Warbonnet

With our Class 66 now arriving with customers, and the first batch of our Class 31 on the high seas and nearing their destination, it's time to announce our next Diesel locomotive in OO/4mm to join our range; the Class 60. Our Class 60 signals the return to the products of Loughborough and take on their biggest and most powerful production diesel locomotives (sidestepping Kestrel nicely there!) But Why The Class 60??? Quite simply, we need one for our range. We needed to take on a locomotive that suits our growing range of modern air braked wagons. Can't be bothered to read to the end? Then watch our launch video, as Class 60 Project Manager Steve Purves explains a lot of the below, with added donuts. The "Tugs" perfectly complement the later members of our "Powering Britain" coal wagons, biomass wagons and of course our aggregate and steel wagons too. They were the logical choice when we put plans into action to begin working on our then first Type 5 locomotive just over three years ago. How Are You Going To Do It Then?? So now we have the why, we must now answer the "how"? How will we make it better than what has gone before? Despite the Class 60 looking pretty much the same as it did when the first one rolled out of BEM Traction Division in Loughborough all those years ago, they have in fact received plenty of subtle modifications and changes over their careers in front line service. It is our mission to correctly capture these and bring you the most extensively researched Class 60 on the market. This included invaluable cooperation with the staff of UKRL Loughborough, including team members who were originally involved with the initial commissioning and building of the locos. DB Cargo and DC Rail have also contributed massively to our model to help us beat the best and bring you the greatest Class 60 model you can get. Elements such as the original twin exit exhaust silencer and replacement single exit alternative, the roof panel without vents or scavenger fans, differing lamp brackets depending on locomotives (which will be yellow, not black on the models you receive), two piece windows on the drivers side and updated three piece replacements, early fibreglass snow plough and their steel replacements, T piece metal plates in the radiator room to prevent the locos being counted as a wagon on MGR trains by scanners, air receiver in original and modified positions, extended long range and standard fuel tanks, exposed and covered buffer beams, radio aerial brackets, air ventilation scoops on the cab fronts, modified multiple working socket covers, original and modern LED style lighting clusters and more! Fancy learning the history of these iconic machines? Check out our history file blog by clicking here! When you add that in with the usual Accurascale goodies; full lighting package of independently controlled head, tail, marker lights and bi colour LEDS where relevant with various day, night and depot configurations, cab lights, control desk light, radiator room lighting, magnetic roof hatch to access your DCC decoder and DC light mode switches, helical gearing, space for EM and P4 wheels with drop in replacement wheels available separately, hall sensor to automatically detect curves and activate flange squeal on DCC sound locos, stay alive capacitor bank for uninterrupted running, our now famous large Accurathrash speaker set up with ESU Loksound 5, and of course weighty die cast chassis (over 800g!) with all axle drive to move those miniature mountains, you can see it features unbeatable specification too. When then? So, that's the "how". What about the "when"? Well, we are glad you asked. We have been as guilty as anyone for setting delivery dates, working hard as we can, yet missing them completely. So, with that in mind, we have adopted a policy of announcing later in the models' gestation to cut down on waiting times. This is why we've been a bit quiet this year when it comes to new announcements! With the Class 60, we have received and signed off with feedback the decorated samples and the purchase order is with the factory. These fixes include (but are not limited to!); Lamp irons to be painted yellow Cab Deco missing Rad room deco missing Lower edge of roof grille paint/cantrail missing on some Gap in bogie parking brake pipe (brown). Moulding slightly too heavy Cantrail slightly wobbly near cab ends Filter inlets/plate not painted behind clean air grille Triple grey models missing silver paint cab side grilles Silencer too silver. Will be toned down Transrail logo greys are wrong Double arrow on Transrail loco too big Wheel faces not painted Wheels should not have holes End numbers damaged/removed in some cases Orange above cantrail on cab end of 60021 should be blue That means quantities are set and our 60 is production approved, so availability will be strictly limited between our direct sales and quantities that manufacturers will receive. By leaving our announcement to this time, we can accurately gauge a Q1 2025 delivery date to our warehouse. So, all that sounds pretty awesome, and you may even have stopped howling "DUPLICATON" at the top of your voice and understood the project timeline and why we build our range as we do. Go On, How Much? But! How much for this slab of British Brush bruisers? Just £169.99 for our DC/DCC ready versions, and £269.99 for DCC sound fitted variants. Once again, we lead the way in realistic models at realistic prices. Don't forget our flexible terms of up to 6 months too to spread your payments at no extra cost. With 7 different Tugs to choose from in our initial launch range, with another four more exclusive locomotives to come soon (watch out for news in the coming weeks, but you've seen some above!) between our own exclusives, charity fundraiser and a retailer exclusive, there is something for everyone within our launch range. Browse the range below and pre-order via your preferred one of over 100 Accurascale stockists, or direct via the link below. Check Out And Pre-Order The Class 60 Range Here! View the full article

