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Irish Railway Models to Release Cement Bubble in Iconic Orange Livery

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Irish Railway Models today announces that it will release its highly detailed cement bubble wagon in the iconic CIÉ orange and grey livery in time for Christmas 2017. 
The announcement was made at the beginning of the South Dublin Model Railway Show at Blackrock, Dublin and is the fourth project that Irish Railway Models has announced to date.

Introduced in seven batches between 1964 and 1972, a total of 150 of these two-axle wagons were built by Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) to convey bulk loads of cement from Irish Cement’s plants  at  Drogheda  in  County  Louth, Castlemungret  in  County Limerick and Platin in County Meath to distribution points throughout the CIÉ/Irish Rail and Northern Ireland Railways’ networks. Despite being introduced at different stages, the fleet carried numbers in an unbroken sequence ranging from 25050 to 25199. Affectionately known as ‘bubbles’ due to their distinctive profile, most of the fleet remained in service right up until the cessation of cement traffic by rail in 2009.

All 150 bubbles received the distinctive orange and grey livery in the early 1970s, replacing the earlier slate grey, with the last two batches of bubbles constructed receiving the orange livery from new. It was superseded by the ivory and black livery in the late 1970s, although both liveries could be observed running together into the early 1980s.

The Irish Railway Models release consists of two packs of three bubbles, all with unique running numbers. They are available to order at the show or online for €125.00. A special introductory price of €225 for two packs and €425 for four packs is also available at the show and online for the duration of the 2017 October Bank Holiday exhibition. A colour sample has been received from our factory in China, but is incorrect and will be amended for production. Prices after this weekend will revert to €125.00 per pack.

Delivery is slated for December 2017, with production commencing after the current run of Ivory bubbles is completed.
To order your bubbles, please visit www.irishrailwaymodels.com/shop

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1 hour ago, Claretrainman said:

Very nice indeed!

Was the picture taken in Ennis?

Yes, spot on.

It says Ennis 1983 on the Flickr caption.

Thought photo was good from the point of view that not all cement trains were 20+ wagons. You could have a prototypical rake with the amount shown in the photo. Also, roughly a 60/40 split between ivory and orange wagons in this rake, so probably a good snapshot of how many had been repainted ivory by 1983.

 

Mad to think that you can now re-create this train in model form without any kits or scratchbuilding.

Edited by iarnrod
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  • 5 weeks later...
LATEST NEWS FROM CHINA!! FIRST LOOK AT ORANGE BUBBLES!!!
 
We've just received these images of our orange bubbles from China which will be shipping to us in the coming weeks in time for Christmas! We love how the detail really pops out on the grey chassis in particular! What do you think of them?
 
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We are doing two packs of these beauties which you can order now via www.irishrailwaymodels.com/shop. They're certain to prove very popular. :)
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Really excellent looking again.  It's funny I thought my favourite colour was the Irish Cement ivory livery.   However since I originally ordered my IRM rake, in the intervening period I bought four of George's lovely MIR builds in Bray last year from DB, and discovered I really liked the orange livery.  Hmmm - I could be very tempted to buy one or two packs of these to go with the ivory ones especially since seeing the pic of mixed liveries earlier in this tread.  I never noticed before that ladders on the orange wagons are all the one colour without the white on the lower rungs.  Well done again team IRM.

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5a282a47d0a61_Orangeproductionsample.thumb.jpg.e47c8046f9402a7defccfbc0d3350c76.jpg

We've just been gazing at our pre-production samples of the orange bubbles at IRM Towers, and we're getting very giddy indeed! We're delighted on how they turned out, and some of the fine tampo printing in particular is testament the skilled souls in our factory.

These are due to be with us next week and we will be working tirelessly to get them to everyone before Christmas!

Have you ordered yours yet? www.irishrailwaymodels.com/shop

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1 hour ago, Railer said:

Can anyone enlighten as to what the VB code after the running number is for. Vacuum braked?? Is my only guess.

Correct Railer, vacuum braked.

Thanks everyone, have to say I do love the orange bubbles, they really pop out the details. I will be in the MRSI clubrooms with them this Friday if any member wants a closer look. :)

We are still on course to get them to you before Christmas, but if you want them before Santa starts doing his delivery we would advise getting your orders in now so we can get prepared and shipped in time! 

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2 hours ago, Railer said:

Not to be nit picking but in all those pics so far the walkway number does not match any chassis number. All the walkway numbers are 047 despite the wagon sole bar number.

Well spotted Railer, on the orange bubbles the numbering on the walkway bore no relation to their running number unlike the ivory bubbles, something to do with differentiating between route usage and/or axle boxes so the above is correct. :)

 

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