Warbonnet

Well that's most disrespectful. Where did I call Americans stupid? I merely pointed out that they had little understanding of tariffs, which I found surprising. That doesn't make them stupid, just that they were ill informed or perhaps misled by their leaders. Please do not make assumptions based on your own outlook. I have spent a lot of time in America and admire a great many of American achievements and culture. Enough of your gaslighting please. The Chinese exporters will pay none of it, unless it's to the same Chinese company importing it at the other end. It will then be passed onto the end consumer pays it and it goes into the exchequer. If I sell you a locomotive tomorrow from here and you live in the US, the 23% VAT will be removed from your purchase price (as it always has been) and the 30% of tariff imposed by your government will be added, along with whatever other charges. It's as simple as that. We have no control over it. Still, 30% is better than what it was, thanks to the climb down in recent days.

A fantastic achievement by the SDMRC, and what amazing club rooms they established too. Really are a joy to visit. From an IRM perspective we are especially grateful to the club and Paul in particular for giving us a spot in their Blackrock show so we could advertise our idea of doing a CIE Ballast Hopper in OO gauge back in October 2015. Not many people knew us then, but we have since grown a bit.... Now here we are 10 years later as those little acorns grew, and we are looking forward to marking our 10th anniversary further with the club at the show!

Correct. What this whole experience has taught me is just how much Americans do not understand tariffs and how they work. It's nothing to do with companies, it's basically a tax imposed by Governments.

A very special locomotive needs our help. Today marks the 80th anniversary since the first book from the Railway Series of children's books was published, and one of the locomotives which inspired one of the very special characters needs some help. Will you join us in rescuing this wonderful piece of railway history and funding a brighter future for him? WATCH: We Visit Wibert With Our Model And Tell You Our Plan! Our friend Wilbert is currently looking very sorry for itself at the end of a siding, awaiting funds to help put him back together and receive new paintwork. You can help make it happen by buying our latest exclusive model of this very special engine! History 'Wilbert’ as we have come to know him, was built by Hunslet, Leeds, in 1953. It was one of a number of post-war "Austerities", ordered by the National Coal Board. Wilbert was delivered in December that year to Rawnsley loco shed, Staffordshire for its first employment in the South Staffordshire coalfield and was painted a light green colour. Works number ‘3806’ led an average working life, moving around the coalfield to Cannock shed, and then West Cannock. At some point during its working career, it was fitted with non-standard ‘enclosed side’ steps for the running board. The locomotive was acquired by a group of members from the Dean Forest Railway and was delivered to Parkend in 1976. Here ‘3806’ sat awaiting its turn to be restored, which was realised a few years later, after its transfer to Norchard and ownership transferred to the Dean Forest Railway company – becoming the first locomotive to be owned by the railway. Now fitted with vacuum braking and pained in an attractive dark blue, lined red livery, ‘3806’ received its first name in August 1981, this was to be “G. B. Keeling” after the first chief mechanical engineer of the Severn and Wye Railway, which later was to become the Dean Forest Railway. On the 13th of September 1987, the locomotive was renamed “Wilbert” In honour of the Reverend Wilbert Awdry, creator of the Railway series and Thomas the tank engine who was the Chairman of the Dean Forest Railway at the time. There was a small ceremony where Wilbert Awdry unveiled the new name to his friends, family and invited guests. In 1994, Christopher Awdry published book number 38 in the Railway series (the writing of which he had taken over from his Father) entitled “Wilbert the Forest Engine” which was four short stories about “Wilbert” visiting the Island of Sodor from his home railway in the Forest of Dean (another Austerity, “Sixteen” is described in this book which bears a striking resemblance to “Warrior, also located at the DFR and available in our main range!) Wibert continued to work on the DFR and out on loan, visiting the Swanage Railway, Weardale Railway and Peak Rail amongst others. The last boiler ticket expired in 2016 when Wilbert was placed in store pending overhaul. This overhaul started later in the year by the removal of parts, including the boiler but was soon sidetracked as the railway had more pressing issues to finance and there was no immediate requirement for another operational Austerity. The Covid 19 pandemic placed the overhaul on hold indefinitely and Wilbert was shunted to the end of a siding. In 2021, there was a glimmer of hope in that the Dean Forest Railway Society had agreed to purchase 50% of the shares of the Wilbert from the Railway company and an overhaul would be subject to fundraising. With an estimated cost of over £100k this was to be no mean feat and sadly stalled again. How We're Going To Help Together! In 2024, we approached the Family of the Reverend Awdry to ask for their blessing to make a model of the locomotive bearing Wilbert’s name and it was suggested to them we could use the funds raised from the sales of the model to donate towards the real locomotive at the Dean Forest Railway. The family were in agreement that it would be a wonderful idea so discussions with the DFR society then started. Quotes were received for a full cosmetic (non-operational) overhaul and the railway agreed that following the overhaul, Wilbert would be placed in a prominent position at Norchard station along with interpretation boards to tell the story of Wilbert Awdry (the man), Wilbert (the locomotive) and to welcome guests and visitors to the railway. We hope that by restoring Wilbert, he will continue to inspire future enthusiasts in the same way that many of us were inspired ourselves. So, how can you help? Simple! Buy one of our limited edition Wilbert locomotives, and we will donate the proceeds to the restoration. To cosmetically restore Wilbert, we need to raise £7.500. Sales of our limited edition model, featuring our now famous "Accurascale Exclusives" packaging and bonus material, including a letter from the Awdry family, and certificate will be included in the box too. Priced at £149.95 for DC/DCC Ready and £249.95 for DCC Sound fitted. Our Wilberts will arrive with the rest of our first run of Austerities in Q2 2026 and once sold out, we will then donate the money to get the restoration underway. Thank you to everyone in advance who can assist in funding its restoration and we will keep you up to date with progress. Pre-order your Wilbert, available only direct via the Accurascale website via the link below! Pre-Order Wilbert Here! View the full article

