The Eagle Has Landed - NIR Hunslets Next For Accurascale IRM

[Warbonnet]

It's that time of year again; where the Dublin show rolls around for the October Bank Holiday weekend and we announce our next big project for the Irish railway scene.

Many will have guessed it considering our recent delivery of NIR Enterprise Mark 2 stock, but perhaps few would really believe it. 

Finally, after many, many years of neglect, the iconic NIR Hunslet locomotives get the full-fat Accurascale/IRM treatment!

 History

Having undertaken a programme of station refurbishment, improved its ticketing arrangements and introduced new on-track plant and shunting locomotives, in 1969 the still embryonic Northern Ireland Railways set out to improve the Dublin-Belfast ‘Enterprise’ service, by replacing the existing diesel railcar sets with a locomotive hauled service. Intended to reduce the time for the 180 km journey to just two hours, the NIR Class 101 (DL) locomotives were designed to run in a push/pull configuration, with a 270 ton 8-car set of BR Mk.2b stock, at a maximum speed of 80mph.

When Mrs Joan Humphreys, wife of Northern Ireland Railways’ chairman Myles Humphreys, unveiled the nameplate of 101 Eagle on May 8, 1970, it was an astounding triumph for the Hunslet Engine Company of Leeds; having beaten off stern competition from the likes of General Motors in the United States for the contract, with the event marking the remarkable culmination of a ten-month delivery programme.

The pace of the delivery programme was dictated by NIR’s lack of diesel-electric stock to haul the Enterprise to the new timings; the British United Traction 700/900 Class and UTA Class 70 railcars not being up to the task in hand and while Hunslet had secured the order, the company’s workshops were already full, being committed to other orders. For Hunslet, the answer was to sub-contract out the manufacturing work, so having designed the superstructure and bogies, fabrication of the superstructure, along with the final assembly, testing and painting were contracted out to British Rail Engineering Limited at their Doncaster site.

Traction was trusted to English Electric/AEI Traction, who designed the English Electric 8CSVT Mk II design prime mover for the project, which essentially was an updated version of the Class 20's prime mover, fitted with an additional intercooler. Linked to a Bo-Bo bogie arrangement, this unit provided 1,350 hp (1,010 kW), of which 350hp was required for the Mk2’s heating system!
Completed on schedule, 101 Eagle was handed over to NIR on May 8, 1970, with 102 Falcon following on May 22 and 103 Merlin on June 8 and all three locomotives (on temporary bogies) were subsequently shipped to Belfast on the Ferry from Preston (probably on the MV Ionic Ferry) and on arrival were moved to Queens Road for the fitting of the 5’ 3" gauge wheelsets.

The Press Launch/Test Train took place on July 3, 1970, with 102 Falcon leading out to Dublin from Belfast’s Great Victoria station and 101 Eagle trailing, and aside from a few comments regarding ‘hunting’ due to the push locomotive, all went well.

The three locomotives alternated on the Enterprise and continued to do so until they were succeeded by the General Motors’ NIR Class 111 fleet in 1983. When not required for Enterprise services, the 101s would run as single engines on locomotive hauled services such as the Saturday Excursion traffic to Portrush. This period also coincided with NIR being awarded the contract for the haulage of spoil from Magheramorne, to the Oil Terminal construction site at Cloghan Point (near Kilroot Power Station).

Between October 7, 1974, and August 22, 1975 these spoil trains were generally headed by one of the NIR 101 fleet, hauling the Cravens built wagons from the steam hauled spoil contract of the late 1960s.

Their ability to haul significant loads led to each locomotive being fitted with Multiple Unit cabling for Push/Pull working and after their replacement on the Enterprise, the three locomotives were moved to secondary services, such as to Derry and between Bangor and Portadown, along with working diagrams that included haulage of the CIÉ weed control train, freight turns with 42’ Fertiliser Flats and 40T Ballast Hoppers, as well as general shunting duties in Adelaide Yard.