The 1980s saw a requirement for more heavy freight locomotives to deal with a growth in the heavy haul sector. British Rail’s incumbent fleet of Type 5 locomotives (i.e. those with a rated power of over 3000 hp) consisted of Class 56 and Class 58 - 185 locomotives in total, but more were needed. British Rail drew up a Specification of requirements, and an Invitation to Tender was placed with manufacturers in 1987. Bids were received from Metropolitan-Cammell, GEC and Brush Electrical Machines, Traction Division. After an extended tender evaluation period, the 100 locomotive order was given to Brush, who offered the most specification compliant and cost-effective bid. Jones Garrard Consultants were employed by BR to style the locomotive’s appearance, and they were responsible for the most unorthodox cab roof with the flat corner platforms, this giving it a passing resemblance to HGV’s of the day. A full-size mock-up was made to gather opinion of two different styles of cab, one of a design that wouldn’t look out of place on a French electric locomotive, and the one that we are familiar with today. The locomotive was to be at the cutting edge of technology and harnessed a 145 litre, 8-cylinder, 3,100 horsepower Mirrlees Blackstone Four Stroke Diesel engine coupled to a Brush alternator providing power to the two, three axle bogies. With one DC traction motor per axle, each was ‘SepEx’ controlled. The ‘Separately Excited’ traction motor control scheme offered an improvement over the basic type of wheel slip “creep control” employed by General Motors, and it gave an advanced form of traction control which operated from standstill which allowed full use of the 500 kN tractive effort of the locomotive in all weathers to maximise the power at the rail. The Class 60’s were constructed at the Brush Falcon Works in Loughborough between 1989 and 1991. Although all the design work was conducted by Brush, the bodyshell fabrication was subcontracted Procor of Wakefield to a monocoque load bearing design which alleviated the need for a deep section underframe type chassis like the imported Class 59s. These bodyshells were delivered to Brush by road fully painted and were set on stands in the Erecting Shop where they were met by the other major components such as the Power Unit from Mirrlees in Stockport, Cooler Group from Serck, and the bogies which were built at in a separate facility within Brush Works. 98 locomotives were allocated names initially, the naming policy was either ‘mountains and peaks’ or ‘notable Britons’. 96 of the locomotives conformed to this, but 2 were different. 60001 ‘Steadfast’ was chosen from a BR Staff competition to convey the power and reliability expected from the class (perhaps also to act as a name for the type), and 60098 was given the Name ‘Charles Francis Brush’ after the founder of the Company to commemorate it being Brush Works number 1000. The first locomotive was completed for the formal handing over ceremony on the 30th June 1989 just 13 months after the contract was awarded. Representatives from British Railways Board, Trainload Freight, Brush and various invited guests descended on Loughborough for the naming before 60001 ‘Steadfast’ was delivered to Toton TMD under its own power. It was then moved on to the Railway Technical Centre in Derby for instrumentation fitment, testing and analysis. As could have been foreseen, there were various teething issues with the early build locomotives. As modifications and solutions were still being devised, construction continued apace at Loughborough, leading to a backlog of brand-new locomotives awaiting acceptance to traffic. Commissioning was conducted at Old Dalby and Mickleover Test Tracks, and on the Mainline. With the onerous high standards required by a nationalised operation such as BR, acceptance was not a quick process. With the modifications required, the first loco did not get formally accepted into traffic until September 1990. This difficult birth over a contracted timescale sadly led to the railway press reporting negatively about class 60 in these early days. Once the locomotives began to operate in traffic, it was clear that the haulage capacity of the Class 60 was beyond expectations, and it then set a new standard for heavy freight haulage capacity across the Country. Part of the justification for the new Class 60 fleet was that it would replace 240 older obsolete types, and this did indeed come to pass. In performance terms, the Class 60 was actually very successful. The fuel consumption of 186 gm/kwhr was (and still is) the lowest of any BR diesel engine, as is the oil consumption. The external and Cab noise levels were significantly lower than any other classes on BR at the time, and the ride index performance was superior to all other heavy freight locos. Many technical innovations had been incorporated which made class 60 a very useful locomotive for British Rail’s Trainload Freight as it was capable of moving the heaviest trains that BR could operate. Once accepted, the 100 class members settled down and led a relatively trouble-free working life. The locomotives were allocated between 4 sectors of the Trainload Freight business, Construction, Coal, Petroleum and Metals, as such they could be seen the length and breadth of the UK. Traffic varied by sector, the Construction machines could be seen on everything from Aggregates traffic to Cement, Metals were used in the conveyance of everything from ores to finished