God remember the days when everyone was just overjoyed about a new Irish model coming out? I really miss those days!

Thankfully there is sensible people running EU countries and economies, so we can enjoy Chinese expertise for a while yet, and now with additional capacity as American companies are forced to put the brakes on their plans. I really feel for those companies, as they're small companies and this is a serious threat to their liability. They'll be long dead before any alternative arrangements can be put in place. Having been to China, and having welcomed our factory partners here on a number of occasions now, all I can report is that they're brilliant people to work with. Their army was 3 million strong long before they started manufacturing model trains too.

Continuing our odyssey into the quintessential wagon load trains of the CIE era, and the maximum usage of the legendary Bulleid triangulated underframe, we are delighted to announce the humble H Van, this time in its widespread, "unfitted" format. History As part of the programme of standardisation and rolling stock renewal instigated by Corás Iompair Éireann (CIÉ)’s Chief Mechanical Engineer, Oliver Bulleid, in the 1950s, a fleet of over 1,300 H vans was introduced. With a body resembling earlier CIÉ types but mated to an underframe constructed to Bulleid’s patented triangulated design, these wagons quickly became a common sight across the entirety of the Irish railway system, being found at practically every station where goods were transhipped, from remote branch lines to the busiest yards, and could even be observed on through workings in Northern Ireland. The loads conveyed in these vehicles was varied, often being employed to carry a broad range of wagonload sundries, as well as serving higher volume flows such as bottles and barrels from the Guinness brewery at St James’s Gate in Dubbin, and beet pulp from sugar factories to be used as fodder. H vans were commonly observed on a wide range of workings, from short branch services consisting of one or two wagons in the company of the locomotive and a brake van, to long rakes of vans or mixed wagon types, and even on mixed trains on branch and secondary lines. The rise of fitted trainload ‘liner’ trains in the 1970s heralded the demise of CIE’s wagonload services, and the H Van fleet became increasingly redundant, with most being withdrawn by the latter half of the 1970s. Today, a single complete example has been preserved and is to be found at the Downpatrick & County Down Railway, though numerous bodies still survive, having been sold on by CIÉ upon withdrawal, mostly to farmers for use as animal shelters or equipment sheds. The Model The unfitted H Vans marks the latest, and one of the most numerous wagons using the famous CIE Bulleid triangulated underframe design which helped standardise Irish freight stock from their introduction in the 1950s. It's our aim to offer all wagons based on this underframe design. Featuring prototypically accurate simplified brake rigging compared to its rarer, fitted sisters, these wagons reached the four corners of the network, often seen in long mixed goods trains, and were a feature of almost every siding and freight spur around the country. Coming in our famed triple packs, we have six different packs to offer modellers, featuring original grey with Flying Snails, grey with CIE roundels and brown with CIE roundels, giving a wide range of possibilities and variety for the modeller. Due in Q3 2025, these models are already nearing production completion at our factory. Priced at £109.95 per triple pack, and 10% off when you buy two or more packs, you can order them below direct, or via your local Accurascale/IRM stockist. Pre-Order Your Unfitted H Vans Here! View the full article

