NEW IRM ANNOUNCEMENT - Coastal Tours Duo - Latest Britbus Commission Revealed!

[Warbonnet]

The worst kept secret is finally confirmed! Our next commission of the Britbus Dublin Bus Olympian range of models is a pair of RV class buses in the very classy and attractive original Coastal Tours livery.

Dublin Bus expanded into new markets and begun serving the tourist industry in the 1990s, with services such as open top tours throughout the city of Dublin, and later with iconic services such as the Ghost Bus tour.

Another service which was introduced was the Coastal Tours service, which departed O'Connell street daily and brought tourists on tours of both the north and south coasts of Dublin, with the northside tour running to Malahide and the southside tour to Bray, Co. Wicklow. 

For this service, a tours livery inspired by the open top fleet was applied to a small number of new Dublin Bus RV Volvo Olympian double deck buses, beginning with RV330 in 1997. 

Of course, whist these buses were dedicated to Coastal Tours duties, they also operated on normal routes too from their base of Donnybrook garage. RV330 was no stranger to the route 14A to Ballinteer, which it operated regularly in the mornings before taking up its coastal tour duties for the day.

RV496 arrived in 1999 to further bolster the growing popularity of the tour as the tourism part of the Dublin Bus services began to flourish, featuring a similar livery, albeit with subtle tweaks to logo positioning and losing of the lower bodyside pin stripes and black bumpers which was a feature of RV330.

Being lovers of detail variety, we approached our latest commission keen to cover both styles of livery and research appropriate services for both RV330 and RV496. RV330 will be available dressed for the 14A to Balinteer, whilst RV496 will be available in full Coastal Tours scrolls. 

These pre-production samples were received late last year. Since then improvements and tweaks have been made to the finish on both buses, but offer a glimpse on what many enthusiasts and collectors see as 'the missing link' for the Britbus Alexanader Olympian tooling, with this very attractive livery rumoured a number of years ago but never materialised. 

Both buses are limited to 300 pieces each with certificate and bespoke packaging, and are due in stock in mid-March, currently in a container on the high seas. Prices are €59.99 each and are now available to pre-order on our website. Early pre-ordering is advised due to the demand for this livery and limited numbers available. 

We would once again like to thank Derek Farrelly, Adrian Richards, Darren Hall, Fred Dean Jr. and Jonathan McDonnell for their valuable assistance in this project. 

Order yours (and our other exclusive Irish bus commissions!) by clicking here.

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[DJ Dangerous]

I see some green on this one!

We're getting closer to the Holy Grail, two-tone green 1990's Dublin Bus!

[K801]

Very nice.

Just an idea but it would be handy to give buses its own tab in the shop instead of them under Vehicles as they are unique in themselves and would be more easy to find as I'm sure IRM will expand the range over time  

1 minute ago, K801 said:

Edited to make more sense lol

 

Edited February 10, 2022 by K801

[skinner75]

This was news to me!

I just got the email announcing these pair of beauties, and have my pre-order in now!

[Georgeconna]

Phew Dublin based again so wallet will be closed for this one. TBH not really a bus nutter.

[Warbonnet]

1 hour ago, Georgeconna said:

Phew Dublin based again so wallet will be closed for this one. TBH not really a bus nutter.

No worries George, since we had the Magnesites last week we needed to keep spreading the love around the country!

Cheers!

Fran 

[ttc0169]

2 hours ago, Warbonnet said:

No worries George, since we had the Magnesites last week we needed to keep spreading the love around the country!

Cheers!

Fran 

@Warbonnet….Foynes to Ballina two axle coal & oil wagons next please for us in the West-or an M class expressway bus with working interior and exterior lights

[Georgeconna]

Oh they are awake in the West!

[flange lubricator]

1 hour ago, ttc0169 said:

@Warbonnet….Foynes to Ballina two axle coal & oil wagons next please for us in the West-or an M class expressway bus with working interior and exterior lights

The basis of the coal / oil were the 22’6” skeletal flat wagon they were also used for grain , bells , asahi , tar , spoil , kegs and more !! 

[warb]

Hint hint

 

[ttc0169]

11 hours ago, Georgeconna said:

Oh they are awake in the West!

The West is always awake George

Edited February 11, 2022 by ttc0169

[Warbonnet]

Hi everyone,

Amazing reaction to this one, with 33% of the production run sold already. 

Can't see these hanging around for too long!

Cheers!

Fran 

[Galteemore]

Excellent. Bizarrely, one of these ex Dublin Olympians, of the Leyland ilk, is still here in Buckinghamshire- my son was a regular traveller on his school route. As we pointed out, his mum and I might well have travelled on it ourselves when we lived in Rathgar 99-02! 

Edited February 11, 2022 by Galteemore

[murphaph]

Wonder does it retain the black and white bilingual warnings and notices.

[Noel]

On 10/2/2022 at 2:08 PM, DJ Dangerous said:

I see some green on this one!

We're getting closer to the Holy Grail, two-tone green 1990's Dublin Bus!

Or the real holy grails  

[Galteemore]

3 hours ago, murphaph said:

Wonder does it retain the black and white bilingual warnings and notices.

I have asked my source, now home from school, and he says it still has Dublin Bus signage inside. Will add photos later if he can find them….

[JasonB]

On 10/2/2022 at 2:08 PM, DJ Dangerous said:

I see some green on this one!

We're getting closer to the Holy Grail, two-tone green 1990's Dublin Bus!

These are seriously tasty. I'll definitely be banging an order in. Hopefully, you're right, Dave. We might just be edging closer to the Holy Grail of two-tone 90's Dublin Bus.

