Warbonnet

Hi everyone, Some of your Oxford favourites have been replenished on our site and we have made further additions to the range, with more Irish and Northern Irish themed vehicles as well as some further plant and commercial vehicles added to the range. New highlights include McBurnley Transport Volvo FH, Translink coaches, ERF in Northern Ireland trailers livery and the lovely Tayto Bedford! Check out the range here and please note that some items are end of line, so stock is limited! https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/vehicles UK Customers: https://irishrailwaymodels.co.uk/collections/vehicles Cheers! Fran

Great stuff Sean, layout looks excellent. Thanks for including IRM on the layout for the cameras too. It was nice to be on Prime Time for the right reasons

Ah no, where's the fun in that??

Hi @DJ Dangerous, Afraid not but you can get them from Brian direct or from Mark’s Models I believe. We have some more nice exclusives of our own coming throughout the year, the first of which is not too far away so keep an eye out for it! Cheers, Noel! It looks right at home. It’s certainly been a popular one, along with the other bits of plant we offered. More on the way too next week, including some new items and stock replenishment. Cheers! Fran

Cheers Noel, many thanks for the order!

Cars, trucks, vans, buses and even a bit of plant for my sins! All hold an interest with me and have done since childhood. Pretty much anything that moves and has an engine! Who knows what we will bring out in time, but we do have several projects on the boil as we look to grow.

True, but the Astras would be Vauxhall of course with Oxford being UK based. So a bit different grille wise! We're just as passionate about vehicles here in IRM as trains (as big a hobby for me personally!), so we can look to stock items that would compliment Irish layouts well.

Thanks everyone, several lines have sold out already but we have further stock on the way. Lot's of interest in the generic commercial vehicles and farm stuff. Would the interest be there in cars too? They would all have UK registrations but are the correct scale. We can look to order them in if the demand is there. Cheers, Fran

Hi everyone, After the unprecedented demand for our previous stock of Irish-themed Oxford Diecast vehicles in OO gauge, we have ordered your favourites back into stock and expanded the range to include plant and machinery, tractors, generic vans, trucks and Irish outline buses too! So, if you need to populate your layout with vehicles, or you just want to add some to your collection, check out some highlights below, or browse the full range by clicking here. Even more stock on the way too!

Sorry guys, missed this. Yes it's looking like we will be landing them all together! Cheers! Fran

We will be stocking the ADL MMC Enviro 400 when the time comes, due March is the latest information we have. And we have a couple of other things up our sleeves too....

Plans are afoot, as they say. But I shall say no more!

Thanks for that @murphaph. I'm glad you see it as me not being negative. I just want to add some realistic balance to the debate and give you all another point of view. I dont want to dash dreams at the end of the day, but it's just giving out another aspect of the debate. I also agree about the market growing. It certainly has since we started IRM, and we will continue to push hard to grow it further. Steam could well be a component of that! Cheers, Fran

As I said, not ruling it out, at all. But we do need to do some serious commercial thinking on it and it would take a couple of years at least to deliver (Manor project is 18 months in as of today!)

I dont think so JB, we can count on one hand the amount of people who have 21mm'ed our existing output. We would have to order 1000 units like that. A 21mm modeller would have to buy the loco, possibly throw the innards away and use an etched chassis kit like they do in the UK. And even then the splasher issue comes into play (some locos avoid this, but are there many without splashers?)

Hi everyone, Well it seems my question sparked some debate! @murphaphas we found with our work on the Accurascale manor, easy conversion to finescale standards on RTR steam is next to impossible, due to valve gear, pistons and the placing of splashers. So, unless it's a simple O-6-0 without splashers, conversion to 21mm would be next to impossible. Kits will serve better there. Sorry that you are disappointed but I gave a reason beside my question. The last mass produced steam locomotive (Bachmann/Murphy Woolwich mogul) was reported to be a slow seller by a couple of retailers I talked to. It was a good model, offered serval liveries too. Correct JB, variety of liveries and/or icon status certainly helps. The J15 with OO Works did sell out, but their minimum production run number is a fraction of what ours is, so cannot really be compared I'm afraid. You could see it as that way, or is it segmenting an already tiny market to a point that it would not be viable? We all like our steam, and would love to make a steam locomotive, but we would need the whole market (namely diesel modellers) to buy it too, and more than one at that, for it to be viable. That's not to say we are ruling out steam, we absolutely are not. But, just thought I would throw some commercial points of view out there and gauge what the real interest is. If the interest is there then of course we will make it, but it is a gamble for anyone! Thanks, Fran

Would everyone buy an Irish steam locomotive though? The hobby seems to have focused on diesels and I was told by a couple of traders that the Bachmann moguls were a tough sell when they came out...

