Noel

Interesting John( @Mayner ). As far as I am aware MM produced 17 variants originally with 500ea so a total of 8500 baby GMs exist out there in homes or collections. One of the main retailers here once told me when the MM baby GMs were first launched at the height of the celtic tiger he had some punters come into his shop and buy 4 of each and every running number. That's over €8800 for toy trains. He had no view on what was behind their thinking or their motive. What's the point in having more rolling stock than can fit on your layout anyway. Less is more, layouts need what we call whitespace and plenty of unoccupied track. I'm as guilty as anybody but not 68 locos of the same class??? I confess I've ordered more than one IRM A class but not every running number. And 3 x 121s will probably be enough for the layout.

53 minutes ago, NIR said:

I just wish someone would discover a job lot of baby GMs in some obscure place, the only GMs I care for.

Agreed, still my favourites. Understand. I was perhaps very fortunate to return to the hobby a few years ago and managed to pick up four baby GMs from Chris Dyer for €118 and the rest from eBay when prices seemed fairer before the increases we've seen on eBay these days. The thing to remember is collect to enjoy and run, not stored out of sight till death, discovered in boxes by a family member, long after we've left the terminus.  

A friend of mine has a theory that as soon as the 121 and A class locos hit the streets a flood of 141/181s will hit the market by; either collectors offloading stuff they bought when they were launched in the futile hope of selling them for a big killing like a small no of the Lima 201s that fetched insane prices, or just model collectors who thought they'd go up in value and may now want to fund 121 and A class purchases. I'm not convinced of the theory there is a hidden cache of them buried out there in the market. Only time will tell.

Perhaps someday they may get re-run, as the tooling and CAD already exist. Not sure how Bachmann figure in that possibility as it was produced under their brand and factory for Murphy Models. I hope still MM own the IP and tooling.

8 hours ago, burnthebox said:

Hi guys, here’s a link to what I think is the web site which as GM. said is the original...! 
BTB

https://www.elimperiodelhobby.com/escala-176/6465-murphy-models-vagon-irish-cravens-buffet-snack-con-librea-naranja-y-negra.html

Was astonished to hear about this. Wow peat briquettes only €110 and Cravens €30. As DB says if something looks too good to be true it generally is. Sorry to hear this sort of thing goes on with some Chinese businesses. As to lawsuits in China, good luck with that, water and oil don't seem to mix too well. I hope IRM have their eye's dotted and tea's crossed with the subcontractors they hire. Hope this does not affect PM adversely and its just a once off. So Dave @WRENNEIRE legally speaking does that mean anybody who bought and paid for one of these models from Spain in the past few days is in a stickey position? Should the items be posted to MM and details passed on to GNECB? Raises a separate but curious question, who owns the IP of the original MM/Bachmann 141/181 models? Is it PM or Bachmann or the subcontractor that produced them for Bachmann? Nasty stuff, hope it gets started out. Wouldn't want to open one of my cement bubbles in future to discover a hidden fortune cookie inside it.

Kingsbridge Shed kind of 1965 (imagining Kingsbridge had its own shed instead of inchicore). CIE golden era Black'n'Tan heaven before uniform trains spoiled everything. Thank you Murphy Models for producing 5 B&T livery locos (141, 165, 181, 188 and 141A). Soon to be joined by MM 121's in black'n'tan and delivery grey/yellow livery.

Some tippex time travellers in the background

Black'n'Tan livery heaven

27 minutes ago, heirflick said:

only the 201's left - ye were quick off the mark lads!

The poor unloved peat briquette 201s  The Cravens were great value

11 hours ago, leslie10646 said:

OK, a quick opportunity to listen to and see my No.53.

There's a lot of ballasting work going on, hence the pots, paints etc in the background. I can't let you hear her bashing round with eight coaches as I'm also working at Richhill at the other end of the layout - logical, you see - work at one end and while that dries out, or sets, work at the other end?

