Warbonnet

Hahaha I heard the Antonov 225 landed in Shannon this week. Did you send it??

Hi everyone, I will be there with my IRM hat on with some As, wagons and our buses for sale, as well as some nice accessory items and a couple of warehouse finds too. So, make sure you drop by, say hi, and check out what we have on the day. Will be fantastic to see some familiar faces after so long. Oh, and something new too (small but very nice announcement!) Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Wondering how many more A Classes there are to be sent out? This much... This pile represents the stock of which the final third of orders will be picked from and and will be sent out between now and next Friday. It's only when you see the volume for itself do you begin to understand just how many of these had to be picked, box made, wrapped, labelled and shipped. Our warehousing team will now work throughout the bank holiday to pick, wrap and label orders to get them out to you as quickly as possible. This is by far the biggest order volume we've ever handled, with it dwarfing any previous run of wagons for either IRM or Accurascale. It's fantastic that our A Class locos have seen such a huge demand. It's been a learning curve for all of us, and we will put in measures to streamline order dispatch, but if we want our locomotives to be wrapped securely so they arrive to your layout in perfect condition it takes a lot more than a bit of card, tape and bubble wrap. It takes a bit of time to ensure you can enjoy them out of the box for many years to come. Thank you once again for your continued patience and understanding. If you are still waiting then it's worth reading the customer testimonials from those who have received theirs so far to know it is well worth the wait. Thanks also goes to our warehouse staff who have done trojan work, including 15 hour days to get them out the door. They're flat out and have been for 10 days now. It's been a long wait, we know that better than anyone, but we've been overjoyed to see them arrive in peoples hands, enjoyed on their layouts and the feedback on the locomotive itself has been fantastic and very much appreciated. If you knew half the story over the past three years, particularly since the pandemic, then you'd be slightly amazed they got here at all, but that's another story for another day. In the meantime, plaudits should go to Patrick for his extensive research, Richie's extensive surveying and project management, our CAD man Eugen who drew the locos in 3D, Gareth for his excellent decoration artwork, the late Anthony McDonald who was instrumental in assisting Patrick with research, the ITG gang in supporting us from day one with research and access to A39r, ESU for coming from Germany to record the sounds for the decoders and assisting on all DCC functionality IWT for shipping them from China to Dublin and dealing with all the rail challenges that sprung up along the way, Stephen for putting us all together in the first place and our factory who have manufactured a masterpiece in OO scale and once again our warehouse staff who are shipping them out. (I've sure I've missed people, if I have I'm very sorry!) However, the biggest thank you of all is to you, our customers, who have supported us from day one, offered us great encouragement and understanding when timelines slipped, and most of all, opened your wallets and believed in our models. Thank you from all of us at IRM. Oh, and those boxes? Well, more on that this Sunday. Cheers! Fran (On behalf of IRM)

Hi Blu Bianco, Not at the moment but when our backlog is clear we will put a note up here, Facebook and via email to let everyone know. If you haven’t heard about your order by that stage then we will get you to email us so we can look into it for you. Cheers! Fran

Hi Tony, Many thanks for that. We have a policy of dispatching order earliest date fully paid first, then by order date thereafter, with order first pay later slotting in there, but it seems a few slipped through the net in this case. We have informed the warehouse team to ensure this is strictly adhered to going forward in fairness to everyone. Cheers! Fran

Victims of our own success, perhaps. If it's any consolation, us IRM folk will be the very last to receive their As!

