New Murphy Models 071 Class Locos Likely in 2024

[jhb171achill]

50 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

Predictions of the past? Now if only you could place a bet on those!

Will your proposed horse be available in a alternative liveries, it would be ideal traction for a fitted H van...    (pic from Ernie)

But more seriously, and still off-topic, when might we expect the next IRM/AS announcement, I wonder? They seem pretty busy at present so maybe it's a little way off yet.

It seems the accurascale range is rapidly expanding so much that maybe they’re up to their eyes with that. 

 

[BosKonay]

39 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

It seems the accurascale range is rapidly expanding so much that maybe they’re up to their eyes with that. 

 

Funny enough we have more new IRM items in tooling right now than accurascale!

[Mol_PMB]

Wonderful news! 

[Flying Snail]

11 minutes ago, BosKonay said:

Funny enough we have more new IRM items in tooling right now than accurascale!

oooohhh .... are any of those powered?

[DJ Dangerous]

14 minutes ago, BosKonay said:

Funny enough we have more new IRM items in tooling right now than accurascale!

 

All OO Gauge???

[jhb171achill]

19 hours ago, BosKonay said:

Funny enough we have more new IRM items in tooling right now than accurascale!

Excellent!!!!

Great news for all of us.

[Galteemore]

1 minute ago, jhb171achill said:

Excellent!!!!

Great news for all of us.

Are you speaking as an enthusiast JHB or as a banker  ? 

[jhb171achill]

Just now, Galteemore said:

Are you speaking as an enthusiast JHB or as a banker  ? 

Yes.

[Patrick Davey]

On 2/3/2025 at 6:50 PM, BosKonay said:

Funny enough we have more new IRM items in tooling right now than accurascale!

Chuffed to hear this.... hopefully the next announcement will either be a tender moment or will be filling the tanks with excitement.....

S please - sounds like IRM have something up their Slieve.

Happy enough though if it makes me say JEEPers.

Edited March 3 by Patrick Davey

[jhb171achill]

9 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

Chuffed to hear this.... hopefully the next announcement will either be a tender moment or will be filling the tanks with excitement.....

S please - sounds like IRM have something up their Slieve.

Happy enough though if it makes me say JEEPers.

OK; so we’re looking at a blue tender version of a 2.6.4T “Jeep”…..

(IRM Chief Draughtsmans Office)

[Patrick Davey]

2 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

OK; so we’re looking at a blue tender version of a 2.6.4T “Jeep”…..

(IRM Chief Draughtsmans Office)

Didn't the UTA do something like that in real life?

Sorry for bring this topic wayyyy off course.

071s are not my area of interest but it would be great to see new ones.

[NIRCLASS80]

80 Class please before I am too old to remember them!

[Mol_PMB]

4 minutes ago, NIRCLASS80 said:

80 Class please before I am too old to remember them!

Well there might be 080 if we’re following the main thread title, or maybe 85 if we’re on the blue kettle deviation? 
You’ll just have to hope there’s also something to bring big SirMyles to @Patrick Davey’s face! 
 

[Galteemore]

17 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

Didn't the UTA do something like that in real life?

 

They did. Stuck a tender on the back of a WT to obviate stopping for water on Belfast-Dublin runs. I don’t think the injectors managed to lift the water through the necessary pipe work so this inelegant experiment was thankfully abandoned. 

Edited March 3 by Galteemore

[Mol_PMB]

I’m sure that the IRM team will Stoutly deny that this speculation about kettle models had anything to do with a heavy night out on the Guinness, and they’ll claim that this early CAD has nothing to do with them…

 

[jhb171achill]

4 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

I’m sure that the IRM team will Stoutly deny that this speculation about kettle models had anything to do with a heavy night out on the Guinness, and they’ll claim that this early CAD has nothing to do with them…

 

This is a diagram for a DCC-fitted left-hand discombobulator for a multi-gauge CBSCR Fintona 2.8.4 tender engine.

[Patrick Davey]

11 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

I’m sure that the IRM team will Stoutly deny that this speculation about kettle models had anything to do with a heavy night out on the Guinness, and they’ll claim that this early CAD has nothing to do with them…

 

You must have a good head on you to come up with that!

[Class8200]

Any more updates on the estimate of the 071? One on EBay for 475 a week or two ago. But i thought i’d hold off since there would be a re-run.

