Noel

Hi MM, I interpreted the above as "Half the modellers are <50?". This may indeed be true. The fab four appear to be <50 which reflects their passion for post 1974 and all things orange and yellow, bogies and diesels. It's all down to personal nostalgia memory, those of us a little older have perhaps been preconditioned to steam era by the trainsets of the 60s and 70s which were all steam, and the regular imported intake of ITV and BBC drama programmes regularly showing steam trains in Britain (ie subliminal nostalgia). Back then Train sets were in only two forms, a steam engine plus two or three passenger carriages, or a steam engine plus 2 axle wagons of the 50s vintage and the essential brake van punctuating the end of every goods train. The first diesel model I ever remember was a Tri-Ang hornby class 37 in BR blue about 1975, even though Hornby Dublo and Rovex had some diesel locos a decade earlier. Eye of the beholder and all that. Our layout is almost entirely diesel now and thats because thats what I remember here in Ireland from the 60s through the 70s since which I had very little cause to travel on rail and missed much of the tippex era. Yellow had not yet been adopted for PW stuff. Having said that in recent years I've collected a few Irish steam locos which in real life I have no memory of ever travelling behind (ie manufactured nostalgia), the only Irish steam train I've ever seen is the opening sequence to the 'quiet man' and the few sequences in the 'Michael Collins' movie. Other than that its just been YouTubes of RPSI steam locos in preservation yards. There is no doubt many Irish modellers may have grown up with an imported romantic nostalgia memory for the glory days of the big four, LMS, GWR, LNER, SRr, due perhaps to BBC, ITV, and period movies and the prevalence of hornby steam era train sets as children. The beauty of the hobby is we can time travel to wherever we want, sometimes a little kit bashing and painting is required, but more than any thing imagination. Murphy Models certainly created the first giant leap for Irish model train enthusiasts, and more recently IRM have taken up the baton from 1974 period onwards and raised the bar even higher with their exquisite detailing and innovations. The future looks bright.

Those grey Bubbles do look fabulous. But when is enough bubbles enough? Had I known about them before this lot were procured by the KRPA I'd have bought less and more of the greys.

A full house at last. CIE Golden era. Have enjoyed pottering around working on these during the CV-19 confinement. CIE 2 axle stock bridge the 1950s to the 1960s stream to GM/EMD diesel era. x Put into traffic right away on a local branch pick-up goods working from Woodvale Junction to Rathdrum. Bachmann Fairburn 2-6-4 soon to be RPSI'd has been kaydee'd. Another blasted manufacturer who didn't take NEM pockets seriously and needed not a little adjustment to get the kadee's at the right height. These wagons underwent extensive kadee testing before being release to traffic due to the sometimes slightly droopy NEM pockets on the Dapol donor chassis.

More 2 axle wagon stock arrives. The glory days of CIE good traffic serving every station in the land daily. Even one flying snail snuck in. A new rake of 2 axle CIE goods wagons arrive, donors from Dapol. Fairburn 2-6-4 to be re-liveried to RPSI in due course (thanks to Dave Bracken for the tip). Kettle in foreground is 00 Works J15. Both of these steam locos have LokSound 5.

Thanks for posting. Interesting. Once I got vid working in full screen mode there was much more visible. Interesting grab device for the barrels.

Workbench escapism. Got some more finished today, more CIE 5 plank open wagons on the way. Kadee'd the lot. These will operate on the Ennis to Athenry line visiting Gort. Hopefully will end up with about 10 of these 1960s era wagons when finished. Really enjoying the learning curve with stuff like this. x x

Would it not be more appropriate to use the sound of Wonderly Wagon? Given the day that is in it

Einstein did a nice respray on your pre-production sample. already ordered as AS Deltic but in a foreign livery. mittwoch?

Or swop for four MM 141 models in Black'n'Tan 141, 165, 181, 188

All FIVE A330 green Thunderbirds airborne on Beijing medical supplies airlift. I understand there will be between 50 and 60 flights.

C'est incredible. This should be on public display running trains somewhere like the Fry collection museum in Malahide. While on a different planet as regards scale realism compared to the old O gauge layout, it does have echos of the old castle layout with its elevated city sections. I don't know if this layout is transportable, but it would be a great shame if it could not be exhibited somewhere to the public one day. Words are not adequate to describe this layout's merits.

Gift? a €220m contract!!!

Yea and the train was faster than both aircraft. Somebody once told me the average speed of a mainline train in Britain is now slower than steam trains were in the 1930s before the war. Myth or fact, I've no idea.

