Warbonnet

They're a sweet wee model. Absolutely tiny. Good to here Mr. Ex-Modelfair is still going. Got some of my 'hard to source items' from him in the past at good prices.

Exactly Dave. Nobody has a clue how this is going to pan out. Apparently the train is a lot less than air freight and faster than ship. I wouldn't be surprised if Britain tries to do favourable trade deals with China, the USA and other non EU markets. Only time will tell.

It will be hard for someone, most likely. However, at this juncture we have no idea who that will be. My purchases from Germany have been comparable to UK, save Hattons who subsidise postage. As I previously stated, businesses like Hattons have been deducting VAT for customers outside the EU for years. If they want to sell to people in the EU, then businesses would be stupid not to offer the same facility to the EU after Brexit. Simple good business sense. I have bought from the States regularly and if you go over the €150 duty (not VAT as you correctly pointed out, my bad) the penalty is large. But I still save over buying the same product in the EU. We simply have no idea how Sterling will react, but economists predict it will drop and already has since the Brexit vote. I guess I'm more a 'glass half full' kinda guy.

We simply do not know what the VAT structure shipping from outside the UK to Ireland at this early stage of the Brexit process will be. At this time, as Garfield has pointed out, if you buy goods to the value less than €150 outside the EU and have it posted to Ireland, there is no additional charge. If UK businesses deduct VAT on products shipped outside the country (Hattons for example has been doing this for years for orders outside the EU) then you will see a 20% discount on the sticker price. The would keep a lot of products under the €150 threshold. Paying an extra fiver on your shipping rather than using Parcel Motel will still see you making a saving. There are a huge amount of variables to consider before declaring 'dark days ahead'. Will sterling tank for instance? Have read many economists predicting parity with the Euro, this will bring down the cost further. Not to mention altering tax rates post Brexit, which could include VAT. It's far too early to say. It has as much chance being good news for us as bad news. I do agree with Noel though, it is almost certain to drive the price of British outline models up further due to the weakening pound and I think we've seen this already with recent Hornby and Bachmann announcements. Shipping from Germany to Ireland is not that expensive. I've done it myself. And most German websites offer English translations. I can't see them scrapping that over Brexit. The import threshold from Europe to the UK may be similar to what we experience from importing outside the EU. Again, far too early to say. There is always Google translate too which is nice and handy. Maybe something like Parcel Motel will cease to be viable, but we will still buy stuff from the UK. I wouldn;t go all out with the doom and gloom just yet.

Great job Glover! Re buffers, this is something we're replicating with our ballast and bubble wagons, making sure the heft of the prototypes is recreated in the models. One major drawback of a lot of RTR models is the anaemic and underscale buffers. You have got them spot on.

I'm happy to bet that we will see an A Class Kevin. These things take time and resources.

The 201s that were set aside (apart from a few fire/crash victims) did not have PP capability. I have always wondered was it an expensive job to retro fit them.... It is interesting however to see a couple of 201's on the comeback trail in Inchicore, with 230 currently getting rebuilt after its fire on Enterprise duties. Looks like the demand for locos is growing at least...

The head of IE of the day disliked the whole shunting process needed with loco-hauled trains. He was a former head of NSE and was used to multiple units and the flexibility they offered. This meant binning 201s and 071s off passenger trains, but also 141s required at places like Heuston and Connolly for shunting/release and of course the coaching stock involved. Railcars offer a more streamlined operation in this regard to Mark II and Mark III loco hauled stock IE had apart from the push pulls of course. The country was awash with money at the time and the desire was there to give IE plenty of funds to buy shiny new trains. While Mark IIIs are still running in the UK on a daily basis they've been refurbished a couple of times at least. IE's were due a big refurb and at the time it was explained that new trains wouldn't cost a whole lot more and would offer greater savings in terms of running costs, flexibility etc over existing stock.

I know this is quite the long shot but did anyone ever travel on the Cootehill branch?

Nice one Noel. Bachmann?

Cheers Popeye! We can't wait for 2017 and delivery!

Have a very happy Christmas everyone and enjoy the new year. Thanks for all your support of IRM (both forum and models!) and we look forward to bringing you wagons and new announcements in 2017. Here's a little bit of progress on the bubble we received from China today; etched ladders and walkways http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/5516-IRM-Cement-Bubble-CAD-Preview?p=95723#post95723

While we are all preparing for the arrival of a jolly man in a red suit, raising a glass to welcome the holidays or just eating our own weight in food, our Chinese friends are working hard in their workshop to bring us top notch ready to run models. We have just received these images of the etched ladders and walk ways for the bubble that we just had to share with you all. Incredible detail and much more robust for handling. We would also like to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and peaceful new year. 2017 promises to bring super models from Irish Railway Models, as well as some interesting developments and further announcements. Thank you all for your support!

Other traction became available. Thanks to the MRSI for the hospitality and mince pies!

I know someone with a scratch built Kingsbridge station building for sale...

Great to see the pockets in action in Dublin again. Captured this wee race between 078 and Mark IVs at d'local station this lunchtime 078, Pockets and Daffy by franburke, on Flickr

We're always on the lookout to build up the reference library for current and possible future projects JB! We would love to have a look?

Yes, they're the same crowed that do Oxford diecast. They have Mark III coaches coming out soon which will be worth looking at.

It wasn't massive as far as I know and I was delighted to get one . Smaller runs in plastic are doable these days, it just leads to higher cost price per model due to volume. If you look at people like Heljan and some of the magazine and retailer commissions in the UK you can see that the volume does not need to be as high as it once was. It helps when there's been several liveries carried by the prototype too...

Not necessarily. There are lower volume locos being made these days. So never say never. Then there is top end RTR brass. But you'd be looking near €1,000 a pop. But unbelievable quality with all bells and whistles and a very exclusive, appreciating asset.

Some more pics. Please remember they need a few tweaks! Ballast Deco sample 1 by franburke, on Flickr Ballast Deco sample 2 by franburke, on Flickr Ballast Deco sample 3 by franburke, on Flickr Ballast Deco sample 4 by franburke, on Flickr Ballast Deco sample 7 by franburke, on Flickr Ballast Deco sample 8 by franburke, on Flickr

I'm lobbying my fellow IRMer's to do a top quality RTR version but they tell me I have to think with my head rather than my heart! haha

All the best Seamus. It's a sad day for the Irish railway modelling community. Thanks for providing some great bargains through the years.