Warbonnet

Hi everyone, Thank you to everyone who supported our second bus release. We're now down to our final 10% of these in stock, so don't miss out. Sales have been very swift indeed. Cheers! Fran

Dave Bracken, they're the decorations for his Christmas tree this year

You guys would be surprised just how much we export to America, Canada, Australia and even continental Europe. Also remember that not everyone who is into model trains publishes their layout or collections on the internet. Our customers are very much a silent majority, who do not do forums, FB etc. They just buy and run or collect. Regarding N gauge. The logic of smaller houses etc seems sound, but if you look across the UK N gauge market has stagnated or even shrunk (a mainstream retailer declared to us that N gauge is DEAD! in a meeting. I wouldnt go that far but their sales figures did show stagnation and regression) and it is O gauge that has grown massively in the last 10 years or so. Sometimes logic goes out the window! Cheers, Fran

It's all part of the fun! On a serious note, and it's one that does need pointing out for the general conversation; new product development takes time, a LOT of time. So, while you may think IRM or MM or whoever are gone a bit quiet, that does not mean that nothing is happening behind closed doors. For instance a locomotive project can be up to 3 years end to end. So if we started work on something everyone was asking for today, you wont see it on your layout until 2024. I know most know that already, but just to keep newer members to the forum informed when it comes to expectations etc. Then there is the truckload of cash needed to fund it.. but that's a discussion for another day. Cheers! Fran

Understand where you're coming from, but who is to say no current manufacturer isn't considering or indeed working on Irish steam? Or Railcars? You never know what some of these companies get up to of an eve... Best of luck with the page. Cheers, Fran

I beleive there was issues with these working, and were on the pricey side and never caught on. Still, more convincing than the Marklin LED screen doors on their railcar (though I do love a gimmick)

I totally get that. If it's the promotion of the hobby then that is great, the more the better.

Actually the forum itself has a Facebook page that is regularly updated with forum content, Twitter too https://www.facebook.com/irishrailwaymodeller I get the idea of a page instead of a forum, but I dont get the purpose. How many Irish models should IRM and Murphy Models be making every year? We brought out a number of wagons last year and the 121 came out and we were asked by a good few customers to slow down, if anything and let the wallets cool. Both IRM and Murphy Models do a massive amount of PR to promote our models and the hobby (like this forum, magazines both physical and online content) attend exhibitions when we can of course both here and in the UK. We also participate on the likes of RMWeb, Facebook groups various and Twitter, provided models for the Late Late Toy Show and worked with the mainstream media for articles on the hobby. Then there is the efforts in SEO optimisation and search terms for optimised performance on Google. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts shared here too on stuff like above, and what you think can be improved to promote the hobby? Thanks, Fran

Vitrains did a similar thing with their Class 47, which was a nice model but came in a large kit of parts as it was produced in Italy. It ended up heavily discounted as everyone bought the Bachmann fully finished alternative and now it is no longer offered. The Irish market is so small that offering alternatives like this would not work. Also, the labour in China is lower as previously stated, so it would not reduce the cost of our models that much in the grand scheme of things. It would only have a larger impact if we manufactured locally. Honestly, China is the only game in town still if you want high detail, high quality at a reasonable price.

You might be, but 20-30 other customers for each one of you would not be.

Source - They make 2 N gauge locomotives. Perhaps their largish Z scale range also contributes to such a sales figure annually?

Micro trains are not one of the largest N scale producers globally. They make 2 locomotives themselves for the US market and even then they buy the parts such as mechanisms in from China. These had their issues too. While the FT has been cheap it has not been a good seller, debuting at the same time Intermountain dropped the same locomotive onto the market, so likely there was heavy discounting to shift product. Their SW1500 retails at the $175 dollar mark, more expensive than larger Atlas locomotives made in..... China. Bottom review is 6 years old, so MSRP has now gone up and I used the Micro trains website for price reference. https://www.micro-trains.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=63_72 Their N gauge models are well regarded but they contain few separate parts (like a lot of N gauge wagon models) so assembly is not to the level of larger models are (around 80 parts in one of our cement bubbles) The loco above features reduced details like no cab interior, few separate parts and no lighting at one end. I have seen them described as 1980s Atlas or Kato level, and I think that's a good description personally. Fair play to them keeping production in America though. I have plenty of Kato HO locomotives. Absolutely excellent runners, but they keep production prices down by basically sending you a locomotive kit. All the handrails, number boards and grab irons have to be installed by the end user. This keeps their assembly costs to a minimum. As @BosKonayconfirms above the labour to deliver these models finished would be massive. They have also lost the US HO market share they once enjoyed to the likes of Scale Trains, Athearn etc as they are delivering locomotives that run very nearly as well but with a lot more detail and fully finished, ready to plonk on the track. Also made in China. The China process for creating injection moulded pieces is as good if not better than any company anywhere in the world. It is important to remember that assembly has to be done by hand, which is labour intensive. You cannot use a robot to assemble a cement bubble of 80 parts. This is where the intense labour and expense comes into it, which is why your HO Kato locomotive shows up ready to assemble yourself and your Mircotrains N gauge model does not have the level of detail of Atlas and Athearn Genesis despite capturing the character of the prototypes well.

