Noel

Jonathan your information above just sold another A class for IRM This is a brilliant thread, thank you. A55 in Black.

Lima BSK = CIE BR Mk1 GSV with some kit bashing Hornby BR Mk3 = IR/IE Mk3 (sort of) Bachmann GWR Ventilated Vans = CIE exGSWR Vans Dapol GWR Vent Vans = CIE Vans Hornby/Tri-Ang GWR Toad Brake van = exGSWR brake van (some poetic license)

Bachmann LMS Parcel Van for a CIE Brake Parcel van? (A few physical tweaks but nothing major)

Fair comment.

Yea fair cop to a degree, but they can in the glory days of CIE with stations still had track work and points and AEC sets sometimes had other coaching stock marshalled into their mid formations so not totally uniform. As a passenger I dislike the 22k sets because they are so uncomfortable with their hard seats and noisy cabins (ie engines under the floor), and they are the reason most stations have been rationalised to the extent that they have no points, no loops, hardly any track left. Waterford is a point in case, just half of the old bay platform left from what was once a railway metropolis. The ICRs (mere DMUs) have facilitated rationalisation that signalled the destruction of the old railway network. Can't stop progress, just great nostalgia memory for the good old days when the railways were really interesting and an assault on the senses instead of a plastic hum. All one would need for a toy 22k model would be a circle of track, points not needed, yoyo land. Baby GM a heating van and a single laminate had so much more visual and operational character. Operating AECs wouldn't be top drawer but nostalgic. I can't see anybody remembering the plastic 22k's with much affection in 40 years time. Even the long 201 peat briquettes, while locos are rather boring compared to the distinctive shapes of the earlier GM locos. Ah too many childhood memories of trains splitting at Mullingar for Galway and Sligo, which much noise and shunting, a bygone age. You had to remember which coach to sit in to ensure you arrived at the correct destination. That'd be fun in an aircraft. PS: Later 2600 were push pull loco operated (eg Bray line pre-dart)

Certainly not, travelled to Galway on AEC 2600 in the 1960s and regularly from Bray to City before the Dort

If we've learned one thing from all manufacturers its that new models will arrive only when they arrive, not when promised, but they invariably are always worth the wait. We have been utterly spoilt for choice these past 10 years between Murphy Models, Irish Railway Models, Silverfox models, Irish Freight Models, MIR, SSM, Provincial Wagons, OO Works, D&M, etc. 30 years ago there was not one single scale model of an Irish loco nor one piece of rolling stock. The world changed when Patrick Murphy teamed up with Bachmann to produce the 141/181 class baby GMs around 2007, and its been nothing but progress since. We have an abundance of quality Irish rolling stock and locos from 1955 to 2021. Thank Goodness nobody has yet contemplated producing toy 22k yo-yo DMUs (ie literally pointless train operations).

Wow that's an amazing return to the hobby after 25 years. I returned in 2014 after a similar absence and found things had moved on so much since I had left, so much new stuff and materials to learn. Well done, progress so far looks excellent. Layout looks fab. Btw, those carpentry skills looked spot on too. Enjoy layout, its like gardening, and will never end nor complete, but the journey is so enjoyable. I suspect none of us would have got into or back into the hobby without Patrick Murphy's successful business endeavours.

Yes it brilliantly achieved its aims of looking like a rural line that was soon to be closed in the early 1960s.

Absolutely wonderful scenes of Dugort harbour. So nostalgic, so real. Perhaps time to fit the detailing parts especially the horns to B165, lest it run into the bus at a level crossing cause the bus driver never heard the horn.

Correction A17 IR livery IRM A class now running with rake of weathered Murphy Model Mk2d coaching stock, rather than mk3 coaches which A class did not haul. Yea A class had vacuum brakes but mk3 stock was air braked, so A class could not haul mk3 coaching stock. Apologies for the blooper. Video above is A class correctly hauling mk2d stock.

IRM A class A17 running under DCC with Lenz Silver+ decoder hauling a set of mk3 resprayed coaches (6 resprays + 1 MM/Lima RTR). This loco is such an ultra smooth runner. Really easy to get the decoder into. Love it.

Just wonderful scenes. Dugort is looking fabulous. Sublime atmosphere of the times CIE was at its pinnacle.

It looks like most of us may end up driving battery electric cars within the next 5-7 years if the SIMI stats are anything to go by.

No 19 seem to suit A classes best for a broad variety of trackwork.

Your 21mm trackwork looks great with sleeper chairs too. Makes all the difference. Super precise. Love to see some photos or videos of how you regauged the locos.

Beautifully made 21mm trackwork. Sublimely precise and authentic looking

Thanks for the info.

@Warbonnet Good morning, gentle reminder. Keen to order some of these when available.

Stunning workmanship. The lining is exception.

Also depends on the type of tip that will suit the soldering you plan to do. Working with PCBs and thin wire probably a pointed tip, but if mainly soldering wires to track or fishplates a chisel tip is better.

Ironically some of us may have driven cars that contained recycled metals extracted from sections cut from those locos.

Orange county. Fabulous.

Hi Fran. ( @Warbonnet) Thank you. Any news when the 'Crossley' engine sound decoders will be available for delivery for the early livery A class models especially the 'special edition' silver A1 also the green livery and early black livery models which were Crossley engined. Thanks in advance.