Jasus, I've visions of where it could go from there. Let's just say, I've soiled myself thinking about it. 

[DJ Dangerous]

4 minutes ago, JasonB said:

These are seriously tasty. I'll definitely be banging an order in. Hopefully, you're right, Dave. We might just be edging closer to the Holy Grail of two-tone 90's Dublin Bus.

Jasus, I've visions of where it could go from there. Let's just say, I've soiled myself thinking about it. 

Same here! No more crying because the old BritBus ones cost more than a loco. Wham bam thank you IRM!

13 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Excellent. Bizarrely, one of these ex Dublin Olympians, of the Leyland ilk, is still here in Buckinghamshire- my son was a regular traveller on his school route. As we pointed out, his mum and I might well have travelled on it ourselves when we lived in Rathgar 99-02! 

Special edition from IRM next time, maybe? Two FORMER Dublin buses!

[connollystn]

The Olympians are the 201s(new[ish]) of the bus world, they are just plain ugly. Never liked traveling on them hence the reason I ended up paying exorbitant rents to live in the city citre just to avoid the necessity to use them.

[murphaph]

I remember the Olympians replacing the KDs. Man that was an improvement, no longer half suffocating to death from the diesel fumes in the lower saloon.

[connollystn]

Ah yes! I totally forgot about the KDs. It's hard to believe that the Olympians were an improvement on them. With the current Dublin Bus fleet we are certainly being spoiled.*

[Warbonnet]

On 10/2/2022 at 2:09 PM, K801 said:

Very nice.

Just an idea but it would be handy to give buses its own tab in the shop instead of them under Vehicles as they are unique in themselves and would be more easy to find as I'm sure IRM will expand the range over time  

 

Hi @K801

Ask and ye shall receive: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/exclusive-irm-buses

All the other 1/76 diecast stuff can be seen here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/vehicles/availability_in-stock?

We're adding to it all the time and remember there's free post to Ireland and UK for all orders over €50/£50. Perfect little accessories for your layout.

Cheers!

Fran 

[Warbonnet]

Hi everyone,

Just a note to say we're over 40% pre-ordered on these now. Thank you to everyone who has ordered so far. 

Don't miss out on these, pre-order now ahead of their arrival next month: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/vehicles/irm-exclusive_exclusive?sort_by=created-descending

Cheers!

Fran 

[Warbonnet]

Hi everyone,

Have since sailed past the 50% pre-sold on these. They will be here at the end of the month too, so don't miss out! 

https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/exclusive-irm-buses

Still some route 203 local links and Intercity advertising buses left, but not many!

Cheers!

Fran 

[Warbonnet]

Hi everyone,

After a slight delay our Coastal Tours buses have arrived in stock and we have begun the packing of orders for dispatch.

This model has been very popular indeed, so we anticipate that we will have all current pre-orders packed and sent out by post by tomorrow afternoon. With well over half the run pre-sold we advise getting orders in ASAP for the remaining balance of stock.

Two fleet numbers, two destinations, one place to order; exclusively via IRM right here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/exclusive-irm-buses/availability_in-stock? 

Cheers!

Fran

[warb]

New arrival on Barrow Street . Very nice indeed.

 

[Joe Keegan]

Barrow Street looks the part in its new home

When is the Barrow Street open day ?  Askin for a friend

[Warbonnet]

LATEST DOUBLE DECKERS SELLING FAST!

Our latest commission from Britbus, the Dublin Bus Volvo Olympians in the very attractive "Costal Tours" livery is now in stock and selling fast. When you see them on layouts like the lovely 'Barrytown' below, it's easy to see why!

Perfect for your layouts, as well as your diecast collections, these beauties come with two fleet identities, two route destinations and livery differences between the two class members to give you the perfect variety on your layout.

Limited to just 300 pieces each, they are sure to appreciate in value in the years to come like our previous commissions! Order yours for immediate delivery today: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/exclusive-irm-buses/availability_in-stock? 

Cheers!

Fran

[DJ Dangerous]

Just received one of these in the post today.

Have to say, they are stunning!

Even the packaging has a lovely Coastal Tours theme to it!

Still available to order, so don't be an idiot and miss out.

I wonder if I'll ever get the first one of the run!

 

 

Edited May 17, 2022 by DJ Dangerous

[DJ Dangerous]

Just curious, how long did each livery last?

Did RV330 get repainted to match RV496, or did they retain their subtle differences until losing their Coastal Tours liveries altogether?

Were they repainted blue and cream afterwards or retired still in the CT livery?

Were there many other buses in the Coastal Tours livery?

If so, which ones, from when until when?

[connollystn]

Not the New IRM Announcement I was expecting. It's more of an Old new announcement

[Broithe]

10:30am tomorrow.

Stand by your beds.

[DJ Dangerous]

1 hour ago, Broithe said:

10:30am tomorrow.

Stand by your beds.

 

Make sure to have several YouTube tabs open, plus the forum, plus the other forum, plus Facebook, plus whatever else, waiting...

 

4 hours ago, connollystn said:

Not the New IRM Announcement I was expecting. It's more of an Old new announcement

 

Ha!!!!!

Got you there!!!!!

[irishmail]

Well, as they are in Glasgow and continuing with their English Electric theme I'm guessing the announcement will be either a class 20 or class 40, as both worked in Wee Bonny Scotland.

[John-r]

Class 20 would be err! class in all the DRS liveries, I know a certain other manufacturer brought an updated one out last year, but still plenty of livery varieties not covered, also when will we see the next class 20 in DRS and much easier to Get over here, methinks anyway.