All three locomotives were gradually withdrawn from service as mechanical woes set in, with 103 Merlin being first in 1989 and 102 Falcon last in 1998, although after having spent four years out of service Falcon was briefly re-instated as a working locomotive in 2002, before being placed back into storage at Whitehead. 103 Merlin was scrapped in 1997, but 101 Eagle and 102 Falcon remained at Whitehead for some time until being offered by Translink for sale.

Both locomotives were purchased by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) in 2005, with Falcon being selected for full restoration, utilising parts from Eagle where possible. Unfortunately, despite getting tantalisingly close to restoration back into working order, the task proved too much, and 102 Falcon was sold to the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum at Cultra in 2011, where it now resides. 101 Eagle had become no more than a bare shell, as parts had been stripped from it and when no buyer for it could be found the remains succumbed to the cutter’s torch the previous year, in January 2010.

So, what of changes to the initial design, was there much variation in the designs of the three Class 101s? The answer, given their short working lives, is unsurprisingly not, but there are some subtle variations for modellers to be aware of.

As built, 101 Eagle, 102 Falcon and 103 Merlin were all identical, but somewhere between late 1974 and early 1975, small sections were removed from the headstocks, with each locomotive’s being slightly differently shaped, indicating an ad-hoc modification (a useful identification guide in the absence of visible numbering). Around this time, the roof aerial clusters also changed from the original housing to the more familiar GSM ‘shark-fin’ type at each end.
The next visible change came with the addition of Time Division Multiplex (TDM) cabling, allowing the transfer of multiple working data between locomotives and Driving Trailers. At some point in 1988, 101 Eagle obtained a second GSM aerial at No.1 End, but the greatest change in appearance belonged to 102 Falcon, with the removal of the buffing gear at both ends and the vacuum pipe being elevated and centralised at No.2 end.

The Class 101s wore all their liveries well, with four distinct livery periods for the trio. As delivered in 1970, all three locomotives were painted in a deep maroon over the body, a light grey roof, with an arced golden yellow panel at each end and a small NIR logo amidships in golden yellow. From 1974 all three locos had the front panel revised to a ‘V’ shaped arced panel, with the locomotive number appearing on the front end for the first time. In mid-1979, the NIR mid-blue livery appeared, with the ‘V’ arc being represented in luminous red and a slightly larger NIR logo in white featuring amidships.

As a body livery, the mid-blue did not wear very well, fading unevenly, and during 1988 the paint scheme was refreshed with new large NIR logos amidships, but this time with a luminous red chevron replacing the more elegant arc pattern which, again, faded badly and quite quickly.

Of the three, only 102 Falcon received the revised darker NIR blue, sometime in 1996, with small yellow panel, black roof and ‘Zorro’ mask across the cab windows, again with large NIR logo. In preservation, this locomotive is now presented at the Museum at Cultra in a representation of its original maroon livery.

The Model

 

Following on from the success of our Mark 2 Enterprise coaches, we asked the question "Well, what will pull them?".

While we knew of models of the 111 and 201s, we thought about these NIR icons. With a bucket of charisma and such unique looks, we felt the Hunslets would make for a cracking model.

However, it's not all positive. Despite running to Dublin daily for so long, there were only 3 of these locomotives and they felt a bit niche. Buoyed by the sales of our Mark 2s, we decided to press on and make them in a strictly limited run.

That's right folks, though we might be proven wrong bit massive demand, we envisage that this might just be a one-off run.

With the real loco scanned and research progressing at a rapid rate, we have been able to get the Hunslets designed and tooled in record time and have been testing these samples for several months now.

With just a trio of locomotives and a small pool to choose from for variations, we have decided to cover all major liveries for everyone in this first (and possibly only) production run.

