RedRich

Richie great work as usual. I only looked at it tonight, and you are truly at the top of your game. The skills on here among our members and the willingness to share them with everyone is making the group go from strenght to strenght. Rich,

That's a really wonderful model Des and you deserve all the plaudits and good wishes you have received. It's an absolutely amazing piece of engineering and the very hard work from design to finish must have been overwhelming. Rich,

No problems Eamonn it was always something that I used to wonder myself. The buffer beam red on the MIR 071 locos was always a breaking point for most people, myself included. Rich,

I agree 100% the 141-181's (although they did have some minor niggles) are still top of the table as far as prototype to model fidelity is concerned, as are the Cravens which makes them both the best rtr models on the market at the moment. The Heljan Hymek is still held in the same regards among British Railway modellers. From what I have seen photo wise the model of 112 is still the pick of the crop of new models regarding finish and detail. It will be nice adding the extra cabfront receptacles and cables as fitted by NIR. I hope they sell really well and I will be making several purchases myself. Rich,

Eamonn I am a firm believer that the most obvious answer is usually the correct one. Taking this into consideration I asked the tour guide in Inchicore many years ago the same question you have asked. The answer was because they had to have the red the same distance from the orange or dayglo on the 3 classes. The 071's were delivered that way also on request. Rich,

No apologies needed josefstadt your own observations regarding the IR liveried loco are spot on. There is a lot of good detail on the models. 077 correctly does not have the plates on the cabsides that replaced the tablet catchers and the Sinclair antennas are correctly modelled on certain members of the classes. The shipping time from leaving China to the models clearing customs is usually 6 weeks give or take a few days and if the projected release is for IE Freight NIR and CIE Supertrain then there is time to correct the IE and IR locos before production starts on them are they are penciled in for release later in the year. I do hope the issues with the cab front chevrons on the IR liveried loco and the IE logo and paint bleed on 077 are corrected before production as all it takes is an email with a photo or a phone call to the factory to correct that. I haven't seen any photos of the cabfront of the 077 model yet and I hope it doesn't have the same issues as the IR liveried model. 112 looks amazing in the photos and good attention to detail has been evident in all views so they should get the others right as there is a multitude of photos out there to use as guides for livery application. Rich.

I know we have yet to see a for sale full production 071-111 yet but the IE logo on the bonnet of 077 is too large when compared to the prototype. There seems to be some orange paint bleed around the window frames on the cab side also. Easy enough to correct the paint bleed but a new IE logo could be tricky. Either way cracking models. I just hope the rigid 6 axle bogies won't cause to many headaches when converting to a wider gauge. Rich,

What makes the win even greater is the fact that the Russian girl is a brilliant fighter also. When most people are sleeping in the early hours of the morning Katie is out running and doing road work. She also trains in the ring sparring and does gym work. When I look back at Euro 88 and Italia 90 this eclipses it for me as Katie won gold and deserves all the praise and out pourings of jubilation that she gets. Lets not forget her dad Pete and the other members of the team that have done equally great work and put in enormous effort. I look forward to seeing the rest of the boxing team winning medals also as they also are deserving of them. Rich,

More great photos Seamus and thank's for sharing. It's great to see them still in service. Rich,

The IRRS Journals are invaluable for a lot of historical and prototypical info in all eras. Please post up some info when you can Eamonn as it is amazing reading. Rich,

Great find Seamus. There was a similar if not identical wagon in Waterford West for a long time. Rich,

That's some awesome work Padmack and it's nice to see more 21mm modelling on the group. The wagons and the track look great and a lot of hard work has gone into them. Thanks for sharing your very inspirational work with us and please keep us posted with updates. Rich,

Another great resource Gareth thanks for sharing. Rich,

Its a complaint Vincent, but not a bad one to have. Go ahead and buy it, spoil yourself mate. Rich,

That's a really cool feature with the sound on the Reefers Fran. They have come a long way since introducing the Genesis range. 12 changes to the SD70ACes is a brave move. Thanks for sharing Fran I might invest in some American stock when funds allow it. Rich,

Hope you all had a really lovely holiday Stephen and that you are all truly relaxed and chilling out. Rich,

You're working too hard Bos, Take a break and have a cup of tea. Run the trains for a bit and relax. Excellent work it looks great , and is well worth the effort. Rich,

Top answers Eamonn and Snapper. You're more than just pretty faces. I try not to judge anything too harshly until I have them in hand and cash has been exchanged but I like those IR and NIR liveried locos, yet I am sticking to the IE era in the early to later 2000's, so the IR loco is a no go. Rich,

More great work Richie. It goes to show that the architectural and scenic work is as if not more important in some cases than the rolling stock. You have brought a new level of skill to the group and thank you for that. Rich,

I'll echo what everyone else has said David, superb work and welcome to the site. Please keep us posted as it's always an inspiration to see this level of skill and detail. Rich,

Thanks for that Dave. Rich,

They're lovely Dave, just how I remember them. There's a shot of a rake of them in Waterford in one of the Markle videos dealing with Dublin and the South East. Rich,

Please do that Magpie, as the more material we have to draw from will only improve us all as modellers. I forgot to welcome you to the group as well Magpie so welcome and it's good to have you here. Rich,

You're doing fine Vincent just remember to have a practice on some waste board, track, or any rolling stock you are unsure about and you'll manage it in no time. It's a siding and it looks like a siding and that's what matters. Rich,

That's a great service that you give Seamus. I've seen lot's of the repaints your shop provides and they are amazing. It's nice to have an outlet for people that don't have the equipment or time to do their own work. Did you have a nice break while you were away. Rich,