planning infra-structure, local authorities must be properly funded and given proper power to manage their districts according to the wishes of their inhabitants. And funding should not be dolled out by central government, rather some level of funds relative to population size currently raised in each county district should be retained by the councils rather than going directly to the central exchequer.  This redistribution does not necessarily entail an increase in overall taxation.

I'm interested

Difficult to advise without knowing the plan.  If all that's needed is a flyover, then you can split the gradient between both lines, with one descending and the other rising. This reduces the distance required to get the required clearance and allows for easier grades. However, this is not possible with a flat solid top baseboard You should consider an open frame with the track bed supported on stilts from the framing (in places it may sit directly on the framing) and I would suggest 12mm plywood for the track bed.  An open frame has the advantage of being lighter and lot of options for landscaping.

And in a lot of liveries

1 minute ago, DJ Dangerous said:

 

 

Don't forget that some of the classic coaching stock ran until the nineties, so we're talking fifties to nineties, not just fifties to seventies.

Absolutely

Very Interesting results;

Definitely makes the case for  Anhydrous Ammonia Tankers and the vote a CIE guards van augers Well for the forthcoming release from Mayner.

Given the choice of locos,  7 diesels versus 2 steamers, the steamers scored 35%.  Including a jeep in the choices might have edged the steamers up a lot more, that's really food for thought.

And despite the strong support for more modern coaching stock, it should be noted that Park Royals, Laminates, CIE GSV and AEC 2600 rail cars combined secured 40% of the vote.

So maybe there is more support for the period 1950 - 1970 than many assume.

6 hours ago, Warbonnet said:

Sorry that you are disappointed but I gave a reason beside my question. The last mass produced steam locomotive (Bachmann/Murphy Woolwich mogul) was reported to be a slow seller by a couple of retailers I talked to. It was a good model, offered serval liveries too. 

Hi Fran, I expressed disappointment because your question implied that a steam locomotive is not even on the horizon.  From the point of committing to produce one to delivery realistically  takes three years and it's clear that are further out than that.

I think the market has changed radically from what it was 20 years and comparing the sales of the Murphy/Bachmann Mogul back then with the current almost immediate sell out of anything Irish is not fair. (incidentally I have four of these locos). And they had the disadvantage that suitable rolling stock for them to pull didn't exist 

If the interest is in modeling Irish railways, and all that is on offer is diesels then diesels will sell, but it shouldn't be assumed the focus is that narrow. There was crossover period  when Diesels and Steam occupied the rails together. We have diesels in liveries that have no suitable RTR rolling stock for them to pull that fit in the crossover period.  To my mind there is a very big gap. As has been noted on this forum the most interesting period for Irish railways is probably late '50's to early '70's. 

Would you consider producing a train set (steam loco and appropriate coaches) that might broaden the appeal for a loco and the rolling stock? Remember Bachmann did exactly that with the Mogul on the US market. 

1 hour ago, jhb171achill said:

A J15's been done, otherwise it would be top of the list. Since it as good as sold out, surely that amplifies the case for RTR steam?

Very very true, well said.  The market isn't limited to diesels, there's been virtually nothing else on offer.

58 minutes ago, Warbonnet said:

Would everyone buy an Irish steam locomotive though? The hobby seems to have focused on diesels and I was told by a couple of traders that the Bachmann moguls were a tough sell when they came out... 

I most certainly would, I'm surprised and slightly disappointed you are even asking the question.  I suspect more would be purchased by collectors than modelers.   

21 minutes ago, WRENNEIRE said:

My idea about Brexit:

A man in a hot air balloon realizes he is lost.
He reduces altitude and spots a man below
He drops down further and shouts to him
" How are you getting on man, I promised my pal I would meet him an hour ago but I dont know where I am"
So the man replies " You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 10 meters above the ground. You are between 40 & 41 degrees North latitude and 59 & 60 degrees West longitude."
"You must be an Engineer" says the balloonist
"I am, how did you know" says me man.
"Well" says the balloonist, " everything you told me is technically correct, but I cant make head nor tail of your information, and the fact is I am still lost. Frankly you have not been much help so far"
"You must be a Brexiteer" says me man.
" I am," replies the balloonist " but how did you know?"
"Well" says me man " you dont know where you are or where your going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow its my fault!"

 

Funny but very true