https://irishrailwaymodeller.com/rss/1-new-posts.xml/New Post of the ForumenI see some videos of Irish Steam have started to appear https://fb.watch/FQkqrCJOBb/Fri, 13 Mar 2026 23:07:20 +0000Often times when the public resolves to make something railway-related it may contain any number of inaccuracies as long as it’s “close enough”. Of course it’s unreasonable to expect someone with little interest in the railways will research everything to a T, but that doesn’t stop it from mildly annoying me (and other anoraks I presume). I’ve created this thread for people to post such examples, whether it be the “GNR Cafe” in the MGW station of Kilmainham Wood I’ve mentioned elsewhere, or this article that calls Chetwynd Viaduct on the Cork-Bandon line “a key part of the Great Southern and Western Railway network“, or even this interesting memorial in Omagh (not just the locomotives’ American-style outline but also the company’s initials):Fri, 13 Mar 2026 19:37:39 +0000I have the following IRRS Journals.... date range Autumn 1957 - Feb 1996 Free to a good home, they are in Co. Louth, free delivery by arrangement to Dublin or Belfast, or postage at cost. Numbers... 21 29 31 32 33 35 36 40 43 44 45 46 47 48 52 53 54 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129Fri, 13 Mar 2026 16:51:29 +0000Arrived this morning. Cheers DariusFri, 13 Mar 2026 12:51:41 +0000I came across this today, the former Ballinhassig railway station is for sale, the platforms and base of the signal box are still there along with the station masters house. https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/detached-house-ballinhassig-railway-station-gogginshill-ballinhassig-co-cork/6310575Thu, 12 Mar 2026 16:53:57 +0000My wife and our daughter, who has special needs, were out this morning. Our daughter saw a newly built house that had no chimney and she mentioned to my wife that the house had no chimney. Then she asked "How does Santa get in?" My wife told her that they have to leave the window open! They never thought of that when they drafted those building regulations!Thu, 12 Mar 2026 15:23:10 +0000Thu, 12 Mar 2026 09:10:30 +0000Folks I've been crawling around under the layout and bringing out things which were stored! Honestly, I have a small mountain of stuff which I know I will never run. Here's a starter, prices in Sterling and reflect what I paid for them I am happy to accept the equivalent in Euros, obviously. If you're on the Important Island, pick up at no extra cost at Bangor. The balllast wagons have never been out of the box, nor the "Spoil" flats. The Ballast vans adorned a siding on my layout for some years, but have never been run! The Guinness DID have a run around the layout - there's film here somwhere! All were bought new from IRM If you're interested, please PM me. Thanks. LeslieWed, 11 Mar 2026 18:26:36 +0000Just looking for some opinions, I want to upgrade my current DCC control. Im looking at the ESU 50220 Command Station IRM are offering. The spec reads well, but it is expensive compared to other systems. Is anyone using this? Is the ESU 50116 Mobile Control Pro Wireless a good add-on?Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:40:00 +0000Every so often I read about councillors banging on about the need for another station on the north side of Drogheda. I'm making this thread here since it's not something happening on the network, it's councillor chatter, but I want to chatter a little myself. The main operational issue I can think of is simply what's going to call at such a station? All the Dart+ plans revolve around terminating at MacBride. You could extend some terminators to this new station, but a turnback of some sort would still be necessary, as would battery charging equipment, most likely. I'd be wary of the single-track Boyne Viaduct, too. Another question is where such a station would be best located: I'm not really in a position to answer this as I'm not from anywhere near Drogheda and have only ever passed through on trains. Via poking around a bit on Street View and eyeballing things on this Rail Map Online snippet, I'd probably place a park and ride station around where the Drogheda Port Access is when that road is finished. If the siding to the port still existed, I'd put a station right before the first level crossing, but that's been long lifted. I've occasionally heard chatter about opening Dunleer again or doing some silly things in Dundalk due to parking issues, but Drogheda's the main thing that comes up on my daily "Irish Rail" search.Wed, 11 Mar 2026 15:57:31 +000025 + years ago a Class 70 mule end was visible from the train going past Magheramourne quarry. I assume it's gone now? But why was it there?Wed, 11 Mar 2026 13:34:10 +0000If anyone has any battered LGB, Aristocraft