You CAN turn the sound up - no commentary! Gosh doesn't the Digitrax reverser make a lot of noise?

Loco by Colm Flanagan, from a Hornby Fowler tank, digitised by Coastal DCC who put a LMS 4MT 2-6-4T sound chip in her

 

Very nice. That whistle sounds a lot better than the dull LMS whistle on the 'Olivias trains' sound project on my Bachmann 2-6-4T.

What is this wagon spotted in the Dublin docklands area. Is it one of the former blue Tara mines wagons or a container of some sort. Or is it a wagon at all? Spotted on Google maps. Maps are fun for nosing around places like inchicore looking at old stock, abandoned locos, old locos, etc.

22 minutes ago, Angus said:

Hi David,

I fairness I try to avoid painting anything black (unless it's an LNWR engine) for chassis I use a mixture of gunmetal and black mixed to give a faded metallic dark grey.

I hope this chassis is not deemed black  

2 hours ago, Georgeconna said:

The only livery I passed on cause its the worst, of course now fetched the high prices Typical..

 

You could buy 071s from Marks €139 and respray them to this grey.

1 hour ago, popeye said:

Wouldn't we all. May be someone could organize this in the future. 

I was on a tour of Ardnacrusha hydro dam electric complex 8 years ago and it was awesome, I'm sure a tour of inchicore with its industrial pedigree and history would be similarly impressive. Perhaps it could be organised someday by the three big clubs together or separately.

31 minutes ago, popeye said:

It's starting to look like Inchicore. 

Ah, but there are no rusting 201s in decay wasting away. If ever I pick up some of the old Lima 201s for €30 I could make them into an inchicore diorama.

I might try and take a snap at the Kingsbridge shed some time. Would love to do a tour of inchicore someday if they still do them.

14 minutes ago, burnthebox said:

Hi GUYS. HAVE A LOOK AT THIS SELECTION FROM SPAIN....VERY NICE...! 
BTB

https://www.ebay.ie/sch/elimperiodelhobby/m.html?item=313053283448&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Great find Paul. Good prices too. Fortunately I have collected enough Cravens to run a decent time table. The super train Mk2d's are a very keen price @ only €35ea. And Free Postage makes these exceptional value.

12 minutes ago, WRENNEIRE said:

Some info for any of our US members
Stocks most of the MM range and should have the 121's when they arrive

San Antonio, Texas

http://models11.com/

Interesting however the prices are not attractive, but they have pretty much most of the MM range. $84 for a Craven! 

Catching up on some outstanding tasks. Buffer grease day. Got 10 locos done with various types of buffer grease.

Some fuel tanks also got diesel spill treatment

I even sullied my hands by touching one of those horribly modern 201 thingies. Hope I don't catch anything nasty from it 

Have fun

2 hours ago, David Holman said:

Rattle cans rule! I too have an airbrush and compressor, but they are things that need practice. The set up and cleaning time is exponentially greater than painting time too, so it's best to store up work to make it worthwhile.

 Minor health warning though - JHBAchill will not be amused to hear of wagon chassis being painted black! 

It seemed like that at the beginning but as you have a few goes at it, takes less and less time, and before you know it cleaning up becomes quick and easy. I have it down to 120 seconds. You could do it in your sleep once you get used to it and learn more and more shortcuts. The first time I dismantled my airbrush two years ago I feared I would never manage to put it back together again, and if I did, it would never work properly again.

I agree the spray rattle cans like halfords are great for priming (ie once kept warm) and also Humbrol acrylic varnishes (Gloss for decals) and Matt for finishing. But I really do recommend giving an airbrush a try, and get past that first mental block which I refused to pass for a year after 1st getting a brush. Once you get going you'll never look back and learn all kinds of tricks by yourself. First time just spray a bit of white paper or an old piece of rolling stock that is not precious to you. The beauty of acrylics is its forgiving if you make a boo-boo. Make many boo-boos cause that's how your learn the most.      I made heaps of all merciful boo boos.

