Invitation To Exclusive IRM New Locomotive Launch Event At The Fry Model Railway Museum, Malahide

[Warbonnet]

Hi everyone,

2025 marks the 10th year of IRM, and we thought we would celebrate this significant milestone in style!

So, Accurascale/IRM cordially invites you to the launch of our latest locomotive project at an exclusive event at the Fry Model Railway Museum at the Casino, Malahide, Dublin, next Monday, March 10th from 7pm.

This exciting event sees Accurascale/IRM launch our most ambitious locomotive yet to celebrate our 10th Birthday in 2025, and we want to share it with our supporters.

It will feature a short talk from Paul Isles, Project Manager from Accurascale/IRM, and celebrated railway expert and historian Jonathan Beaumont, as well as a demonstration of the locomotive on the Casino layout.

Places are strictly limited due to venue capacity and catering that will be provided. Because of this, anyone who wishes to attend the event MUST RSVP by 6pm on Wednesday, March 5th 2025. Failure to do so means you will not be permitted entry to the venue on the night.

Due to the limited capacity, places are offered on a first come, first served basis. Please fill out the form below ASAP to avoid disappointment and note that you may still miss out if you complete the form.

Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScRFC_bIU_sAublSZfPZ3myJQ43HMO72hr7fDGRxGUAIY6HLQ/viewform

We will confirm your attendance to the event via email later this week.

We look forward to seeing you there and let the wild speculation begin!

Cheers!

Fran 

 

[DJ Dangerous]

Let the (speculation) games begin!

I’m off to blackmail @jhb171achill for a hint.

[Flying Snail]

Just saw the email pop into my inbox!

Looking forward to this

[jhb171achill]

4 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Let the (speculation) games begin!

I’m off to blackmail @jhb171achill for a hint.

I told ye. It’s a Fintona horse. But don’t tell anyone here, it’s a secret.

[Broithe]

20 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Let the (speculation) games begin!

I’m off to blackmail @jhb171achill for a hint.

15 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

I told ye. It’s a Fintona horse. But don’t tell anyone here, it’s a secret.

 

He tells us the truth now, or we turn all his photos upside down again.

[DJ Dangerous]

1 minute ago, Broithe said:

He tells us the truth now, or we turn all his photos upside down again.

I have some real leverage over him, plus, I know where he lives.

Will send somebody around later to leave a pack of rotten eggs on his doorstep as a reminder.

[meathdane]

4 minutes ago, Broithe said:

He tells us the truth now, or we turn all his photos upside down again.

 

[jhb171achill]

7 minutes ago, Broithe said:

He tells us the truth now, or we turn all his photos upside down again.

Brilliant!

(I’ll stand on me head to look at ‘em…)

[Georgeconna]

Cathal Deasy's dreams about to come true.....

This aint coming down for the launch then..:)

 

[Patrick Davey]

Just in time for my birthday 3 days later - whoooo hooooooo!!

Sorry not to be able to attend what will be a fantastic event but it really should have been held in The Adair Arms Hotel in Ballymena due to the locomotive being a Ballymena & Larne narrow gauge one.

[Westcorkrailway]

16 minutes ago, Georgeconna said:

Cathal Deasy's dreams about to come true.....

 

This Cathal Deasy chap. If I were to guess he would like a certain 4-6-0t. Unlikely as it is. Anything that ran south of the river lee will do! 

33 minutes ago, meathdane said:

 

@jhb171achill  if you don’t spill the beans I will paint my CIE green hattons coaches so that the Eau De Nil is now yellow (not even straw coloured) and paint the roof of my coaches light grey 

 

and if that Dosent work, all my locos are going to be in Donegal red with black domes 

consider yourself warned

[Mol_PMB]

14 minutes ago, Westcorkrailway said:

This Cathal Deasy chap. If I were to guess he would like a certain 4-6-0t. Unlikely as it is. Anything that ran south of the river lee will do! 

@jhb171achill  if you don’t spill the beans I will paint my CIE green hattons coaches so that the Eau De Nil is now yellow (not even straw coloured) and paint the roof of my coaches light grey 

 

and if that Dosent work, all my locos are going to be in Donegal red with black domes 

consider yourself warned

In that vein I've got an H van in bits ready to receive a black underframe, and another discussion to start about the four shades of green used on CIE carriages...

