Ironroad

HI John, I cannot disagree with anything you have to say as regards incentives to developers and indeed their inclination to increase prices in line with incentives to the buyers. I've been a victim of that. I have often wondered why such schemes are perpetuated and do believe they are the manifestation of corruption no one wants to admit exists. That said I will defend mortgage interest relief as justifiable and that is one thing the developers don't get their mitts on, but it is sad that this is not what it once was in Ireland. Believe it or not the US tax code provides for full mortgage interest relief and for tax relief on contributions to pension plans. But they catch you with with income tax on the resulting pension, There is a scheme whereby no tax relief is taken on the pension contributions and accordingly the draw downs at pension age are not subject to income tax. You may have been in the fortunate position that the absence of these reliefs was a quid pro quo but that is not the situation for everyone wherever they are. In truth such incentives make a lot of sense. Interesting that the powers that be in NZ would think it unbecoming to offer tax incentives for foreign investment in financial services, when in reality the world stage is not a level playing field. I do not think that incentives have damaged Ireland's reputation, one iota. Quite the opposite in fact as I know Americans think it is a good place to do business and regard the Irish as pragmatic. It is only the great and mighty, that have hardly been dented by this, that complain, while at the same time in many cases hiding behind suspect practices in their own tax codes.( France??) In my time in the US I have met people from Enterprise Scotland and the IDA and know that the former would give their right arm to be able to compete with their IDA counterparts. Now maybe if Scotland was independent that would be a different matter. As for local authorities, I've said it before, they were rendered impotent in the 1980's with the abolition of rates and Dail Eireann is now more akin to a big county council than a national-government. We seem to have strayed a long way from West Clare. And anyone who isn't a Man U supporter

For what it's worth I ordered a 121 loco from them for shipment to the US and they deducted the VAT automatically. Overall my impression is that they are very professional and on a par with Hattons. I wouldn't be worried.

Just a thought. Hattons have an incredible database of everything they stocked over the past 50/60 years or so that is quite useful to anyone researching models. Will that just go the way of the Dodo?

John, I'm a bit surprised by these statements. You seem to be implying that people in Ireland only respond to handouts. Back in the day why would any foreign company consider investing in Ireland (a small island economy) when right next door they had an available ready made big market and economies of scale. The policy of providing incentives was justified and has been successful. As for mortgage interest tax relief, I don't think this is as generous as it once was, but this was a form of wealth redistribution and it helped people who otherwise had no chance of home ownership, and home ownership is one of the best forms of wealth building. As has been mentioned, many people do get involved voluntarily in many areas. The tidy towns initiative changed the face of the country, and we punch above our weight in sports due to the dedication of many volunteers. Maybe the interest just doesn't exist for railways, but it seems to me that the Royal Canal might well have long since been filled in had it not been to the work of dedicated volunteers who mucked in to restore it.

Remember when we had soft metal toothpaste tubes? We used to open and flatten the tubes and cut them into thin strips into which we made small indentations to represent bolt heads and used them to represent metal strapping on the bodies of wagons the sides of which were constructed from strips of card. I was reminded of this recently when it occurred to me that the soft metal seals on wine bottles could be similarly used. We also used sellotape cut into very narrow strips to represent window muntin bars

I would certainly expect that but in due course. I would have thought Irish Mk11D's may be a bit down the line, considering the MM releases have probably put a dent in short to mid term demand (regardless as to them being an upgrade).

But IRM are not producing MK11D's ???

No he didn't and maybe taking a hit, https://www.ebay.com/itm/126296664917?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m43.l3160&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=b2696a00ff4541f49139a5316511df16&bu=43100402880&ut=RU&osub=-1~1&crd=20240124013200&segname=11021

The clue to the running numbers is in the catalogue number, Paddy uses running numbers prefixed with MM as his catalogue numbers.

From the |Murphy Models website, (obviously the shipping date has changed in the meantime) Class 141 Locomotives The Class 141/181 loco manufacturing process is complete, the locos are assembled, painted, packed, are due to ship before Chinese New Year (early Feb). DCC and DCC sound chips will be available at the same time. The main PCBs and light PCBs have been reengineered to accommodate the new factory installed speaker and facilitate the shunting light configuration of one white and one red light simultaneously. Arrival date is likely the beginning of Aprils.

