Sean

Had a spare couple of hours tonight so I decided to make up the loading bay using leftover bits from the platform kit. Needs a few tweaks tomorrow to hide white bits but overall I'm pleased. Think it may be the first time that I've made a "thing" from scratch on the railway! I need to refinish that shed and then I'll be able to leave this end of the layout alone for a while until I get to the ballast. Ballast is probably the very last thing I'll do though since I want to add point motors later. Wiring will have to come soon though as I miss driving trains again! I think it is safe to say we are into one of my favourite parts of a layout build now, where we see the transform from a blank white Scape into something that actually at least half resembles a half realistic scene. also that siding track is filthy now, may have to liberate some clean track off the fiddle yard to replace it

I really like them when they are there but don't at all miss them we when they aren't. It's not like it's a big enough detail that I can see them spinning as the train drives around my room I actually see the moving bearing thing as a bit of a premium that Irish modellers are spoiled with. Every time you see an English review of a bit of Irish stock that has them It seems to take a while for the reviewer to actually notice they are there and then they think it's a brilliant innovation. Were they done first on irish rolling stock or do other brands of models also feature these?

rolling bearing boxes a big one for me. and the stay alive. i think i figured out number three the last time i was messing about but let me get back to you on that. no to 4 if it sacrifices too much speaker space. personally i would take the packaging and the handrails then from 141, both of these things are super annoying to me on the 121 release simply due to how delicate the model can be at times, particularly during unboxing. 141 still has plenty of detail picked out in fire wire but imo but it doesnt really work with the overall handrails due to how delicate they can be on 121. thats why IF there was a possibility of such a re run then it wouldnt exactly be the worst thing in the world. I know we are blowing hot air at this point because we know such a release is not possible, but i know id buy one (or 5 in a heartbeat). some of the big brands seem to be shamelessly selling the same tool at full whack for decades and people are buying them. yeah things are moving fast and every time when i see large %'s of the overall stock. preordered in days i keep coming back and saying that its only a matter of time. both IRM and PM both have other projects in progress atm though so i cant exactly see anything coming soon soon or maybe in the next couple of years. I too see it flying out in certain liveries whilst others might tend to hang around in stock for a longer period after this, like we see at the moment on the last of the 121's so careful consideration would be needed in chosing which ones to produce of course the lack of tooling is the main issue in all of this, and its why i dont see any sort of baby GM happening for a while but what about the 071 tool? surely murphy still has access to that and it would be much more likely to be the one we see getting a re run first? is his forthcoming 201 a retool or a re run?

relisted and sold again >.>

moo! the hill runs straight down onto the station platform, need to disguise the transition a bit better though, its grand for now! some sort of back wall for the platform will be needed here. that should add a bit of depth between the station and backscene a sizable enough station has been built for the size of the layout in fairness,and it will allow for some interesting passenger movement. a 2 coach and loco affair can serve the station on its own without issue, when the rpsi steam specials arrive the third coach wont fit into the loop so therefore as the steamer moves off to the turn table a pilot will have to step in and pull the coaches forward to clear the loop to allow the steamer to couple back into the back of the train. For GAA Days its possible to squeeze a 4 coach special into the station, however the additional coaches must be brought with the last passenger service the night before as the set needs to be split and shunted into a siding and then reassembled the next morning at the platform.(i have yet to try this but why not!) messing with the dapol shop to see how a station building might look, i think larger and low relief might be the way to go here though. its a big platform. looks like theres even room for the signal box! trying a different backscene from the range, its great that they all line up with one another, not glued down yet but it looks like a goer! getting ready to fence off the loading platform after a few incidents involving drunk fellas getting off the wrong side of the train after a few too many at the GAA! there is also ample edging left over from the platform kit that we can put to good use here.

interesting, you have me thinking that i cant help but wonder what it would sound like if you added a low pass filter just before the megabass. in theory you could drive the megabass a bit harder without the high frequencies going through it, any tinny high end sounds might be better handled by the sugarcube alone as that part of the sound would be translating poorly to the megabass and taking overhead from the low end sounds. same goes for the sugarcube, if you removed the low end frequencies below a certain point where the speaker cannot reproduce decent sounding bass it would clear up any muddiness in the higher end of things and you could drive the speaker a bit harder. the 2 speakers could sound a lot better overall if either one was carrying a different element of the sound and the end user was hearing a combination of both speakers tuned to their respective frequency ranges. i am not familliar with these micro speakers exactly, but in a home stereo speaker with a tweeter and bass cone this is how the speakers are usually configured internally. the circuit itself is simply made with a single capacitor and resistor, for all that waffle!. low pass high pass basically in either case, the value of the cap and resistor will set the cutoff frequency, a variable resistor can be used for messing around with cutoffs to develop an idea of what works and what doesnt. also youve got me curious about somthing else, are you just using bare speaker cones mounted into the loco or are any of them a bit more complex ie in little enclosures of any kind?

