Patrick Davey

Two very random thoughts.... 1. The absence of loco crew is often commented upon in relation to modern diesel loco releases, and yes A/S do provide some of these as extras to be fitted by the user but what happens when the loco has to change direction.....could there be a mechanism devised whereby a driver is provided but hidden at each end of a typical dual-cabbed loco, then maybe with a DCC command, the relevant one can be raised? Crazy idea And.... 2. Does anyone actually make use of, or care about sprung buffers????

Still very much in demand!

Hope you're ok now Noel.

I think that this magnificent locomotive is your finest creation yet David - it's in a league of its own. Truly exceptional.

Some action from Clogherhead this evening, featuring: Murphy Models 121 class loco No. 125 IRM H vans (6) Provincial Wagons H vans (2) JM Design 20 ton brake van IRM A class loco A46 Hatton's CIÉ Genesis coaches (4) Seagulls (100s) More H Action.mp4

Told ya steam was the way to go!!!! Love the history file on the AS website, great stuff!

Great article - such a loco!

But there's audio playing in the gallery, so sound chips needed.

I've always wanted to build a model of Cultra - no excuse now for not getting started!

Must say I am enjoying the reaction to this!

Pricing observation: STG£300.00 (minus a penny) for the basic DCC-ready version, that’s only £25.00 more than what I paid for the OO Works GNR U class 4-4-0 back in 2016. I don’t know much about these things, but allowing for inflation, and bearing in mind the much larger size of this locomotive, plus the insane quality and huge level of detail, that seems to me to be very decent pricing? And yes I know OO Works are a much smaller operation than IRM/AS, with fewer resources.

I had asked earlier how the sound files might be created - a comprehensive answer to that indeed! Jaw dropping in every way and a very reasonable price too. And for once, I was right

Gulp

Fran just to clarify, I hope I have this right…. The in-person event (lucky folks) starts at 7:00pm…..the actual reveal is at 8:00pm and the video of this follows at 9:00pm? Or have I totally misunderstood and the video is going out live with the reveal? I’m working this evening so trying to work out how to have the feed playing without anyone else seeing me drool….

So the day has arrived and, surprisingly, I did manage to sleep last night. So what are our final predictions? Mine are as follows: I believe that we are at last about to see the IRM steam release, going by Fan's use of the word 'special', so although I would dearly love it to be a GNR loco, ideally an S class, I'm leaning more towards the GSR 800s, going by Fran's use of the word 'ambitious'. If so then my wallet will be safe for a while as these magnificent locomotives are out of my area of interest. But I have been wrong with every previous prediction and they could be about to surprise us in some way........? Whatever happens, it'll be sensational!

Thanks for the mention above Leslie but this is wayyyyyyy above anything I could produce!!! Sensational stuff!!!!

Just thinking - IF it is a steam release, and IF it’s an RPSI loco, then authentic sound files won’t be an issue. IF it’s the 800 class, where would the sound files come from?

Wowzers!

Would be good to get these in 4mm........?

I read somewhere that he felt he was above the other locos. Shades of a Rev. Awdry yarn.......

Magnificent!

I was getting to all that......

Am enjoying the suggestions and speculation here - it’s a great read! Further musings from me: * I don’t think that the location of the event necessarily indicates that something GNR will be launched. The venue houses the priceless Fry collection, which represents virtually every single railway which operated in Ireland, so I think that makes it an appropriate location, whatever the new locomotive will be. * Fran’s use of the word ‘ambitious’ is still the clue here - it could refer to a complex prototype, so the 800s might well fit the bill (anyone for a 3-pack boxed special edition?) or it might refer to the complexity of the project, in terms of the breadth of versions and liveries being made available, although that is pretty much the case with everything IRM/AS does, so I’m guessing it’s a complex prototype. And just when you think I’m being uncharacteristically sensible, I’m going to suggest that as this year is the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Belfast Central Railway, perhaps we are going to be presented with a BCR train pack, limited to 150 pieces.

Could also be a S class 2-4-2 narrow gauge compound of the NCC/UTA. Or a BCDR baltic tank. Certainly both could be described as ambitious projects!

Predicting this will become the most active and 'hot' thread on the forum in recent years. With a generous helping of crackpot suggestions too.