 

So, what is the cost for this charismatic, yet quite niche locomotive? Well, with a truly unrivalled spec and museum quality model including a comprehensive lighting package including cab lighting, day and night configurations, a wealth of detail, prism free glazing, operating roof fan, ESU loksound five and large speaker set up on sound fitted models, hefty diecast chassis, era detail differences, and more, they come in for a very reasonable £219.99 DC/DCC Ready and £319.99 DCC sound fitted, or €259.95 DC/DCC Ready and €379.95 DCC Sound Fitted. Delivery is slated for Q4 2025, with decorated samples due with Accurascale/IRM engineering team before Christmas.

Tempted? You will be! You do not want to miss out on these beauties. Pre-order yours today for no money down via the IRM or Accurascale websites!

As ever, the assistance of trusted stakeholders is vital to the development stages of any model, and we are pleased to acknowledge the outstanding co-operation and contribution of Clare Ablett and the team at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, Cultra, who allowed us to descend on them with our 3D scanning associates to map 102 Falcon to the finest detail. And just as important in the grand scheme of the project, we are indebted to Andrew Ross of the Hunslet Engine Company for supplying the original works’ drawings, as well as the benefit of his experience, which was instrumental in converting the project from a ‘what if’ to a ‘let’s crack on’!

Click Here to Pre-Order Your Hunslet!

MODEL SPECIFICATION:

• Die-cast metal chassis, with ABS plastic body. Weight (without decoder) 406g.
• Centrally mounted, twin flywheel 5-pole motor, driving both sets of axles, with all-wheel pickup.
• Helical gear box for maximum performance and slow speed running.
• Gearing arranged so locomotive can achieve a scale maximum top speed of 80 mph (128.75 km/h), with a load of 1.1kg
• Supplied as DCC Sound Ready, or DCC Sound fitted.
• Scale length of 180.71mm over buffers.
• Bogie wheelbase of 30.71mm (93.781mm between bogie centres), allowing operation over a minimum radius of 438mm (2nd radius set-track).
• Single style of 13.33mm solid locomotive wheel, correctly profiled both on the inside and outside to RP25-110 standard, set in blackened brass bearings or contact strips and chemically blackened, and conforming to Accurascale standards of 14.4mm back-to-back on 2mm diameter axles, over 28mm pinpoints (to allow for potential re-gauging to 21mm finescale standards).
• Brake blocks fitted and aligned with wheel centres for 00 gauge.
• Fully detailed die-cast underframe with all cylinders, battery boxes, cabinets and piping applied separately.
• NEM pockets at both ends, fitted via full kinetic couplings.
• Eroded metal, plastic and wire detail parts, including (but not limited to) roof details, handrails, door handles, kick plates, lamp brackets, nameplates, brake gear, brake discs, draw gear, bogie chains, vents and louvres.
• Prism free flush glazing.
• Easily removable roof section, to allow access to PCB for speaker and decoder fitting.
• Fitted stay alive arrangement.
• Designed to work with the ESU LOKSOUND V5 21-PIN Decoder with easy access via removable roof panel. Blanking plate to carry switches for limited DC lighting options.
• Fully directional lighting, with full range of light options for day/night running and shunting/yard configurations.
• Separate cab lighting configurations.
• Working DCC operated roof fans (single fixed speed on DC).
• Supplied DCC Sound Ready, with fitted ESU 22mm x 42mm x 8.0mm rectangular 4Ω speaker and Passive Radiator.

View the full article

[DJ Dangerous]

Absolutely delighted to see this!

Another stomper from IRM / A/S!!!

[Patrick Davey]

Yesssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!

[NIRCLASS80]

[chris]

Beauty.

The only model I've ever scratch built fully (and badly tbh), I'm really looking forward to a nice version that will work properly instead!!

[irishmail]

Any news updates in relation to class 50, Hoovers?    Seems to have been quite for a while unless I have missed any updates recently.  Need to know if its worth adding to my Hornby and Lima collection.   Only 35 more to collect out of 50 lol   .