products. Petroleum sector allocated machines could be seen on the heaviest Class A and Class B petroleum and oil trains whilst Coal sector covered the widespread requirements of power station and domestic coal. Of course, these were not hard and fast allocations, locomotives would be utilized where required and could also be seen hauling other types of traffic from Automotive to Timber, China Clay and even on Departmental engineering trains. In 1994 the trainload freight business was broken up into three shadow franchises, Loadhaul, Mainline and Transrail. Unlike the previous ‘sector’ era which was broken down by traffic type, these were separated regionally. Loadhaul covered the Northeast and Yorkshire, Transrail from Scotland to Cornwall down the West of the country, and Main Line Freight which covered the South and Midlands. All three operators received members of Class 60 and they would go on to paint their locomotives in house colours (except for Transrail as their base colour retained the original triple grey albeit with added embellishments). The Loadhaul allocated machines received a distinct modification to the others and were fitted with an additional fuel tank of 200 gallons, this was sited between the compressors underneath the locomotive. The additional fuel tank was required after a couple of high-profile incidents on a particular long distance Oil train where the locomotive was unable to complete its diagram due to running out of fuel! The additional tank displaced an air tank which was re-sited in the radiator room and is visible through the large side grille. Unfortunately, the shadow franchise’s colourful liveries only lasted 2 years, as the three Companies were purchased in 1995 by ‘North South Railways’, a company parented by Wisconsin Central in the USA. This name however did not stay for long, and EW&S was unveiled to the press in 1996. Now around 6 years old, all 100 locomotives passed to the new freight operator. The fleet was ageing gradually and coming up for BR style maintenance & overhaul requirement when some locomotives began to suffer unusual engine failures on some high hours engines. As a result of analysis, EWS began to sideline locomotives coming up for costly high hours/high mileage maintenance Exams. As a result of this, EWS took the decision to place numerous locomotives in store based on their accumulated engine hours. Around the same time there was an instruction to use the leased class 66’s to their full potential and place in to store as many unrequired locomotives as possible. DB Schenker arrived on the scene in 2008, taking over from EWS and as such, inheriting the dwindling class 60 fleet. Their assessment of the class held them in much higher regard, but overhaul plans that were drawn up were unfortunately stalled by the recession. This, coupled with the prior EWS policy, led to a low point in class 60’s history in 2009 when just six of the one hundred locomotives were available for traffic. Luckily though this was not the end for Class 60, with the overhaul plans were dusted off in 2011 and DB Schenker announcing a program to not just overhaul but upgrade seven class 60’s with a view that further members would be upgraded at a later date if successful. This was the launch of the ‘Super 60’ program The Super 60 was essentially a heavy works overhaul with a series of upgrades processed at the same time. It is notable that no class 60’s had received this level of works visit at 20 years old when comparable Type 5 locomotives would have been through the works several times! Two locomotives were trialled first, 60011 received an electrical overhaul/upgrade and 60099 had a mechanical overhaul/upgrade. The results of this gave DBS the confidence to press on with the first Super 60 being 60007, and to date over 20 locomotives have been through the program for DBS / DB Cargo, and they have continued to provide power for the trains for which they were built. During 2010 DBS had offered various locomotives for sale without success. However, a later deal between DB Schenker and Colas Rail in 2014 led to the acquisition of 10 locomotives which were to be put through the ‘Super 60’ programme. 60087 became the first Colas 60 to be released to traffic in May 2014. The Colas 10 were short-lived as an additional order for General Electric class 70s led to the class 60’s being sold to GB Railfreight in 2018. Several other Class 60’s had also been offered for sale by DBS, some failed to attract reserve bids, and some were sold to metal recyclers which sadly led to 60006 being the first member of the class to be scrapped. Fortunately, some of those sold for scrap have since been ‘preserved’, but yet to be made serviceable. Further sales in 2019 led to DCR buying four locomotives and having them overhauled by DB Cargo. These entered service in late 2019. The success of these four locomotives led DCR to buy a further 15 locomotives in 2022 to cover future fleet expansion requirements. This brings the class 60 story full circle as with the closure of Wabtec’s Brush works in Loughborough in 2021, UKRL have subsequently taken Lease of part of the Falcon Works site to use as an overhaul facility for Class 60s amongst other types. It will be interesting to see what the future brings for the last mainline diesel locomotives built in Britain for British Rail, and how our model will reflect the story in the years to come. Excited For Our 60? Browse the Tug Range Here! View the full article

