Warbonnet

It's been some saga, but I am happy to report that this time next week we will be wrapping and packing parcels with lovely Tara goodness for dispatch, save for any more disasters!

Hi everyone, We have just received some decorated factory samples of the plough vans and here are some pics for you to enjoy. Yes, there should be no doors on the IE variant, that's just for us to assess them for the CIE one! Cheers, Fran

Hi everyone, We’re back after our first and a very successful Warley show! It was great to see so many familiar faces among the crowds and Thanks to all of you for stopping by and saying hello. Thanks also to Robert who was a massive help to us when we were getting set up! Roll on 2019, though right now we could sleep for a week! Cheers! Fran

Hi Dave, A few companies did unnumbered Locos with decal sheets thrown in the box and they were always reported as poor sellers as most customers do not want to do it for fear of ruining a loco. Our numbering will be fairly easy to remove to facilitate renumbering for those who desire it. Cheers, Fran

A Class Insight: 018 in CIE Supertrain Livery, Staff snatchers, no CAWS, original windscreens Next up in our look at our A Class models is 018 in CIE Supertrain livery with original windows and staff snatchers, placing it firmly in the mid-70s to mid-80s condition as per the shot of 004 above. 018 entered traffic in January 1956, was rebuilt in July 1971 and was finally withdrawn from traffic in October 1992. 018 displays the classic Supertrain era A class, a livery and loco that is often seen as iconic in the late CIE era. Replicate this era on your layout, order one today! https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive/products/018-a-class-locomotive

Pretty sure it was just called 'The Garden Railway' Snapper.

A Class Insight: A23r, CIE Black & Tan Livery, as Rebuilt with 'dipped' tan band. This evening we look at A23r in Black and Tan livery, one that is remembered fondly on the network. When A23r and her sisters emerged from Inchicore after rebuilding, it was in this livery. This variant of the livery features a dipped band, which runs under the body-side grill, rather than through it, as illustrated here with special thanks to Jonathan Allen. A23 entered traffic in February 1956, was rebuilt in June 1971 and was withdrawn in October 1991. You can place your order for A23r here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive/products/a23r-a-class-locomotive

We could always do it as A1 in that livery which certainly didn’t last very long at all!

We probably will do it in a future run if demand is there, we didn’t want to do A1 twice in the same rn as we’re already doing her in silver of course, but nothing to stop a future run!

027 Supertrain - No staff snatchers, CAWS without protective guards, toughened glass windscreens One of the iconic A Class liveries is of course, Supertrain. Class leader 001 was used to launch the new future of Irish railways (briefly numbered A1 in the livery) with a rake of the then new Mark II coaches. 027 will represent the class later in the Supertrain era, with CAWS without protective guards, no staff snatchers and toughened windscreens as depicted by here: 027 entered traffic in March 1956, was rebuilt in June 1970 and soldiered on in service until witdrawal inin June 1992. You can place your order for 027 here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/…/pro…/027-a-class-locomotive

We will be there with the Accurascale stand, B31A, but will have IRM goodies on show, such as Tara and plough samples and orange bubbles on sale. We can also take preorders on Taras, Ploughs, Liners and of course, A's! Drop by and say hi!

Hi Noel, As explained above A39r will have the high band. thanks, Fran

Feel free to add their fee to the cheque!

017 IR Livery Our fourth most popular A Class is 017 in IR livery without CAWS guard and without dayglo panels. 017 entered traffic in January 1956 and was rebuilt in November 1970. It would soldier on in revenue service until September 1993 before withdrawal and scrapping. Our model will feature its final condition on the network; IR 'tippex' livery without dayglo panels, with toughened windscreen and without CAWS protective grill as modelled by 019 here, snapped on another Bell liner by Jonathan Allen. IR certainly seems to be a very popular livery for our models so far. Have you ordered yours yet? If you fancy a model of 017, you can place your order here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive/products/017-a-class-locomotive

We can accept commissions for ridemaster bogies if anyone wishes to pony up the dough!

It'll be removable

No Graham, you’ll just get 054 instead. If you don’t want that one we can switch the order to another one for you though if you like?

The market is limited Kevin, as has been explained manny times before. The tooling is being use to make a huge amount of wagons in the 42ft project. As I said, it hasn’t been ruled out, but it won’t be for a good while if indeed it does happen. Cracking shot Ernie, soon we will have accurate components to form that train in 4mm scale! Cheers, Fran

Hi Anthony, The MRSI on Dorset st in Dublin is €60 for the year I believe, meet every Wednesday and Friday, 8pm-10pm. Thanks, Fran

A look at our A Class - 054 IR Livery with Dayglo Panels The mighty A class carried the distinctive IR 'Tippex' livery with points logo in their final years in service, as will be depicted by our model of 054, which will feature dayglo panels, toughened windscreens and CAWS protective guards. 054 was one of the last A's to be delivered to CIE, entering traffic in June 1956. It was re-engineered in November 1971, being the third last A Class to receive rebuilding treatment. It would go on to provide sterling service for Irish Rail until July 1993 and was one of a few A's to receive an uprated engine, which produced 1,650hp in order to work the Cork - Heuston and return fast goods. 054 will resemble the livery of 012 below (with lovely 42ft flat liners, somebody should make them too!), thank you to Jonathan Allen for permission to use this photograph. You can place your order for 054 here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive/products/051-a-class-locomotive

Nov 30th!

Hi everyone, We have had an update on the plough vans from our factory. We have made a series of changes to the tooling as there was quite a bit we were unhappy with. This process is coming to a close now and we should have a properly decorated sample in the next 10 days or so (not in the garish royal blue above!) If all the changes we requested are complete then we could have them Christmas week! We'll aim for that, but it might land after the festive season and before the new year. We will endeavour to have them with you so you can have some extra crackers this Christmas! Cheers, Fran

Hi guys, We have just received an update on the Tara Wagons and their progress. Sadly it has been slower than initially promised, and naturally we are upset about it. We're getting a timely reminder about why we usually use airfreight, but mother nature has slowed progress down, coupled with the time of year and the sheer volume of traffic leaving China. We will have the Tara's in stock by November 30th, with packages being shipped the next day after we burn the midnight oil and conduct our own QC checks. The will be arriving with all customers who have placed orders so far by the end of the first week of December. We would like to apologise about this delay once again, and we have had too many missed deadlines on these wagons. We thank you all sincerely for your patience and understanding, and we are making sure these these missed deadlines become a thing of the past with our new projects going forward. Cheers, Fran

A closer look at our A Classes - A39r in black and tan with high waistband livery. Our second most popular A Class so far is preserved A39r. It was delivered to CIE in 1956, entering traffic on May 14th of that year, before being re-engined on July 23rd 1969 and being outshopped in the now famous black and tan livery as our model will depict. Eventually renumbered 039, the loco went on to have a long career with CIE, being one of the last A's in service. It was also one of the locos selected by The Irish Traction Group for preservation. Through the hard work of their volunteers, the locomotive has conducted mainline railtours in preservation and is currently operational on the Downpatrick and County Down Railway. A39r is also the locomotive we surveyed to create our model of the A Class, with special thanks to both groups for facilitating us. You can place your order for A39r here and you can read more about the history of the loco itself on the superb ITG website.

Still paddling the high seas but should be near the end of its journey. Should have a better update tomorrow actually!