Noel

Kieran made his own. A prolific builder https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/93496-kirleys-workbench/&do=findComment&comment=3950935

Yes some history. I remember well a PM advising me you had a friend who might be making some high quality A class locos. And then it all started with the humble ballast wagon, would it work, could an Irish startup company with no track record in IMP produce a model, how long would it take, would the quality be there, would Irish modellers help fund pre-orders for a model to be delivered perhaps in 18 months or two years time? Well the answers proved, yes, yes and yes. Please don't forget us now that you've conquered the UK before you take on the USA market. Looking forward to the next five years. In the beginning there was the ubiqutious ballast And the ballast was good so bubbles were needed to run over it upon a track to bring cement to make sleepers And Stephen said let there be ore for the fertiliser factories to be built And so it came to pass, And Fran said let there be nutrients to fertilise the static grass, and it was pleasing to see And Richie said let there be container flats to bring produce to every market in the land and fuel the economy And Patrick said it was good, let us put a container upon a ship to sail the south china seas and bring back A classes And so they sat on a mountain top for forty minutes and forty pints, and proclaimed to the valleys, fetch thee a shovel, and belt thee the the resin A class with thine holy shovel of antioch, and bring forth a new era with a new A class worthy of the new promised land. And so it came to pass during those days. And then the wise men looked across the valleys and the seas, and said look yonder, there is a fertile land across the seas yet unharvested, let us bring forth our produce, scale their mountains with detail and amaze all in every village and evert hamlet. Let us show what's possible with innovation, vision and determination. And we all rejoiced and made much rail noise, and sprung buffer clashing as stock rolled bountifully over the green and fertile land bringing fertiliser, ore, grain and cement north south east and west. And it was pleasing to see, and pleasing to haul. Thank you. Keep it up. Looking forward to hauling stock behind the holy A class and whatever comes next.

Fabulous. The curved back scenes and lighting are so professional. I just love this layout, has always been my favourite on here. Very tidy.

I've had so much fun driving these locos with DCC sound. I purchased MM ESU LokSound decoders and also ESU LokSound decoders from one of the specialist sound decoder suppliers. Both sound good, but the MM decoder seems a little basic, lacking ESU's new 'Full Throttle' driving functions and seems to have no independent DCC operation of the head lamps separately from the running lights. Quite good but just not as sophisticated nor comprehensive as the specialist sound projects. The WheelTappers project in the video below seems more advanced making full use of the new LokSound V5 'Full Throttle' driving features that facilitates prototypical driving, coasting, acceleration of light, medium and heavy train loads, in addition to coasting and prototypical braking distances, also with a 'throttle hold' feature that allows manual control of notching while loco speed is remains constant. Not flaming the MM chip, but generic manufacturer sound projects rarely have the comprehensive sound and driving features that specialist sound providers such as WheelTappers, MrSoundGuy or Leggomanbiffo are used to producing for connoisseur modellers. Out of the box the MM ESU decoder sounds good, just not as prototypical to drive as the specialist projects suppliers. Pricing seems similar. No connection with WheelTappers, just a happy customer. Irish Railways class 121 V5 sound.pdf

Spoiler alert - DCC sound symphony video. Had so much fun playing with these ESU LokSound V5 running on wonderful MM 121 locos. DCC sound really adds to the prototypical operation of these superb models. Can't wait for the Black'n'Tan livery due very soon. No connection with WheelTappers just a very happy customer for some years. Great service. Cost seems about the same an MMs own decoders, but just more comprehensive functions and some truly wonderful prototypical driving features due to the FULL TROTTLE feature of LokSound V5 decoders which includes: PowerDrive, Light, Medium and Heavy Train loads, coasting and prototypical braking distances. Good support for Consisting with light arrangements, as well as push pull operation. The video explains. I understand there is an option to get a pair of matched decoders, one with sound, one non-sound to save expense of two sound decoders in a 121 pair (ie LokSound+LokPilot). Enjoy. http://www.wheeltappersdccsounds.co.uk

Looking forward to all the new Irish model releases over the next 5 years

Would love some of the 1970s cream and navy buses, or even some of the flying snail green 1960s double deckers with the open rear step platform

NPHET are now deeply concerned about a potential outbreak of yellow fever.

Some 1960s CIE passenger and goods movements behind Murphy Models 121 class locos B135 and B134. ESU LokSound v5 by WheelTappers DCC sound EMD 645 on B134 + EMD 567 on B135. Prototypical driving with light, medium, heavy trains simulating acceleration, coasting and prototypical braking distances. Full range of light functions including train mode, shunting mode, and parking mode with Dual mode for double header consists with a pair of 121s (ie nose2nose running lights remain off at coupled end).

