Warbonnet

IRM will be there with models for sale and we should have decorated samples of our Enterprise coaches too, which will be of great interest to the locals especially! See you there!

Our railway heritage would be nothing without preservation societies and groups. The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) was formed in 1964 to preserve Irish steam locomotives, carriages and rolling stock and to operate them on the Irish railway network for everyone to see, appreciate, enjoy and travel on. Operating from bases in Whitehead, Mullingar and Dublin, the RPSI has kept the wheels of Irish steam turning for almost 60 years, funded by donations and operating rail tours across the Irish rail network. both north and south of the border. Due to COVID19 restrictions, the vital revenue resource of rail tours has been cut off from the organisation following two years of postponed trips on the mainline. However in recent years, the RPSI has also received funding from a series of limited edition models which have provided a vital income stream. We've been delighted to aid the RPSI in facilitating the sale of some of these models, such as the limited edition production run of Murphy Models B134. With our recent announcement of our NIR Mark 2B Enterprise stock, we can now come together and produce our first model in conjunction with the RPSI; a three car pack of their Mark 2 railtour rake of coaches. The RPSI previously commissioned a three pack of coaches in its green livery, featuring a trio of Mark 2A coaches. We can now offer three more coaches in Mark 2B format, including the Mark 2B Grille car no. 547, as well as FK no. 181 and SO no. 300. This heritage rake has been operating on RPSI rail tour trains behind both steam and diesel power from NIR and IE since their introduction into service almost 20 years ago, on both sides of the border. Featuring our first Irish outline coach tooling, our Mark 2B coaches look resplendent in the RPSI green livery. A high specification of full interior lighting, museum quality detailing with a wealth of separately applied parts, close coupling and prototypically correct Irish gauge B4 bogies allowing for simple conversion for 21mm gauge if desired. Speaking of the announcement, RPSI Chairperson John McKegney said that he is delighted to see high quality models of the Society’s Mk2 rake being produced; "After almost two years of lockdown it will be good to see both the prototypes and then models in action. The Society very much appreciates the support given by IRM to the ongoing maintenance of our Northern main running rake. It is delighted to be able to assist in the creation of such high quality models for which IRM has become famous.” IRM Director Patrick Conboy expressed his delight on being able to assist the RPSI with our latest model; "We're delighted to announce this special edition of our Mk2b coaches in the widely-recognised livery of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland. Proceeds from sales of these coaches will be donated to the RPSI to aid the Society in its ongoing work to preserve and maintain its unique and historically important collection of locomotives and rolling stock. "While locomotives may be the star attractions, its coaching stock such as the RPSI's Mk2s which allow enthusiasts to enjoy them on railtours, and where the all-important social aspect of such events is enjoyed, whether that's conversations in the saloons or a pint or two enjoyed at the bar. "These coaches are sure to be popular as they are a familiar sight from their extensive travels across the island of Ireland, hauled by a wide variety of motive power which not only includes the RPSI's superb collection of steam locomotives but also diesels provided by both Iarnród Éireann and Translink/Northern Ireland Railways." We recently received a first decorated sample of the Mark 2 and took it to Whitehead to meet its big brothers. James Friel, Technical Operations Engineer with the RPSI was on hand to inspect the model and gave us a tour of the real thing, along with all the other impressive projects currently underway at the RPSI HQ. This special RPSI pack will feature all the high specification featured in our new range of Mark 2 coaches, including full interior lighting, close coupling system, a wealth of separately applied detail, correct widened B4 bogies to cater for 5ft 3in gauge (and allowing for conversion to 21mm) and prototype specific detailing. Arriving in Q4 2022 along with their NIR counterparts, our RPSI coach packs are strictly limited to 300 sets with numbered limited edition certificates and presentation packaging. RRP is €219.95 with proceeds going to the RPSI to support railway preservation. Pre-ordering is advised due to the limited and special nature of these coaches, considering the recent sales for our A3r locomotive to raise funds for the ITG. Available exclusively via IRM, they can be pre-ordered by clicking here. View the full article

Hi George, Many thanks for your kind words. As we all know, Irish outline is a very small niche in OO. For the A to perform so well and beat such stiff opposition (some household name with very popular British outline locos below us) is frankly mindblowing. Thank you to everyone who voted for us, who has supported us since we begun and who has purchased an A class. You guys make this all possible buy voting for us with your wallets, as well as in polls. We are truly humbled. Our development team are over the moon naturally! Cheers! Fran

A list as long as your arm!

Oh the stories we could tell. Will make the book a best seller!

