DJ Dangerous

That makes sense… No, wait… That “tracks”…

Possible, but we’re splitting hairs over the semantics of remove vs. choose to omit.

While the MM website isn’t the best for news, it does function to some extent as an archive. Frustrating not knowing what’s going on, nor when, but if the likes of A/S / IRM, Mark’s Models and Rails of Sheffield are going to be stockists, keeping an eye on their websites may help. As @j11sty pointed out, @BosKonay removed the Murphy Models 071 project from the Project Updates area on the A/S / IRM website. I’m sure it will be added back in whenever there’s news.

Will do do tomorrow!

You’d think you had the perfect shot, then get the photos back a few days later and that perfect shot was ruined!

Not quite THAT rich anyway!

Looking for some Irish outline Lima or Silver Fox Mk3 coaches; mainline / suburban / DVT’s, interested in them all! If you wish to offload any, please drop me a message.

Just received an email from A/S… Class 89’s are in transit!

It is! As an old-man weekend gamer, I can testify that there’s massive bang for buck out of the box.

A few pictures in this thread, @skinner75…

Not really the best comparison. You don’t need to buy track to run your PlayStation on, nor stock for it to haul. You buy a loco and you’ll want to run it now, pulling a train. You buy a games console bundle and that’s it, ready to go out of the box. Agree on the “don’t miss out” philosophy regarding the likes of the Hunslets and 800’s. I assume that both are being produced in quantities far lower than the A Class. Still, the IRM A Class and the Murphy Models 121 were modern high spec models, whereas the 141 re-run was not, so we’re stretching by comparing them. Kind of like Hornby vs. Hornby Railroad Plus. We can speculate all we like, but for €230, a loco needs to be top notch, as with the A’s and 121’s. Announced at the October show last year, I think, and there were fan pictures on Facebook, but aside from the insider, @Der Rechtsanwalt, nothing official seems to have been published.

So, some thoughts, in layman’s terms, two years after buying an EVE. We bought a Citroen E-Berlingo, cargo version, not passenger, with a 280km advertised range, in March 2023. I had a lot of fear / anxiety but wanted to bite the bullet. So far, there are two main downsides, which are slowly killing me inside. 1. Automatic transmission, no gears. 2. No engine noise, vibration or smell. I do have a little tank to fly around in on my day off, which @murphaph has actually tried out, and that helps me cope with the above issues. Being serious, the EVE is fabulous. I’d rarely ever need to do 300km per day, and if I did, there are fast-charge points in shopping centres and car parks everywhere. So, basically, no range anxiety, which I’d expected to be a big issue. If anything, I’m almost the opposite, now. In the petrol cars, I feel more anxious, as I can’t just plug them in for a few hours wherever I am. Maybe that’s just laziness on my part. The advertised range was 280km, with battery degradation expected over the first 12 months. We were getting 296km range when new, not 280km, but by the end of the first year, this had settled to around 275km, and has stayed around that mark. Range is estimated based on average speed, combined with how you accelerate and brake. Sticking to 80kph-ish on the motorway seems to give good results. The motorway speed limit for vans is 90kph so I’m not missing out on much anyway. It’s incredibly cheap to run. Our fuel costs are about a quarter of what they were for the diesel Berlingo. Maintenance is very cheap. I’ll wait until something big goes, but the yearly revisions cost a fraction of those in the diesel Berlingo. It’s fun to drive, and leaves most cars for dust at traffic lights and roundabouts. The dynamic braking is constantly charging the battery, but there’s also a “Boost” button for braking using the dynamo instead of the brakes. This does add up over time and contribute a lot. The initial outlay was higher than the diesel. I live in an apartment, so running cables from my meter to the carpark was costly. Still, overall, for anybody doing a few hundred km per day, the EVE is definitely a viable option so far. Will see how she fares over the next few years. She’s affectionately known as “Muffin”. Will add photos later if I remember.

I’m almost sure that @Irishswissernie posted pictures of bubbles weathered using this very technique a couple of years ago.

Absolutely fabulous detail! Would these have run in Ireland or only the UK?

Sadly, I think you’re right on the Covid-modelling bubble bursting. You can see it here on the forum, the number of members who faded away in the months / years following lockdowns. The Covid uptick was commonly reported at the time, but was always going to be temporary. Not sure on the €230 per loco minimum, though. If manufacturers were to decide that it’s a dying market rather than a Covid readjustment, and had no interest in the future of the market, then I’d agree. A kind of “one last ride” attitude. For re-runs with reduced or minimal tooling costs, and thinking of young buyers further down the line, a €230 baseline may be foolhardy, driving away future buyers. Has to be difficult for manufacturers in general to judge, but I reckon we will see 071’s at some stage, either high spec “new” models or sub €200 re-issues.