Noel

It just takes two irrational or uninformed bidders who are unaware of market prices to gleefully pay miles over the odds. Auctions are great for creating false urgency. One theory I heard expressed recently was perhaps some collectors who bought large 141/181 collections when first launched, possibly on the expectation of a repeat of the Lima 201 high price bubble for baby GMs in the future, are now offloading some before Murphy Models new 121 model arrives with retailers this autumn. Maybe free up funds to buy 121s, or sell 141/181s before market price drops??? Who knows. The markets will find their own levels.

Video of IRM Ballast Wagons being transferred to Kingsbridge. Minister of Transport sanctions capital budget for purchase of IRM Ballast Wagons. Loading gauge trials successfully completed after transfer today. These Wagons are supremely produced. Well done team IRM. French farm unions question Kingsbridge management for reasons to circumvent EU tendering process. Kingsbridge management replied "They are simply the best, we wanted the best, so we got the best." Newly built B121 consisted with B181 to transfer new rake of IRM Ballast wagons [video=youtube;l-eToGhfLMU]

I'm on the same page as you Jason. Its a funny thing, I had a mild fondness for the ST livery when introduced with the actual super train back in 72 (i.e. A class with mk2s). It looked modern with the curves on the A class roof matching the sleek new mk2 roofs. I remember at the time thinking Ireland had finally arrived in the 20th century with a modern looking train, little realising the locos stemmed from the mid 50s. But to my eyes, after a while the livery seemed rather dull and dowdy until the IR era when the addition of white tippex stripes transformed the livery for the better. Noel

Hi Railer, do you have a link? Thanks. Noel

Dilemma - I have prepared replacement bogies sides for recent SF C class project, but I am thinking of leaving the donor loco bogies in place because the SF ones look hideous compared to the quality of Bachmann or Hornby! Dilemma is put very poor looking but prototypically correct MV bogies, or leave the donor bogies because they look great despite being the wrong bogie sides. I just prefer the look of the wrong sides on the model. All the gubbins and stuff!

{ Thud } That was me falling off the back of my chair looking at this stunning layout. Superb scenes. Lucky for me the A class was not in Black'n'Tan livery or I might have fainted.

Great achievement to be a pioneering trail blazer, and go through the ranks from catering to a passenger locomotive driver in 8 years. IE were perhaps little behind change considering Aer Lingus's first female pilot started in back 1978. It took strong, dedicated and talented personalities to 'break through' barriers of a distant past.

Done. Good luck with your Thesis. An important flight safety issue that has probably at one time or another effected many reading this thread without them ever being aware. I won't post any comments on the survey content so as not to distort other respondents answers.

Thanks, that's very interesting stuff guys. One question, did operators using oil not put in place procedures to raise boiler temps more gradually when using oil to bring locos up to operating temperatures, and therefore avoid the problems highlighted above? Only reason I posed question about oil/kero was as an option for preserved steam locos in light of perceived high coal costs.

Hi JB. Please forgive my total ignorance, but could boilers in steam locos be heated with oil/kero rather than coal? Cleaner and less expensive if they can get high enough temps? Running for cover now. Noel http://www.greatwestern.org.uk/m_in_gwr_oil_fire.htm

Thanks Graham. I've come close to getting a LokProgrammer, but getting access to Irish diesel loco horn and whistle sounds and the steep learning curve has put me off. I'd love to try 'rolling' my own sound project where one could switch from 'Full Throttle' mode to auto notching at will, and add other tracks such as rail clack nose at various speeds, brakes for an entire rake, etc. As its pure software I would hope it is possible anyway to have a project that can be switched via function from 'normal' to 'tired' engine mode on the same chip without needing to reflow it. Noel

I love his honest comment: "Throw out the buzzwords 'prototypical scale model' and remember that these are toy trains. So play with them."

So existing 141 sound projects will do perfectly for early 121s and existing 181 sound projects will do for later 121s. Special 121 sound projects NOT needed at all at all! I can't tell any difference listening to dozens of youtube clips.

ROFL - Can I come too!

So it looks like two versions of 121 sound chips may be needed to cover most options. One for original 567 engined locos such in delivery grey/yellow, black'n'tan and early supertrain liveries, and one for 645 and 645E engines used in later era IE/IR livery locos. Are we at risk of nit picking?

Hi Graham, I don't know to be honest. They supply normal, tired and overhauled engine sound variations for 141s and 181s (i.e. 6 variants with PD and 6 without PD). All I know is their LokSound projects sound better than the authentic recordings made here from actual IR/IE prototypes. I've a mix of PD and non-PD LokSounds, but to be honest I prefer driving the non-PD versions, just simpler to operate. Zimo/RealDrive remains my favourite to drive but the 141/181 sound is not as good as ESU, so I've gone ESU. Jeepers we are spoiled nowadays with sound options for Irish diesel models. Noel

Fab idea.

Cheers guys. B233 is really an MM/Bachmann 141 with a C class body on it. No sound yet Popeye, what you heard was a 181 pilot in the background waiting to shunt. Might post a clip of it later hauling IRM ballasts. Now have to turn my attention to finishing B121.

Thanks guys, that is great information. I will go with a EMD 567 sound project for my B121 project which ran in 1960s in B&T livery.

C class B233 video clip of chassis trials today on the layout (work in progress). Silverfox kit paired with a Bachmann/MM 141 chassis. The 141 chassis was a near perfect fit with minor modification needed. I will replace the bogie sides later this week once the chassis trials are ok. When I started out the 141 donor chassis was destined for a 121 project which would have required a major cut'n'shut to shorten the metal chassis, so I completely dismantled the chassis, which proved unnecessary as I decided to use it in the C class instead. However putting 'humpty dumpty' back together again proved quite difficult and I misplaced one of the motor shims which is causing a slight vibration and noise that I will have to rectify. Initial tests suggest sacrificing the 141 to get a good quality AWD/AWP centre drive chassis for the C class was worth it for slow speed running quality and shunting of loose coupled goods wagons. It will need more work to finish.

Thanks for the info Richard. Personally so far I have only tried beat wagons and a 121 body, but keen to hear how others found 3D especially for 00. I wondered why some model bodies are not printed in multiple pieces instead of one, as it may use less material and reduce surface 'stepping' on curved areas of some models. 3D still seems a long way behind injection moulding for quality, but offers reasonable enough quality depending on the design for some models not available as RTR.

Great bit of model engineering Eoin. The bogie sides look alsolutely superb.

Looks fabulous. Excellent

Thanks Patrick. So in the 1960s B&T 121s would have had the original 567CR. Noel Thanks Fran.

Interesting info Dave. So would Black'n'Tan 121s during 1960s have had 567CR or 645 engines? Wheeltappers (http://www.wheeltappersdccsounds.co.uk/styled-5/index.html) have 6 variants for 141s and 181s (normal, tired, overhauled engine), with or without PowerDrive mode (PD) which is their implementation of LokSounds Full Throttle mode. I understand they plan to release a number of 121 variants. I have both PD and non-PD versions of their 141 and 181 and they sound really well. Will be changing the chip in my B121 later this week.