Class 121

[gm171 kk]

Has anyone put Kadees on the 121s yet? 

Edited December 21, 2020 by gm171 kk

[irishthump]

7 minutes ago, gm171 kk said:

Has anyone put Kadees on the 121s yet? 

Yeah I fitted mine with no 20’s and they run fine. 
I plan to fit them with draft box Kadees in the near future.

[gm171 kk]

37 minutes ago, irishthump said:

Yeah I fitted mine with no 20’s and they run fine. 
I plan to fit them with draft box Kadees in the near future.

Could you go smaller? I put the magnetic coupling I usually have on the baby GMs and they're slightly too long. Kadee 18s are what fits the babies. 

[irishthump]

Just now, gm171 kk said:

Could you go smaller? I put the magnetic coupling I usually have on the baby GMs and they're slightly too long. Kadee 18s are what fits the babies. 

Yeah you probably could use a smaller one. The 20s are just what I had to hand. 

[irishthump]

7 minutes ago, gm171 kk said:

Could you go smaller? I put the magnetic coupling I usually have on the baby GMs and they're slightly too long. Kadee 18s are what fits the babies. 

Of course it will also depend on how tight the curves are on your layout, buffer lock could be a problem if you use too short a coupler.

[Noel]

These Black'n'Tan livery MM 121s are just gorgeous. B125 got a very light dusting in the sheep dip. Just enough to get the plastic shine off it.

[Galteemore]

 Nice work Noel. Really brings it alive 

[gm171 kk]

1 hour ago, Noel said:

These Black'n'Tan livery MM 121s are just gorgeous. B125 got a very light dusting in the sheep dip. Just enough to get the plastic shine off it.

Can we have a petition to make this the next livery of RPSI 134 after it gets the Flying Snail?

[NIRCLASS80]

2 hours ago, gm171 kk said:

Could you go smaller? I put the magnetic coupling I usually have on the baby GMs and they're slightly too long. Kadee 18s are what fits the babies. 

I fitted 19’s but I also had to fit a small piece of plastic shim in below it to get the coupling height right. 

[Noel]

11 minutes ago, NIRCLASS80 said:

I fitted 19’s but I also had to fit a small piece of plastic shim in below it to get the coupling height right. 

Same here No 19 and a plastic shim inside the NEM pocket to remove the coupling droop.

[skinner75]

1 hour ago, gm171 kk said:

Can we have a petition to make this the next livery of RPSI 134 after it gets the Flying Snail?

It'd work so well with B141 / B142

[murphaph]

Hattons have finally charged me for my 121s in IE livery.

[Noel]

I've enjoyed driving this B121 3D kit bash effort for the past two years but the MM B125 version below is simply sublime.

Murphy Model B125 below is an awesome model. Nice to have the two in CIE Black'n'Tan livery. These two can consist together or with super train livery MM 121/141/181s, so much operational potential.

We've never had it so good.

Edited December 22, 2020 by Noel
typo lexdysia

[StevieB]

I got my notification from Hattons today as well.

Stephen

[StevieB]

I got my pair this morning Royal Mail 24 hour guaranteed delivery. At this time of year that is remarkable.

Stephen

[Noel]

B125 in traffic at Woodvale junction

[NIRCLASS80]

Received 2 IE ones from Hattons this morning 16 hours after payment!  Impressive service as usual. 

[Georgeconna]

The 2 Supers arrived at work yesterday from Rails. all bits intact, Set complete now. Delighted and a nicely timed bonus from work squared the Visa away, Fresh start for 2021. 

Superb Model in all fairness. Fair play to Murphy models for the Royal Flush of American Diesels.

[Irishswissernie]

 

 

Email from Hattons saying 121''s now in stock, a bit late for most of us I guess.

Edited December 23, 2020 by Irishswissernie

[Robert Shrives]

Have to say I thought the same  but some hyperactive Elves on overtime or something at Hattons... and postie with wings ! delivered yesterday  124 and 132 . Fully intact and in a stout box with 3 km of bubble wrap !   Contents checked and nothing amiss all vac pipes, handrails, horns intact and a little bag of add ons.    Comments and thanks sent to Hattons for pulling out all the stops. I will thank postie crew when seeing them next but they take a big bow at this time of system overload.    

Will save for 25th to show willing .  

Robert 

[NIRCLASS80]

The 121’s are a cracking little model but does anyone else think the IE logos have been put on IR orange bodies and the IR logos put on the IE orange bodies?

[Irishswissernie]

No I don't think so, different lighting conditions produced variations in the hue. Here are a couple of views at Limerick Junc of 123 and 129 taken within minutes of each other.

EDIT I'm intrigued by the white lining on the cab end of 123 with a line of dirt down the middle and a bit ropey on the edges paint wise. Its possible the cab metalwork is a bit distorted

 

I have quite a few views of locos missing the IR or IE logo on the bonnet sides.

Edited December 24, 2020 by Irishswissernie

[Noel]

Great photos. Post CIE days the locos were allowed to get into quite a grubby state. Looks like I may have to weather the heck out of my bright orange IR 121 to match the photos above. There's nothing subtle about the weathering on those prototypes above.  

[NIRCLASS80]

Here’s just a couple of images showing the Murphy models 

 

[irishthump]

5 hours ago, Noel said:

Great photos. Post CIE days the locos were allowed to get into quite a grubby state. Looks like I may have to weather the heck out of my bright orange IR 121 to match the photos above. There's nothing subtle about the weathering on those prototypes above.  