20 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

Just in time for my birthday 3 days later - whoooo hooooooo!!

Sorry not to be able to attend what will be a fantastic event but it really should have been held in The Adair Arms Hotel in Ballymena due to the locomotive being a Ballymena & Larne narrow gauge one.

My birthday is only 2 days later, but I'll try and leave some on the shelf for you the next day...

(Actually, my bank account's probably fairly safe for this one, assuming it is indeed a kettle. It's a fleet of C class I'm waiting for!)

 

With a launch at Malahide it's surely loco suitable for the GNR main line. They've already announced a blue 'Merlin' so perhaps this one will be a 'peak'? 

 

 

 

 

[leslie10646]

Hopeless! Clashes with Quiz Night on the BBC.

Is the identity of the C Class to be a "Starter for Ten" on "Uni Chall"?

Mind you, if,  as a loyal supporter and previous keeper of secrets, IRM send my air fare .........

Naw, I don't want any more disappointment!

JB, do you want the loan of ten GN coaches for the thing to pull during the demo?

[Niles]

20 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

In that vein I've got an H van in bits ready to receive a black underframe, and another discussion to start about the four shades of green used on CIE carriages...

Believe it or not some did receive it, the one preserved at Downpatrick has a black underframe with paint markings dated 1973 so it's a CIÉ job versus preservation.

Edited Tuesday at 13:27 by Niles

[Mol_PMB]

5 minutes ago, Niles said:

Believe it or not some did receive it, the one preserved at Downpatrick has a black underframe with paint markings dated 1973 so it's a CIÉ job versus preservation.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/54251291181

In the 1960s, there was a random bloke with a flat cap sneaking round the sidings at Inchicore, carrying a tin of black paint and a brush, conducting a kind of guerrilla war against the one-colour 'dip job' livery proponents...

[Warbonnet]

Hi folks,

We've now hit capacity and have no places left I'm afraid. Thank you to everyone who signed up, and we look forward to seeing you on Monday!

If this goes well we will run more events in the future and aim for bigger venues.

Cheers!

Fran 

[Mol_PMB]

12 minutes ago, leslie10646 said:

Is the identity of the C Class to be a "Starter for Ten" on "Uni Chall"?

You make a very good point! I meant, of course, a gutless and unreliable oil slick generator where C stands for 'Crossley'. 

But a C class could also be a GNR articulated railcar, or a GNR 0-6-0, or an MGWR 4-4-0, and no doubt several others. 

 

 

I hope the event goes well and I look forward to seeing what is announced!

 

 

 

 

 

[Patrick Davey]

Will it be streamed live? I can imagine the loco confidently STEAMING out of one of the Bray Head tunnels in the casino, with a Johnny Cash song playing through the house sound system. 

[meathdane]

1 minute ago, Patrick Davey said:

Will it be streamed live?

Will it be Live Steamed?*

[Mol_PMB]

9 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

Will it be streamed live? I can imagine the loco confidently STEAMING out of one of the Bray Head tunnels in the casino, with a Johnny Cash song playing through the house sound system. 

Any song in particular? There's quite a choice...

List of songs recorded by Johnny Cash - Wikipedia

 

Hopefully more 'Blue Train' than 'Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow' !

We'll all be laughing if it's 'The Ballad Of Forty Dollars' ... 'After Taxes'

 

 

 

[jhb171achill]

48 minutes ago, leslie10646 said:

Hopeless! Clashes with Quiz Night on the BBC.

Is the identity of the C Class to be a "Starter for Ten" on "Uni Chall"?

Mind you, if,  as a loyal supporter and previous keeper of secrets, IRM send my air fare .........

Naw, I don't want any more disappointment!

JB, do you want the loan of ten GN coaches for the thing to pull during the demo?

Not sure if a Fintona horse could manage more than six……!

[jhb171achill]

50 minutes ago, Niles said:

Believe it or not some did receive it, the one preserved at Downpatrick has a black underframe with paint markings dated 1973 so it's a CIÉ job versus preservation.

Like most preserved wagon liveries, the H van at Downpatrick is wrong (as are the NCC brake van and the GSWR plough). 
 