[Darius43]

Fantastic!!!!!    Pre-orders in.

Cheers

Darius

[Patrick Davey]

Those specs……..

[BosKonay]

Just now, irishmail said:

Any news updates in relation to class 50, Hoovers?    Seems to have been quite for a while unless I have missed any updates recently.  Need to know if its worth adding to my Hornby and Lima collection.   Only 35 more to collect out of 50 lol   .

The status page on accurascale is up to date. They are on schedule 

[meathdane]

Not usually my area, but Eagle in Delivery Maroon  preordered, no harm in NIR making an occasional cameo on my layout (whenever it's finished) 

[Colin_McLeod]

Excellent news.  I'm looking forward to this model.

[mphoey]

wow a very interesting and unusual choice first preorder done

 

[irishthump]

Wow! Can't wait!

I recently got myself a spare Bachmann class 20 chassis and was about to pull the trigger on a Silver Fox resin kit so this couldn't come at a better time. 

Only problem is which one to order...

Edited October 26 by irishthump

[Flying Snail]

Nice, not only do they complement the Mk2b carriages, but they are a great size for smaller layouts.

(another run of the Mk2b's due soon perhaps, maybe with the maroon livery?)

[Dempsey]

Excellent news for many. When were these withdrawn from Dublin/Belfast service?

[Galteemore]

2 minutes ago, Dempsey said:

Excellent news for many. When were these withdrawn from Dublin/Belfast service?

GMs were built 1980. I think 1981 was when 111/112 took over the Enterprise 

[BosKonay]

4 minutes ago, Dempsey said:

Excellent news for many. When were these withdrawn from Dublin/Belfast service?

1998

Just now, BosKonay said:

1998

https://irishrailwaymodels.com/blogs/announcements/the-eagle-has-landed-nir-hunslets-next-for-accurascale-irm

 

[murphaph]

These are mega. Can someone tell me which ones were still running and in what liveries in 1994/5?

[DiveController]

Wonder what the Maroon will pull given their conspicuous absence of that livery from the Mk2bs? Possibly test the orders for Maroon locomotives to gauge potential interest in that early livery. Nice to see these after the somewhat intense discussion surrounding the ICRs, (which I still want too) but I love these more for sure  

…. and since you guys like to produce what you can easily scan and measure, maybe someone tripped and scanned and adjacent loco while at Cultra?
(save you guys heading across the county and all that)

1 hour ago, irishthump said:

Wow! Can't wait!

I recently got myself a spare Bachmann class 20 chassis and was about to pull the trigger on a Silver Fox resin kit so this couldn't come at a better time. 

Only problem is which one to order...

I’ll have a nice Class 20 chassis getting its original shell replaced very shortly too

Edited October 26 by DiveController

[NIRCLASS80]

13 minutes ago, murphaph said:

These are mega. Can someone tell me which ones were still running and in what liveries in 1994/5?

101&102 in blue chevron.  103 was lying in Ballymena yard awaiting scrapping, not sure what year it met the cutters torch, mid 90’s

[Jarl]

Hurrah! That's my wife's present to me for Christmas 2025 sorted.

Pre-orders in.

They'll make the MIR kit I've got and the 70s Enterprise coaches I bodged out of Lima and Hornby Mk2s look rather rubbish, and I don't really care at the moment.

If the next announcement is an 80 Class, I might as well just post my credit card to IRM Towers.

[NIRCLASS80]

I think this will be great for Ballyercall’s return.  These bring back childhood memories. I will be ordering at least 3. Thanks IRM. 
 

Now just announce the 80 class and the MV’s and I’ll sell the house!

Edited October 26 by NIRCLASS80

[DiveController]

On 26/10/2024 at 9:33 AM, murphaph said:

These are mega. Can someone tell me which ones were still running and in what liveries in 1994/5?

There were some decent threads 4-5 years back. I’ve haven't been as active on here since the pandemic so forgot some of the detail since.