or Piko G scale track they are looking to shift and make a bit of money off of, I’ll be willing to pay roughly €5-€10ish per 1ft/300mm straight and then double for 600mm/2ft straights, €10ish per R1 curve, €15-20ish per wide radius curve, €20-30ish per turnout (R1). All negotiable to a point. As long as the track has two rails and no more than a couple missing sleepers, and if a turnout works, I’ll happily buy it. No worries about any conductivity problems, dirty rails, damaged fishplates, missing sleepers, as long as it’s the right gauge and rail code, and something will roll over it without derailing, it’s good. And again, prices all negotiable to a point. No in-thread offers please, PM only.Wed, 11 Mar 2026 13:25:27 +0000With our second production run of our award-winning Class 66 locomotives now delivered and finding their way into traffic on layouts across the land, it's time to reveal what will consist of our next run of these staples of the current railway scene. As ever, there will be a whole host of locomotives in the main range, but we are kicking off with our Accurascale Exclusives, which consist of a fine pair of GBRf machines in eye-catching London Underground-inspired liveries, officially licensed from Transport for London! Welcome to 66718 and 66721! The Prototypes 66718 66718 arrived at Newport Docks on board the MV Jumbo Challenger on 9 April 2006 and was one of five locomotives (66718–66722) liveried in First GBRf/Metronet colours that were ordered in connection with the upgrading of the London Transport sub-surface lines. It was named “Gwyneth Dunwoody” at Euston on 26 January 2007. Gwyneth was the Labour MP for Crewe and also the Transport Minister at the time. On 5 November 2013 it emerged from Arlington Fleet Services at Eastleigh Works in what could only be described as a striking new livery. It was one of a pair unveiled that day in conjunction with the London Transport Museum. 66718 carried black bodywork covered in brightly coloured logos associated with London Transport. At this time it also gained a new name and was rechristened “Sir Peter Hendy CBE”, who was the Commissioner for Transport for London at the time. It carried this livery for the next ten years until it returned to Eastleigh for a refresh. It emerged sporting a slightly revised version of the previous livery, with differences in the application of the warning yellow on the ends, and also gained another new (ish) name on Wednesday 24 May 2023. The name was updated to “Peter, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, of Imber in the County of Wiltshire” to reflect Lord Hendy’s recent appointment to the House of Lords and his position as Chair of Network Rail. The new name, at 57 characters long (not including commas), must be one of the longest ever affixed to a locomotive in the UK. 66721 This locomotive also arrived at Newport Docks on board the MV Jumbo Challenger on 9 April 2006 as part of the same shipment as 66718 above, initially in First GBRf/Metronet livery. It was named “Harry Beck” on 26 January 2007 at London Euston station by GBRf Managing Director John Smith. Harry Beck was the creator of the first version of what we now recognise as the Tube Map. The locomotive carried a small rendition of his map, engraved on a brass plaque alongside the nameplate. It was selected to join 66718 in receiving a special livery and was unveiled on the same day. The livery was different on each side and on each end, with one side representing the 1933 Harry Beck original Tube map (with the corresponding No. 1 end being yellower), while the other side wore the current (2013) Tube map, with its corresponding end (No. 2) being white. While 66718 received a refresh in 2023, 66721 is still running in its original vinyl, albeit with the Europorte portion of the GBRf logo removed. The locomotive has also since gained a small Wi-Fi pod above the No. 2 cab. Our pre-production model is currently cream on both sides, but you can rest assured that this will be corrected for production! The Best Just Got Better Never ones for merely resting on our laurels, we have gone through our wonderful Class 66s again with a fine-tooth comb and brought our models bang up to date with a series of fine tweaks. It can be difficult to improve on such an excellent model, but we did find some additional improvements! These consist of a newly tooled exhaust silencer, which features an improved profile and a lip around the exhaust port. We also have new handbrake linkages, which are now moulded in the off position, and an etched middle handrail bracket on the cab fronts to replicate the locomotives that sport them in real life. With the Class 66 working on the real railway, they are always evolving, and it's important to capture new features on our