Hi MMie353. You have three main choices: Wheeltappers DCC sounds (also resold by DC Kits and the former Belfast model shop) MrSoundGuy Murphy Models but only for 071 and 201, not the baby GMs for which only the above do. I've used and experimented with all three. MrSoundGuy uses Zimo decoders, whereas WheelTappers DCC sounds use LokSound chips as do Murphy Models. Personally and this is only personally speaking I prefer the sounds available from WheelTappers projects, but I did like the prototypical driving (ie coasting and braking offered by MrSoundGuy. Kieth Pierson actually recorded an Irish GM 141 some years ago, but it just doesn't sound as good as the engine prime mover used by WheelTappers, and unfortunately at idle there was a loose panel or part on the loco the recording was made from which has an irritating clinking sound. I liked the driving of the Zimo chip with its coasting and manual braking, but overall I preferred the sounds and experience especially shunting with WheelTappers. I have since equipped most of my 141/181/121 loco with WheelTappers decoder projects. The Murphy Model decoders built by ESU for 071 and 201 class were good but just not as much fun to drive due to lack of prototypical driving features such as coasting, braking and throttle hold for manual control of notching. With the wheel tappers projects I can simulate really heavy trains starting off slowly thrashing and decelerating slowly as they approach stations, and Neil has added some customised features for me including cascading coupling snatch and cascading buffer clash for loose coupled goods trans starting off or stopping. Also he has added personalised rail clank noise and flange squeal as well as proper irish short and long horns including a distance long horn that was so evocative of the 141/181 locos. Anyway have a listen to the YouTube clips I posted below using all three suppliers decoders. Getting into sound is great fun. Fitting decoder to 201 class is easiest as its through a roof hatch, the 071 requires for screws remove and the central body section popped off but both the 071 and 201 are supplied with speakers fitted so no soldering required, just plug and play. The 141/181 locos require you to fit a speaker into the supplied speaker cradle and solder two speaker wires onto the locos internal PCB. To do this you need to remove the body which is relatively easy once you know how, but to the uninitiated can seem a challenging task avoiding damage to the delicate parts. I can post you photos if you like. It is possible to get this centre 141/181 body section off without the need to remove the walkway handrails which are nigh impossible to put back on properly so best to leave them fitted and just unclip from the cab ends when pulling the body upwards and off to gain access to the internal PCB and speaker cradle. Enjoy. Noel PS: There is a lot of fuss made about the better sound quality from fitting bass reflex speakers but to be honest I've tried them all including iPhone speakers and I really cannot tell much of a difference in the sound between standard 20x40mm speakers and bass reflex speakers housed in a sealed box which requires some loco surgery which most won't feel like doing. WheelTappers 121 project (similar to 141/181) but with 'Power Drive' feature that supports throttle hold and manual notching, plus custom rail clank noises, and flange squeal. WheelTappers 141 project with automatic notching rather than PowerDrive feature which his later projects have Mr SoundGuy 141 demo running on MM141 with Zimo DCC decoder Murphy Model 222 loco with standard Murphy Model ESU LokSound decoder (lakes braking, coasting and throttle hold) Cab ride inside 141 class with ESU LokSound V4 chip by WheelTappersDCCsound Fitting a standard speaker to MM 141/181 loco Getting the body off an MM 141/181 loco 121 loco Athern SW1500 chassis with speaker that fits in bonnet. Getting the body off a 141/181 loco. Body is friction fitted by for snap fitting plastic lugs Handrails can stay connected to loco You are probably sorry you asked the question now after all that. Apologies, DCC sound is a passion of mine as it enhances driving models so much. PS: If you have the time suggest try out one of each (ie WheelTappers and MrSoundGuy). Before committing to doing your whole fleet. Then you'll just know which one suits you personally best.

As soon as I saw who the OP was and the title of the thread I just knew this was going to be special which seems and understatement. Stunning as ever Isambard Kingdom Murray.

Well done Team Aer Lingus who've committed their entire fleet of 5 heavy Airbus A330s to fly to Beijing to collect emergency medical supplies, equipment and PPE for healthealthcare professionals. Thank you to the 100 volunteer air crews, loading crews, and aircraft maintenance engineers who are travelling out with the 5 birds to bring back emergency supplies. None will leave the aircraft while on the ground in Beijing so they can return home without being quarantined out there. Way to go Aer Lingus. Two more in the air now with all 5 operating from tomorrow after todays first proving flight landed back in Dublin. 60 flights scheduled for the health service air lift. Cargo hold full of pallet loads of medical equipment and supplies, the cabin filled with more medical supplies and boxes of PPE Two more A330 in the air right now .

Bad luck. Sorry to hear about this criminal activity in the postal system. I only recently weathered by Supertrain livery 182 having bought it in 2008 as my first Murphy model loco, and the model that got me back into this hobby. Dave Bracken @WRENNEIRE may be able to help you source an MM0182. Otherwise eBay with high prices may be an option but they do come up there from time to time.

That's an incredible snow machine, looks like something from a bond movie, with bond trapped in front of it but as usual makes a ridiculously improbable escape for being shredded. Think a bond baddie ended up on another type of snow machine in one of the Roger moore editions.

Just my tuppance. Personally I prefer the idea of ordering from stock and paying for it just a few days before delivery. It gives a nice degree of certainty, and avoids the issue of delays which seem part of the specialist hobby supply business. Budgeting seems more the buyers responsibility. The guys have been very good at giving out timely information and news, so planning even with the odd delay should be possible. The gift cards is a good option, but not sure from Fran's answer above of there are any restrictions on use (e.g: if a card had say €500 on it, would it be possible to use €200 of the credit on one order and the balance on another order?, or is it one for one?) @Warbonnet Anyway these keg wagons look the business, saw one in the flesh last year at the SDMRC show, seriously impressed, even though a little out of my era, but just too dam good not to collect a few as they were a quintessential part of the Irish seen for decades.

That looks so amazing I can hear the sound of sea gulls. Sublime, reeks of atmosphere and realism.

They look superb. Really nice job.

Some more progress. 3 done, 3 more to do. Then some 5 open plank wagons of the flying snail era. This hobby is near perfect for spending time at the work bench, before cabin fever sets in during this CV-19 crisis. These stand me about €10 each and doing them was inspired by scenes from @jhb171achill's book 'Rails into the West'. Will have to get the finger out on Gort as that is what these wagons are for.

Chill Dave. I apologise if I inadvertently caused any offence on mere discussion about liveries. I have never heard of any railway expert or rail enthusiast refer to CIE black livery, might just be me or my ignorance. I don't understand why you have taken such offence. Good evening.

I refer the matter to senior council the oracle on such matters @jhb171achill. Labels on boxes don't necessarily reflect what the prototype liveries were. This is a source of perennial confusion for some modellers. Speaking with PM personally he himself uses the terms "Supertrain livery" and "Black'n'Tan". In the wider context of CV19 going on outside in the real world, lets just call them coloured locos.