@DJ Dangerous will probably sort you out with links  

….and I forgot to say that some of the lorries and trailers wouldn’t go amiss either if the opportunity arises, … the more variety the better @Warbonnet

is there a recording of the 8CSVT or how is that being handled for the appropriate locos @BosKonay

Edited October 28 by DiveController

[murphaph]

5 minutes ago, NIRCLASS80 said:

101&102 in blue chevron.  103 was lying in Ballymena yard awaiting scrapping, not sure what year it met the cutters torch, mid 90’s

Great stuff. I'll be ordering those two and probably exercise a little bit of Rule 1 to justify the purchase 102 with the yellow panels. 

[GSR 800]

Is there a way for me to split my preorders into different carts, or something similar?

Don't want to have to miss out on certain preorders in order to have other ones in my cart.

 

[James Regan]

These are a wonderful product. I didn’t expect you would choose these given how few were on the network. The Enterprise is a great train with a rich history, and now I will have something to head my Mark IIs, below. I do love the uniqueness of the maroon and hope some maroon coaches may be in the future. I’ll try to order one of each. 
 

[murphaph]

38 minutes ago, GSR 800 said:

Is there a way for me to split my preorders into different carts, or something similar?

Don't want to have to miss out on certain preorders in order to have other ones in my cart.

 

I'm not sure I understand the question but an order containing pre-orders should only contain items from the same line and not be mixed with other lines on pre-order or other stock items. Doing so can lead to the loss of the pre-order altogether.

[GSR 800]

3 minutes ago, murphaph said:

I'm not sure I understand the question but an order containing pre-orders should only contain items from the same line and not be mixed with other lines on pre-order or other stock items. Doing so can lead to the loss of the pre-order altogether.

I know that, but its not much good if there's two in demand preorders I want from different lines 

Say if I preorder a Hunslet, I can't preorder a Park Royal at the same time. So its a case of choosing what to preorder and hoping the other line doesn't sell out, especially if I plan on paying it off in segments

RN I want to preorder Park Royals, H vans, Grain wagons, and possibly a Hunslet too. 

ig you could have multiple accounts ig but then many of the rewards etc will be diminished, and its quite a clunky solution.

 

[BosKonay]

1 hour ago, GSR 800 said:

Is there a way for me to split my preorders into different carts, or something similar?

Don't want to have to miss out on certain preorders in order to have other ones in my cart.

 

You can order one loco per transaction if you wish to keep things separated?

10 minutes ago, GSR 800 said:

I know that, but its not much good if there's two in demand preorders I want from different lines 

Say if I preorder a Hunslet, I can't preorder a Park Royal at the same time. So its a case of choosing what to preorder and hoping the other line doesn't sell out, especially if I plan on paying it off in segments

RN I want to preorder Park Royals, H vans, Grain wagons, and possibly a Hunslet too. 

ig you could have multiple accounts ig but then many of the rewards etc will be diminished, and its quite a clunky solution.

 

Grain wagons are in transit to us, H Vans will be in about 4-5 weeks, and the Park Royals are due early in the new year and this Hunslet roughly a year from now, so just stagger orders accordingly

[Horsetan]

5 hours ago, Warbonnet said:

It's that time of year again; where the Dublin show rolls around for the October Bank Holiday weekend and we announce our next big project for the Irish railway scene.

Many will have guessed it considering our recent delivery of NIR Enterprise Mark 2 stock, but perhaps few would really believe it. 

Finally, after many, many years of neglect, the iconic NIR Hunslet locomotives get the full-fat Accurascale/IRM treatment!

 History

Having undertaken a programme of station refurbishment, improved its ticketing arrangements and introduced new on-track plant and shunting locomotives, in 1969 the still embryonic Northern Ireland Railways set out to improve the Dublin-Belfast ‘Enterprise’ service, by replacing the existing diesel railcar sets with a locomotive hauled service. Intended to reduce the time for the 180 km journey to just two hours, the NIR Class 101 (DL) locomotives were designed to run in a push/pull configuration, with a 270 ton 8-car set of BR Mk.2b stock, at a maximum speed of 80mph.