Three years ago, to this very day, we made our debut in the British outline market with our first model, a humble coal hopper wagon. It's been a whirlwind ride since then, with a host of new models landing on the market and many exciting ones in development; the Deltic (look out for VERY exciting news on those beasts next week!) 92s, Mark 5s and Class 37s to complement our growing high end wagon range. However, one area had been otherwise neglected by us in these first three years. We have been putting together lots of coal carrying wagons together across as part of our "Powering Britain" series, but what about doing something powered by black diamonds? It was time to do a steam locomotive, and what better one to do that something big, green and pretty? Welcome to the OO gauge GWR 78xx Manor, by Accurascale. Arguably one of the most attractive locomotives to emerge from Swindon Works, the Great Western Railway 78xx Manor class was the final 4-6-0 design to emerge during the Collett era. Introduced in 1938, the Manors were go-anywhere locomotives. Initially deployed to a diverse selection of sheds, including Banbury, Bath Road, Croes Newydd, Neyland, Oxley, Shrewsbury, St Philips Marsh, Westbury, and even Old Oak Common (albeit quickly transferred away), they were regulars on freight, express freight services such as milk and fish, and passenger duties, in Great Western days. The longevity of the class was legendary, possibly related to their relative youth and near domination of services on former Cambrian lines, especially after the exodus of Manors from the West Country after dieselisation. The first withdrawals didn’t take place until 1963 – long after other 4-6-0s had suffered inroads, with the last of the class being withdrawn in December 1965. We will have a full blog on the history of the Manor later this week, so keep an eye out for that! We decided on the Manor being our first steam model in late 2018 as part of our extensive roadmap of new models, and research quickly began on these interesting and pretty locomotives. Calls for an all-new, highly detailed model had been quite loud on forums, wish-list polls and at shows, so it seemed the perfect place for us to start. Working with the Great Western Society, Didcot, preservation groups like the Erlestoke Manor Fund, and GWR experts, we set about building the data to create a new Manor model that truly does justice to Collett’s classic locomotives. As there has been quite the buzz around Accurascale since our inception three years ago, we thought it would be good to document the process of developing a new locomotive model to show modellers how it all works. Our friends at Hornby Magazine jumped at the chance and followed us on one of our surveys which you can watch below. Surveys of four different locomotives were undertaken for this project and the data was combined with a 3D scan and a full 1938 and 1952 works drawings to create the most accurate rendering of this class in any scale. Our survey trips began at Tyseley Locomotive Works in November 2019 to assess the various tender variations on offer as well as 7812 which was undergoing restoration. We just happened to be in the area for the Warley show, so it seemed rude not to pop in. The staff at Tyseley were very helpful indeed and we are very thankful to them for facilitating us. Post Warley we made our way to Didcot to conduct a full survey of the beautiful 7808 "Cookham Manor" at the Great Western Society. Over 600 photos and extensive measurements were taken. Our plan was to scan the locomotive too, but the weather was against us. However, the Great Western Society very kindly facilitated our scan at a later date, ensuring we had the best possible data to create a definitive model of these wonderful locomotives. As diesel fans will attest to, we really go all out when it comes to catering for prototype variations. Our steam locomotives will be no different in this regard! There are a number of detail configurations which makes almost every Manor model we’re offering a bespoke ‘one off’ release, with options for chimney, smokebox and boiler sides, smokebox door/handles and buffers. The range of tenders is similarly complex with different tender bodies, frames, spring hangers, buffers, and also the frame installed in latter days to remind crews not to climb onto the coal space while on overhead electrified lines. This will all be catered for by our tooling! The Manors wore nearly all major GWR and BR liveries from 1938 until their withdrawal at the end of 1965. The first 20 were delivered in unlined GWR locomotive green with the roundel or ‘shirtbutton’ monogram logo on the tender, although by nationalisation they could be seen with tenders wearing GWR initials or GW separated by the company’s coat of arms. Repaints during wartime years would have been unlined black, with unlined green returning once hostilities ended. Unlined black was again applied after the formation of British Railways, albeit with ‘lion and wheel’ crest and smokebox-mounted numberplates. However, the BR-built Manors were released from Swindon in lined mixed traffic black, later being repainted in unlined black. Between 1956-60 all 30 Manors were turned out in lined BR green, initially with the early crest but the majority received the later style totem. As you can see in the above image tooling is now complete. We are currently awaiting the etched and turned metal parts which will complete the buffers, motion, whistle baffle, chimney and other parts of the locomotive which will arrive shortly for assessment. Tweaks will undoubtedly be required with any new model and the Manor is no different, with our production team currently assessing the tooling parts to ensure finesse and accuracy. As you can see, diecast parts have been heavily utilised to ensure excellent traction capabilities, with our 78xx featuring a fully diecast boiler, running plate and chassis. High fidelity plastic and etched parts will add that detail quality to ensure an industry leading locomotive. High specification is another rule for us, so the Accurascale Manor locomotive will feature a wonderfully smooth operating motor with flywheel that offers an exceptionally low starting voltage. Electrical pickup is from all tender and locomotive driving wheels and there is a 21-Pin MTC Socket in tender for the decoder of your choice, or you can choose our DCC Sound-installed option. DCC operators can enjoy our by now standard PowerPack capacitor for uninterrupted power and sound and three speaker arrangement, which includes a sugarcube mounted in the smokebox. There is also a flickering firebox light in the cab and in DCC this employs ESU’s intelligent flicker to synchronise the effect with the sound from the speakers. 