[jhb171achill]

On 3/3/2025 at 8:45 PM, Mol_PMB said:

I’m sure that the IRM team will Stoutly deny that this speculation about kettle models had anything to do with a heavy night out on the Guinness, and they’ll claim that this early CAD has nothing to do with them…

 

Often thought a G scale model of one of those would be a great project!

[Galteemore]

20 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Often thought a G scale model of one of those would be a great project!

Live steam one available from Regner 

 

[DJ Dangerous]

On 1/12/2024 at 6:21 PM, BosKonay said:

My personal estimate would be late 2026 at the moment. 

@j11sty asking elsewhere on the forum about this…

EDIT:

Accurascale / IRM project status updates HERE.

Edited June 18 by DJ Dangerous
Added Project Status link.

[DJ Dangerous]

On 18/6/2025 at 7:37 AM, j11sty said:

Is the MM071 loco range of liveries re run still happening?

 

On 18/6/2025 at 10:25 AM, jhb171achill said:

I believe so…. dunno when available, though.

 

On 18/6/2025 at 12:37 PM, j11sty said:

I know they are not an IRM product, but they were listed previously under their 'Project News' 

But now they are no longer showing on their website, same with the rerun of the 201 models

Let's see, maybe later on this year...

 

47 minutes ago, Der Rechtsanwalt said:

Unfortunately, there is no firm update on these re-runs. 

The new run of 141’s were surprisingly slow sellers - most of the range is still available brand new, some even at reduced prices.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this has had an impact on the 071 project.

May be prudent to hold off until the 141’s have dwindled, and look for feedback on why they weren’t as successful as anticipated.

Might be an idea to revise the 071 tooling a little, and look at the price point. Decoder access was definitely an issue with the 141’s, and would probably put some buyers off, plus the jump to €230-ish definitely chased away some buyers.

[GSR 800]

.

 

 

Edited yesterday at 13:51 by GSR 800

[NIRCLASS80]

I don’t think any Irish model locomotive will be below €230 ever again. From my observation the Irish model railway scene has peaked and is in slow decline at present as modellers that entered the hobby during the Covid pandemic start to leave for other interests. 
Also an ageing demographic, plus the expense, it’s a tough old world at present. 

[DJ Dangerous]

10 hours ago, NIRCLASS80 said:

I don’t think any Irish model locomotive will be below €230 ever again. From my observation the Irish model railway scene has peaked and is in slow decline at present as modellers that entered the hobby during the Covid pandemic start to leave for other interests. 
Also an ageing demographic, plus the expense, it’s a tough old world at present. 

Sadly, I think you’re right on the Covid-modelling bubble bursting.

You can see it here on the forum, the number of members who faded away in the months / years following lockdowns.

The Covid uptick was commonly reported at the time, but was always going to be temporary.

Not sure on the €230 per loco minimum, though.

If manufacturers were to decide that it’s a dying market rather than a Covid readjustment, and had no interest in the future of the market, then I’d agree. A kind of “one last ride” attitude.

For re-runs with reduced or minimal tooling costs, and thinking of young buyers further down the line, a €230 baseline may be foolhardy, driving away future buyers.

Has to be difficult for manufacturers in general to judge, but I reckon we will see 071’s at some stage, either high spec “new” models or sub €200 re-issues.

[Blaine]

2 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

For re-runs with reduced or minimal tooling costs, and thinking of young buyers further down the line, a €230 baseline may be foolhardy, driving away future buyers.

Has to be difficult for manufacturers in general to judge, but I reckon we will see 071’s at some stage, either high spec “new” models or sub €200 re-issues.

Not really - how much are other things like Nintendo DS's, Playstations and Xboxes for 'younger buyers' these days? 

Easy enough for manufacturers to judge and in many cases buyers too - example cant see the announced Murphy Models Dart Plus selling many, hence the IRM Hunslet is a 'one-off' and despite this being made very very clear there will be people in the future who regret not buying them at the time, or never even heard of them

[skinner75]

5 minutes ago, Blaine said:

Not really - how much are other things like Nintendo DS's, Playstations and Xboxes for 'younger buyers' these days? 