When Mrs Joan Humphreys, wife of Northern Ireland Railways’ chairman Myles Humphreys, unveiled the nameplate of 101 Eagle on May 8, 1970, it was an astounding triumph for the Hunslet Engine Company of Leeds; having beaten off stern competition from the likes of General Motors in the United States for the contract, with the event marking the remarkable culmination of a ten-month delivery programme.

The pace of the delivery programme was dictated by NIR’s lack of diesel-electric stock to haul the Enterprise to the new timings; the British United Traction 700/900 Class and UTA Class 70 railcars not being up to the task in hand and while Hunslet had secured the order, the company’s workshops were already full, being committed to other orders. For Hunslet, the answer was to sub-contract out the manufacturing work, so having designed the superstructure and bogies, fabrication of the superstructure, along with the final assembly, testing and painting were contracted out to British Rail Engineering Limited at their Doncaster site.

Traction was trusted to English Electric/AEI Traction, who designed the English Electric 8CSVT Mk II design prime mover for the project, which essentially was an updated version of the Class 20's prime mover, fitted with an additional intercooler. Linked to a Bo-Bo bogie arrangement, this unit provided 1,350 hp (1,010 kW), of which 350hp was required for the Mk2’s heating system!
Completed on schedule, 101 Eagle was handed over to NIR on May 8, 1970, with 102 Falcon following on May 22 and 103 Merlin on June 8 and all three locomotives (on temporary bogies) were subsequently shipped to Belfast on the Ferry from Preston (probably on the MV Ionic Ferry) and on arrival were moved to Queens Road for the fitting of the 5’ 3" gauge wheelsets.

The Press Launch/Test Train took place on July 3, 1970, with 102 Falcon leading out to Dublin from Belfast’s Great Victoria station and 101 Eagle trailing, and aside from a few comments regarding ‘hunting’ due to the push locomotive, all went well.

The three locomotives alternated on the Enterprise and continued to do so until they were succeeded by the General Motors’ NIR Class 111 fleet in 1983. When not required for Enterprise services, the 101s would run as single engines on locomotive hauled services such as the Saturday Excursion traffic to Portrush. This period also coincided with NIR being awarded the contract for the haulage of spoil from Magheramorne, to the Oil Terminal construction site at Cloghan Point (near Kilroot Power Station).

Between October 7, 1974, and August 22, 1975 these spoil trains were generally headed by one of the NIR 101 fleet, hauling the Cravens built wagons from the steam hauled spoil contract of the late 1960s.

Their ability to haul significant loads led to each locomotive being fitted with Multiple Unit cabling for Push/Pull working and after their replacement on the Enterprise, the three locomotives were moved to secondary services, such as to Derry and between Bangor and Portadown, along with working diagrams that included haulage of the CIÉ weed control train, freight turns with 42’ Fertiliser Flats and 40T Ballast Hoppers, as well as general shunting duties in Adelaide Yard.

All three locomotives were gradually withdrawn from service as mechanical woes set in, with 103 Merlin being first in 1989 and 102 Falcon last in 1998, although after having spent four years out of service Falcon was briefly re-instated as a working locomotive in 2002, before being placed back into storage at Whitehead. 103 Merlin was scrapped in 1997, but 101 Eagle and 102 Falcon remained at Whitehead for some time until being offered by Translink for sale.

Both locomotives were purchased by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) in 2005, with Falcon being selected for full restoration, utilising parts from Eagle where possible. Unfortunately, despite getting tantalisingly close to restoration back into working order, the task proved too much, and 102 Falcon was sold to the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum at Cultra in 2011, where it now resides. 101 Eagle had become no more than a bare shell, as parts had been stripped from it and when no buyer for it could be found the remains succumbed to the cutter’s torch the previous year, in January 2010.