i actually strongly disagree with this, objectively speaking when i put 141 and 121 side by side at first the fit and finish of both products are to a high standard and very close, 121 has a few modern features like the spinning axles which in fairness are lovely but absolutely not essential(and easily added without a full retool),its nice on the irm flats too but i dont miss it on my ballast train. the ballast train arrived today, woops looks like i bought an old model by mistake? one key feature has me grabbing 141 again and again and its a particular bone of contention i hold with the finish of 121 and it was done for accuracys sake, the same feature on 141 is slightly less accurate but 100% more hard wearing so i actually prefer this on the "old" model. absolute accuracy isnt always best if its at the expense of the quality of the part being modelled. thats just like my opinion though, man. dont get me wrong, a brand new retooled baby GM is best for all, that being said i surely wouldnt shake a stick at a rerun of the old one, particularly if it could be done at a lower price point to discount all the R&D processes needed of a complete retool. its a very high quality model as is.

I must admit, as i have been a bit too preoccupied with things that are happening abroad , I totally forgot to document the scatter phase. A sure sign that I need to get trains running again to distract me! Oh well, at least it's lookin good. And the next care package of bits has arrived, cows, fences , walls and platform and some new wagons to keep things working. Not pictured is a selection of backscenes to work with. They are cheap so definitely worth buying extra ones. I can now put together the field as well as walling off the yard from.the street and finalising where everything will go. And so a whole gaggle of pway vehicles have arrived onsite in order to get construction moving. Remember, I'm building a 90s themed railway in 2022, so era does not hold any relevance just yet Track relaid minus turntable point as I just want to run trains now and the table is off being worked on elsewhere anyway so it's no Biggie for now. The other half of the layout is still bare but now for long. The only facility I haven't really done any work on yet is the fuelling area but that will be basic and mostly scratch built so more to come from that area soon.

withdrawn unfortunately, hopefully we can see a reslist soon.

Well to be honest with you its hearsay from this very forum. maybe "gone" is not correct but i am under the impression that it is with Bachmann and will not be used by murphy again. Do you mean from a finished product perspective, or a cost to manufacture perspective? in my opinion the baby GM are stunning and with the exception of a few modern features that did not exist when they came out i find myself preferring them to the later releases, if 121 and 141 were in simultaneous production at the moment and the exact same price i would see myself building up a fleet of 141 with maybe a couple of 121. I think thats partially due to my bias towards that particular loco as well though. I guess what im trying to say is that the fit and finish of the older tooling isn't an issue for me and i see it as better in a couple of ways.(there are certain aspects of 141 i would bring to 121 and aspects of 141 i would bring to 121 to make the perfect model so not complaining about either by any stretch) Yes i would be missing a few modern features but since im getting back into the hobby from early 2000's era hornby sets, everything i get is an upgrade to me right now! I also still buy scooter parts that were tooled 50 years ago(AND DAPOL KITS) so maybe im missing the relevance of it so much in the model industry.

its a shame those kits are gone there are a good few i would like to buy up now that im back in the hobby

Totally agree with this sentiment, I dont really care for the motive power which came from the UK and was not going to buy an A at all only for the fact that it kept getting such good reviews, fomo got the better of me and i was able to finally justify one due to them having such a widespread use on the network. I like them now thanks to having such a fine model on the shelf. I do however get the feeling that in such a small market that is centered around such a niche interest that there may well be some form of unwritten gentlemens agreement between PM and IRM which effectively states that the 2 firms will not develop competing products, ruling out any IRM made GM's for as long as PM stays in business, as such a small market would probabaly not sustain the same product from both manufacturers despite strong demand for those models and 071 has been a staple of the PM catalogue for many years now. So to that effect it will be upto paddy when we get to see new GM's hit the shelves... Considering that a 201 rerun is in the works, i think it's going to be more of a when than an if. as everyone seems to want 071 now that shes gone. Im less confident we will see more baby GM since the tooling is gone and needs redoing from scratch, but you never know..............

unacceptable! I will not rest until every single running number ever of 071 is available in toothpaste IR livery complete with the lighting features we have come to love , accuratrash sound, and rolling bearing boxes, then just as i have purchased 5 of each it will be time to open preorders for the same range of baby GM's let me dream

hopefully there will be enough interest for another run of GM's before then

Anybody else excited to see the last of these selling out? dying to see what IRM have planned next.(as if there wasnt enough coming already)