On 4/9/2020 at 7:08 PM, jhb171achill said:

I’ve already posted some items from this, which was published in earlier CIE days.

While it aimed at the public rather than enthusiasts, it contains much of interest. 
 

The following is from June 1947. The article about a railway porters day at work is an interesting insight into a long-gone world, but one familiar to anyone who worked on the railways that SO many layouts depict.

 

 

Fabulous would have loved to have the rest of that piece. Thanks for posting.

3 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

Nice Noel, although the LMS hooter will have to go! I never liked No 4’s whistle which always sounded like a scream. The GNRI version was more melodious.

Yes the LMS horn is so underwhelming, sounds more like a baby elephant breaking wind. I wonder if there are any YouTubes of no4s whistle?

An old friend of ours 'Gordon' passed away last week. He was our church pastor many years ago, and when he retired he gave me this book as a present. I had almost forgotten it until I rediscovered it this week. Delighted to have Irish Railways years of change 1956 - 1996 which documents the railways from the last days of steam through dieselisation and the GM era, from former GSWR & MGWR & UTA to CIE, IE and IR, and covers the entire island. This will make a nice read during these days of confinement. Thank you Gordan. Some fabulous photos. Gordon was an exceptional human being, a gifted teacher and a railway enthusiast, as well as being fluent in French, Spanish and Arabic. He died peacefully this day last week after a long illness. Forever remembered never forgotten. There is a map of the Irish railway network in 1956 and it is incredible how much was still intact then before it was later cannibalised by the growth of road traffic and lack of planning insight in the late 1950s as Ireland started its transition from a 3rd world rural economy to a hi-tech and agri food power house. Please forgive that I don't use the term RIP because I don't think Gordon is resting, instead I sense he is busy in a new life of purpose and joy, beyond our comprehension but perhaps best explained by the recent Easter season. Thank you Gordon I will enjoy reading this over the coming weeks. 

Gordon on his retirement from Crinken Church 16 years ago

2 hours ago, irishthump said:

I guarantee you wont look back after getting the Lokprogrammer!

I fully agree about the prices from UK suppliers. Even the blank decoders have a crazy mark up compared to buying from Modelbahnne Lippe and the like.

BTW building your own sound templates is something that has a learning curve but simply loading downloadable files and tweaking the sounds can be learned in an afternoon, it really is that simple.

I'm looking forward to it. Only bummer is it doesn't run on Mac so I will have to tolerate Windoze under VMware. I dislike Windoze more than Android and even more than 22k trams 

Hopefully next winter might get around to tweaking this Bachmann Fairburn 2-6-4T closer to no 4. The prototypes (ie ex-LMS UTA Jeeps) were quite powerful locos well capable of hauling 8 coaches.

28 minutes ago, irishthump said:

I haven't tried the V5 yet but I had heard that they addressed the problem with acc/dec on their decoders which was long overdue. They also introduced a feature where you can simulate a heavy train or running light engine. This can be assigned to a function key of your choice.

To be honest a lot of those bespoke sounds are very gimmicky and are only of use in some specific circumstances. Its not hard to create them yourself with the Lokprogrammer but I haven't had the time to jump down that rabbit hole! All credit to the likes of wheeltappers but they're not exactly reinventing the wheel with their sound projects as the vast majority of the sound files needed are free to download.

Hi Graham, I just got delivery of an LokProgrmmer on your recommendation but it will probably be the winter months before I get around to playing with it proper and the steep learning curve to do anything useful with it. WheelTappers can do remote decoder re-blows for customers who have one. Going to experiment and try things like doppler effect, distance loco sounds, etc. More rail gadgets to play with. Choo-Choo. Got a great price from ModelBahnShop-Lippe in germany, postage was only €3.90 so its good bye from me to the UK online rip off merchants and their extortionate prices of all things DCC.

Most projects have upwards of 20 functions but I tend to use only 8 most of the time.