models to ensure they replicate the prototypes running today. We have now added roof-mounted Wi-Fi pods on locomotives that feature them. We have also replicated the modifications Freightliner has been making to its fleet by removing the top cab door handles. There is also now the ability to produce locomotives with BMAC-replaced bug-eye lights. On top of that, we have also added a couple of new buffer-plate combinations that allow us to produce certain prototypes we couldn't previously offer. Excellent Value, As Ever! These slight tweaks and additions to the range add up to keep our 66 the leading shed in the neighbourhood. With this exciting pair previewing an epic main range to come in the near future, along with improvements to the tooling, you might be expecting a price rise… right? Well never fear, because Accurascale has got you! Our price remains the same as Run 2, priced at just £179.95 for DC/DCC Ready and £279.95 for DCC Sound Fitted. When you throw in free UK postage and packaging, and 3% cashback in the form of loyalty points, it really shows just what a bargain these beauties are! Both locomotives are available to buy globally and both available in both DC/DCC Ready and DCC Sound fitted configurations. We will have a more precise delivery date when we reveal the main range in the coming weeks, but we expect these will arrive in stock in Mid 2027. Pre-order your exclusive below, available direct only via our website. As ever with Accurascale Exclusives, special presentation packaging will finish off this very exclusive pair beautifully. Pre-Order Your Exclusive Class 66 Here! View the full articleWed, 11 Mar 2026 11:00:06 +0000Having finally tidied up the Christmas decorations and “recycled” the remaining leftovers, wrapping paper and cardboard boxes in the firebox, we’re preparing for the start of our running season. This coming Sunday, March 15, the Stradbally Woodland Railway will be running passenger trains for the first time this year. We’re delighted to once again welcome passengers to our 1km line in anticipation of Paddy’s Day and if you’d like to sign up to be a volunteer and play trains- I mean get a glimpse of railway operations- at 1:1 scale, you can also do so in person on the day. So if you can, you’re welcome to come down and see our fleet in action, and witness decades of railway and industrial history. Those interested can book here and plan your visit here. I personally am also happy to answer any technical questions about the SWR and our fleet and can aid anyone looking to model any of our fleet, including providing photos.Mon, 09 Mar 2026 11:28:19 +0000For Sale 8 x Wagons Ideal for conversion into Timber Wagons as can be seen in pic 3 80 Euros plus postSun, 08 Mar 2026 12:09:55 +0000For sale backmann cement silo perfect conditin and box also extra ladder and arm included €60 Also bachmann goods shed excellent new condition €70Sat, 07 Mar 2026 21:51:43 +0000It’s weird, how my car always seems to take a detour when I’m returning from a work trip…… Still plenty to see at Oldcastle, Co. Meath, former terminus of the long GNR(I) branch from Drogheda: * the station building survives in good order, with lots of original features to see, and it appears that part of the platform and also the train shed are still intact * the polychromatic WH Mills small office building - this makes a strong contrast to the main stone building * the stone goods shed - my photo shows what is presumably the goods office, the actual shed is much bigger, but there was a lot of activity here today so I decided not to photograph it The problem with visiting sites like this is that it gives me yet another idea for a new model railway layout!Sat, 07 Mar 2026 19:52:41 +0000Hi Folks, hope all are well. I'm just wondering and hoping that someone may have Murphy Models 077 for sale.Sat, 07 Mar 2026 18:05:40 +0000Work brings me to the midlands again and the obligatory visit to Moate - incredible to think this was once part of a double track main line route to the west. But at least it is being looked after and there might even be the remote possibility of it seeing trains again (hears the can of worms opening)!!Fri, 06 Mar 2026 18:29:49 +0000Fri, 06 Mar 2026 11:02:52 +0000North Down Model Railways society Annual exhibition and collector fair will be held at Bangor Grammar School 84 Gransha Road Bangor BT19 7QU Saturday 28th March 2026 between 10:00 and 17:00 Sunday 29th March 2026 between 12:00 and 17:00. List of layout/traders attend. LiShow Stand List Stand Location Group Name Stand Type Display Name 1 Atrium North Down Model Railway Society Exhibitor Ticket Sales 2 Atrium North Down Model Railway Society Exhibitor Ballot Table 3 Classroom 1 North Down Model Railway Society Admin Mothering Area 4 Atrium Gauge 0 