I'd buy that only im poor again well maybe whoever is ripping them off could churn out some fake 071's to appease all of our lusting for one

the hill itself is nothing special, i just got the basic structure built out of polystyrene bits and built up a layer of powdered filler,badly painted green with random poster paints, then painted again with an extremelly thick layer of pva for the scatter application. Brown scatter does not seem to be available to buy, and at this stage most people seem to use sieved garden dirt, Instead ive been using sieved coconut coir which to me seems like a much easier option to work with as it does not disintegrate when it gets wet, less mess and just wipes away from the backscene when wet without leaving any skidmarks! Coco bricks are available as bedding for reptiles in most pet stores and as a soil mix in garden centres. it is a sustainable alternative to peat and compost made from coconut shells. it also wicks up moisture, including pva glue, so its easy to apply in thick coats , covering up any craters left behind in the filler build up stage. After the initial application onto the wet layer of glue we applied earlier I spray over the top layer with watered down pva so that the adhesive wicks through the entire application of coco and it all sticks nicely together, the mess on the backscene then just wipes away without any fuss and you can pat down the coco edges with your fingers quite easily. looks a bit dark and messy but that will only be temporary. after a couple of days its drying out to a nice earthy colouration(like coconuts!) ready for scattering, fences, cows and lichen. I dont do static grass just yet. have used this exact same procedure to great effect on my n layout so im confident ill have a nice little corner here when im done..... most of the coco feels solid now but some areas still feel a little loose, so another dusting with pva water and hoovering away the excess when dry should be all i need to do to have a nice little hillside in just a few evenings of an hour here and there. otherwise not much has happened i have been lazy about relaying the track, as im still thinking about making the jump to peco electrofrogs all around so no trains have ran. I'll be making a push to finish off the hill as the cows etc are on the way and i have scatter and lichen here to finish stuff off. need to get the finger out and wire for DCC. a carpenter friend has been comissioned to build a simple turntable mechanism based on a h0 design from youtube, chances are it will remain hand cranked, although with my new foray into the digital world im going to fully motorise the points using cheap servo motors so you never know i might come up with some sort of motor solution in due course.

Російська армія, іди на хуй

Very little has happened for about a week now as i have been away on london and in awe at how cool the underground system is. I ended up making a big earth mound in order to try and sort of 3d the background a little instead of it being totally flat image, this approach has some limitations given the compact nature of the baseboard. it should be okay, and the base of the hill is going to tightly integrate into the beginning of the platform to tie it all together. I was experimenting with using a curved bit of sky to take out the last of the corner feeling alright but as of yet havent done so. its going to have a field with cows ontop to add a little bit of interest and distraction from the railway. next step will be to scatter it and preparing for said scening as a field. i have bought fences and stone walls in order to have variety to experiement. have held off on ballast wagons for a while now due to not being able to get these so I was delighted to see a small restocking of them on the site, along with some of the other classics that must of gotten lost down the back of the warehouse sofa for the last while , was a little dissapointed to see the IR version sold out with only the IE remaining, but whatever a minor detail i ordered it anyway. was only delighted to see the IR version turn up today anyway. so a happy mistake :D. IR ballast pack A is now on the way from marks along with some more scenics to keep things progressing, the next couple of evenings should focus on getting a good thick layer of scatter onto the newly built earth mound.

yep sat here and watched them all sell out....... decided on ballast ploughs though, since not having them was putting me off starting a rake. was either that or cement bubbles and i dont really want to add a cement plant to my layout. the lights will be fun to play with

this restocking event has me filled with indecisiveness, everythings gonna be gone by the time my mind is made up! a few things that i had relinquished as "its gone never to be bought again" are now all in my face at once the the wallet is currently holding moths......

Will investigate during the week as I have to borrow a Windows laptop each time I wanna mess around. I reckon I'll be putting a better computer together from the scrap pile this week. Have a sound card with 8 outputs too so that should be interesting.

Is the sharing of esu files/flashing to multiple decoders to be frowned upon? Or is it upto the manufacturer to protect them? I see they can be locked to only work on a certain decoder.

My justification is that whilst the coaches fit my era they did not exist in this guise until 20 years later so I can be a bit "loose" about my choice of loco. It can be my own little tribute to the cset locos at Downpatrick pulling flying snail coaches

Came on to post that listing.. it really takes the p*ss Someone's still getting ripped off....