• Prime mover - engine noise
• Horn short + long distant
• Lights
• Braking noise
• Flange squeal
• Guards whistle
• Rail clank
• Buffer clash

Rarely use all the other obscure stuff like shovelling coal, or compressor fans, etc. I don't think I could go back to driving a model loco without sound. Planning to experiment with static layout noises using an old tablet hooked up to a PC speaker (eg ambient noises, station bustle, traffic, birds, station announcements) and just play them in a loop (eg from edited mp3 files).

Noel

15 minutes ago, RobertRoche said:

I used a Bachmann Fairburn as a basis. The closer you look the more differences you see, for example the sweep down just before the cab is missing and there is an additional rib along the boiler. I had thought that this model (https://www.hattons.co.uk/525667/bachmann_branchline_32_350_po21_standard_class_4mt_2_6_4t_80061_in_br_black_with_early_emblem_pre_owned_minor_/stockdetail.aspx) may work but now the front seems  a bit off.  The Fowler conversion in New Irish Lines is a lot more involved than mine - I just finished my version.

 

She looks really well and alongside 3173 BCK

3 hours ago, Mayner said:

The Hornby Fowler 2-6-4T https://www.hattons.co.uk/10010/hornby_r2398_class_4p_2_6_4_42322_fowler_tank_in_br_black/stockdetail.aspx is pretty much the standard rtr donor for WT/jeep conversions. 

There are articles on Jeep conversions in the New Irish Lines Archive https://newirishlines.org/archive/.

Colm Flannigan  May 2004 & Nov 2006 editions.

Richards Hobbs May 2017 edition.

An etched body only kit designed to fit the Hornby chassis is available from Worsley Works, the kit does not include turned parts or castings and is only really suitable for modellers experienced in kit or scratchbuilding in metal.

 

Fortunately picked one up a sound one few weeks ago after a tip from DB, for a future conversion to RPSI no 4. Horn sound is dreadful, sounds more like a baby elephant trying to imitate its parent learning to break wind through a silencer from a cat flap. Nice looking kettle though.

48 minutes ago, irishthump said:

Yeah but I think the Loksounds drive better than any other brand of decoder. The throttle to motor sound response is terrific and the drive hold and coast features are so much fun.

I converted most of my GMs to LokSound, but I have a soft spot for the Zimo 'Real Drive' mode. It has genuine coasting. If I get a 141 up to scale 70mph with a 4 coach train but zero the throttle she will coast 3 or 4 laps of the layout (ie 200ft) and need the application of brakes to stop her (ie just like the prototype). The Zimo is my favourite to drive but the LokSound projects sound better. Both can simulate trashing starting off with a heavy train, but the Zimo project sounds a bit tinny compared to the proper guttural EMD. The Zimo was actually recorded off a live Irish 141 but it wasn't a great sample to record and doesn't sound the best. The LokSound is using stock US EMD 567 and EMD 645 engine prime mover recordings which sound more like Irish GMs. The latest LokSound projects I have from WheelTappers have some customised features I like:

• Cascading coupling snatch at start (ie simulating a trains of loose coupled wagons taking up the slack as 3 link couplings become in tension)
• Cascading buffer clash when stopping (ie simulating an unbaked train of loose coupled 2 axle wagons buffering up one wagon at a time in compression)
• Rail joint clank - speed dependant
• Flange screech/squeal
• Long distant horn (ie sounds like a GM 1/2 mile away)
• Short horn used in shunting
• Coupling and uncoupling sequences armed automatic for stop

The coasting on the LokSound V5 chips is much improved over the V4 and actually requires braking to stop the train at the right spot. LokSound v Zimo in terms of hardware is like splitting hairs, but the projects available on LokSound seem to have better recordings for the baby GMs inc 121. I've had the daft walkway foot steps sequence removed when direction is changed. This was a total nuisance when shunting rapidly needing to change direction.