Hi everyone, Yes, you read it right! We have ALL of our Britbus commissions back in stock in very limited numbers. From Rail link, to cityswift, to Irish Rail Intercity AOA, to Coastal Tours and onto the Bus Eireann Metroriders and even our little CIE forklifts, we have them all listed on the site. This follows a clear out of the factory warehouse and their exit from the bus market. So, make sure you grab these as it is your last chance to get these commissions from our archive. Shop here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/exclusive-irm-buses Cheers! Fran

With our Class 66 now arriving, attention turns to the next locomotives due to arrive in stock with us this summer, and it's a two horse race between the next batch of Class 37s, and indeed our very first batch of our next all new diesel locomotive; the Class 31. We're delighted that we can now show you the first images of our production sample Class 31s. We teased a glimpse of 5544 at the recent Model World Live event at the NEC and at our "takeover" day at Rails of Sheffield, but now we can show you some of it's glorious blue stablemates which makes up the Batch One delivery. As can be seen in these images, our production team and factory have nailed the distinctive looks of this characterful class lof locos; with the distinctive face and subtle bodyside curve, not captured in ready to run models of this class since the Airfix model many, many years ago. We have inspected and tested these models and are delighted to announce that they are now signed off and about to head our way. As announced previously, BR Blue will make up the first delivered batch, with our BR Green and later BR sector liveries to make up Batch Two and our limited editions including our Network Rail pair to arrive in Batch Three. We can now confirm that the BR Blue Class 31s that make up batch one will arrive in stock with us in mid/late July as their ship bound for the UK edges ever closer. We will have news on the arrival of Batch Two and Three in the coming weeks. We are currently sold out direct, so please check with your local Accurascale stockist for availability. We will also have some surplus stock go back on sale when pre-orders are fulfilled, so make sure you sign up to our email notifications on your preferred 31 so you will be notified when stock becomes available! Click Here To Browse The Class 31 Range View the full article

Hi everyone, After some shipping jiggery pokery we can now confirm that the Bulleid opens have landed in Dublin! We expect to receive them after the bank holiday on Tuesday and we will endeavor to get them out as soon as possible thereafter. In the meantime, the balance of stock has gone on sale, so make sure you grab some while you can: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/bulleid-12t-corrugated-open Cheers! Fran

This is very sad news and something I saw reported on the Wexford Model Railway Club page yesterday. I have to be honest, in Dave's earlier days in posting here I did clash with him a couple of times. As ever with these things, it was over stupid, silly stuff with posts lost in context once put on the web. I have to say at one stage, I got personal, and it was to my great shame and regret. I saw the error of my ways and apologised to Dave for my conduct. It has to be said that he accepted my apology, and from there we moved forward into a much more positive relationship as him acting in an official capacity for the Wexford club and me for IRM. There was never anything more said and indeed a very positive relationship, which even shared laughs, grew. I did not know Dave well, but to me I think that speaks volumes for his character. I did wrong, he accepted my apology, and allowed us to move on in a very positive direction and never held it against me. I was hugely appreciative of that and learned a valuable lesson in life. I since saw Dave at the Bangor and Wexford shows in 2023 and was very sorry to learn of his illness and see what impact it had on quite obviously a brilliant mind. I wish his family and friends the very best and that they're in our thoughts here at IRM. May Dave rest in peace. We have lost some excellent modellers from the Irish scene in recent weeks with him and Ken. Very sad times. Fran

Hi everyone, Tank Wagon Marvels We have just received the production samples of our CIE fuel oil wagons, and well, Oh my! Production is now complete on these beauties and once we have signed these off (featuring tooling amendments) we will begin shipping them. Don't miss out on our Bulleid wagon projects, some of which can be pre-ordered from our website still: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/wagons/availability_pre-order Cheers! Fran

I had a 10 year wait for a locomotive once. These things take time to design, test, tweak, refine, test, get right and hand made. Just the nature of the beast unfortunately!