Guild Exhibitor 0 Gauge information 5 Atrium Parkinson's Society UK - North Down Branch Trader Model Railway Accessories 6 Atrium Provincial Wagons Trader Irish Wagons 7 Atrium Richard McLachlan Exhibitor Brass Coach Building 8 Atrium Ian Houston Trader Books and Models 9 Classroom 2 Erne Model Railway Club Exhibitor WWF 10 Classroom 2 Erne Model Railway Club Exhibitor Lowes Hill Marina 11 Classroom 2 Erne Model Railway Club Exhibitor In The Country With Eddie Stobart 12 Classroom 2 Gerry Byrne Exhibitor Llangollen 13 Classroom 2 City Church Bangor Model Railway Club Exhibitor Vintage Hornby 14 Atrium Alan Nixon Exhibitor Kilmore 15 Atrium John Sinclair Exhibitor Dunster 16 Atrium Paul Morris Trader Model Railway Buildings 17 Atrium Downpatrick and County Down Railway Trader Downpatrick and County Down Railway 18 Atrium Drumahwey junction Exhibitor Micro layouts 19 Atrium David O'Rourke NDMRS Exhibitor Nene Wharf 20 Atrium Phil Norris NDMRS Trader Second Hand Sales 21 Atrium North Down Model Railway Society Trader Club Sales Table 22 Atrium North Down Model Railway Society Admin New Members 23 Atrium North Down Model Railway Society Exhibitor Huskisson's End 24 Atrium North Down Model Railway Society Exhibitor Asterix Village 25 Atrium Kristopher Knight Exhibitor Warhammer 40k Army 26 Atrium Isaac Dorman-Larmour Exhibitor Battle for Endor 27 Atrium McCulloughs Trader New and Pre-owned Model Railways 28 Atrium Outlaw Hobby Exhibitor 3D Printing display with various models 29 Atrium Julie and Hugo Exhibitor Lego Icons of Land, Sea and Space 30 Atrium Newcross Wagon Works Trader Weathering wagons and vehicles 31 Atrium Diecast models Trader Diecast model cars 32 Atrium Last Lap Cafe Trader Cafe 33 Library North Down Model Railway Society Admin Kids' Photo Boards 34 Library North Down Model Railway Society Exhibitor Mill Road 35 Library North Down Model Railway Society Exhibitor Kids' layout 36 Library North Down Model Railway Society Exhibitor Brio 37 Library North Down Model Railway Society Exhibitor Sensory Tent 38 Library North Down Model Railway Society Exhibitor Middlehurst 39 Atrium Marks Models Trader Modelling Goods 40 Atrium GModelscene Trader Railway Modelling Accessories 41 Atrium North Down Model Railway Society Admin Childrens colouring area 42 Atrium Model Electronic Railway Group - NI Area Exhibitor MERG Kits Demonstration 43 Sports Hall NI Association of Aeromodellers Exhibitor Indoor radio-controlled flying display 44 Hall 2 NI Association of Aeromodellers Exhibitor Static Aircraft Display 45 Hall 2 Seahorse Model Boat Club Exhibitor Model Boats 46 Hall 2 City Church Bangor Model Railway Club Exhibitor Island of Sodor 47 Hall 2 City Church Bangor Model Railway Club Exhibitor Quarry Hill 48 Hall 2 City Church Bangor Model Railway Club Exhibitor Sykesville/Charlie's Ridge/Cosmopolitan 49 Hall 2 Model Railway Society of Ireland Exhibitor 7 Eire 50 Hall 2 Northern Counties Group Exhibitor Fenaghy Junction 51 Hall 2 Glenabbey Model Railway Club Exhibitor Jonesville 52 Hall 2 Glenabbey Model Railway Club Exhibitor Moneygawn 53 Hall 2 Hornby Railways Collectors Association Exhibitor Hornby 3 rail O and OO 54 Hall 1 Railway Preservation Society of Ireland Exhibitor Whitehead Railway Museum 55 Hall 1 Samudra Chakrabarti-Anjaria Exhibitor Lego Railway Yard 56 Hall 1 Michael White Exhibitor The Ffarquhar Branch 57 Hall 1 Neil Jackson Exhibitor Evenwood 58 Hall 1 Ulster Model Railway Club Exhibitor Millbrook 59 Hall 1 International Plastic Modellers' Society NI Exhibitor IPMS NI 60 Hall 1 Fat Les's U-Boat Works Exhibitor FREEM009 modules 61 Hall 1 Steven Pegg NDMRS Exhibitor St Ely 62 Hall 1 Stephen Marshall Exhibitor Scouts Day Out 63 Hall 1 Tanya Kettyle DAME, Jack Kettyle Exhibitor Kilronan Halt 64 Hall 1 Gordon McGarry Exhibitor Orchard Halt. 65 Hall 1 Michael Smith Exhibitor Zwieselberg Swiss N Scale 66 Hall 1 Model RaiIway Society of Ireland Exhibitor Ballyglunin 67 Hall 1 Doug Bull and Pete Graham Exhibitor The Lines of Londonderry 68 Hall 1 Wexford Model Railway Club Exhibitor Bridge Street 69 Hall 1 Michael O'Connor Exhibitor T-Trak Impressions of Ireland 70 Atrium City Church Bangor Model Railway Club Exhibitor Ballymacarrett Junction 71 Atrium Lorraine and Ann Miniatures Exhibitor Historic Miniature Buildings 72 Atrium Lorraine and Ann Miniatures Exhibitor Botanical Gardens 73 Atrium PSN Models Exhibitor PSN Models 74 Classroom 3 Corlust Meccano Club Exhibitor Meccano trainsThu, 05 Mar 2026 17:02:15 +0000Wed, 04 Mar 2026 21:39:37 +0000Hot on the heels of our RHTT announcement, we can confirm that we've another variant of these popular wagons ready to swim upstream! Welcome to the single wagon FEA family, focusing on intermodal and departmental operations. History The now-ubiquitous FEA wagon design