Warbonnet

The current yellow for Dublin Bus is also based on visibility as apparently yellow is the the clearest colour for visually impaired people to see. Explains why the yellow front was added to the newer NTA/Go Ahead livery, even if it is visually a mess design wise (though looks better on the coaches than on the city buses.)

Very sad news. Condolences to his friends and family. RIP.

yep, 4 cravens for €55 a pop is pretty decent.

Ah man, not sams trains!!! Nearly want to ban you for a month for posting that

Welcome Simon!

Needs more PTAs!

Oh yes, we will be providing updates as we go. Away from the work computer at the moment but last time I checked last night we were roughly at 30% pre-ordered across the range, so very popular so far! Should have some proper figures later today or early tomorrow.

Hi Vlak, 24262 is the one we have a pic of too, but it's not as good a pic as this one! If anyone wants to know what type of photos are of most use to model railway manufacturers it's this one; smack side on, clear with all the details. Cheers for sharing!

We have a photo of it on file but we do not have permission to publish it, sadly. It only came to light after we went into production commenced on our new run of hoppers (though @Garfield swore blind for a long time it existed after seeing it in his youth). It is our understanding that two hoppers at least got the plug and socket logo, but at least we have photographic evidence that one got it. Something for us for a future run! I was also told once that an ivory bubble got an IR logo instead of CIE, though I thought Irish cement would've been more likely in that era. Since we've not seen a pic it's not something we can do in model form. Though if anyone has a pic of anything like that on our wagons, please let us know!

there was always a long crossover period with Irish railways so quite likely! pretty sure one at least that we modelled ran into the mid 2000s at least with IR markings!

Loksound 5 has basic engine sounds on DC.

Missed out on this on Thursday when preparing the launch of the IRM wares for this weekend but intend on watching the recording when it goes live. Looking forward to seeing it!

And there is us after REDUCING the price of these wagons by €20 per pack over run one!

Our A Class loco project continues to progress (as you can see here in our latest update) but one area we have been working hard on behind the scenes is the sound project with our friends at ESU. We can now give you a first preview of our new ESU Loksound 5 A Class sound chip featuring the distinctive and unique sounds of these iconic Irish locomotives. Featuring real sounds recorded from the ITG's preserved A39r by professional sound engineers played through two high quality speakers, the roar of the rebuilt A Class can soon be enjoyed on your layout! The sound is still being tweaked but this preview below will give you a taste of things to come! Please note that this video was recorded on a mobile phone, and in person the sound is much more crisp and bassy. As you can see below, there is a comprehensive list of functions on this chip, giving modellers a whole host of operational possibilities. Of course, the A Class used two engines during its career, with this sound chip featuring he rebuilt EMD 645 rootes blown engine the locomotives were rebuilt with at Inchicore. This is suitable for the following locomotives in our A Class release programme: 007 017 018 A23R 027 036 A39R 048 054 056 The earlier Crossley engine is a rare beast, with very few lasting in service and no sound recordings good enough to use. However, there is a similar Metropolitan Vickers locomotive preserved in Australia which features the Crossley power unit. It is our intention to have ESU record this locomotive, but efforts so far has been hampered by wild bush fires and of course the COVID pandemic. Once the pandemic restrictions ease we will get this locomotive recorded and offer the Crossley sound chip at a later date. We will also be offering standard DCC non-sound chips soon, so keep an eye out for that! In the meantime, you can pre-order your GM-EMD sound chip which will arrive in stock with the locomotives in May 2021. Each A Class model will come pre-fitted with a twin speaker set up, as well as an ESU power pack, so all you need to do is plug in the chip and you can enjoy that glorious A Class soundtrack. Pre-order your chips here for €124.94 and your A Class locomotives for €189.95 here.

As I said previously, our production runs are being dictated to in size somewhat by COVID restrictions. There is little we can do about this at the moment. We still have plenty of spoils, weed spray and RPSI 121s left in stock, so we are getting it more correct in recent times.

Hi JB, We initially thought the points logo on ballasts was rare, but it was more prevalent than we thought the deeper we dug into it, especially once we raided "the archivist" collection of pics. We got enough for a run out of it. It seems in this thread yet again we disappoint people no matter what we do, but it's posts like this above from @DJ Dangerous that really warm the heart and keep us encouraged and help us carry on. The sales from yesterday were fantastic on the back of this new announcement so we would like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who ordered. It's very much appreciated! We're delighted that our newer customers who missed out first time round are now able to get ballast wagons as well as adding the gypsum variant to our range for more operational variety, and that existing customers can add to their fleets! Cheers! Fran

Cheers Jason, the points logo ones are a thing of beauty I must admit!

Nope. once they're gone, they're gone. As we have explained before our hands are tied on these, and we have been heavily hinting at a rerun of the ballasts for most of the year.