Hi everyone, Have my calculator out, so I thought I should tot up the remaining stocks of As and well, I have some bad news. We have just 2% of the original run left in stock. Incredible! Thank you to everyone who has ordered them! They have sold so well. So, we really are getting to last orders with them if you want one. Only three (albeit rather attractive) liveries left. You know what to do! Order here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive/availability_in-stock? Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Just on gypsum hoppers, we have very few left overall. So, if you want the perfect block freight train for your A, 121 or 141/181, grab them before they go: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/gypsum-ore-wagons Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Just a note to say we're over 40% pre-ordered on these now. Thank you to everyone who has ordered so far. Don't miss out on these, pre-order now ahead of their arrival next month: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/vehicles/irm-exclusive_exclusive?sort_by=created-descending Cheers! Fran

Hi @K801 Ask and ye shall receive: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/exclusive-irm-buses All the other 1/76 diecast stuff can be seen here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/vehicles/availability_in-stock? We're adding to it all the time and remember there's free post to Ireland and UK for all orders over €50/£50. Perfect little accessories for your layout. Cheers! Fran

Lack of RTR stock "at the moment". Important lesson here folks, and a trap many have fallen into before. when the stock comes along but the loco you wanted has sold out it can get every expensive as it hits EBay premium status. We (IRM) are here for the long haul and plan to expand and cater for other time periods too as we go. So, don't let the lack of stock today put you off buying that loco you like for fear of nothing to run behind that. You never know what we have up our sleeves over the next few announcements. After all, look at our forthcoming Enterprise Mark 2 coaches. Something finally for those 111s and NIR 201s to haul. I shall say no more than personally agreeing with George, A30 is an absolute stunner. Silver bogies = seeing alllllll the detail. Hard sell over, but you guys know what to do. https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive/availability_in-stock? Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Hitting 25% now. Thank you for all of you who ordered so far! Perfect wagons for your black and tan or supertrain A class. Perhaps a plain back A55 too? Cheers Fran

Hi everyone, Amazing reaction to this one, with 33% of the production run sold already. Can't see these hanging around for too long! Cheers! Fran

No worries George, since we had the Magnesites last week we needed to keep spreading the love around the country! Cheers! Fran

Doh, sausage fingers on my part!

The worst kept secret is finally confirmed! Our next commission of the Britbus Dublin Bus Olympian range of models is a pair of RV class buses in the very classy and attractive original Coastal Tours livery. Dublin Bus expanded into new markets and begun serving the tourist industry in the 1990s, with services such as open top tours throughout the city of Dublin, and later with iconic services such as the Ghost Bus tour. Another service which was introduced was the Coastal Tours service, which departed O'Connell street daily and brought tourists on tours of both the north and south coasts of Dublin, with the northside tour running to Malahide and the southside tour to Bray, Co. Wicklow. For this service, a tours livery inspired by the open top fleet was applied to a small number of new Dublin Bus RV Volvo Olympian double deck buses, beginning with RV330 in 1997. Of course, whist these buses were dedicated to Coastal Tours duties, they also operated on normal routes too from their base of Donnybrook garage. RV330 was no stranger to the route 14A to Ballinteer, which it operated regularly in the mornings before taking up its coastal tour duties for the day. RV496 arrived in 1999 to further bolster the growing popularity of the tour as the tourism part of the Dublin Bus services began to flourish, featuring a similar livery, albeit with subtle tweaks to logo positioning and losing of the lower bodyside pin stripes and black bumpers which was a feature of RV330. Being lovers of detail variety, we approached our latest commission keen to cover both styles of livery and research appropriate services for both RV330 and RV496. RV330 will be available dressed for the 14A to Balinteer, whilst RV496 will be available in full Coastal Tours scrolls. These pre-production samples were received late last year. Since then improvements and tweaks have been made to the finish on both buses, but offer a glimpse on what many enthusiasts and collectors see as 'the missing link' for the Britbus Alexanader Olympian tooling, with this very attractive livery rumoured a number of years ago but never materialised. Both buses are limited to 300 pieces each with certificate and bespoke packaging, and are due in stock in mid-March, currently in a container on the high seas. Prices are €59.99 each and are now available to pre-order on our website. Early pre-ordering is advised due to the demand for this livery and limited numbers available. We would once again like to thank Derek Farrelly, Adrian Richards, Darren Hall, Fred Dean Jr. and Jonathan McDonnell for their valuable assistance in this project. Order yours (and our other exclusive Irish bus commissions!) by clicking here. View the full article

Hi everyone, And then there were three! A12 is now sold out, with limited stock of A55, A56 and A30 now remaining! Cheers! Fran

Looking good! Re Crossley sounds; it seems that Australia is starting to open up again, which is positive. All except Western Australia, where the X Class is. Typical! Hopefully soon though. We really want to make the crossleys come to life. Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, We're delighted that everyone is enjoying their As. As per the Railway Modeller review, performance was key, and something we really pushed hard for. Looking great is one thing, but the locos need to perform too, so our push for weight, helical gearing etc was vital and it paid off. Only 10 items of A12 left folks.... A55 also seeing a surge in recent days and when you see @Noel's pics it's easy to understand why! Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, We hit 20% sales milestone on these already over the weekend. Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered so far. They certainly seem to be popular! Cheers! Fran

Our plough vans also made use of the chassis. Cheers! Fran

Hi Sean, No need, we still have some of ballast wagons left in stock! https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/ballast-hoppers/availability_in-stock? Cheers! Fran

Hi Kevin, As documented in the announcement the chassis is as per the ballast wagon release. Cheers! Fran

BUMP!

