Warbonnet

Hi @Westcorkrailway, We've previously shown painted samples last year, this included some body only samples which we sent feedback to China on. What's coming now is the final production run based on this feedback. Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, With the A Classes about 6/7 weeks away from production completion we have received some requests recently regarding which locos are about to sell out. So, to help you plan strategically for your A Class purchases, we have drawn up this leader board to demonstrate what locos are about to sell out in the short term, and which ones are likely to be available for longer. As you can see below, A23r is the most endangered species at this moment. Please note that with all the variations in running numbers with the As that each running number will be small in quantity size overall, certainly smaller than the runs for the recent 121s or say the 141s, so likely difficult to get in the coming years. We will NOT be disclosing final production numbers on each running number except for the limited run of A1, which is 250 models. Remember, you can place your order now via our website: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive Cheers! Fran

Thought the layout was getting some knitting for forthcoming 92s....

Hi everyone, Our dispatch and support is now closed for the Easter break, reopening from next Tuesday (dispatch) and Wednesday (support). We would like to wish you all a very happy Easter! Cheers! IRM Team

Of course, the IRM cross over is heavily on our minds. Thinking Supertrain one side, Green with flying snail on t'other?

A proud Canadian actually, but yes, Jason is quite zany. However, he does give great insights which makes for interesting video as you say. I think Gareth is enjoying his quieter life he's having with us these days. It's something we are considering. We must start a thread and gauge demand!

With one video featuring a current IRM employee who has done some amazing magic on the A Class decoration in particular

We have adopted a "The Chinese, a great bunch of lads" approach. Actually our contacts in China really are great people and we have a fantastic relationship with them. They really do get portrayed badly by companies, but they have bent over backwards for us in the past and gone above and beyond. I guess it's easy to blame those with no voice in these situations. As for which is selling most? We wont reveal true quantities of what's on the way, but if you sort them by best selling on the website it will tell you which is the most endangered species https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive The best selling are the closest to selling out, particularly that top line... Cheers! Fran

Cityswift RHs continued into the early/mid 2000s but by that time they were gaining grey bumpers. RH70 went into the core cream and blue livery around 2001 I think, but RH126 lasted a bit longer than that. First Cityswift route was the 39 with P Class Plaxton/DAF single deckers in 1993. Blue and cream was 1998 I believe, but open to correction on that. Yellow debuted in 2004. While I'm here, RH126 on the 13A is very nearly sold out and RH70 on the 51B is not far behind!

you wait for one bus to turn up and then....

Sturdy card box, spongy foam lining, plastic ice shell to not allow movement with plastic wrapping to avoid paint rubbing off against the plastic shell. They will be well protected for postal transit

Less than 30 left, folks! Thank you to everyone who has supported this commission. https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/vehicles

A lot comes down to gearing too. 201s can do 100mph, but 59s (which have 3300HP and 4 more cylinders than an 071) are limited to either 60 or 75, dependant on variant. This is down to gearing aimed at haulage capacity over top speed. 66 and the 201 are much more closely related internally, but again the 66 is limited to 75mph (or 60 in the case of the Freightliner Class 66/6s)

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.