That's helpful, because if the ship is the COSCO NEBULA, there have been sightings. It left Xiamen on Dec 8. was seen in Yantian Dec 9-10, Singapore Dec 14, Felixstowe Jan 14-16, Zeebrugge Jan 17-18 and is currently en-route to Gdansk arriving tomorrow. So not so slow. But I would presume the container we are interested in has already been transferred to another ship or truck in either Felixstowe or Zeebrugge. So I'm guessing we don't have too much longer to wait. Forgive me for asking.

Any sightings of that slow boat from China??

It was me, but my issue was not with the concept of selling in multi packs but rather the combinations of coaches that made up these packs. The point I was making was that IRM was shooting itself in the foot and could have sold even more of these coaches had the the combinations in which they were being offered been more flexible. In my case I would have liked to be able to purchase prototypical rakes in both liveries, a total of fourteen coaches, but had to settle on one livery and nine coaches in order to put together a prototypical rake of seven coaches, leaving me with two redundant coaches. I could not justify buying eighteen coaches when all I wanted was fourteen. This point seems to have gone over Fran's head and his reaction was rather rude.

Presumably the Hatton's allocation will trickle elsewhere across the distribution chain

I need some clarification as to the descriptions provided on the IRM website; No. 5231 is described as a standard yet the picture appears to be a composite No. 5212 is described as a standard yet the picture appears to be a 1st No. 5203 is described as a standard yet the picture looks like a 1st Is it the case that the wrong pictures are posted and these should be pictures of the standard and the only composite is 5154 and the only 1st is 5103 Many Thanks

Thank you, that makes sense (just 4 running numbers in all).

Are there no limits to where the mind wanders, I thought the presentation box was wooden

Hi Dave, harking back to this post from quite a while ago, these coaches were sold in shrink wrapped twin packs and just one running number is advertised on the exterior of each pack. So do you know the running numbers of the second coach in each pack? I have pack MM4101 and that contained coach no 4101 & 4108 with IR logos. But since there is a pack numbered 4108 with the IE logo, that would seem to indicate a repeat of the numbers in the different logos. I ask this in the context of the imminent release of the IRM MK2B & C coaches which are complimentary. Thank you Tom

A word of caution if ordering MM MK2D coaches from Rails of Sheffield. The descriptions and the pictures on their website don't match properly, in some instances they are showing pictures of these coaches in Supertrain livery. It's a pity that MM did not update their website to ensure no confusion on what is being released.

All very true, but some of the content of the announcement seems ominous, particularly the references to ageing demographic and no new blood. And they allude to a deterioration in the commercial environment. This on the heels of the Hattons closure. Even a giant like Hornby has had financial troubles and their behaviour and that of Bachmann has not been exemplary and speaks of fear. Let us just hope these things are no more than indicators of change and readjustment.

That speaks volumes

This is tragic and sad news. An institution in the model trade and the very best retailer in the business with customer service second to none. I well remember visiting the shop on Smithdown Rd as far back as 1963 and eagerly reviewing their monthly listings received via the post (produced on a Gestetner duplicating machine) long before the internet, such was their vision. I'm shocked and will miss the convenience of shopping there. They were a one stop shop for a very wide and comprehensive range of mainstream products (with the best shipping rates) and that is something all of us should keep in mind when we choose to bypass a store like this and buy online directly from a manufacturer.

Over a year ago Stephen indicated a J15 was not on the more immediate agenda, but didn't rule it out in the long term

Maybe you could do that for 461 and just maybe it has sufficient commonality. I believe it operated on passenger and freight services widely across the network (south of the border) between 1923 and 1962, and again in preservation from 1990. Even those modelling realively recent times can justify it hauling models of RPSI stock.

Patience is in order, we waited a long time for the 121 but we got them eventually. Paddy is indeed a one man operation and that probably contributes enormously to the viability of his business but being relatively small probably has an impact on his influence with the producers. He may announce something but may have little control if for example the production run is bumped. What do we know about this rerun, is it being commissioned from Bachmann as before or independently by MM?