217 RIVER FLESK

8 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

 

It sounds like that would require a newly tooled chassis:

 

 

I'm sure we'll see them eventually.

That'll teach me for rushing to type a post when thinking through the fog of work

Yeah, kind of surprised at just the one pack being offered - would like to have seen a version suitable for the late 90s - early 2000s, such as the three that hung around Limerick depot or the ones at Connolly

It's the only one I remember running like that

Personally, I've no interest in the CIE period, my preferred time frame being 1998 - 2008, so IE all the way, with just a smattering of IR

Hi Mike,

 

Well spotted It's the final 'tweak' we submitted from those drawings, to have the lever very cleanly on the off position

Phew, I can rest easy now. I wasn't trying to put the model down, but that error just jumped out & hit the 'eye', the down side to being a draughtsman I guess.

Cheers, Mike C

Looking at the CAD drawings, I still recon that the manual brake lever is still sitting too far down at it's outer end. Looking at the pics in the gallery section the end of the lever sits about half way between the underside of the longitudinal steel that forms the main frame & the 'round' hanger that the leaf springs hangs from. As it stands, I'd say the brakes are just about rubbing.

Cheers, Mike C

We'll have to agree to disagree Kevin (about methods of complaint, not the insanity bit!). If I have a problem with a product I would go to the manufacturer directly. I done it before with a US outline steam loco. They engaged with me and resolved the issue. I didnt go on forums and give out over and over again in the hope that the manufacturer would see them. Some people seem to want to do that on here rather than send PM an email. If he doesnt get back to a customer in a reasonable timeframe then I would understand the moaning. If people want to do things differently then that's up to them and that's fair enough.

It's all very well saying contact the manufacturer direct if you have a problem, I did exactly that when I had an issue with a 201 & heard absolutely nothing back - not even a cover all email saying that I must go back to the retailer that I bought the item from (which I couldn't do, as by then they'd sold out of the particular model).

Yep, the As retained their original exhausts after the engine transplants.

Got to correct this slight error after speaking with 'Mr. A'. When built, the As had a single exhaust port located above the main generator, it wasn't until when they were re-engine with the GM power units that they gained the 3 exhaust ports along the centre line of the roof.

To me, the most logical next item to be produced would be a 22k, as they've infected the entire system (almost), though the cost of producing a 3-car set would be prohibitively high. Having said that, as they are still only at the start of their working lives, they will be around for many years (yawn) & hence a number of re-runs over the years would probably be required as these will be the only trains that people will come to remember. Things like 121s are already history & hence already the number of people that they mean something to is starting to diminish if were are brutally honest.

Personally As & Cs don't mean anything to me as they'd all finished by the time that I discovered Irish railways, so I'd almost be inclined to wish for something like a 2700 railcar before a Metro-Vic, though I probably would purchase a model of an A or C if one became available having travelled behind A39 on a tour, but then the model would have to reflect it in it's preserved condition.

Yes I'd be interested in 4 wheeled freight stock, but the only thing that concerns me is how they'd be represented. Irish freight vehicles became notorious for being extremely heavily weathered - something that is hard to represent convincingly & if done poorly I find a total turn off.

My top 5 wish list:

1 4wd Cement bubbles

2 4wd Beet wagons

3 2700 railcar

4 4wd ballast wagons

5 4wd ballast brake / plough

Wasn't 149 one of the baby GMs that got a 1100 hp GM engine from a scrapped C class in the early 90's?

That was the whole reason why 149's power unit was chosen as a replacement for C226

It would cost a fortune to produce a kid just wandering just would not have the cash required to buy one.

Very true Waffles, but equally could any kid just wonder in & afford to buy a Hornby or Bachmann multiple unit?

But if the kid is going to pester their parents or grand parents for a train set, are they not more likely to pester for the train that they saw go passed the end of their garden last week or the one they took a ride on to Galway etc etc?

Cheers, Mike C

Can't help but wondering if MM should be doing a 22K next - at least then any kid could wonder in & buy something that he'd seen that week.

Can't help but wondering if MM should be doing a 22K next - at least then any kid could wonder in & buy something that he'd seen that week.

I guess maybe the context was related to the cost of commissioning. ie if the chassis could be recycled rather than an entirely new model.

If it had been possible to go down the road of using a 141 chassis, would MM have done so now that he's stepped out from under Bachmann's shadow?

It's the 201s and Cravens they are trying to clear. The 141/181s are more or less sold out everywhere.

It's a shame that the Cravens haven't sold as perhaps people would have hoped for - a truly first class model - I guess it's the early liveries that are the slowest sellers?

As to the 201s, bit of an awkward one - how many people binned their Lima ones in order to replace them with the later version? Not me. The front end of the green & silver livery can't have helped sales either...

Up to now I've contributed nothing to this discusion, prefering to sit back & let others have their say. My own personal preferance would to be to go down the road of a good quaulity rtr model - that is to say to the same standard of MM's locos & Cravens coaches. I've nothing against kits, but if one does want a rake of x,y or z, then I feel that life is too short to spend it building kit after kit if there is no need to. Having said that, given the choice of a poor rtr offering or a good kit, I'd go for the kit every time, assuming my skills were up to the job.

On the gauge issue, I'd much prefer to see stock built so that it can easily be converted to 21mm & I don't buy the fact that the cost will go through the roof if it is. If MM can manage to build his locos in such a way as to allow easy convertion, than I can't see why it can't be achieved with rigid & bogied stock also. At least with bogied stock if OO bogies are used, they can easily be changed but it does mean that the vehicle body is to the correct width. If OO scale rigid vehicles are manufactured, where is the width compromise going to occur & will it look 'funny' when the wagon is coupled next to a loco?

Yes, it would be nice if rigid wagons could be provided with 21mm axles, with the wheels slid on to allow running straight out of the box on OO track & I can well believe that any far eastern manufacturer would come up with reasons as to why their production lines couldn't easly produce / accommodate the longer axles, but how about comming at this issue from another angle. Produce the wagon chassis to the correct width but on the inside of the axle boxes have a boss incorporated in to the moldings so as to allow the us of standard OO length axles? Surely an option such as this wouldn't increase costs, but with a few minutes use of a scalpull, each wagon could easily be well on the way to convertion to 21mm. I'm sure some will say that it will look funny running a wide vehicle on 'narrow' gauge track, but everyone seems to accept it with MM's rtr locos.

I fully understand in these tight financial times that people are fully aware of cost, one only has to look on the internet to see how even some of the recent 071s are still hanging around, compared to say a few years back when the 141s hit the shelves, but does everyone have to have rakes & rakes of every type of wagon / coach / loco from the word go? What happened to building a collection / layout up over a number of years?

Anyway, for what they are worth, there are my thoughts on the subject

No idea when the colour changed Gerhard or come to that the exact date that the '8' was added, but for what it's worth in June 1998 she was still 113, but by March 2003 she was 8113.

Cheers, Mike C

Anyone interested in the current freight operations on IE might like to get hold of a copy of this current mag, as there's a four page article.

Apologies if this is a duplicate post.