Noel

IOM is no longer the tourist destination it was, and the numbers of annual visitors has all but collapsed. Low cost airlines have had a negative effect on traditional sea side resorts on these islands, with folk preferring to holiday overseas for less cost with guaranteed good weather. It's a symptom of relative prosperity. But I hope they can find a sustainable way to keep the trams if at all possible. I've spent a lot of time in IOM and very fond memories of the railway there also.

Sadly tied up again that day! Will have to get to the feb one.

Cheers Joe. Just bare in mind you don't have any of the hassle above with the newer 071 and 201 models because they come with a speaker, so just plug in a 21pin sound decoder (i.e. with suitable sound project) and go. No wires, no solder. 5 mins to install.

I'm only guessing, but that might mean a delivery delay for the existing 333 order holders while they wait for the extra packs to be ordered and paid for before production starts. But small re-runs might be possible as the tooling costs would have already been absorbed and therefore the cost per unit lower, or rightly a bit of well earned profit for the business to fund other projects and make a return which is only fair for all the work, investment and risk taking. Hat's off guys for a clever startup strategy.

I'm holding out for IRM's 404 due in 2025 to commemorate the opening of the Cork-Dublin HST404 sets expected to run at 404kph to compete with self drive hydrogen cars on the M8a.

Congrats IRM. Looking forward to running these behind a pair of baby GMs. Its what comes after the cement bubble that I'm also very interested in

Thanks Kieran. Your thread covering the build on RMWEB which I've just read is excellent. Noel

Hi Kevin Might be interested in joining in, but a few queries. What price are the SO and BSO versions? Does anybody have a scanned copy of the instructions so I can gauge what work would be involved? Are the overlays stuck over the existing plastic coach sides or instead of? Which donor would be most suitable for the BSSGV in terms of interior seating, etc? Which donor for the SO, BSO - the Dapol coaches seem to be corridor interior layouts instead of open? Do they fit on the RTR and/or KIT Dapol 60ft Stanier coaches below? KIT: http://dapol.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=177_60_87_220&product_id=1582 RTR: http://dapol.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=177_60_87_159&product_id=1578 Thanks Noel

OK. I was just curious why anybody would want or need 17 or more baby GMs, even if they had the cash. How would they even fit on typical layouts.

Opps, yes and Agree. I don't remove the handrails anymore when taking the body off because its a real pain getting them perfectly back on I use wooden ice cream sticks with the ends cut flat to pinch the sides by pushing them under the hand rails. The wood seems to be gentle on the body sides.

141/181 To get the body off pinch the sides of the body using ice cream sticks and gentle pull upwards. See the four orange lugs protruding from the central body. These are what need to be pinched to release the body. One cab separates. Empty speaker cradle on the 141/181 - some folk remove this and the lugs to fix larger speaker bodies. I used it as designed. Solder wires to speaker Solder speaker wires to loco PCB at the SP+ and SP- holes Insert the decoder the correct way up (i.e. there is one hole blocked on the decoder and one pin missing on the loco PCB) On the advice of others here I also drill a small hole on the top of the body over the decoder for heat dissipation.

One of the main retailers here in Ireland, told me when the baby GMs went on sale years ago, he had a number of clients who bought one of every single running number available from him, and one client bought four of every running number. Who in the world would want that many locos unless they have a tennis court sized layout, or are trader/collectors hoping to make a few bob profit in the future when the models are out of production? I don't get it. I am lucky to have eight baby GMs, four 071s, a single 201, and hoping to buy three or four 121s next year when they are on sale, but I won't be buying one of every livery or every running number. Hopefully over time 2xB&T 1xIR and possibly 1xGrey, which will nicely complement the existing GM fleet on the layout.

The only High Nellie I've been on uses pedal power - http://www.highnelly.ie Michael Collins mode of transport

Are we in danger of nit picking and raising expectations to unrealistic levels? It's free enterprise market - so once the 121s are on the shelves and folk have had a chance to examine them, they will vote or not with their wallets. Minor details such as paint trim variations should be straight forward for modellers to adjust if they feel the need to. My own personal expectation is the new MM 121 will be top class and easily surpass the 'duck test' that applied to the chocolate fountain results from MIR etc.

What a treasure trove of photos. Superb. Thanks for posting.

P What gauge wheels are shown on the cad drawings posted above?

Great footage of my favourite era

Great read, thanks for posting.

He was referring to the 'A class' in that famous post. Imho, both the SSM and SF look quite good when finished. The difference may be in the kit components.

As WRENNEIRE says it is fairly straight forward especially on the 201 class which has an opening in the body for the decoder. The 071 and 201 class already have speakers fitted so you just need to plug the decoder in. The 141/181s do not come with a speaker, so will need one installed in the supplied plastic speaker cradle and two wires then soldered onto the 141/181 electric circuit board. The 071 class requires the removal of four screws from under the body just above the bogies, but it is easy to get a screw driver through the bogie undersides, then the central body sections pulls off. The 141/181 seem a little trickier until you figure out how to get the central body section to come off. It is a snap fitting with four plastic lugs that protrude through the side of the two walkways. I use two wooden ice cream sticks to pick the side of the body panel over the lugs and then prise the body section slightly upward, repeating the same at the other end. It feels very stiff and like it will never come off, but force is not needed, instead a simple technique to prise the lugs inwards and then it will move. One of the cab ends comes off freely, but the other should remain fixed to the central body section. One the 071 and 141/181 once the body has been removed its easy to install the decoders by just removing the existing blanking plate and then press the 21 pin decoder on the right way up. There is one pin missing and one hole missing so folks don't attempt to fit the decoder chip upside down or wrong way around. Once installed any decoder will have a default address of 3 which you can subsequently change usually to match the numbers painted on the loco itself for ease of use. If you are thinking of 141/181s look at these links. But this is not needed for 071 or 201s: http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/3534-How-to-get-body-shell-off-a-MM-141-181-In-reality/page2 http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/content.php/362-Installing-sound-in-a-141

+1

Eh - just use "Preview" to proof read before submitting a post. I've same problem with tablets predictive text and more my own lexdisia, but I usually re-read and correct any mistakes within an hour or two, never days later. Anwyay msot floks can raed speliling msitkaes and sitll undrestnad waht yuo maen.

Is that a significant problem? It's fairly standard practice on most BBs that edit cababability is limited after a period of time has passed. (Eg correct mistake or typo an hour or two after posting). If folks have new content its better to add a new post to a thread rather than add content to an existing post.

Yummie

It looks so much better running in the direction. The curves look like the wind blowing the mane of a wild beast, or a cheetah, conveying power and speed. I know it doesn't match up that way around with the DD coaches, but does it not look more impressive running in that direction?