Easy enough for manufacturers to judge and in many cases buyers too - example cant see the announced Murphy Models Dart Plus selling many, hence the IRM Hunslet is a 'one-off' and despite this being made very very clear there will be people in the future who regret not buying them at the time, or never even heard of them

Murphys Models announced Dart Plus? Where did you see that? Nothing on their website about it

[Niles]

11 minutes ago, skinner75 said:

Murphys Models announced Dart Plus? Where did you see that? Nothing on their website about it

They had samples at the Clontarf Show, I think developed in conjunction with Alstom?

[DJ Dangerous]

9 minutes ago, Blaine said:

Not really - how much are other things like Nintendo DS's, Playstations and Xboxes for 'younger buyers' these days? 

Easy enough for manufacturers to judge and in many cases buyers too - example cant see the announced Murphy Models Dart Plus selling many, hence the IRM Hunslet is a 'one-off' and despite this being made very very clear there will be people in the future who regret not buying them at the time, or never even heard of them

Not really the best comparison. You don’t need to buy track to run your PlayStation on, nor stock for it to haul. You buy a loco and you’ll want to run it now, pulling a train. You buy a games console bundle and that’s it, ready to go out of the box.

Agree on the “don’t miss out” philosophy regarding the likes of the Hunslets and 800’s. I assume that both are being produced in quantities far lower than the A Class.

Still, the IRM A Class and the Murphy Models 121 were modern high spec models, whereas the 141 re-run was not, so we’re stretching by comparing them. Kind of like Hornby vs. Hornby Railroad Plus.

We can speculate all we like, but for €230, a loco needs to be top notch, as with the A’s and 121’s.

 

3 minutes ago, skinner75 said:

Murphys Models announced Dart Plus? Where did you see that? Nothing on their website about it

Announced at the October show last year, I think, and there were fan pictures on Facebook, but aside from the insider, @Der Rechtsanwalt, nothing official seems to have been published.

[GSR 800]

39 minutes ago, Blaine said:

Not really - how much are other things like Nintendo DS's, Playstations and Xboxes for 'younger buyers' these days? 

Easy enough for manufacturers to judge and in many cases buyers too - example cant see the announced Murphy Models Dart Plus selling many, hence the IRM Hunslet is a 'one-off' and despite this being made very very clear there will be people in the future who regret not buying them at the time, or never even heard of them

How many people are buying several Playstations, Xbox, etc? Not really a good comparison. A PlayStation is more like buying a layout, ready to go. The games would be more akin to purchasing locos and rolling stock. From that POV the PlayStation looks like a very good deal indeed!

 

 

 

[DJ Dangerous]

3 minutes ago, GSR 800 said:

How many people are buying several Playstations, Xbox, etc? Not really a good comparison. A PlayStation is more like buying a layout, ready to go. The games would be more akin to purchasing locos and rolling stock. From that POV the PlayStation looks like a very good deal indeed!

It is! As an old-man weekend gamer, I can testify that there’s massive bang for buck out of the box.

[skinner75]

No point in having a website if you aren't keeping it up to date

[derek]

7 hours ago, skinner75 said:

No point in having a website if you aren't keeping it up to date

 Totally agree. Don't think MM website has been updated in about 27 years or something. You have to find out about new announcements  in other ways. Sheesh......... First I heard of 141 rerun was on here.

[DJ Dangerous]

7 hours ago, skinner75 said:

No point in having a website if you aren't keeping it up to date

 

13 minutes ago, derek said:

 Totally agree. Don't think MM website has been updated in about 27 years or something. You have to find out about new announcements  in other ways. Sheesh......... First I heard of 141 rerun was on here.

While the MM website isn’t the best for news, it does function to some extent as an archive.

Frustrating not knowing what’s going on, nor when, but if the likes of A/S / IRM, Mark’s Models and Rails of Sheffield are going to be stockists, keeping an eye on their websites may help.

As @j11sty pointed out, @BosKonay removed the Murphy Models 071 project from the Project Updates area on the A/S / IRM website. I’m sure it will be added back in whenever there’s news.

[Mol_PMB]

Just now, DJ Dangerous said:

 

While the MM website isn’t the best for news, it does function to some extent as an archive.

Frustrating not knowing what’s going on, nor when, but if the likes of A/S / IRM, Mark’s Models and Rails of Sheffield are going to be stockists, keeping an eye on their websites may help.

As @j11sty pointed out, @BosKonay removed the Murphy Models 071 project from the Project Updates area on the A/S / IRM website. I’m sure it will be added back in whenever there’s news.

I think this might have been associated with the migration from IRM to AS website?