IRM A Class; Our First Locomotive!

[StevieB]

Bet get my order in soon.

Stephen

[scahalane]

Very nice design work, that looks sheer class.

[BosKonay]

https://irishrailwaymodels.com/blogs/announcements/sneak-peek-inside-our-a-class

Read more at the link above, and more updates as we progress

[Robert Shrives]

Hi 

Gents looking really good - re chassis block hopefully not mazak from China? Purity issue on Hornby models was /is a problem .

I have seen tungsten mentioned - I guess safer that dense depleted uranium !    

Good to see indications of much screwed together - makes it maintainable and hopefully you will have core spares from get go and bodyshells at end of production run to rob for bits?. Bit of a pants down moment if spares not available from get go to deal with repaired infantile failures - the old "NGP" road or the "Bachmann Warley dash game."   

Looking forward as are many to this launch model.  Thanks a million for all your efforts.

Robert 

[popeye]

What a beauty,  very detailed,  just perfect.

I can't wait but i need to save and save. 

[Warbonnet]

27 minutes ago, Robert Shrives said:

Hi 

Gents looking really good - re chassis block hopefully not mazak from China? Purity issue on Hornby models was /is a problem .

I have seen tungsten mentioned - I guess safer that dense depleted uranium !    

Good to see indications of much screwed together - makes it maintainable and hopefully you will have core spares from get go and bodyshells at end of production run to rob for bits?. Bit of a pants down moment if spares not available from get go to deal with repaired infantile failures - the old "NGP" road or the "Bachmann Warley dash game."   

Looking forward as are many to this launch model.  Thanks a million for all your efforts.

Robert 

Hi Robert,

Many thanks! Our Locos have tungsten alloy chassis, not mazak, and we will have a healthy supply of spares.

Cheers!

Fran

[WaYSidE]

  A sound option.

"factory fitted sound option for the A Class currently being investigated" ,        yes please, 

i worry that i pre-bought an A, hopefully i can get the upgrade from already ordered A. to A with sound option fitted

 

[Broithe]

17 minutes ago, Warbonnet said:

Our Locos have tungsten alloy chassis, not mazak, and we will have a healthy supply of spares.

Keep an eye on the stocks.

 

When I had a 'real' job, we kept stocks of copper-tungsten. Not really an alloy, but a physical mixture that was sintered.

Its function was to provide erosion resistance for electrical contacts.

But, I suspect that a good half of it was used to make the bespoke darts that still turn up at the boot sales here.

[Warbonnet]

21 minutes ago, WaYSidE said:

  A sound option.

"factory fitted sound option for the A Class currently being investigated" ,        yes please, 

i worry that i pre-bought an A, hopefully i can get the upgrade from already ordered A. to A with sound option fitted

 

This will be possible. More on this in time.

Cheers!

Fran

[ttc0169]

Looking great gents,Thank you for the valuable updates..

[Noel]

CAD looks stunning and indicative of a fabulous model loco for the year end. Looking forward to running these locos (and perhaps a DELTIC for my BR Outline coaching stock)

Edited April 3, 2019 by Noel

[irishthump]

Lads, hats off you all for this piece of design!

How you managed to squeeze all these features inside the body and still leave ample room for a good sized speaker is nothing short of miraculous. I know from my Silverfox Kit that it's a nightmare try and fit prototypical lighting inside the A Class and that's before you even try to cram in a PCB, sound decoder and speaker!

[Warbonnet]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! It is progressing well and we are pushing hard to have them here for the October show! The A is very dear to us all, so you can imagine how far we are going to go to push the standards we want to achieve!

Cheers!

Fran

[aclass007]

It's often been said that the A class should have been done a long time ago, and on one hand I agree...But, on the other hand I'm delighted that it's only being done now, because I think it's safe to say that this level of detail wouldn't have featured previously. And, it's nothing more than the A class deserves.... 

[Colin R]

19 hours ago, Warbonnet said:

Hi Robert,

Many thanks! Our Locos have tungsten alloy chassis, not mazak, and we will have a healthy supply of spares.

Cheers!

Fran

Thats great to hear, I like the looks of the meaty motor I hope it will have the grunt to haul scale length trains, nothing worst that getting a great looking model only to find it can't pull the skin of a rice pudding.

 

Colin

[Warbonnet]

3 minutes ago, Colin R said:

Thats great to hear, I like the looks of the meaty motor I hope it will have the grunt to haul scale length trains, nothing worst that getting a great looking model only to find it can't pull the skin of a rice pudding.

