Leyny

Great addition to the range. Surprised to read there were only 21 of these, as there always seems to be one or two lurking around somewhere in the background of any photo of practically any large engine shed or goods yard in the 60s or 70s. I'll be ordering a set for sure.

Good to know you at least knew this was coming and it won't leave you in the poorhouse. Also thanks for the clarification that the IRM model will be different to yours, so it isn't actually a duplicate. I do wonder if IRM may find less demand for their vans when they become available than they anticipate on account of yourself and Provincial having been meeting demand for these for some years now. I have about a dozen vans I acquired from both of you and won't be replacing them when the IRM ones come on stream, which will probably limit me to buying a pack or two max despite them being exactly right for my era. Hopefully you're right and there will always be a space for the likes of yourself to produce models to cover what IRM and MM don't do. And maybe wider availability of proper Irish stock will eliminate that 'settle for anything' mentality when it comes to wagons in the way it has for locos and coaching stock. So anyway, about those Palvans...

Before I begin, let me say I have bought from just about every producer of the modern OO Irish stock - IRM, Murphy’s Models, Silver Fox, JM Design, Provincial Wagons and IFM. As somebody who grew up in an era when there was literally nothing RTR available for Irish modellers that didn’t amount to an insult, I’m grateful to them all for what they have given us but especially IRM who have combined the highest quality models with genuinely world-class customer service. I may be in a minority of one here, but I must admit I was a little underwhelmed with this news and have mixed feelings about this development. Which given that I’m modelling a layout set in the 60s into the 70s may sound odd, but for me this isn’t really giving us anything we don’t already have. The JM Design Bullied Open is a perfectly fine model in my view and while I’m sure the IRM model may be a slight upgrade in terms of quality and is obviously RTR, it isn’t going to give us the day and night contrast we had with say the IRM A Class compared to the existing Silver Fox offering. Yes, I get that kit building isn’t for everyone but the JM one comes pre-assembled and just needs a quick blast of a car primer spray to look the part on any layout. It does raise a wider question around the handful of suppliers of Irish models and scenarios where the range of models each offers overlaps. To date where that has happened I think the situation has managed itself without any party suffering any great loss but we shouldn’t assume it will always be so. The news that this release is just the first in a range to be based on that underframe means IRM’s product roadmap over the next few years will likely cover almost the entire current JM Design range. I know Mayner posts here and can answer for himself but if he has invested a large sum up front on creating that range, this development could easily make his operation unviable (given his products come with unavoidable customs charges and postal delays for anyone in Ireland or the UK). Losing JM Design (or for that matter Leslie’s Provincial Models who obviously operate in a similar market) would be a real shame and a big loss to the Irish modelling scene were it to happen, especially when there is still so much stuff not yet covered. I would hope the various manufacturers have some sort of gentleman’s agreement to at least give each other a heads up on future plans to avoid anybody being pot-committed to something that could become a non-seller overnight. I’ll almost certainly buy at least a pack of the IRM models and run them alongside the JM ones but I think it’s a pity that, to cite just one example, I’ll have 2 types of Bullied Opens in my loose-coupled rakes while having no passable representation of the Palvans available from anyone to run with them. Personally I’d love to see the glaring gaps in the available range of rolling stock like steam heating vans and bagged cement wagons filled before seeing what are essentially duplicate offerings on the market. Maybe I’m being too idealistic here but this remains a small, niche community and I’d love to see everybody working together to have the widest range of high quality models available.

Cheers for the correction Mayner. I was going by the article below but a Working Timetable is the bible on such matters. Although I knew all of Waterford to Sligo had originally been the WL&WR, I didn't know it was all regarded as the one line. General convention would be that the down direction on any line is from the place of greater significance, I suppose once they regarded it all as one line, as Limerick-Waterford was already the down direction, they had to align to that. http://www.westontrack.com/history01.htm

I have a small problem with one of my IRM A Class (A55). Since I got it, the bogie sideframes keep coming loose and falling off. I’m sure it’s something that can easily be fixed but I don’t want to damage the model or leave it that I can’t remove the bogie sideframes if I ever need to. With anything less delicate I’d be inclined to think a dab of clear silicone would do the job but I don’t know if that would be doing more harm than good. Has anyone else had this issue and can anyone advise on the best way to fix it?

Cheers Mayner. My interest in these was piqued by the fact I have a rake of IRM Ballast hoppers and need a couple of plough vans to complete them. I'm modelling the Burma Road so while the 1972-built hoppers are fine, the Plough Vans IRM have modelled, beautiful though they are, came too late for my era. I was surprised to read that there were only 4 of these GSWR vans. Which got me thinking, aside from these, what other plough vans were used with hoppers until the 1977/78 built ones came along?

Thanks JHB. I may have a stab at scratchbuilding it at some point, taking advantage of the fact that if there are no good photos of it around, nobody can point out the flaws in my version.

Was about to post a question about these very vehicles when I came across this, great resource Glenderg. Has anybody here had a go at building one of these bad boys? After 106 years of service it's the least they deserve! I have never built a brass kit so don't know how easy or difficult it is to alter body sides etc. But on the face of it, the kit below of an old LSWR plough van looks like it'd be a good starting point at least and with a bit of alteration could be made into something passable for one of these. The end result might look a. bit rough around the edges but then, as the photos above show, so did the real things themselves. https://www.roxeymouldings.co.uk/product/933/sbm4021-lswr-ballast-plough-and-brake-van/

Only occurring to me now to ask JHB, do you know if this thing carried a number or would it only have been considered a box on a numbered 20' flat?

Oddly enough I was just about to ask that question on here, as I need to paint some H Van kits I just received from JM Design. Despite looking at countless colour photos from loose-coupled goods days, it's incredibly difficult to put a colour on the roofs of the wagons. Wasn't sure if it was just a bit of shine but you've put that one to rest. Were the roofs grey when the wagons were grey?

Having cleaned JM Designs out of house and home wagon wise only this morning, I went on earlier strictly for a look and nothing more, as I'd already exceeded my budget for this month and have 3 Baby GMs already. Need I tell you more? 2 pre-ordered inside of 5 minutes on the 'sure I won't be paying anything until 2024' get out clause. I like to think of myself as fairly self-disciplined but when it comes to this hobby I realise I have all the will power of a freshwater stickleback.

Good spot DJ, my rapidly deteriorating eyesight missed that. I tell ya I wouldn't recommend this getting old lark to anyone...

The photos on the Hattons site don't seem to match the descriptions. All are shown in CIE Supertrain livery but the descriptions are all for IR/IE liveries, no? Will any of this batch be in Supertrain livery does anyone know?

A couple of each (Snail and Broken Wheel) for me too please.

Twisted my arm into buying a 4th set just now to complete a rake of 12. I'm modelling the other end of the country but somewhere in the Golden Future Time I hope to have the space to do a layout based in the Waterford area in that era. Have to say I'm staggered and hugely grateful these were ever made in the first place, given how niche they were in terms of both era and geographic range. I'll bet there are ghosts of bagged cements in wagon heaven seriously miffed at not being reproduced in miniature ahead of these or at all (yet).