Noel

Wonderful to see, these will bring joy to all those modellers who missed out on the previous baby GM versions. Fair pricing no doubt compared to eBay high prices these past 4 years. Between IRM and MM this hobby is flying, no wonder there are so many folks joining or re-joining the hobby in Ireland. I just love the IR versions 174 and 154. Wonder if its been made any easier to get a decoder inside? Novice modellers find it tricky. The 121 and IRM A classes made this simplicity itself.

Thanks. Sorted, order placed.

@Warbonnet Hi Fran. On checkout I don't see the options for partial.ly or clearly. It's just looking for a credit card for full payment now (ie deposit or payment plan). Please forgive if I'm missing something obvious on screen. Thanks. Noel

Orders placed PS: Just because I don't like travelling on the prototype doesn't mean I won't enjoy these models. Time travel is possible.

Yea, brilliant, well done. Stunning looking. These models should sell well for the next 30 years. I just won a bet too.

Yes sadly door2door its quicker and more comfortable to drive to Cork, Limerick or Galway on the motorway these days. The Ballybrophy to limerick line seems about 40mph, its torturously slow on the smelly DMU biscuit tins.

Yip agree. Those Bachmann 141/181s from MM still stand up quality wise, and the chassis still drives with better precision than many Bachman and Hornby diesels.

Sorry to hear. It's not the poor customs lady's fault that brexit happened the way it did, she's just an employee following the law and the rules of the post brexit era. I'm sure Chris will figure out what paperwork is needed in future. It is a mess losing the freedom of seamless movement of goods and services between the UK and EU. I haven't bought anything from the likes of Peters Spares, Rail Match, Dapol, nor Rails for 2 years, switched to German retailers, only Hattons because they are set up for DDP so their parcels arrive here with no customs issues nor delays. Another brexit dividend for the hobby Not long back from brexitistan myself.

Primed with Halfords grey primer than sprayed with railmatch freight grey, weathered using a white wash wiped off, and a tiny bit of sleeper grime with the airbrush, then a few touches of rust cotton bud rubbed. Underframe and wheels rail match sleeper grime and a few specs of humbrol rust dabbed on in spots.

Model operation in the same CIE era.

If true this is great news. MM's original 141 & 181s are probably the main reason the hobby exists in Ireland. Certainly the catalysts that enabled a generation to switch from BR outline to the Irish scene with decent models. The great eBay rip off may be over (for now).

Unfortunately split chassis so extremely difficult to hard wire in a DCC decoder when its not DCC ready.

Another golden oldie from the Epoch Era, filmed by Tony Price in 1966. Sadly now a closed line, which we were fortunate to cycle about 6 years ago, magnificent scenery and railway engineering still evident. Pure treasure and we now have the A class models to recreate this era.

Will be very interesting watching from the side lines how this evolves in the future.

Hi risk perhaps for consumers buying models that could become prematurely obsolete if the trend doesn't stick.

Yes have grown used to announcements about announcements

Will be worth waiting for I'm sure.

Sorry unfamiliar with the recent history of TT, from your post I presume Heljan were first to break ground with introduction of BR outline TT products, and Hornby are just covering their move? Wonder what caused Peco to launch track? What came first?

It's certainly and interesting business gamble. Hope it helps the iconic brand survive the demographic sunset. Having track to correct gauge for the scale would be an attraction. Perhaps they are hoping to reestablish themselves in the Christmas and Birthday toy market that they utterly dominated 40 and 50 years ago. Will watch with interest as this evolves. Personally not sure there will be a place for TT in the smaller Irish market. Had been flirting with a small O gauge end to end for next project due to the sheer size and presence of the models. Good luck to them. At least Simon has a vision and sense of what's happening to the evolving market. Only time will tell if this pays off.

That looks photo realistic from a damp day on north wall.

OMG the visual story telling is sublime. Master piece.

Fair does for them holding their hands up. Hopefully the packaging will do its job with only a few models damaged judging by one corner taking the impact. Time may be the main loss. What happens to packages on route is something we may never know. Just goes to show that it is important to pack the outer boxes with padding so inner boxes are not free to move and suffer internal impact damage.

Fab scene. Reminds me of Waterford station of old, when full Mk2 and Mk3 rakes were regular traffic at the station that once had 3 through roads.

Extraordinary scenes Ken, Delightful atmosphere and realism. I can hear noises coming from the malting house and quay side activity, flange sequel as locos shunt the quay. Sorry to hear of your health woes, may the modelling be a positive distraction and bring some joy. Wishing you well, comfort and total success in treatment. Take care. Thanks for posting those beautiful scenes.