Hi Folks, As per the status page the current update is Q3 2024, around the October show. There will be a more in-depth update when we receive the decorated samples in the coming weeks. Always subject to change, of course. Cheers! Fran

There has been a rather large 21 ton hopper shaped hole in our "Powering Britain" range of coal wagons across the history of the railways, and indeed in the British ready-to-run market in OO/4mm market in general. So, we have pulled our fingers out and now present to you the most requested wagons we have been asked for over the last 24 months; the BR HTO and HTV hopper wagons in original and rebodied formats! History The British Railways 21 ton hopper can trace its lineage back to the LNER designed 20t hopper wagons of 1935. These hopper wagons, which had rivetted bodywork and a long handbrake lever which extended above the solebar, kick-started a development process that would lead to over 9000 wagons being built by various wagon builders by the time nationalisation came in 1948. Further to this, there were almost as many wagons on order for delivery which would be completed to the then new British Railways over the coming years as the design evolved. BR Continued to build these wagons to a development of the design with eventually over 23000 being completed. The came under a variety of guises and names and could be referred to 21t hoppers, HOP21’s and HTO’s covering the unfitted whilst HOP21VB and HTV covering the vacuum fitted variants. Our 21t hopper project starts with the most numerous of the BR diagrams, the 1/146. By the time these were built BR had removed the earlier LNER style high handbrake lever and moved to a Morton 4-shoe brake arrangement. The vast majority of this diagram had welded bodywork with 5 upright strengtheners and were to become the “standard” British Railways 21 ton hopper wagon with 16800 built to this diagram by both BR workshops and contractors. Ealy builds to this diagram had 5 full depth stanchions/strengtheners but soon the centre one was cut back at 45 degrees at the bottom to clear the hopper operating levers. All wagons were unfitted with vacuum brake. Diagram 1/147 was created to cover a rebodying and upgrading program for earlier riveted and LNER braked wagons. The new bodies were originally visually similar to the 1/146 welded 5-stanchion body however one noticeable difference was the removal of the plate end supports and their replacement with 3 separate angle supports. As the program reached the diagram 1/146 wagons it was to also include fitting of vacuum braking and a new style of 2-rib body. A further development on this diagram was the up-plating of the rebuilt wagons with a number fitted with stronger springs allowing the capacity to be uprated to 25t. These uprated wagons found their way on to aggregate traffic as well as the standard coal – many could be seen with the “Stone” logo and pool code painted on the side. Diagram 1/149 was reserved for a development of the 1/147 rebodied wagons to be “new build” with 5-rib bodies and vacuum brakes. As it happened, most wagons of the 1000 wagon order to this diagram were outshopped unfitted with only a handful “piped”. As the wagons were built, they naturally centred around the north east of England as their predecessors did but rapidly spread nationwide. They could be seen in trainloads from coalfields in south Wales, the northeast and everywhere in between right down to individual wagonloads being taken to local coal merchants for house coal supplies. Standard liveries were present with BR freight grey being used for the unfitted wagons and predominantly BR Bauxite for the fitted variants although there is plenty of evidence showing fitted wagons carrying the grey livery. One of the more striking liveries they carried in service was the 2 differing styles orange and grey the Charringtons coal concentration depots. Many of these wagons were fitted with vacuum operated disc brakes and ran a dedicated service between Mansfield and Palace Gates delivering house coal to the capital. Another livery variation was the bauxite “fitted” wagons bearing the “House Coal Concentration” lettering on their sides. As BR shifted away from vacuum braked wagons and moved towards the HEA hopper for domestic coal supply, the HTO/HTV wagons were withdrawn, sold or repurposed. Of those that were sold, many went to the NCB for internal use or private companies such as ICI. Repurposed wagons could be found on engineers’ trains as ballast spoil wagons, simply reclassified as ZDV. This would turn out to just be the start of their engineering life as some would be cut down in height, their bottoms plated and would be classified as “TOPE” wagons and painted in engineers’ Dutch livery. A large number however would have their bodywork removed (sometimes for a second time) and replaced with a box body for spoil. These wagons were known as “CLAM” or “RUDD” and similarly painted in Dutch yellow and grey. This gave the wagons chassis a new lease of life and would take them in to the 2000s. The Model Our first release of this much requested wagon covers the Diagram 1/146 5-rib hoppers in their unfitted guise and the 1/147 and 1/149 rebuilt 2-rib bodies both with and without vacuum braking. Our tooling suite means we have the ability to fit 4 different styles of axle box to match the prototype wagons, either plate or cast grease ‘boxes and SKF or Timken roller bearings. In our first release of this much requested wagon, we will cover the Diagram 1/146 5-rib hoppers in their unfitted guise and the 1/147 and 1/149 rebuilt 2-rib bodies both with and without vacuum braking. Each wagon features a wealth of separately applied detail, from handrails on the diecast chassis and hopper ends to the intricate brake gear and hopper operating mechanism underneath, all museum quality detail and prototypical accuracy modellers now come to expect from our wagons and which is now our standard specification. As well as a diecast chassis with full hopper detail, each wagon will ride on 26mm axles, which are 2mm in diameter, with pin points in brass bearing cups for ultimate smooth performance and ease of conversion to finescale tolerances. With the first engineering prototype models in hand for assessment for some time now, feedback has been drawn up and sent back to the factory, with improved samples with full decoration due in the coming weeks. Delivery of the models to customers is currently estimated at Q3 2025. The wagons are available in a variety of our now familiar triple packs, featuring both BR freight grey and bauxite liveries, with various running numbers and individual markings as modelled from real photographs of each wagon, allowing modellers to build a prototypical rake. Each pack is priced at £99.95 and we're operating their usual 10% off when you buy two packs or more, along with a new offer of 15% when you buy 5 or more packs direct from our website. That means each wagon just costs £27.47 when you factor in loyalty points rewards and postage and packaging being free! Pre-order yours today via your local stockist, or no money down via the link below! Pre-Order Your HTO/HTVs Here! View the full article