Commercially sensitive information I'm afraid but there are less ballast packs than there were ferts and liners, for example due to the COVID restrictions at the moment. So, I would advise getting these sooner rather than later. Gypsum run same size as ferts and liners. Cheers, Fran

Hi Kevin, This is existing tooling. It would've been cost prohibitive to retool it. Many thanks, Fran

Sorry Edo, we can't split the bundles that way I'm afraid!

Hi DJ, They wont change, once the ploughs are gone there are no more bundles on offer, so worth ordering quick to avoid missing out! Cheers, Fran

The highlight of our calendar is the October Bank Holiday weekend, when we "play at home" as they say and exhibit at the Dublin model railway shows, held each year on rotation by the Model Railway Society of Ireland and the South Dublin Model Railway Club. That's where it all began for us five years ago, when the good folk of the SDMRC gave us some space at the very last minute (we will be forever grateful for it!) to meet the modelling public for the first time and announced our intentions to produce an Irish outline model railway wagon; the humble CIE hopper. A lot has happened in those five years, as IRM goes from strength to strength and the Irish model railway scene enjoys support and growth like never before. Of course, we didn't see that we would be in this position today back then, and certainly nobody could've predicted the strange times we are now in that causes us all to miss out on the Dublin show, but there's always positives ahead! We have decided to revisit that first model we announced back in 2015 amid much fanfare among those who knew us, but one that was missed out by many others who have only learned of our existence in recent times. Yes, our lovely little hopper is back, in a host of new guises and including the gypsum wagon variant for the very first time! Beginning with the ballasts, a mere 833 packs were produced in our first run as we tentatively entered the market for the first time. Since that run, we have gained many new friends and people "in the know" when it comes to research material, including a man who wishes to remain anonymous. Let's just dub him "The Archivist". The Archivist had some amazing research material which allowed us to bring back the ballasts back with a bang, offering a number of packs spanning three distinct eras with some unique and tasty markings covering their lifespan on the network! Beginning with CIE featuring their iconic roundels, before progressing into the IR post 1987 era sporting the points logo and text, and then entering their final years in IE guise with a smorgasbord of interesting markings and painted out patches. Of course, these hopper wagons were used for other services too. Hoppers numbered 26666-26694 were built by CIÉ in 1972 to cater for mineral traffic from Irish Gypsum’s railhead at Kingscourt in County Cavan, which served Irish Cement factories at Drogheda in county Louth, Castlemungret in County Limerick and Platin in County Meath. Initially, these wagons could often be found in mixed rakes along with ‘Bulleid’ corrugated open wagons. On such occasions the hoppers would always be located closest to the locomotive as they featured continuous vacuum braking, while the open wagons were loose-coupled and required a brake van to be included at the rear of the train. By the 1980s gypsum traffic was carried exclusively by the hopper wagons and this remained the case until the flow ceased in 2001. This long lived and widely travelled working featured A Classes, 141/181s as well as 121s during its life, even with the odd 201 featuring in later years in the Limerick area! We have tooled some all new loads to give the distinctive variety of shape and size of the gypsum as per the real thing! The best part (apart from variety, multi eras covered, gypsum variants with newly tooled load etc) is the price, with each pack costing just €99.95 each! This is a €10 reduction on our first run and is our way of saying thank you for your support since we started, as well as a little helping hand during these uncertain times. Ballast packs will be available in CIE, IR and IE bundle packs, with three packs per bundle along with their respective plough vans for just €370 (11 wagons per bundle including ploughs.) The gypsums are available in four packs of three wagons at €99.95 each or €375 for all 12 wagons. You can order the ballasts by clicking here and the gypsums by clicking here. Due to COVID restrictions on factory slots the production runs have been limited in size so order early to avoid disappointment. Delivery is due in late November 2020!

Correct. I saw the 183 and 187 photo in the flesh and was surprised to see the roof was painted black. 001 had it in those publicity shots, but all other As we have come across had a tan roof. I wonder did the lima 215 paint job get influenced by those 001 publicity photos all those years ago?

Hi everyone, Lockdown is almost upon us, but do not despair! Our offices may remain closed, but we are working online and our online store will remain open during the next 6 weeks and we will still be able to dispatch our models to you via mail order! We also have the forum here where you can chat to other like-minded modellers and pick up new tips and skills, as well as keeping up to date on all the latest news and releases. Finally, we will be taking part in the MRSI - Model Railway Society of Ireland Virtual Show 2020 this weekend on Facebook, and may even make a new announcement for it too (as is tradition at the Dublin show. Dont worry, we will have it on here too!) Be sure to keep an eye out on Saturday for that. In the meantime, stay safe, keep positive and get chatting. If you want to add to the layout, check out our website for rolling stock, buses and detail accessories for those little projects to keep you occupied at home! https://irishrailwaymodels.com/ Cheers! Fran (on behalf of IRM)