murphaph

Hi all, I just thought I'd post about my purchase of some of the Hornby 1:76 containers I picked up in Mark's while back home recently. They are a spot on fit on the IRM P42 flats and a perfect match size-wise to the excellent c-rail range. I found I couldn't get these containers (currently) from c-rail so took the opportunity to grab these Hornby ones. Might be of interest to anyone looking for these specific container liveries in 8'6 boxes. They have a few more due to come out in Spring I believe. Not pictured are the P&O ones, which are also nice. For comparison the last 20' box on the right is from c-rail, the other three are Hornby. A very good match I think. The holes even line up with the IRM yellow lugs on the wagons! They come in packs of 1x20' + 1x40' for example: http://www.marksmodels.com/?pid=41605

Yep. Loads of us have returned to the hobby after decades long hiatuses only to realise that Irish stuff was actually available! I got my Cravens "at the last minute" so to speak from Chris Dyer in the summer of 2020 still at the normal RRP. They were no longer to be found anywhere else at that stage so I was delighted to get them. I'm even more delighted now!

They had other teething problems like squeaky bogies. You can here the squeak in some cab ride videos. It must have been really annoying as a driver but I think it was also addressed by EMD. It would be fabulous to see the whole fleet back in service on freight duties over the coming years. More potential than ever thanks to Brexit.

Agreed. 218 looks especially powerful sitting on it's big wide bogies. Impressive beasts.

Same. I've been trying to figure out if there's any chance they passed through Kildare on the way to Limerick at the end to somehow justify buying at least one pack lol. Doesn't look like it unfortunately.

Anyone have more details about the dates at the end? Were they cut up in Enniscorthy or were they moved to somewhere else for scrapping?

Thanks be to God I had reserved myself to my fate of regauging the gypsums, ballasts and bubbles. The magnesites are way out of era for me but as the only remaining wagon based on that chassis I can understand the economics of sticking with the original tooling. Thanks for the prompt answers chaps That's good news.

You've lost me now lol. I'm not familiar with any 4 wheel hopper wagons (bar the bubbles) which ran as late as 1995, or is that perhaps the reference I'm not getting

Hi all, I note that the new and very handsome magnesite wagons are going to use the ballast wagon chassis. I'm guessing that means future wagons based on this chassis are also going to use this chassis. Which other wagons that were still running in 1995 are based on this same chassis? Cheers all.

Not a Hino as it's unpowered. It could be a lifeboat accessory for the upcoming B&I ferry of course.

I knew I'd be wrong

I'm gonna go with the footbridge as well, so it won't be that lol.

Is this the most paid for a MM 111? https://www.ebay.ie/itm/175115249790 €517 + shipping from the UK. An 8208 in Enterprise livery went for €408 as well. All those baby GMs at €300 buy it now seem to be gone. Prices just keep going up and up.

I'm waiting for the punchline Connolly! Ah Noel it's not fair to lay into stuff you personally don't find interesting, just because. Let's look at the 201 for a second. You said it is like a peat briquette because it's not an interesting shape like the other GMs but the Sulzers, A and C classes were also flat sided locos but I know you love the A's and would presumably buy a Sulzer in B&T if one was available. I think you just don't find these things aesthetically appealing but it seems it's mostly to do with age and your associated memories. But you need to appreciate that you are laying into the memories of the 15 year old modeller on here who doesn't remember a 121 or a Craven in service nevermind an A Class and I'm too young to remember anything much before IR and I'm "only" 43. I think we should count our lucky stars we still have a railway. Freight might just make a comeback due to the green agenda coming to the fore and as freight virtually disappeared from most of the network in the mid 2000's it's the yo yo passenger yokes that have effectively kept the remaining network operational due to being reasonably cost effective to operate, so let's not be too hard on them eh?

Same operations as a modern railcar. Forward and back. No running around. No shunting. No releasing the loco etc. I see no difference between them and a 22k set operationally...do you?

Super, thanks @warb

Any pics anyone? I'd love to see one.

Surely T-ara take that honour given the origin of these units

Would you really say no to an AEC 2600 set in B&T Noel?

It's a much broader topic than model railways for sure. I guess we already see places like Vietnam and even North Korea replacing some of the low end stuff that the Chinese used to do. The Chinese took on the stuff the Taiwanese used to do and the Taiwanese took on the stuff the Japanese used to do. Who knows....maybe someday our models will be made in Afghanistan.

I wasn't really thinking about IRM setting up its own factory in fairness I was really just wondering aloud will more large European manufacturers follow the Märklin path and could that in time create the environment whereby a cluster of skilled contract manufacturing could spring up as it did in China. From what I understand of the Märklin operation, they tend to do the heavily mechanised stuff like injection moulding and casting in Germany and then ship those components to Hungary for finishing and assembly due to lower labour costs. I think they do assemble their normal h0 scale rolling stock in Hungary. I guess the other factor is that Chinese wages are rising too and as the wealth gap between China and (initially Eastern) Europe closes, the fundamentals that current practices are based on can certainly change.

All valid points and I wonder are some or all of these contributing to some manufacturers' decisions to repatriate at least some of their manufacturing to Europe. Märklin (to Hungary) have and I believe Dapol (to the UK) also. It'll be an interesting trend to watch over the coming years. Perhaps a cluster of contract manufacturers will open up around the Märklin site in Hungary, for example, as expertise is gained locally and ex-Märklin engineers decide they can set up their own operations for the contract market. I'm guessing that's what happened in Guangdong.

I don't think BosKonay way saying what you think he was saying Kian I think he was just highlighting how long we can expect to wait for models coming out of China to go on sale (in general), ie a year from having the tooling to being available to purchase....and new tooling was/is required for the Mk3s. Not wishing to speak for BosKonay that is

I don't think the mk3's were ever due first. There's no tooling for them yet.

Invaluable info as always JB. Thanks a lot!