The Flickr one of the grey van was an experimental version, not used generally, while no such experiment was ever carried out on anything brown post-1970.

[leslie10646]

I note that Mr Isles is doing the "Spiel".

Good news for my fellow GN-ers, he's got one of my GNR Class Y5 vans which he obviously bought to put behind the new GNR(I) loco!

Whooppeeeeeee!

I've sent in my cheque for two ......

[Flying Snail]

Well, Malahide is on the GNR's mainline ... maybe we'll get a dose of the Monday blues?

[Mol_PMB]

Even a GNR loco could turn out to be the 'Man in Black' or the 'Green Green Grass of Home', but 'Lately I Been Leanin' Toward The Blues'

[enniscorthyman]

Great excitement.My guess is a C class or j15.

[flange lubricator]

My thoughts would be a steam locomotive . 

[Mol_PMB]

31 minutes ago, enniscorthyman said:

Great excitement.My guess is a C class or j15.

Now those would have potential for emptying my wallet! 

C class - the epitome of shabby chic?

There have been hints that it's something steamy, so although I think a C class is inevitable eventually I suspect that's not going to be the main event for this announcement.

So a loco that worked all over Ireland, too useful to be taken out of service so it was one of the last kettles south of the border and then ended up working for NIR briefly too!

 

Has anyone bet on CC1 yet? Who couldn't love this beauty?

(pics from Ernie and Roger Joanes on Flickr)

 

But I still think it'll be a shiny express loco, most likely a preserved one. The GNR 4-4-0s outnumber the GSR and NCC alternatives and have the advantage that they can appeal to the present-day modellers as well as the historical ones. But we know IRM have been spending too much time at Cultra so maybe they'll surprise us with a big green one, or a surprise move into narrow gauge...

 

[jhb171achill]

5 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

I have some real leverage over him, plus, I know where he lives.

Will send somebody around later to leave a pack of rotten eggs on his doorstep as a reminder.

Amazon have just dropped the rotten eggs off, but I’ve redirected them to the Oval Office…….

[Mol_PMB]

1 minute ago, jhb171achill said:

Amazon have just dropped the rotten eggs off, but I’ve redirected them to the Oval Office…….

The best shaped room for a train set!

[mphoey]

6 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Let the (speculation) games begin!

I’m off to blackmail @jhb171achill for a hint.

its ok im going to use the old water boarding method on him using a tender full of water

[Mol_PMB]

1 minute ago, mphoey said:

its ok im going to use the old water boarding method on him using a tender full of water

Are you sure you want to use a tender? May be better to threaten with a tank!

Kevin Lane photo, 1969 (before preservation)

[mphoey]

its definatly a steam loco as we were told last year that one of the announcements would be irms first steamer 

2 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

Are you sure you want to use a tender? May be better to threaten with a tank!

Kevin Lane photo, 1969 (before preservation)

water from the tender tends to be hotter

 

[Patrick Davey]

I think a C Class is a cert eventually but probably not this time - I think there is a clue in Fran's use of the words 'most ambitious' which makes me think it's a completely new departure for IRM/AS - my £ is on a steam loco but 'ambitious' makes me think it'll be something other than my desired GNR 440 or NCC Jeep, neither of which would be more 'ambitious' than for example the Accurascale Manor.  Am thinking something big and green, the surviving member of which class is located not a million miles away from me right now.  But I have been wrong on every single previous occasion I have tried to guess what the lads are about to reveal!

Edited Tuesday at 18:13 by Patrick Davey

[mphoey]

10 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

I think a C Class is a cert eventually but probably not this time - I think there is a clue in Fran's use of the words 'most ambitious' which makes me think it's a completely new departure for IRM/AS - my £ is on a steam loco but 'ambitious' makes me think it'll be something other than my desired GNR 440 or NCC Jeep, neither of which would be more 'ambitious' than for example the Accurascale Manor.  Am thinking something big and green, the surviving member of which class is located not a million miles away from me right now.  But I have been wrong on every single previous occasion I have tried to guess what the lads are about to reveal!

if its an 800 class then theres 3 locos with 2 liveries each so 6 locos total  the big thing is they will have a working sample at the event so the loco is possibly been released before the hunslets