We're become a bit notorious for our wagons, so it's great to be able to announce an all new wagon to kick off a busy 2022. Welcome to the CIE magnesite wagons! History Magnesite, the mineral magnesium carbonate (MgCO3), is a member of the calcite group of carbonate minerals that is a principal source of magnesium (Mg). During the 1960s, the American multinational Quigley Co., Inc. acquired sites at Ballinacourty, near Dungarvan in County Waterford, and at Tivoli just east of Cork city. The company specialised in the manufacturing of refractory products for industrial use and its Irish operation was concerned with the production of heat-resistant bricks for lining blast furnaces. The venture was championed by Quigley’s CEO, John A. ‘Jack’ Mulcahy, a native of Dungarvan who emigrated to the USA as a teenager and it took advantage of tax breaks offered by the Irish Government to attract foreign investment at the time. The primary mineral used in the manufacturing process was magnesite, which was extracted from dolomitic limestone. Seawater was necessary for this process, which made the coastal location of the Ballinacourty plant ideal. However, the source of the dolomite was a quarry at Bennettsbridge in County Kilkenny, some 85kms away. At the same time, Quigley required a means of conveying magnesite in bulk from Ballinacourty to its factory at Tivoli, where the finished product was manufactured for export. The solution to both traffic flows lay in the region’s railway infrastructure. Construction of the processing plant at Ballinacourty began in 1969 and was completed the following year, by which time Quigley had been taken over by Pfizer. Dungarvan had been served by the former Great Southern & Western Railway route between Waterford and Mallow, but this had been closed by Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) as recently as 1967. With track lifting crews working eastward from Mallow the most direct route to Tivoli was severed and CIÉ determined that the anticipated traffic levels did not warrant its reinstatement. However, the link to Waterford remained in place and offered connections to both the quarry on the Kilkenny line and Tivoli via Limerick Junction. CIÉ subsequently laid a new 2km spur to the facility which joined the existing track alignment east of Dungarvan at milepost 49. The quantity of dolomite required by the plant necessitated trains of up to 24 open hopper wagons to serve it twice daily. Until the advent of rail-bourne ore traffic from Tara Mines in the late 1970s, these trains were the heaviest to run on the Irish railway network and required two General Motors Bo-Bo diesels to haul them, although A Class locomotives sometimes deputised if a shorter rake of wagons was operated. Magnesite was conveyed from Ballinacourty to Tivoli once a day in distinctive covered hopper wagons which were constructed specifically for the task. This duty was almost exclusively hauled by A Class motive power and could consist of anywhere between 12 and 22 hoppers. Additionally, a cut of three-to-five fuel oil tankers was sometimes attached to this train to supply diesel for plant machinery, although this service could also operate separately. Besides operating on their regular route, these wagons often appeared in Limerick for exams and general repairs at CIÉ’s wagon workshops. Traffic remained steady for the next decade but by the early 1980s a number of factors were conspiring to darken the future of the Pfizer-Quigley plant at Ballinacourty. The tax breaks which had enticed the company in the first place had expired and high energy costs in the wake of the 1970s oil crisis were taking their toll on balance sheets. Meanwhile, overproduction of magnesite led to a worldwide slump in the mineral’s value and the company’s Irish operation struggled to be competitive. The final nail in the coffin was driven home when Pfizer-Quigley made the decision to construct a new processing factory in Asia to avail of cheaper operating costs, resulting in the Ballinacourty facility closing in July 1982. The Model Following on from the modular approach CIÉ took with its wagon fleet in the 1960s and 1970s, we have been able to capitalise once again on our common chassis first used under the ballast hopper wagons. This allowed us to create a whole new body tooling for these distinctive wagons, featuring the intricate loading hatches, discharge mechanism and profile of the hopper body. The models are set off beautifully with fine etched metal walkways and fine ladder detail, as well as an array of chassis detail to create a wagon to the excellent standards of fidelity we have become renowned for since their inception. We have taken this opportunity to refine the existing chassis tooling, so that features such as the brake levers and their ratchet/pin-down loops have been improved with additional finesse and detailing. Further additions to this tooling include the correct style of axleboxes used on the magnesite wagons and similar stock during this era. These adjustments and improvements are proof of IRM's commitment to authenticity. As can be seen in the photographs, tooling is already complete and these samples have now been assessed, with feedback sent to the factory, including improvements to the springs and the ladders as well as fit and finish and better seating of the walkways. Production will commence after Chinese New Year. A limited run of four different packs of three wagons per pack will be on offer, with a bonus exclusive limited edition single wagon pack also offered. This will be a first from us, and will feature distinctive decoration which adorned one end of the wagon on its final working in 1982. It will be limited to 350 pieces, complete with limited edition certificate and special presentation box, marking the 40th anniversary of the closure of the plant. Prices for triple packs is €124.95 and the special edition single wagon is €44.95, with 10% when you buy two or more packs. Delivery is expected in Q3 of 2022. Modellers can place their orders directly with IRM by clicking here! View the full article

Hi everyone, No video on this one, but pre-production sample will be shown on here. Not long to go now! Cheers! Fran