Noel

July? Its -5ºC outside here now

Cheers JHB. 182 was my first ever MM model, bought at the Fry layout at Malahide castle about 17 years ago. It got me back into the hobby. A few years ago with some fear and reverence for her I risked weathering the pristine model which changed her appearance somewhat as below. Colours are affected by light, time of day, back drop, reflection, so many things. The most unrealistic shade of orange for me were the mk2d coaches with an almost yellow shade or orange rather than the red tinted mud brown orange actually used by CIE.

Interesting comparing the different shades of Shades of CIE/IR/IE Orange on models. Reruns and new orange coaching stock due from various manufactures this next year including Mk2 variants and Mk3. Mix your own options: MM stock MM 177 out of the box, MM mk2d out of the box, MM 182 out of the box MM 083 top straight out of the box, adjusted MM mk2d roof, MM mk2d roof straight out of the box

I'm still recovering from the retirement and closure of W J Owens in Bray years ago. (Model Rail, Cameras, Airfix, Humbrol, RC Model Air, Balsa, etc) once the best hobby shop on the island and an aladdins treasure cave. Mail order just is not the same as a pilgrimage visit to 41 main street bray and the expert Willie Owens son of the founder. Modellers of all types drove from the four corners of Ireland for modelling supplies. In the 70s he also did mail order to clubs for supplies of balsa, tools, glue, etc.

Really sorry to hear this news. Benefited from their excellent customer service and warranty over the years. They had been a great source for track, electrics and rolling stock. Changing times. I understand the Irish Genesis 6 wheelers will proceed as this is a wind down rather than insolvency. They will be missed by many. They brought customer service to a new level in what had been a rather backward and conservative market.

MM mk3's likely to be a hit with the demographic here. But I suspect the 141/181 re-runs may top the charts. Personally looking forward to the IRM Bulleid Beet wagons. 071 re-runs are promised including NIR blue and IR grey which have achieved crazy money on ebay this past 24months. eBay collections likely to be devalued by the Loco re-runs from MM. Will IRM ever do either of the Sulzers? Not convinced there's enough nostalgia memory in the market for those wonderful CIE era diesels. I'd sell my pet hamster for B113 (if I had a pet hamster). Best wishes for 2024 to all on here. PS: Also very much looking forward to the IRM Park Royals.

Best wishes to all on here for the Christmas celebration. Something truly exceptional happened in our cosmos. Take care all.

Superb Patrick. Communion table, pulpit, organ, eagle lectern, baptismal font at the back and yer all set for MP2 or HC2. Love the communion rail and seating. Really captured the atmosphere. Pebble dash was an inspired idea. Bell tower is fab. This is a unique model that brings real character to your layout.

. . . And suffered a famous kick up the */;:)

It depends on wither you want sound or not. If not sound just motor DCC decoders than €20 for a basic Lenz decoder is more than enough. No need for ridiculous €35. If you want sound then your two choices are ESU LokSound5 projects from the likes of (http://www.wheeltappersdccsounds.co.uk/styled-5/index.html) or Zimo from Mr Sound Guy (website currently offline). Both of these have sound projects for nearly all the Irish diesel locos. I've equipped my MM 141/181/121/071/201 fleet with ESU projects designed by WheelTappers. I tried but dislike the generic vanilla projects designed by ESU themselves for Murphy Models and IRM, they were designed by people sitting at desks using library recordings of mainly US locos with now knowledge of how Irish Diesel loco's were operated and how they actually sounded. For me sound is half the equation, how these project drive prototypicaly is just as important. Sadly the generic vanilla ESU projects lack coasting and long distance braking like the real thing, so they cannot be driven as a real loco would have been. Personally I enjoy the challenge of bringing a model loco to notch 0 and applying brakes at the right time to bring a train to a halt a mile or two later correctly at the right place on a platform or in front of a stop signal. Shoving throttle to speed step 0 and the mode train stopping abruptly using only 18 inches of track is toy town and boringly unrealistic. Driving model trains like real trains is the fun.

Ultimately the existing dart line will eventually be quad tracked despite the massive CPO costs, when I suggest eventually probably sometime for sure in the next 100 years. There may the tunnelling for parts of it to reduce land and property CPO costs, but it seems unavoidable despite the uproar from parts of the east coast urban areas. Only then can inter city rail from the north and south get in and out of Dublin faster, and can Dublin area commuter rail get past the existing bottle necks, and interconnect with the city via Heuston and Connolly. Heuston badly needs a direct link with Connolly, as does the airport with both. Heuston line could also do with a large park and ride though station at the intersection with the M50 so road users from the surrounding counties can avail of a metro service in the city. We have to bite the bullet and bet the farm by investing hundreds of billions in transport infrastructure and take a hundred year view instead of short 5 year political piecemeal view of outcomes. London and Paris are what they are because courageous politicians invested for a century. Despite Ireland apparently being one of the wealthiest nations on earth we still have second rate infrastructure. Invest for a century not 5 year plans. It's possible to get anywhere in London via public transport and especially the tube, without needing a car. There's no reason Dubin cannot be the same. The Luas doesn't cut it yet because of limited coverage, overcrowding and it's too slow to get across the city. Dedicated Heavy rail speeds things up because it doesn't have to compete with road traffic and all the safety guff that entails.

OMG - Or as Miley Byrne might say 'well holy God'. Sublime scenic effects and clever use of spatial effects. Torc waterfall eat your heart out. Stunning. It looks so real it could be 1:1 scale.

. . . And let more people from cork migrate into the republic from the PDRC? I think not it’s already a pain having one’s passport inspected at Mallow on the train.

Resourceful engineering artistry. Inspiring result.

https://www.rte.ie/archives/2020/0423/1134333-cobh-train-crash/

My wife had a pleasant trip to Belfast and back yesterday on the Enterprise. She thought it was right up there with the Cork route CAF mk4 coaches for comfort. Up on the 0930 returned on the 1805. Great comfy service. Thankfully Dublin quiet last night on return, as a certain element had crawled back under their rocks.

The other proper intercity train to run in Ireland. Excellent comfy DD coaches that are quiet and super comfortable.

Cheers, that's down to kadee couplings and Keen systems sprung corridor connectors. Yes I wondered that too. Suppose if you lived beside the station, but then there's the hassle of going outdoors at train arrival times. Perhaps it was used more by the station master and local post man.

Night Mail Train.mp4

Order already placed last week. Looking forward go adding a rake of these to my two existing rakes.

Lima produced these BR class 33's in CIE Supertrain livery in the mid 1970s. Still have two of these old electric tractors. Rubbish runners but keeping them as layout decor as they came from day of youth. They don't look remotely like an A class, never did, but they looked Irish from 10 feet away back in the 1970s, when the only other option was the Hornby Hymek horror show.

Iconic, wonderful. Thank you for these wonderful Dugort stories.

Superb models