Hi everyone, Now that Chinese New Year is over, work continues on our A Class models. As you can see above, the injection moulding is complete, and painting is now underway. Then it will be assembly, testing, packing and shipping to Dublin! We will have further updates in the coming weeks, but at the time of writing we are still on course for a delivery of late May. Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Wow, our double decker has certainly gone down well. We are near the 25% mark for remaining stock levels. Thank you to everyone who ordered so far, we will be increasing production runs on future runs it seems! As Noel points out above, we have a range of vehicles available in 1:76 from Oxford too with many Irish themed or easily adapted into Irish themed across many eras, so perfect for your layout! Check out the full list of available vehicles here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/vehicles Cheers! Fran

We know and see the numbers involved daily. It is a fraction of the price to make these models in China when there are so many man hours involved making them. If the price was competitive we would be making them locally. However, like ALL our competitors we know the only place to make highly detailed model trains for a reasonable price is China. This is nail on the head, right here. Also, Ireland and the UK has never had the experience of making highly detailed model trains. Indigenously produced models in Britain were low on detail, somewhat crude and formed of few parts. Market demand in higher detail and better quality was another driving factory to China production. Another point is that many factories are looking to or have moved out of Guandong to other parts of China to seek lower costs including local taxes so they can be more competitive. The only way to produce model trains competitively here on such a scale is to bring minimum wage down to 20% of what it is now, and who will work for that? Also, you would have to keep your factory working 52 weeks of the year. That is a lot of models to produce to keep your costs competitive. We would struggle to achieve that, even with Accurascale factored in.

I've been told it's the beard. I always keep lumps of coal nearby though...

Wait and see. We will only announce with tooled first samples from now on to cut down on waiting times, or decorated samples if it’s a new run of existing tooling.

It was, Volvo took over Leyland Bus and from 1994 onwards they rebranded the Olympian chassis Volvo and retired the Leyland name.

TBH, the rate they're shifting, I'm not betting on it...

Exclusive to IRM only I'm afraid!

BUMP! NEW ANNOUNCEMENT!

SWIFT THINKING - City Swift Double Deckers In Stock Now! Following the speedy sell-out success of our Railink Dublin Bus double decker buses, we have gone back to our friends at Britbus and commissioned a new run of Dublin Bus double deckers. This time we have gone for a more mainstream model in the wonderfully attractive and iconic ‘City Swift’ livery of the 1990s on the Leyland Olympian chassis, based on demands for more mainstream liveries to populate layouts. Two routes are available, 13A and 51B and this is the first time the Leyland variant has been offered in City Swift livery on the Britbus model. Both models are strictly limited to just 252 pieces each. Considering the premium previous models in this livery go for they are certain to be highly collectable! These are only available via IRM and are in stock now priced at €59.95/£51.50, so don't miss out. Check them out here as well out other stock of Oxford Diecast 1:76/OO models which are ideal for your Irish layout: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/vehicles Read more here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/blogs/announcements/swift-thinking-britbus-dublin-deckers-now-in-stock Cheers, Fran

Hi Shane, 1. Labour costs 2. Expertise in producing highly detailed models 3. Better fidelity If it was a crazy way to do it, nobody would do it. Nobody does runs of 500 for a mass produced China model mind you. The 12-18 month lead time is not just in the China end of manufacture, it's also CAD design, artwork, survey etc. which is performed locally. Nothing China can do about that. SLA printing will of course get better but it will never replicated the highly detailed models we get from China on a mass produced scale simply due to the large amount of assembly (labour) that goes into making these models. It would still be assembled in China, or a similar country labour cost wise. As an exercise, put the Murphys 121 and a OO works locomotive next to each other. Which has more detail parts? Which has more features? Which model is the better runner? Which is the better model? Which one costs more? If China wasnt the answer nobody would be using China for manufacture. Hope this helps! Fran

The IRM ballast and gypsum hoppers would have the correct chassis and gubbins, the body just screws off and you can use some of the bracing parts etc to add to the body you create. The Dapol prestwin kit would be very wrong in comparison, but depends how accurate you want them. Cheers! Fran

You throw a dart at the dartboard and hope you land within the range of what the RRP will be. If you aim too low you have to increase your prices. This is why we will wait until everything is confirmed before advertising. We also wont oversell on quantities and leave people disappointed by missing out.