Maybe this will help

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/iran-on-track-with-help-of-irish-rail/26542633.html

4 minutes ago, ttc0169 said:

Lovely looking models and having the correct style of lighting is a bonus,

Badly needs an EGV to complete the correct formation…..

Wasn't it a  Dutch Van

3 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Has any thought been given to the possibility of selling the wider bogies and lighting kits as IRM / Accurascale accessory packs?

Four bogies as one accessory pack and two lighting kits as a seperate pack, maybe?

Would be lovely to be able to upgrade the older Bachmann Mk2A's to run with these.

Absolutely, while perhaps not to the same standard those Mk2As are essential to completing a prototypical rake.

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.

26 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Bit like us with England!

And anyone who isn't a Man U supporter

2 hours ago, murphaph said:

I'd really like an answer to that too as on Facebook it's being rumoured that Rails won't deduct UK Vat on international orders!

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?

19 hours ago, Mayner said:

I think part of the problem in Ireland North and South is the expectation that the Government with provide grant grants for heritage schemes rather than the owners or supporters groups putting their hands in their own pockets. Possibly tied up with the culture that developed that overseas companies would only invest in Ireland if given tax breaks or that it was necessary to provide tax breaks to encourage people to buy their own home (mortgage interest relief) or encourage investors to build apartments (S23), hotels and tourist accommodation.  Biggest culture shock moving to New Zealand was that I paid about the same amount of net tax without tax relief on mortgage, medical insurance or pension contributions.  

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

31 minutes ago, BosKonay said:

Its no great secret that we will be doing all UK outline coaches and certainly all the crossovers in addition to irish only like our forthcoming Park Royals. 

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).

1 hour ago, Georgeconna said:

Dunno where the spec came from but certainly not sprung buffers one the ones I received this Morning. Doubtful they are metal too.

Have not run any but the Tension lock springs seem much more robust and less sloppy so fingers crossed they run a lot better.

Used the Cash back on these too, Took a right ol chunk out of the total! Sweet.

Better than the Lima ones though and pretty happy with them too.

 

True Should of plummed for the IRM ones myself, Better overall given the price.

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

11 hours ago, ganderino said:

Ahh well there you go, so would that mean Mr.Murphy possesses all the original tooling for these locos? Or will it be different tooling used? Will these locos be any different to the original excluding running numbers? Thanks

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

6 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

 

The price is a bit of a jump over the A Class.

Any inkling as to the finalised specifications, fitted speakers, cab lights, magnetic decoder hatches etc?

From the |Murphy Models website,  (obviously the shipping date has changed in the meantime)

2 hours ago, MOGUL said:

Wasn’t particularly funny the first two times, age hasn’t helped it..

I literally posted a pic of the ship in the other thread on these coaches.. 

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.

On 1/12/2023 at 7:58 AM, Warbonnet said:

Our next all new model due to arrive in stock is our massive Mark 2 coach project, beginning with the NIR and RPSI coach packs, and finishing with our IR and IE orange and black Mark 2c coach packs.

We reported recently that the NIR coaches are complete and are winging their way to us. We had previously reported that we had hoped to have them in hand a few weeks ago.

The NIR Mark 2 production completion has coincided with the busiest shipping period of the year, with the demand for shipping from China to Europe at its zenith. Therefore, it took longer than expected to secure their passage to our warehouse. They are well on the way now and will land with us at the end of December, and will be dispatched to customers from early January.

These coach packs are currently sold out on pre-order, but keep an eye on our website when they stock arrives as some will likely be made available for sale once again.

IR/IE Mark 2b and 2c Coach Packs
 

Hot on the heels of our NIR Mark 2 coaches will be our quad packs of IR and IE Mark 2c coaches (with the odd Mark 2b thrown in for good measure!)

As you can see below, they're currently at the printing stage at the factory, and heading towards final assembly.

Our factory has confirmed with us that these coaches will be complete ahead of Chinese New Year in late January 2024, and will arrive in stock with us in March 2024.

We still have a limited supply of these available for sale on the website, so if you fancy them, we recommend you get your name down ASAP to ensure you get your hands on them.

PRE-ORDER YOUR IRM MARK 2 COACHES HERE

View the full article

Any sightings of that slow boat from China??

18 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

 

Honestly can't remember whether the Accurascale Mk2B/C's piggybacked off the IRM NIR coaches or vice versa. Too long ago!

Bottom line is that the MM Mk2D's are unlit, and are 21mm-friendly.

Edit:

Actually, thinking back, the IRM NIR Mk2B/C coaches were not launched off the back of the UK market.

The IRM / AS business model was quite different back then, and the UK arm wasn't really keeping the Irish arm afloat.

Somebody, possibly @Ironroad (sorry if it wasn't you) queried at launch why the NIR coaches weren't being sold individually, only in multipacks.

The answer from IRM was that they couldn't risk some of the coaches not selling...

They sold out super fast in the end, so their fears weren't justified, LOL, but it serves to highlight how things have changed.

Also, saying that they were "never" X, Y or Z doesn't really stand up.

They were never 21mm-friendly, but they are now.

Things change over time.

However, your point on IRM having reduced overheads compared to Paddy as they are both brand and retailer, whereas Paddy has to retail via others, is still valid.

Also, for newer launches like the Park Royals, you're right, there is a distinct possibility that Accurascale sales actually have subsidised the price of the Park Royals.

I wonder how earlier IRM coaches vs. Murphy Models coaches compare(d) price-wise from retailers / re-sellers.

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

On 10/12/2012 at 10:07 AM, WRENNEIRE said:

August 06 saw Murphys next release

IR & IE Mk 2A'S

4 sets made, MM4101, MM4102, MM4108 & MM4110

504 of each set produced

First models to be produced with any reference to Murphy Models.

 

 

MM4110 IE

 

MM4108 IE

 

MM4101 IR

 

 

4102IR

 

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

9 hours ago, BosKonay said:

Shop local  

If you can’t find what you need then Rails shopping to ireland works fine. They don’t charge VAT and you pay an post on arrival in the usual way these days. 

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.

9 minutes ago, Broithe said:

It is hard to do these things, especially on a voluntary basis, and they sometimes just do have a 'life-cycle'.

I used to do fairly large outdoor events at various stately homes - car rallies. The number of people who would actually turn up and do something, both before and during the event would steadily drop over time and it eventually became clear that we (that were left) just couldn't do it all ourselves, even though we got better and more efficient. If you're wise enough, you will stop before it all falls to pieces on the day...

The events get bigger and the active personnel dwindle.

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.

15 hours ago, Patrick Davey said:

Two steam projects - interesting!  My money is still on one (or both?) being preserved RPSI, maybe one blue and one green/black/grey although I’m still not convinced that IRM would overshadow OO Works with an even better J15.  And I suppose it doesn’t even have to be a preserved locomotive, since the OO Works U and UG sold out…. 

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