Truly awful news. I met Ken a couple of times in Bray and at the Dublin shows. Always a lovely man to chat to and his modelling was second to none. Unbelievable stuff. His contributions on here will be sorely missed, but that's nothing compared to what his family must be going through right now. RIP Ken.

Recently we were able to show you the first decorated samples of our all new Class 50 main range of locomotives. Many of you did ask if we could reveal the Accurascale Exclusive pair of 50007 and 50149, so here is the first, 50149! Before reading on, please note that this is a well used test sample which will have lots of corrections made on the production models that modellers will receive, including paint application, printing and general fit and finish. These include; That gap Translucent Rf General logo Marker lights should be opaque, tail lights should be red Pick ups will be chemically blackened 50149 History The second half of the 1980s saw a potential new direction for the Class 50s as passenger work began to dry up. While 1987 brought sad news with the first three examples switched off, Plymouth’s Laira depot also outshopped the former 50049 Defiance in the stunning new Railfreight General livery with re-geared CP7 bogies and new 50149 number. The sole member of the Class 50/1 sub class, it was primarily used in the South West on china clay and Speedlink wagonload duties before the project was cancelled. This was partially due to poor wheelslip protection and lack of sanding equipment, both ironically removed during refurbishment and considered too expensive to reinstate. It was returned to standard condition in February 1989 and repainted in the revised NSE scheme. Anyway, onto the pics! 50149 is due in stock along with the rest of the first production batch of the Class 50s at the end of this year. We still have a limited supply of DC/DCC Ready and DCC sound fitted locomotives left available on pre-order, so if you fancy one make sure you get the order in soon to avoid disappointment. Looking for an Accurascale train to match? Then check out our ECC CDAs, due later this year and sits perfectly behind Defiance! Pre-order Your Class 50 Here Pre-order Your CDA Wagons Here View the full article