tune in tomorrow morning, folks!

Hi folks, I will be there spreading the gospel according to Accurascale/IRM, and will have the 800, Hunslets, Park Royals, Bubbles and more on display over the weekend, so be sure to come by for a look. Please note that we will no longer be retailing at shows, and just promoting only, but of course everything is available in stock online or with traders at the show. See you then! Fran

Another milestone has been reached here at Accurascale as our Class 89 locomotives have reached production sample stage. We recently brought you a full update on the Class 89s including our visit to the factory to oversee production progress (which you can read by clicking here!). Since our visit the first models have now been fully completed and we can share them with you all. Check out those specially themed boxes! As per the last update, these are currently due in late Q2 of 2025, and will soon depart the factory for their trip to our warehouse! Watch out for a sound demonstration video coming very soon, too! We have a limited amount remaining on pre-order, so if you don't want to miss out, get your pre-order in below or via Rails of Sheffield with a £30 deposit! Pre-Order Your Class 89 Here! View the full article

Hi @Gabhal Luimnigh, Still awaiting your feedback/fleshing out of this statement. Many thanks, Fran

Hi Noel, Another way to look at it is; previously we had an IRM dedicated cabinet at these shows, and people hardly paid any notice. Now it is mixed in with Accurascale models which are more familiar to the average UK punter, it drew more eyes on them as they had a closer look at something "different". We definitely got more "what's that?" questions since we started doing it. Cheers! Fran

Hi folks, Instead of slipping down the dark hole of conspiracy, there is some very simple explanations to this. 1. The 800 and Park Royals were being transported to the UK to me here in Dublin via a IRM customer for the Wexford show next weekend, hence them not being on display. We only have 2 800 samples, the other being with ESU to finalise the PCB. We have Hunslets and bubbles here, so were able to leave them in the UK for display purposes at the show. 2. The ICR is also in ESU in Germany testing the electronics, hence was not on display. 3. As seen in recent months, IRM is being folded into Accurascale as a brand. 4. If you see Accurascale at a show, you can be sure that IRM products will be on display at our shows. Whatsmore, our designer of those items will be on hand to discuss them with you and give you a great insight into them as products. 5. The UK market by and large (97% of them) do not really care about Irish outline, but we always have some on display to show them what they are missing out on. Exactly Keith. End of the day, British show goers want to see British outline models. We cannot stress enough just how small the Irish market is. It's barely viable, and DJ Dangerous assessment of it slowing down is accurate. We have seen that over the last 18 months, and remember; it's not just IRM that we sell. Accurascale UK outline subsidises IRM. The more we sell of that, the longer we can continue to do Irish outline. Sales of Irish models is the biggest key though! I'm sure those of you who visit the Dublin shows, or see us at Wexford this weekend will not that there will be little or indeed no BR outline models on our stand, and only Irish models get promoted. In Ireland, Irish outline is our main focus of promotion. In the UK, it's British outline. Sorry, could you flesh out this point please, and let us know your thoughts? I'm intrigued. Many thanks, Fran

I have one. It's very nice indeed!

Hi Noel, Respectfully, an error is usually something made unconsciously, thinking it was correct to begin with. For the ballast and cement bubbles, we consciously decided to go with the cranked coupler solution to maintain prototype fidelity of the under frame. It was not an error, it was a conscious decision. We explained it at the time, at considerable length to you. And again on subsequent releases of these wagons. Other posters on here remember our explanation as demonstrated above. I’m surprised you haven’t, when it was explained in answer to your queries, countless times. I’m absolutely certain you’re not trolling of course. That would be rather pointless and silly for a grown man to do. Cheers! Fran