first appeared in early 2003 with the introduction of the FEA-B 60ft container flat “twins” for Freightliner’s Intermodal division. However, it would be around 18 months before the single-unit variants—primarily intended for infrastructure use—began to enter service. Like their twin-unit counterparts, all were fitted with Y33 bogies and constructed by Greenbrier Europe at Świdnica in Poland. Early Operators The first customers were Balfour Beatty and GB Railfreight. Balfour Beatty took delivery of six grey FEA-D wagons (640571–6) for use in its two new Harsco New Track Construction (NTC) trains. Meanwhile, GB Railfreight acquired 63 “steel blue” FEA-S wagons (640631–93). These were designed to carry 20ft Salmon track panel modules and Tench general materials modules, although many have since seen use in standard maritime container traffic and even in gypsum flows, depending on operational demand. These were quickly followed by a batch of 66 FEA-E wagons (641001–641066) for Freightliner Heavy Haul from December 2004. Built to support infrastructure contracts with Network Rail, these wagons employed a longer 30ft Salmon module than the GBRf versions. Painted in the same British Racing Green as the twin-unit FEAs, they have also found work in regular container traffic and on various domestic waste “binliner” services. The Yellow Era Some of the most visually striking FEAs arrived in 2006 when GB Railfreight introduced 18 bright yellow FEA-S wagons (640905–22) for the Metronet London Underground renewals contract, following four earlier examples in blue (640901–4). These wagons were equipped with a mix of Salmon and Tench modules. A further 22 yellow FEA-S wagons were built for Tube Lines subsidiary Transplant (640931–43). These were converted at Jarvis Fastline’s Leeman Road facility in York into Rail and Sleeper Delivery Trains (RSDTs) using the company’s distinctive “Slinger” equipment. Technical Similarities and Later Changes Despite the variations in TOPS code lettering, almost all single-unit FEAs left the factory in essentially the same configuration, with the exception of the Rail Head Treatment Train (RHTT) version built specifically for Network Rail. At some stage, the GB Railfreight-owned wagons had eight of their sixteen fold-down spigots replaced with fixed ones. While this modification does not affect 20ft containers, it prevents the use of 30ft units and restricts 40ft containers to being loaded at only one end of the wagon. As newer infrastructure-specific flat wagons were delivered to Network Rail and the Metronet partnership was dissolved, the Freightliner and GBRf FEAs migrated almost entirely into container service. The Transplant “Slinger” formation was also disbanded following Tube Lines’ absorption into Transport for London control, with the wagons placed into storage, stripped of their specialist equipment, and eventually offered for sale. The Models Although well regarded when first released in 2018, the Hattons tooling has since been upgraded to better align with similar wagons elsewhere in the range. Improvements to the flat wagons include the removal of unnecessary pipe runs, the addition of missing handrails and footsteps on the GBRf versions, and a revised deck profile to accommodate fixed container spigots. The 20ft Salmon modules now feature new textured floors and lashing rings, while previously missing extension pieces—positioned between the headstocks and the ends of the modules—have been newly tooled. Additional refinements have also been made to improve overall fit, finish, and robustness. Our first production run will focus on the 85 GB Railfreight wagons. These will be released in three twin-packs covering the distinctive yellow and blue Metronet-branded Salmon variants, alongside two never-before-produced versions: GBRf blue with Salmon modules, and de-branded GBRf yellow wagons in container service. These packs are priced at £79.99 each with our usual bundle discounts of 10% off when you order two-four packs, and 15% off when you order five or more! These prices are also lower per wagon than the original Hattons release when accounting for inflation, and we throw free UK postage and packaging too! Once again we offer realistic models at realistic prices. Pre-order yours below, available only direct via our website, with no money down or flexible payment terms ahead of a Q2 2027 delivery date. Pre-Order Your FEA Intermodal Flats Here! View the full articleWed, 04 Mar 2026 11:00:05 +0000Does anyone model in EM Gauge I have some wheels that I would like to swap for OOTue, 03 Mar 2026 18:13:51 +0000Lads, does anybody know what happened to @M18Hellcats ad about selling his stock. Ad completely gone. Even if he sold out, ad should still be here yes?Sat, 28 Feb 2026 20:15:44 +0000