So, what of changes to the initial design, was there much variation in the designs of the three Class 101s? The answer, given their short working lives, is unsurprisingly not, but there are some subtle variations for modellers to be aware of.

As built, 101 Eagle, 102 Falcon and 103 Merlin were all identical, but somewhere between late 1974 and early 1975, small sections were removed from the headstocks, with each locomotive’s being slightly differently shaped, indicating an ad-hoc modification (a useful identification guide in the absence of visible numbering). Around this time, the roof aerial clusters also changed from the original housing to the more familiar GSM ‘shark-fin’ type at each end.
The next visible change came with the addition of Time Division Multiplex (TDM) cabling, allowing the transfer of multiple working data between locomotives and Driving Trailers. At some point in 1988, 101 Eagle obtained a second GSM aerial at No.1 End, but the greatest change in appearance belonged to 102 Falcon, with the removal of the buffing gear at both ends and the vacuum pipe being elevated and centralised at No.2 end.

The Class 101s wore all their liveries well, with four distinct livery periods for the trio. As delivered in 1970, all three locomotives were painted in a deep maroon over the body, a light grey roof, with an arced golden yellow panel at each end and a small NIR logo amidships in golden yellow. From 1974 all three locos had the front panel revised to a ‘V’ shaped arced panel, with the locomotive number appearing on the front end for the first time. In mid-1979, the NIR mid-blue livery appeared, with the ‘V’ arc being represented in luminous red and a slightly larger NIR logo in white featuring amidships.

As a body livery, the mid-blue did not wear very well, fading unevenly, and during 1988 the paint scheme was refreshed with new large NIR logos amidships, but this time with a luminous red chevron replacing the more elegant arc pattern which, again, faded badly and quite quickly.

Of the three, only 102 Falcon received the revised darker NIR blue, sometime in 1996, with small yellow panel, black roof and ‘Zorro’ mask across the cab windows, again with large NIR logo. In preservation, this locomotive is now presented at the Museum at Cultra in a representation of its original maroon livery.

The Model

 

Following on from the success of our Mark 2 Enterprise coaches, we asked the question "Well, what will pull them?".

While we knew of models of the 111 and 201s, we thought about these NIR icons. With a bucket of charisma and such unique looks, we felt the Hunslets would make for a cracking model.

However, it's not all positive. Despite running to Dublin daily for so long, there were only 3 of these locomotives and they felt a bit niche. Buoyed by the sales of our Mark 2s, we decided to press on and make them in a strictly limited run.

That's right folks, though we might be proven wrong bit massive demand, we envisage that this might just be a one-off run.

With the real loco scanned and research progressing at a rapid rate, we have been able to get the Hunslets designed and tooled in record time and have been testing these samples for several months now.

 

With just a trio of locomotives and a small pool to choose from for variations, we have decided to cover all major liveries for everyone in this first (and possibly only) production run.

 

 

 

So, what is the cost for this charismatic, yet quite niche locomotive? Well, with a truly unrivalled spec and museum quality model including a comprehensive lighting package including cab lighting, day and night configurations, a wealth of detail, prism free glazing, operating roof fan, ESU loksound five and large speaker set up on sound fitted models, hefty diecast chassis, era detail differences, and more, they come in for a very reasonable £219.99 DC/DCC Ready and £319.99 DCC sound fitted, or €259.95 DC/DCC Ready and €379.95 DCC Sound Fitted. Delivery is slated for Q4 2025, with decorated samples due with Accurascale/IRM engineering team before Christmas.

Tempted? You will be! You do not want to miss out on these beauties. Pre-order yours today for no money down via the IRM or Accurascale websites!