10 locomotives will be released in our first run: GWR (original chimney) 7801 Anthony Manor in GWR plain green with monogram (Flush tender body/Narrow hornplates) 7818 Granville Manor in GWR plain green with G-crest-W on tender (Riveted tender body/Narrow hornplates) 7819 Hinton Manor in GWR plain green with GWR on tender (Flush tender body/Narrow hornplates) BR (original chimney) 7814 Fringford Manor BR unlined black with large early crest (Riveted tender body/Wide hornplates) 7820 Dinmore Manor BR lined black with early crest (Flush tender body/Wide hornplates) BR (redraughted chimney) 7800 Torquay Manor BR lined green with late crest (Riveted tender body/Narrow hornplates) 7810 Draycott Manor BR lined green with early crest (Riveted tender body/Wide hornplates) 7812 Erlestoke Manor BR lined green with late crest (Flush tender body/Narrow hornplates) 7824 Iford Manor BR unlined black with large early crest (Flush tender body/Narrow hornplates) Preserved (circa 1974-present) 7808 Cookham Manor GWR plain green with monogram (Flush tender body/Wide hornplates) Specification Common Features: Highly-detailed OO gauge model, 1:76.2 scale on 16.5mm track Based on 3D scan of 7808 Cookham Manor and full works drawings provided by GWS, Didcot Surveys undertaken with assistance of Erlestoke Manor Fund, Dinmore Manor Loco Ltd and Tyseley Locomotive Works Smokebox and chimney correctly represents as-built GWR condition or post-1952 BR redraughting Fully-detailed cab interior with many separate parts Scale width wire handrails Etched metal/plastic and lost wax detail parts, incl. grab handles, steps, drain cocks, etc Etched metal pre-painted name and numberplates Etched metal ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ and ‘Pembroke Coast Express’ headboards "Plain" or "webbed" driving wheels as appropriate High-fidelity dummy screw couplings Fully sprung metal buffers and factory-installed pipework Tapered or straight buffer housings where applicable Brake blocks in line with wheels Front mini-tension lock coupler can be replaced by accurate front pony truck moulding Tender details: Churchward 3,500 gal tender with numerous variations including riveted and flush sides, narrow or wide hornplates, three different styles of spring hanger and underframe-mounted water scoop Fully sprung metal buffers, factory-installed pipework and high fidelity dummy screw couplings Early tapered, tapered or straight buffer housings where applicable Optional overhead warning plate bracket on late-BR examples Kinetic NEM coupler mounts on tender at correct height with mini-tension-lock couplers DCC decoder socket in tender (tender roof accessible by lift out section secured by magnets) Choice of lift out sections: empty or simulated ‘coal’ load DCC / Electronic Features: DCC ready [21-Pin MTC Socket in tender] or factory-installed DCC Sound options DCC Sound locomotives have speaker mounted in smokebox and dual speakers in tender PowerPack capacitor for uninterrupted power and sound Flickering firebox light (synchronised with sound on DCC installed models) Electrical pickup from all tender and locomotive driving wheels Traction Features: High-quality 3-pole motor with flywheel, low starting voltage and smooth power delivery Minimum Radius 438mm (2nd Radius Set-track) Die-cast metal chassis, running plate and body with sprung centre driving axle Gearing arranged so locomotive can achieve a scale top speed of 90 mph (145 km/h) RP25-110 profile OO gauge wheels So, as you can see, we are doing everything to ensure our first steam locomotive is yet another landmark model, both for us and our hobby. Prices will be £169.99 for DC/DCC ready locomotives and £259.99 for our DCC sound fitted with ESU Loksound 5, representing excellent value for money considering the high specification, extensive detail variation and widespread use of diecasting, turned metal and etched components. You can reserve yours with your local stockist, or direct with us, with a £30 deposit securing your order. We are anticipating decorated samples for assessment in May 2021, with delivery slated for Q4, 2021, COVID19 dependant. Browse the full range by clicking here. View the full article

Actually he came over, shook my hand and congratulated us on the Deltic that weekend (Warley 2018). It was cut out though, but I always said I have a face for radio! Cheers, Fran

Last 5 packs left folks!

depending on availability we will be yes. We will also be restocking those that have now sold out, as well as other vehicle brands in the near future and of course our own commissions. Keep an eye out for more and thanks to everyone who has purchased so far! Cheers, Fran

Coming soon to a website near you...

Thanks, Noel. Lots in the pipeline and planned out, and we will try to cater for everyone Thanks for the order!

We are now stocking the Irish variants of the Oxford Diecast range! Oxford Diecast have produced a number of Irish specific vehicles in recent years and we will now stock any Irish outline vehicle from their range going forward. We will also further grow our Irish vehicle range this year with more commissions and stock from other manufacturers, so keep an eye out for more news throughout 2021! In the meantime, the following Oxford vehicles are now in stock and ready for immediate dispatch. All are 1:76 scale so perfect for your OO gauge layout and collections. Limited stock available! Check the full range out here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/vehicles Cheers! Fran

They are indeed!