We certainly alluded that the humble H Van was in our future in our launch of the Grain Wagons, and now we can reveal our model of the standard CIE goods van, here in fitted form! History The programme of rolling stock production undertaken by Oliver Bulleid during his time as Chief Mechanical Engineer at Corás Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) in the 1950s contained a number of now-iconic vehicles, among them being the humble H Van. With a 10ft wheelbase and 12-ton capacity, these unassuming vans became CIÉ’s standard covered wagon and they found their way to every point of the Irish railway network during their time in service, present in long rakes or mixed trains in larger yards and in smaller groups or singly in sidings and goods sheds right across the island. In addition to over 1,300 H Vans constructed with hand brakes only, in 1953 Inchicore Works outshopped 219 wagons with vacuum brakes, with a further 99 H Vans being retro-fitted with vacuum braking between 1961 and 192. These wagons were distinguishable by the presence of brake wheels rather than the usual levers found on unfitted stock, and in most cases by the presence of “Vac Brake” wording on the body sides. While commonly found running in unfitted trains with standard H vans and other wagons, where the vacuum equipment was not utilised, these vehicles could also be attached to passenger and mail trains to convey mailbags, parcels and other time-sensitive loads. As with most other stock aimed at wagonload operations, these vehicles continued to ply their trade with CIÉ until the latter half of the 1970s, when more modern bogie stock was introduced and the network was optimised for trainload liner operations. Many of these vehicles were transported to CIÉ’s scrapyard at Mullingar upon withdrawal, where they were subsequently disposed of. The Model Probably the least surprising addition to our "Project Bulleid" programme of wagon launches around the famous triangulated chassis, the H Van is the must have wagon for anyone modelling mixed goods trains during the heyday of CIE freight operations. Seen in long mixed trains alongside their counterparts the corrugated opens, the flats, grain wagons and more, they were a staple diet in the Autumn of steam operations along with the diesel dawn. Modelled accurately in high quality ready to run format for the first time, the accurate proportions and quality materials and details used does these humble vans justice in OO scale. With brass bearings to ensure the smoothness of running characteristics, high quality die cast chassis for weight, a wealth of separately applied details including fine plastic and metal brake rigging, museum quality injection moulding as well as crisp tampo printing and paint application, our Bulleid wagons set a new standard for IRM rolling stock and this will be demonstrated with the H Vans. At home in a mixed goods, passenger mixed train or even a mail train, the fitted vans offer great flexibility for modellers and the unfitted variants will follow in a future production run. These wagons are due to arrive in stock in Q4 2024 and are priced at our unbeatable price for authentic Irish scale models of €89.95 for each triple pack, with 10% off when you order two more more sets. Pre-order yours below and benefit from free shipping around Ireland and 3% cash back in the way of loyalty points off future purchases. Pre-Order Your H Vans Here View the full article

Interestingly enough I was told by former Hattons hierarchy that one of their biggest regrets was setting up the trunk service as it was very difficult to manage and ultimately lost them money. It's a no from us, I'm afraid! Cheers! Fran

Just for clarity here, any returned model goes to a different address than where the new models are dispatched from. If something is broken, we wouldn't just send it back out. We would replace with the borked model going straight back to Murphy Models who will either refund us or replace with a new model for our stocks.

Hi George, In response to your query on Facebook, and I will put 2 and 2 together here to solve the riddle of the query above that it is pertaining to the same query, the Banana Vans are currently stuck in customs on this side and we are doing everything we can to get them out of customs so we can post them out to European customers including here in Ireland. If you have any further queries please feel free to contact us direct and we will get you the quickest and most accurate answers for all things IRM and Accurascale. Cheers! Fran

With our Bulleid Open wagons on the high seas, and the very recent news that our Bulleid flats are about to depart the factory too, it's time to announce our next star of "Project Bulleid" for IRM; The grain wagons! Under the tenure of Oliver Bulleid as the company’s Chief Mechanical Engineer, Corás Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) embarked on a programme of rolling stock renewal beginning in the early 1950s, centred around Bulleid’s patented triangulated underframe construction. Goods vehicles of several types were based on a standard two-axle chassis with a 10ft wheelbase and an intensive production programme commenced at Inchicore Works, with up to 12 wagons being outshopped every week. Among the more distinctive wagon types to appear was a series of bulk grain hoppers developed from the H Van design, which was also being constructed during this time. These vehicles had a 12 ton capacity and augmented a fleet of earlier hopper wagons which had been constructed by the Great Southern Railways (GSR) in the 1930s and could be spotted in mixed goods trains throughout the country in the course of conveying grain from collection points such as Ardee, Ballina, Ferns, Monaghan and Wicklow to mills which included Polloxfens at Ballysodare, and the Ranks plants at Clara and Limerick. Distinguished from standard H Vans by the presence of walkways and manholes on the roof, along with bodyside access ladders and an unloading chute on the underside, 56 of these wagons were produced by Inchicore in 1955. However, the level of traffic called for several standard H Vans to be converted to bulk grain wagons over the coming years, with 29 being reconstructed in 1961 and a further 20 following in 1964. These vehicles remained in service for two decades, eventually being withdrawn when grain traffic ceased in the mid-1970s, with a number of the wagons being observed awaiting disposal at Drogheda towards the end of the decade. Some wagon bodies were then offered for sale, mostly to farmers who used them for storage and animal housing. As you can see above, this is a model we have been working on for some time as part of our "Project Bulleid" range, with the engineering sample wagon in hand for many months now. Following on from the opens, flats and tankers, this is the fourth of many wagons that sit on this chassis, and also give a preview to a future release... We're offering three different triple packs over two liveries for these wagons, with a price of €89.95 per pack, with our famed 10% discount when you buy two or more packs. Delivery will be in Q4 of 2024. Pre-order for no money down below! Pre-Order Your CIE Grain Wagon Here View the full article