 

Colin

We insist that our locos can pull big heavy trains, Colin, so no worries there! China are doing a super job in that aspect in fairness to them!

Cheers,

Fran

[WRENNEIRE]

Are you related to Noel, Colin?

[JasonB]

Ooohhhh I've just had a vision of something very tasty. A Class, IR livery with dayglow panels. Hauling a rake of IRM 42' flats.. Bell's of course. Jasus, I'm starting to foam at the mouth. Time for a cold shower me thinks.  

Edited April 3, 2019 by jason brady

[RedRich]

Jason when Jake Lamotta used to be in training before a fight he used to put ice cubes downstairs when he would spot a nice looking lady and froth at the mouth. You'll save more water too.

You are spot on it will be an iconic consist.

Rich,

[WaYSidE]

There an issue no one spotted with the new A's,  n dog on train

I thought that would get your attention, #@Atn'seeker!

As someone who owns a website and knows how much time it takes to reply to posts and stuff, could everyone shut d fxxxxx up about class A's ,, and how wonderful they are and about the detail ,  why?

AND THUS let the so often called 'lads' (workers) get back to work, i think they spend far too much time on IRM and not enough time in china or where ever there suppose to be working, heads down in a CAD no doubt, or packing plough boxes, or sum'it like that, in my day a Cad was a chancer type. don't know what the interest in Cads is. , got to go! there a dog on a train on RTE news, Irish rail seeking the owner 8.64  sallins to heuston, no doubt cos they want to charge the dog for the free ride.. theres a line to end with

Edited April 3, 2019 by WaYSidE

[Broithe]

59 minutes ago, WaYSidE said:

there a dog on a train on RTE news, Irish rail seeking the owner 8.64  sallins to heuston, no doubt cos they want to charge the dog for the free ride..

To be fair to them, when Lilou took the Dart into town, they issued her with a rail card...

[JasonB]

10 hours ago, WaYSidE said:

There an issue no one spotted with the new A's,  n dog on train

I thought that would get your attention, #@Atn'seeker!

As someone who owns a website and knows how much time it takes to reply to posts and stuff, could everyone shut d fxxxxx up about class A's ,, and how wonderful they are and about the detail ,  why?

AND THUS let the so often called 'lads' (workers) get back to work, i think they spend far too much time on IRM and not enough time in china or where ever there suppose to be working, heads down in a CAD no doubt, or packing plough boxes, or sum'it like that, in my day a Cad was a chancer type. don't know what the interest in Cads is. , got to go! there a dog on a train on RTE news, Irish rail seeking the owner 8.64  sallins to heuston, no doubt cos they want to charge the dog for the free ride.. theres a line to end with

Strange, very very strange. 

[WaYSidE]

Just been in hells kitchen driving d A 55.

Ideal place for Irm to launch their A.

Woff woff.

Strange n stranger again. You dont know the half of it

.

[Colin R]

On 4/3/2019 at 4:47 PM, WRENNEIRE said:

Are you related to Noel, Colin?

I don't think so, but for me any model of a loco not only has to look good,  but it has to be able to do a job on any layout and hauling a realistic load is all part of the package.

[WaYSidE]

On 4/5/2019 at 6:45 PM, Colin R said:

I don't think so, but for me any model of a loco not only has to look good,  but it has to be able to do a job on any layout and hauling a realistic load is all part of the package.

 

i have hornby engine on an A body, its far too powerful and fast for what i need, and not heavy enough to keep the power weighed down onto the tracks- on the way up my 2 and 2.5/100 rising inclines (as is it called?) ,  it whizzes around so fast , its no fun even on the inclines wide bends,  while a rake of heavy wagons slows it down and makes driving it bearable, , its usually packed away in box.. .

[Noel]

On 4/5/2019 at 6:45 PM, Colin R said:

I don't think so, but for me any model of a loco not only has to look good,  but it has to be able to do a job on any layout and hauling a realistic load is all part of the package.

Agree 100%, a chassis performance, scale speed running and smooth precise running slowly over paintwork is as important to me as how the thing looks. No use having every single rust patch and rivet spot on if the thing starts at a scale speed of 15-25mph (eg my CIE Lima no 215 BR Class 33 A class pretender rocket)  Cannot wait for RTR A classes in Q4 

[Garfield]

On 4/4/2019 at 11:13 PM, WaYSidE said:

Just been in hells kitchen driving d A 55.

Ideal place for Irm to launch their A.

Woff woff.

Strange n stranger again. You dont know the half of it

.

As @Warbonnet has already stated, we already have  launch plan for the A class.  

