Bumble_Bee

Oh thats awesome I didn't know that the i3 did that! I'm still holding out hope for something more sporty haha. I absolutely love hothatches but there arent many options for those in hybrid or electric yet. Also yes I know most folks charge at home but as I said it only works for folks who have driveway or garage etc. A lot of the cities still have wee townhouses etc with onstreet parking so another solution is required for them.

Leccy cars are great but depend on the infrastructure. The best way forward in my view would be for all parking spaces to be electric, especially at places of work and shop carparks, places were cars are left for extended periods anyway. Charging at home is great too of course but it only works for houses with drive ways and one car. I don't really like the reliance on the petrol station model for electric car infrastructure, because yes maybe you want to stop at an applegreen anyway for a borger and a coffee but trying to plan a 2+hr charge into a trip sounds like a pain! I think more research should be put into hybrid stuff as its a better stopgap until electric infrastructure takes off. My dream hybrid would be one that is entirely electric powered (all wheel electric drive) but the battery was charged by a teenyweeny petrol motor that acted as a generator. So you could have the performance of a leccy car but without the 'range anxiety' because you could top up with petrol, also you wouldnt need the batteries to be as large so it could be made far lighter. It would be far more efficient than the current crop of hybrids which all work with electric assisted petrol power. That said, my current motor is a 1.5 Mazda 2 because its fast enough to be fun for my inner chav, but also extremely efficient. Its hard to push it lower than 50mpg unless you are REALLY raking the hole off it. Much better mpg than equivilent hybrids and cheaper too. Even yaris's that are a few years old are quite expensive compared to nonhybrid models. PLUS its manual. The thing I will miss most about when electric takes over is the manual experience haha. Automatic electrics are amazing though its like driving a spaceship. Cant personally stand automatic petrol/diesels though

NCC Mogul and Whippet are my two favourite classes of loco I can't wait to see how this turns out!! Hopefully some day we can get an RTR version I know I would be getting at least three of them

Well spotted! Indeed this turquiose micromaster is a repaint of the Big Daddy mould, their name is Windstorm (see the pun?) and they are indeed a purposeful homage to the MASK Hurricane car! The orange car is Stingracer who is a more loose homage to Stinger from MASK. In terms of wheel replacement, I probably could but I will probably try painting them first to see how it looks. Most of them have quite detailed little wheels but just obscured by the fact they are completely black. A touch of silver will brighten them up for sure.

Lovely work! I love the texture of resin casting for anything made from wood because it makes that van look like its made up of real panels that have changed and warped with age etc.

Ballybréige has had some visitors from Cybertron since the last time trains were running, but they made room for the preservation railway to run its brand new IRM A class. Despite the raging intergalactic war going on in the background, visitors to the site were treated to some retro freight running and a brief tour on the railways imported LMS coaches. Interesting to note that the micromaster cars in Transformers scale well with 00 and therefore are quite good to use for my car transporter wagon until I can get some "real" cars

Obligatory sharing of pics of my new A Class on the layout. Ballybriege has had some visitors from Cybertron since Trains were last running, but they managed to make room for a bit of running so so glad to finally have an irish loco to pull my homemade irish wagons! Cant wait to see what IRM comes out with next, the quality on this model is 11/10 easily above and beyond what the bigger manufacturers are doing! Now I'm trying to decide if I want a second A Class or the NIR Mk2s

Mine arrived safe and sound on Monday. Absolutely gorgeous thing and now I can move forward with my homemade mk2+3 coaches now that I can match the shade of orange accurately to this Absolutely loving the day glo panels, as a 1995 kid it couldn't be any other livery for me! Although Santa will probably get asked for a second loco.. speaking of arriving safe and sound, frig me lads they are well packaged! Felt like a game of pass the parcel with all the layers! certainly a quality product and shows pride in the work unlike other manufacturers who do bear minimum where packaging is concerned! I wish I could join the rest of ye in getting it down on the layout for a run, however in the months prior, I have been delving into one of my other main loves, Transformers, and the railway table has become a junk yard.. When I get these robots shifted back to Cybertron I'll get some running done

Fair play folks its hard these days to decide what carrier to use since they are all so hit and miss sometimes. Although I will say.... ...thank god you's aren't sending with Hermes

Absolutely! I suppose its also a matter of scaling, with the A-class taking up a single 40ft container compared to the likes of Hornby who probably end up with multiple containers full at different stages so would be a much larger scale logistical effort.

Fab! Yes indeed we are lucky to get these so soon given the worldwide delays. When I saw Hattons Genesis coaches postponed almost a whole year I dispaired but then rejoiced because it means I might be able to afford a second A Class depending on which ones are left in stock after arrival

It certainly is a milestone worth savoring, I'm not seriously whinging about new stuff before the A's have even landed, I'm just having fun adding to the running joke about updates on this thread

No news for a few hours, are the second run of A's nearly in Irish airspace yet??

This is how I remember them! Yellow door with the red diamond and the lovely teal stripe up the side. Was this an NIR livery or Translink? Or both? I remember seeing them with the NIR logo but also remember seeing translink stickers on the side

I cant wait to order a set of these stage but depending what else gets announced over the next year I might end up getting three packs because i really want the DVT, a generator and a grill haha. That said my layout is literally only a single loop oval so a 9 carriage train would end up with the arse end and front end coupled together