Warbonnet

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

Hi everyone, We literally have one pack left in stock: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/mark-2-coaches/products/rpsi-set-1 Who's having it? Cheers! Fran

Hi Tim, Theyre a completely different design as far as I know. Cheers! Fran

Hi there, Best place to start is here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/ Cheers! Fran

Hi George, You bring up some good points and have identified some of the areas that will be improved on the finished production models. These will be corrected on the finished models. Cheers! Fran

Irish outline announcements have been coming thick and fast in recent months, and instead of slowing the pace down, we've decided to add another one to the pile with our latest all-new wagon announcement; the CIE fuel oil tanker on the Bulleid triangulated chassis. Prototype History With Corás Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) rolling out a series of freight stock throughout the 1950s-1960s based on a standardised triangulated underframe developed by its then-Chief Mechanical Engineer, Oliver Bulleid, attention turned to transportation requirements for the company’s own diesel fuel oil supplies. A total of 21 tank wagons were constructed at Inchicore during 1956 to augment and replace older types then in use. These tankers, with an 11-ton capacity, were a common sight throughout the network, conveying diesel from the importation point at Dublin Port to locomotive depots of all sizes, as well as occupying sidings at stations to supply CIE’s fleet of road vehicles in those localities. The wagons were frequently transported to and from these locations within mixed goods trains of the time. These tank wagons provided the backbone for this traffic across three decades, but the move to continuously-braked goods trains and the associated improvement they offered to the safe handling of flammable liquids resulted in them being displaced by vacuum-braked tankers towards the end of the 1970s. It was not quite the end of their story, however, with the tank bodies and main underframe sections going on to find further use installed upon newer vacuum-braked wagons to convey water as part of the CIÉ/Irish Rail weedspray train, remaining in use until the early 2020s. The Model Tooled as part of our Bulleid triangulated underframe project, our CIE fuel oil tanker wagon is the third model of our latest wagon series and an essential part of both mixed goods trains of the 50s, 60s and 70s. Perfect for both mixed goods trains, fuel transfer trains and also any Irish locomotive depot or CIE bus or road haulage depot sidings, our high quality tooling features a wealth of etched metal and high quality injection moulded plastic construction. Easily convertible into 21mm gauge and complete with separate brake gear, intricate fuel filler cap detail, brass bearing cups for excellent running capabilities and sprung buffers, these wagons will be some of our most detailed wagons to date. Priced at €89.95 for a single triple pack, production delivery is slated for Q3 of 2024 with decorated samples due in the coming months. Production quantities will be limited, so make sure you get your pre-order in soon to avoid disappointment. Pre-order via the link below. Pre-Order Your CIE Fuel Oil Triple Pack By Clicking Here! View the full article

Hi folks, That's correct, unfortunately due to other commitments we cannot make Bangor this year I'm afraid! We will still have a small announcement tomorrow ahead of the show, so watch this space! Cheers! Fran

Hi Kevin, RV496 worked regular routes out of Donnybrook Garage, again mostly 14A in this livery as it was on the boards to do an early morning stint on this route before taking up coastal tour duty for the day. If you look in places like Flickr you will see that both buses worked a variety of Donnybrook services including Xpresso routes. Cheers! Fran

Hi George, Greetings from London where we’re recovering from the Alexandra Palace show. It’s been one busy weekend for us with a record attendance at the show, including some familiar faces from our side of the pond. The NIR we believe to have correct following our research and looking at photos too. I cannot vouch for Murphy Models loco colours as we never researched colours for Class 111 locomotives. As for bogies, this is still being sorted with the factory and we will bring news as when we have it. Despite Chinese new year being over, a factory cannot just blast out an order for new bogies in a week or two. It has to be confirmed, slotted into production schedules, packaging designed and created and shipped. We appreciate the patience as we work to resolve the issue. Cheers! Fran

Following on from the news about the completed production of our Bulleid corrugated open wagons yesterday, we can now unveil he decorated samples of our flat wagons! Based around the same chassis as the corrugated opens, it's the second on a series of wagons which we will produce that featured this innovate style of triangulated chassis arrangement. As you can see, we have received samples of both the purpose built flats, and the Permanent Way Department (PWD) flat which was converted from redundant H Vans. These wagons are now in production and will follow the open wagons into stock, arriving on time in Q3 2024 as per our launch announcement. Priced at just €89.95 per triple pack, and with our usual great value of 10% off when you order two or more packs, and free postage and packaging around Ireland and 3% cashback with our loyalty points, they make perfect sense for your authentic mixed coupled goods trains of the CIE golden era. Place your pre-order below! Pre-Order Bulleid Flat Wagons View the full article