As ever, the assistance of trusted stakeholders is vital to the development stages of any model, and we are pleased to acknowledge the outstanding co-operation and contribution of Clare Ablett and the team at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, Cultra, who allowed us to descend on them with our 3D scanning associates to map 102 Falcon to the finest detail. And just as important in the grand scheme of the project, we are indebted to Andrew Ross of the Hunslet Engine Company for supplying the original works’ drawings, as well as the benefit of his experience, which was instrumental in converting the project from a ‘what if’ to a ‘let’s crack on’!

Click Here to Pre-Order Your Hunslet!

MODEL SPECIFICATION:

• Die-cast metal chassis, with ABS plastic body. Weight (without decoder) 406g.
• Centrally mounted, twin flywheel 5-pole motor, driving both sets of axles, with all-wheel pickup.
• Helical gear box for maximum performance and slow speed running.
• Gearing arranged so locomotive can achieve a scale maximum top speed of 80 mph (128.75 km/h), with a load of 1.1kg
• Supplied as DCC Sound Ready, or DCC Sound fitted.
• Scale length of 180.71mm over buffers.
• Bogie wheelbase of 30.71mm (93.781mm between bogie centres), allowing operation over a minimum radius of 438mm (2nd radius set-track).
• Single style of 13.33mm solid locomotive wheel, correctly profiled both on the inside and outside to RP25-110 standard, set in blackened brass bearings or contact strips and chemically blackened, and conforming to Accurascale standards of 14.4mm back-to-back on 2mm diameter axles, over 28mm pinpoints (to allow for potential re-gauging to 21mm finescale standards).
• Brake blocks fitted and aligned with wheel centres for 00 gauge.
• Fully detailed die-cast underframe with all cylinders, battery boxes, cabinets and piping applied separately.
• NEM pockets at both ends, fitted via full kinetic couplings.
• Eroded metal, plastic and wire detail parts, including (but not limited to) roof details, handrails, door handles, kick plates, lamp brackets, nameplates, brake gear, brake discs, draw gear, bogie chains, vents and louvres.
• Prism free flush glazing.
• Easily removable roof section, to allow access to PCB for speaker and decoder fitting.
• Fitted stay alive arrangement.
• Designed to work with the ESU LOKSOUND V5 21-PIN Decoder with easy access via removable roof panel. Blanking plate to carry switches for limited DC lighting options.
• Fully directional lighting, with full range of light options for day/night running and shunting/yard configurations.
• Separate cab lighting configurations.
• Working DCC operated roof fans (single fixed speed on DC).
• Supplied DCC Sound Ready, with fitted ESU 22mm x 42mm x 8.0mm rectangular 4Ω speaker and Passive Radiator.

View the full article

Just after submitting a pre-order for no.102, so can forget about this until it actually arrives in 2025/26. 21mm gauge conversion, naturally.

[GSR 800]

20 minutes ago, BosKonay said:

You can order one loco per transaction if you wish to keep things separated?

Grain wagons are in transit to us, H Vans will be in about 4-5 weeks, and the Park Royals are due early in the new year and this Hunslet roughly a year from now, so just stagger orders accordingly

Thanks for the timeline makes things a lot simpler.

I can only hope the Hunslet will not be sold out on preorder prior to the Park Royals being sent!

[BosKonay]

10 minutes ago, GSR 800 said:

Thanks for the timeline makes things a lot simpler.

I can only hope the Hunslet will not be sold out on preorder prior to the Park Royals being sent!

Bear in mind it's no money down on preorders and easy cancellation.

[GSR 800]

Just now, BosKonay said:

Bear in mind it's no money down on preorders and easy cancellation.

Aye, it's more if I am looking towards paying off in segments that it'd be an issue.

Knowing the Grain and H vans are coming imminently makes it overall much less of an issue for me, many thanks.

[Robert Shrives]

Gang, 

Long felt want fully satisfied. 

Thanks 

Robert 

[Horsetan]

1 hour ago, BosKonay said:

Bear in mind it's no money down on preorders and easy cancellation.

Hopefully I'll still be alive by the time it's ready....