Locos and stock in the CIE Supertrain days got just as grubby!

Edited December 24, 2020 by irishthump

[jhb171achill]

Good pics.....

My recollections suggest that MOSTLY, things were kept very clean - certainly cleaner than on British Rail, as many cross-channel visitors often remarked - in the 1960s to 1970s, and passenger-carrying stock to this day.

Wagons seems to have started going downhill badly, almost to 1950s level of dishevelment, in the 1990s. 

But locos, and  - peculiarly, perhaps - NON passenger-carrying stock (mail vans, full brakes, tin vans, genny vans - were often in a MUCH more filthy state at any stage, comparted with their companion vehicle containing seats.......

A rake of spotless carriages could often be topped and tailed by a couple of FILTHY gennies, tin vans or Dutch vans.........

[Mayner]

1 hour ago, jhb171achill said:

Good pics.....

My recollections suggest that MOSTLY, things were kept very clean - certainly cleaner than on British Rail, as many cross-channel visitors often remarked - in the 1960s to 1970s, and passenger-carrying stock to this day.

Wagons seems to have started going downhill badly, almost to 1950s level of dishevelment, in the 1990s. 

But locos, and  - peculiarly, perhaps - NON passenger-carrying stock (mail vans, full brakes, tin vans, genny vans - were often in a MUCH more filthy state at any stage, comparted with their companion vehicle containing seats.......

A rake of spotless carriages could often be topped and tailed by a couple of FILTHY gennies, tin vans or Dutch vans.........

I have been scanning my collection of slides and photos from the late 70s to early 2000s and concur with JHBs observations with very few photos of dirty or run-down locos or stock before 2000. 

Although both classes of Metrovicks tended to get dirtier quicker than the pure bred GM Classes, I struggle to find a photo of a dirty 001 in my collection.

The effect of weathering is tied up with viewing distance a loco or train may look quite clean from a distance and quite dirty close up.

 

[irishthump]

25 minutes ago, Mayner said:

I have been scanning my collection of slides and photos from the late 70s to early 2000s and concur with JHBs observations with very few photos of dirty or run-down locos or stock before 2000. 

Although both classes of Metrovicks tended to get dirtier quicker than the pure bred GM Classes, I struggle to find a photo of a dirty 001 in my collection.

The effect of weathering is tied up with viewing distance a loco or train may look quite clean from a distance and quite dirty close up.

 

Have to say that contrasts sharply with my recollection. I vividly remember as a child  standing on the platform at Pearse Station, reaching out to touch the sides of the stopped locos and my hand coming away thick with grime. Faded paint was also a common thing. The C classes on the push-pull services from Killiney to Pearse were also never clean and neither were the coaches!

[jhb171achill]

I saw a “pair” heading the up midday Westport at Claremorris one day, mid-70s. Both were still black’n’tan.

At first glance I thought I had spotted a previously unseen variation of 141 livery. The “tan” was only on the front! Sides plain black.

However, as it slowed to enter the station I realised it was normal black’n’tan - plus filth! The other loco in the pair was spotless, though by the mid 70s the paint was fading and long overdue a repaint.....

[DiveController]

Phil @murphaphis there any possibility you might post the relevant eSU file and the horns? After shelling gout for three Wt projects I'm looking for a alternative way to contain costs for future 121 and 141 sound decoders.

I know you're in Germany. Where are you sourcing your chips?

The LokSound V5 in the US and Australasian markets are V5 DCC chips which have some differences (most notably that they cannot be run temporarily on DC)  

[murphaph]

Sure. Fire me a PM @DiveController to remind me to send a file tomorrow.

[irishthump]

3 hours ago, DiveController said:

Phil @murphaphis there any possibility you might post the relevant eSU file and the horns? After shelling gout for three Wt projects I'm looking for a alternative way to contain costs for future 121 and 141 sound decoders.

I know you're in Germany. Where are you sourcing your chips?

The LokSound V5 in the US and Australasian markets are V5 DCC chips which have some differences (most notably that they cannot be run temporarily on DC)  

The MM decoders are V5 DCC which I thought was a little odd for a decoder aimed at the European market.

Curiously though, I recently picked up an MM decoder for an 071 loco from Mark’s and it turned out it to also be a V5 DCC. Doesn’t really make too much of a difference to most modellers here but handy to know as they have different momentum values.

[irishthump]

6 hours ago, murphaph said:

Sure. Fire me a PM @DiveController to remind me to send a file tomorrow.

@murphaphare you using the horn sounds from the old MM V4 files or have you found something suitable in the newer V5 ones?

[murphaph]

@irishthump I'm just using the old files. You only hear the horn for a moment every now and then anyway. As you know by far the more important issue is the quality of the prime mover recording and sampled file as that is running the whole time.

Might be worth looking through the ESU files for a suitable improvement though. That's a job for a rainy day if ever there was one!

 

[irishthump]

1 hour ago, murphaph said:

@irishthump I'm just using the old files. You only hear the horn for a moment every now and then anyway. As you know by far the more important issue is the quality of the prime mover recording and sampled file as that is running the whole time.

Might be worth looking through the ESU files for a suitable improvement though. That's a job for a rainy day if ever there was one!

 

I found one that I thought is pretty close. I’ll have a look later and find which V5 I took it from!

The V5 horn sounds seem to sound much better, to my ears anyway....