Noel

Doubt it as the Irish loading guage would have remained constant and CIE/LHB coaches would not have been oversized like continental stock.

Some very interesting photos. Fortunately these coaches seem to have been cravens so did not crush like match wood employed in earlier laminates, park royals and breeding. A lucky escape for most considering it was a packed knock special. https://www.historicalballinrobe.org/places/mayo-and-irish-history/claremorris_train_crash_site_-_sept_1989

Looking forward to playing with these over Christmas. Much disruption swapping the two layouts around. Looking forward to playing trains again. Storage is no place for my favourite toys. They are for Running and driving.

Ps. Was also impressed with their ‘Silence Zones’ in coaches, no people talking, or talking on phones, no shouting conversations, no gamers, no videos without head phones, peace and tranquility as these trains glided along. Florence to Rome in little over 80mins. Rome metro also superb. We still have no underground in Dublin, no link to airport, no fast rail link to Heuston. Made use of Rome’s city eBikes also.

Very impressed with these electric high speed trains that run at twice the speed of our DMU/ICRs.

Doesn't trouble my mind, I've stopped buying stuff from brexitistan 3 years ago, found suitable alternatives in Euro zone for any toy train stuff I need. Anyway most Irish Models are available here direct from Irish suppliers such as MM and IRM, or Marks Models. About 15 years ago well before brexit my employer replaced all their former UK suppliers of IT gear and software with alternatives from Euro zone. The historical route to market that used to be forced through UK distributors was broken. Back in the bad old days Irish companies could not buy direct from manufacturer but instead had to buy from a UK based distributor (unnecessary middle man). Markets ebb and flow and find their optimal route, businesses shop around for best route to market. I find many of the small UK suppliers were still living in the dark ages, not having web sites, not taking credit cards nor online payments, SAE mentality, postal/money order from the jurassic era, very very conservative. The Europeans and Americans on the ball.

I don't want to buy anymore toy trains. I'm already ashamed of the size of collection I've built. Yet lust for a blue NIR 112 or an CIE Sulzer B113 hovers in the back of my mind.

Yes but does it matter how much, they are foreign stock. Irish modellers are predominantly buying Irish rolling stock these days mainly from MM and IRM, et all. It's a long time since I bought BR rolling stock. Have boxes of the stuff in the attic which I will eventually flog off in on ebay.

Fran are there any plans for the mainline variants in the near future?

Have that badge now. Onwards and upwards, I am sure the end result will be even better than you hoped for. Best wishes Stephen. Kingsbridge was dismantled yesterday.

Kingsbridge is being dismantled and going into hibernation storage in a shed for a year or two. Track will need to be relayed and ballasted. The original peco foam underlay started to perish, so difficult decision decided to store and will work on individual baseboards relaying track and ballast. In the mean time Gort will move into the layout room for its extension works, and in time Kingsbridge will eventually return with sealed base boards and ballasted track on top of two layers of closed cell 3mm foam for sound insulation. The old Peco foam underlay was fab for quiet running, but aside from not looking as good as ballasted track it started to perish due age, UV, etc. Out with the old in with the new. One of the six baseboards in storage in shed. First jobs was stip the layout of unfixed scenics, buildings, etc, un-plug wiring, lift short baseboard track joins. Looking forward to working on the Gort extension in comfort indoors with a bit of heating (ie 4 additional baseboards to WMRC specifications). So no running sessions for a few weeks or perhaps even a month. I may spend more time at the work bench on some long delayed kit bashing projects, some resprays, weathering recent IRM stock, RPSI maroon GSV (BCK variant), diy coach lighting, or just get bored and drive trains on Gort.

Stock went off the layout into storage boxes for the winter today.

Yes, Robert Alexander Schutzmann had an infectious enthusiasm and a most pleasant manner about him on air. A gentleman of another era. Thanks for posting this wonderful youtube link.

Welcome.

Delighted Buffers lock won best in show at the big Dublin exhibition. Totally deserved. Congratulations you two. It is stunning on visual elements as well as realism. So many micro details and micro scenes. What is so impressive is how much you managed to get into a small space without ever making it look cramped or over populated. Clever use of mirrors as ever. Couldn't happen to a nicer gentleman and lady.

I didn’t notice that apparently an RTR dart model was announced at the show. Any pics or info on same?

That is a very long layout

Past Avenue was one of our grandchildren's favourite layout at the show. So much to see, so much action, so many micro scenes. Bog Road and Buffers lock also caught their eye. It was difficult to walk around and see the exhibits such was the density of the crowd on day one.

Purely personally i was hoping for a C class or a Sulzer 110 or even 113. The Hunslet to IRM standards will make a lot of people happy.

Bog Road was fabulous. My grand children were really impressed with it too. How did you take that photo, the crowds of people were so large it was nearly impossible to see some of the layouts the large hall was so crammed with people. Fantastic visitor turnout. Buffers lock was extraordinarily interesting. Grand children very impressed with the visuals and micro scenes

Unfortunately I’ll probably have to give it a miss this year if there is a parking issue. Sounds like the new venue will be a great improvement in terms of size, and circulation space instead of small little classrooms of years gone bye. Hope folks have a great weekend and enjoy the show.

Wow. What a find. Late coming to the party on this thread, this is one of the 1977 cast metal bogie versions I still have, I remember retaining and then weathering the chassis and under frames around 1978, because the day glow orange plastic was hideously bright and not CIE tan at all. As it was 1978 it was brush repainted by this then impatient teen. Nostalgia memory but those motor bogies were truly awful and unreliable runners from the tri-ang stable. Great find though and thanks for posting As its nostalgia day today here was my entire collection of Irish stock in the 1970s, top Lima BR mk1 coaches pretending to be some Irish coach, below the Hornby 'Slainte Express' or whatever they called it with the Hymek and Br Mk2 coaches in dayglo orange. I could not stomach the shiny chrome window frame paint so over painted with matt black paint to tone the coaches down a bit. Some old Rover/Tri-Ang tooled station buildings of that era too.

Yes hopefully, having spoken to folks at rails, they confessed that were caught off guard by the large batch of these coaches and had not anticipated the level of logistics to move them out to customers. I suspect it may be quite some time before there is enough pent up demand to re-run these, there were limited numbers of OO works J15s sold and I guess most of these coaches went to folks with J15s of some origin. As to Hornby TT120, respectfully I still think it's a dead duck, the betamax of model railways that missed the boat during the 1970s. Only time will tell. Unfortunately Hornby are in serious trouble but I for one would be sad to see the end of such an iconic and nostalgic brand name. Anyway brand names never die, only the businesses that once owned them, somebody else will snap up the rights to the brand name should the company ever fail. It'll be next week before I get a chance to play with my Hattons 6 wheelers.

Yes indeed that's a very big run and being sold out shows what surprising demand there was for old era stuff. Yet I suspect we might see these fetch big money on ebay in 10 years times as rare collectors items. Especially with the Hattons boxes. Me I just wanna throw away the box and play with them now It really is end of an Era with Hattons no more. Well done Hornby! My coaches arrived today, stunning, will play with them next week on Gort. Examining them today a few bits fell off, the negative side of hyper detailing perhaps, too hot to handle Delighted, I waited for these. Looking forward to receiving the IRM Park Royals when they are due to ship presume before end of 2024

They emailed me to apologise as the size of the consignment was vast due massive demand, they promised it would shipped in the coming weeks. OO Works J15 with sound ready haul