Excellent

Understand. Think of the loco as a VHS player, the chip is just whatever movie you want to play in it (ie choice of sound and driving characteristics). Personally I think current DCC is technically totally antiquated, there have been incremental improvements but is still not that much different from Hornby's Zero 1 in the late 1970s. DCC is 1970s electronics that has had all manner of clever gubbins taped onto it. But in this day and age things like the need for a programming track, loco addresses, CVs are a bit like asking a modern web developer to design a new web site for a business using assembly language. What I like about DCC is its just two wires to the entire layout, I don't believe in all these unnesseary and wasteful droppers, never used them, never had a problem, fish plates conduct the current reliably and have done for 25 years. I enjoy three main benefits of DCC: Only two wires to track (no block sections nor isolation sections, nor switches), prototypical driving (ie acceleration, braking and stopping), and sound.

Just pop the cover off the 121 bonnet and plug in the 21pin LokSound decoder and off you go, no tuning or adjustments needed. Some folk may wish to adjust the overall volume but that's easily done by writing a value to CV63 on the test track.

I still run a brake van behind some of my model fitted stock. A goods train without a guards van at the end seems like an unfinished sentence. Something is just missing. Some of the early fitted beet trains and container trains had brake vans tagged on the end of the formation. I know not for what purpose, but it just looks proper.

Inside I'm often still a 10yo boy in awe and wonder at the magical world of trains.

Cheers John. Yes I knew they didn't run in pairs until the late black'n'tab era. They only had one brake cylinder on each bogie side whereas the 141 and 181s had two brake cylinders each bogie side. But it was fun running them nose2nose in advance of the orange era. Did locos in the 1960s have 2 or 3 people in the cab (ie was there a 'fire man')?

There was a legendary story about a giant crane HGV going down the N81 years ago near Tallaght, striking an overpass bridge, initially it looked like the crane was liable so the matter went to insurance, but a young exec in the crane's insurance company checked into matters deeper and discovered the road had been resurfaced on multiple occasions without removing the previous strata, increasing the top of the road surface, therefore reducing the minimal regulatory clearance under the bridge, so instead of the crane's insurance paying out, Dublin Co-Co had to pay for the damage to the crane because their bridge was too low!!! Fact or fiction, I'm not sure but folks in the area swear by it.

Kevin, at EINN? When training, did my solo cross country there 40 years ago.

B121Consist.mp4 Very short clip of a pair of MM 121s consisting both with sound running. Unique lighting functions for consisting, and train load functions for prototypical driving simulating light, medium and heavy train loads with associated acceleration, coasting and braking distances. Might do a longer demo clip in the future. Just love driving these 121s. Well done Murphy Models.

They would look well behind OO works J15. Don't know if the coaches below were MGWR or GSWR, but in the movie they were running on MGWR rails

Had fun running this pair of 121s today in consist as a double header, both with sound operating. F24 prevents the lights being on at the ends where the two locos are coupled together. Will have a go at weathering B135 in the next week or so. Just love these new Murphy Model 121s. Sublime little beauties. Will have to put a driver in the cab of B135 when weathering it.

True. Both an Air Canada and an Air Transat wide body made successful landings after fuel starvation occurred at cruising alt but both glided safely to asphalt. Air Transat was mid Atlantic when their engines flamed out. Air Canada was over land. BA 009 was fortunate that the crew got 3 fans running again, and then their second miracle was landing successfully with opaque cockpit windows.

Love it. Tara central. Enough action to make a 10you boy faint with excitement.

Works for me. These are the best Irish models ever. The plastic rails are very easy to realign and easily push back into correct position if dislodged by handling or unpacking. They seem the perfect solution to me as they retain their shape when pushed back on. For weathering I took these off and then put them back on, and they were straight and square as a die when returned to position. Pristine colours on any model can look stark, but that's only because they have not spent 10-20 years out in the weather and sun. The lightest of gentle weathering can greatly help as evidenced by other models that had bright yet correct coloured plastics in the past. These handrails can be removed and put back on much easier that other locos. Just love these locos. I had a few minor issues with two or my grey 121s, but were easily resolved and Murphy Models with apologies and decency expeditiously replaced one loco which had a problem with the built in sound speaker. Superb after sales service. Happy Days and thank you Murphy Models. PS: I find the best way to handle these locos especially B134 with the walkway rails and B125 is similar is to hold and lift the loco by the fuel tank. I've had so much fun already driving these locos with early 1960s train formations both goods and passenger with sound, heavy loads, light loads, coasting, braking and really prototypical driving. So many prototypical lighting options too.

Hard to believe such a long runway got built in the middle of nowhere just because a plucky local priest blagged a visiting politician and hung him on his own promise. Yes George I did indeed get Shannon mixed up with Knock. Hard to believe after only 10 years of service life they may be cut up. Boeing got it right, hubs are dead, passengers want to fly direct point to point. Not good for climate change though unless one day they can build a fusion reactor the size of a large suitcase weighing not more than a ford focus. As a pal of mine used to say when ETOPS were first permitted, 4 engines doubles the amount of things that can go wrong compared to modern efficient twin turbofans, and so it proved, more efficient, safer, more reliable. IMHO, post covid, climate change measures are the next shock wave the aviation industry is likely to face. Long distance trains could make a comeback.