Accurascale launches an industry first initiative to go green and offer FREE carbon-neutral shipping on ALL orders. In line with Earth Month in April 2024, when environmental issues take centre stage, we looked at how we can further improve ourselves and our processes, to grow as a company, while also thinking about our environment. We already offer 100% recyclable boxes and packaging, but we wanted to do more. Therefore, we’ve joined forces with a global effort of businesses to offset the carbon footprint of commerce. What does that mean? It means that every order placed with Accurascale direct will contribute (at no extra cost to the customer!) to groundbreaking carbon removal projects along with offering carbon-neutral shipping on all orders. How does it work? For every order we receive, a formula is used to calculate the estimated shipping emissions, based on those estimates a portion of our revenue goes to carbon removal companies – at no extra cost to you! We’ve taken the decision to absorb this cost ourselves as we know how important our environment is to us and our customers. That’s not all! Along with our own climate commitment, you, (our customer) can choose to ‘top up’ our support for ground-breaking carbon removal technologies with every order placed. You can do this at the checkout, where you will have the option of adding a further 20p to your order should you wish. This is completely optional. One of the many ways Accurascale are continually pushing the boundaries in the model railway industry. Learn More About How It All Works View the full article

According to Murphy Models numbers are very tight on these as it was not a large production run, so it would "remain to be seen" to be honest. Let's see what comes up but we wouldnt hang around waiting if you want one. Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Our production sample rake of our fab new Bulleid open wagons took a trip to the fabulous Borris Railway layout where they were put through their paces. Many thanks to @fergalm1for giving them a run out and sending us on these pics! Enjoy! Cheers! Fran

Hi folks, My understanding is that it was 121 class locos, not 141s. Cheers! Fran

We have some exciting news regarding two forthcoming new locomotive releases, so we have combined a mini update regarding our Class 66 and Class 37, detailing when you can expect them on your layout! Class 66 #As reported elsewhere, production of our Class 66 run 1 is now complete and the majority are on the high seas and due with us in approx. 7 weeks' time. So, if that's the majority, then what about the rest of the stock? Well, we can confirm that a limited supply of Accurascale Exclusive 66001 arrived at our warehouse last week! We have enough to cover the pre-orders of this loco, and we shall begin distributing them later this week after our usual checks and packing is complete! Class 37 Run 2 With our Class 66 production now complete, our factory are now entering final assembly of the second production run of Class 37s. Due to the huge popularity of both locomotives on pre-order, production has taken a little longer than anticipated. Therefore, 37 production is slated to be complete in mid-May, with them arriving in stock in mid/late July. Look out for an exciting update from another one of our lovely diesel projects, the Class 31, late next week! View the full article

Hi everyone, We have just received confirmation that the 141/181s have arrived in Dublin and should be with Murphy Models later this week. We will be getting them in batches, with the first delivery to our warehouse early next week. We will get them out to customers as soon as we can, but will likely begin later next week and will take a number of days to get them out to everyone. If you have pre-ordered with us for no money down expect to receive an invoice for payment today. We will of course keep you updated as we progress. We still have a few left for pre-order but numbers are tight! https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/murphy-models-class-141-181 Cheers! Fran

Hi Noel, The wagons are built to scale drawings and measurements of the real wagons completely. So if your platforms are placed in prototypical distance for an Irish layout you wont have any problems as our wagons are scaled to Irish loading gauge conditions. Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Just to bring you an update on the bogies; our factory is currently making new, correctly spaced sets for us and they should be finished in mid-late May. We will have further updates nearer this date on what you need to do to get your replacement sets, so keep an eye out for updates once we have them. Cheers! Fran