Hi everyone, It's safe to say that the A Class is our most ordered IRM model to date, ever. Pre-orders for our first locomotive dwarfed any wagon release by three times at the very least. We always knew dispatch would take longer than it did for any wagon run we have done, particularly when considering the weight of the locos and the extra packing required. However, we didn't quite anticipate just how long. The good news is that the mountain of pre-orders has now become a mere hill, but we still have a good bit to go. Our warehouse crew have been packing A Classes for over a week now, and such is the deluge of orders we have received we have them working overtime in the evenings and this weekend to get the orders out as quick as we can. To speed things up further, we approached a temp agency and asked for four additional temp staff members to come and join our drive to get the locos out the door. Sadly, none of them showed up, such is the demands currently for labour in the logistics industry, especially at this time of year with Christmas fast approaching. So, that's where we are. Our warehouse team estimate that the current backlog of A Class orders will be cleared by next Friday, October 29th. We do apologise for this delay, but we are flat out going as fast as we can. This also goes for any orders that have been requested for collection, as they are in the same queue as postal orders. We want your A Class turning up properly protected, in one piece and ready for action on you, so we must take the time to pack them properly. Thank you for your patience, understanding and continued support for IRM, and of course your passion for our first locomotive. We promise that it will be well worth the wait. Thanks, Fran (on behalf of IRM)

You lot come up with some off the wall stuff sometimes! Extra A Classes? You's shall be so lucky!

We just like to be proactive is all. We didnt want your As sitting on a step or getting wet and to save you a trip to your local sorting centre, so we thought to hold off for a few days would be wise. I have released them for you so should get wrapped and packed tomorrow, all going well. Cheers! Fran

Hi Noel, As you said you were away last week we held them for you. Would you like us to release them now for you? Cheers! Fran

I'm pretty sure one 071 got it and there was a picture of it floating about. Some of the As were so treated up to 5 years, so longer lived than you may think. Well into the 90s anyway, and perfect for placing alongside IR and Supertrain liveries. It's one we always liked anyway!

I'm afraid they're all gone, folks. Turned out to be a really popular livery made in the same quantity of IR and BNT locos. We're really running low in several other liveries too, so I wouldn't hang about reserving ones you like. Cheers! Fran

Cast, like the real thing, only smaller!

There will be one small but very nice announcement.

Plenty! https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/dcc-decoders/products/a-class-emd-sound-decoder

Hi everyone, Just a quick update; we are powering though the pre-orders best we can, but we can see it taking another 5 working days to clear the backlog, such is the demand for these beauties. We are going as quick as we can, all hands are on deck, but emails asking "where is my order?" is just slowing the process down really. If you havent had any tracking information for your pre-order by this time next week then by all means, email us, but in the meantime we will plough on and get them out as quick as we can. Thank you for your continued patience and we are sure you agree that the finished models are worth the wait! Should you be looking to merge orders, than by all means let us know! Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Just a quick reminder. If you want to collect your order please contact IRM direct sales@irishrailwaymodels.com with your order number first so we can book it in for you. Please do not contact Parcel Planet directly as they are not equipped to deal with on spec turn ups or phone calls from IRM customers. (This is not directed at @fishplate7 as he had arranged collection correctly, but we have been contacted by the warehouse team about other customers turning up or contacting them unannounced!) Appreciate your cooperation in this everyone! Cheers! Fran

Only 37 of them left in stock, folks! https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/locomotives/products/a1-a-class-locomotive

Thanks Martin, really appreciate the support, kind words and orders as always. It's great to see them landing with you all and we hope you all enjoy them!

Hi everyone, IRM was delighted to team up with our friends at IWT to sponsor the delivery of three truckloads of previously purchased track panels from Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail's permanent way depot in Portlaoise to the Maam Cross Connemara Railway Project. The Maam Cross project now has enough track to complete phase one of their goal of relaying a stretch of the Connemara Railway but are in urgent need of funds to continue this excellent railway preservation project. If you can help out in any way financially or with volunteer time, please check out www.connemararailway.ie Cheers! Fran

And I responded that very few, if any, chose the latter option of pay at the last minute. Those who paid up front will receive them sooner than later.

If it’s not paid it doesn’t get shipped, so those orders don’t touch the warehouse floor. Over 95% of people who ordered paid immediately and pretty much the rest paid in installments.

Hi everyone, Plan is to dispatch by order date though invariably a couple out sync ship out in error, just humans with all hands on deck as they say. Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Just a quick reminder to keep this thread on topic please. This thread is about the IRM A Class. Off topic post has been deleted. Cheers! Fran

Some of the others are sailing close to the wind too... Thanks for all the orders!