[WaYSidE]

Yes, I heard, I had posted both in different places at same time, oh dear

[spudfan]

On ‎4‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 8:38 PM, WaYSidE said:

Yes, I heard, I had posted both in different places at same time, oh dear

Yep I heard about that. Seems there's some track booked in Inchicore where two IRM "A" class locos are to haul the real thing for a hundred yards.

Edited April 11, 2019 by spudfan

[DiveController]

I was going through the color schemes on the IRModels site and noticed the white from band on the rebuilt BnT locoa seem to be missing the band above the headlight. Admittedly the band is pretty filthy in most shots with grime  from the roof or the lamp itself maybe. I'm sure that just a fine tuning item. 

Does anyone know if the flying snail was applied to A1 before going into service and when the sandboxes were finally removed?

When was the tan CIE roundel applied to the black livery in general?

When did the pale CIE super train roundel come into being?

 Thanks

 

 

 

[Garfield]

5 minutes ago, DiveController said:

I was going through the color schemes on the IRModels site and noticed the white from band on the rebuilt BnT locoa seem to be missing the band above the headlight. Admittedly the band is pretty filthy in most shots with grime  from the roof or the lamp itself maybe. I'm sure that just a fine tuning item. 

Does anyone know if the flying snail was applied to A1 before going into service and when the sandboxes were finally removed?

When was the tan CIE roundel applied to the black livery in general?

When did the pale CIE super train roundel come into being?

 Thanks

 

 

 

The white band will be present above the headlights. 

From the evidence we have gathered, A1 did not have a flying snail when it first entered service. 

Sandboxes were removed gradually; there’s evidence of locos in plain black without them and in Black and Tan (unrebuilt) with them. 

[jhb171achill]

On 4/22/2019 at 12:01 AM, DiveController said:

 

When was the tan CIE roundel applied to the black livery in general?

When did the pale CIE super train roundel come into being?

 

 

 

 

The roundel, white letters surrounded by  tan “broken wheel”, appeared as soon as locos were repainted from green.

But here the plot thickens. Initially, the idea was Black and Tan locos with the number on the sides and ends, same size and style as in the green livery (but white instead of eau-de-nil). But before they were all repainted from green, some started appearing in all-black with white flashes on the ends only. Same numerals.

THEN - I’d say about 1965, the “broken wheel” logo appears, and from then on whether the livery is all black, black’n’tan, or later “supertrain”, it stayed the same. Like the former flying snail, they were all standard transfers.

Because the “supertrain” livery looked so bright, the broken wheel looked duller but it was the same. I remember comparing a newly painted loco in “supertrain” with a good clean black’n’tan loco alongside on several occasions.

The 071s had white roundels when new but these were non standard ones applied in America, with their own unique larger dimensions and incorrect proportions. They were replaced on first repaint.

[DiveController]

So the tan roundel about '62/63 but some As in black with numbers only , no roundel. This seems to have been the norm for a bit before the tan roundel was introduced on the black livery (actually no IRM black A with the tan roundel but I'm much happier to have the yellow warning panels version, so no criticism intended). Then, all white roundel introduced post '65 although I have observed As and some Cs with the tan roundels through at least '69, maybe followed by the standard white roundel after that. 

 

Sandboxes were removed gradually; there’s evidence of locos in plain black without them and in Black and Tan (unrebuilt) with them. 

Crikey, I though they had disappeared before the green was through at least

Edited April 27, 2019 by DiveController

[jhb171achill]

7 hours ago, DiveController said:

So the tan roundel about '62/63 but some As in black with numbers only , no roundel. This seems to have been the norm for a bit before the tan roundel was introduced on the black livery (actually no IRM black A with the tan roundel but I'm much happier to have the yellow warning panels version, so no criticism intended). Then, all white roundel introduced post '65 although I have observed As and some Cs with the tan roundels through at least '69, maybe followed by the standard white roundel after that. 

 

Crikey, I though they had disappeared before the green was through at least

The all-white roundel only ever appeared on newly delivered 071s, Divecontroller.  All roundels on all locos without exception were  transfers, with a tan "broken wheel" and white lettering. Variations appeared on buses but never locos.

This transcended the black, black'n'tan and supertrain livies 1963/4 until 1987 when the new IE "set of points" logo appeared.

On a brand newly painted loco, in any period or livery mentioned above, the tan on the CIE transfer looked very slightly less "orangey" when new, and often faded somewhat, leading assumptions to be made that it was, in fact, a lighter almost beige colour. Not so, though. Thus, when the "supertrain" livery came out, there appeared to be a far greater contrast between shades than was actually the case. This was entirely due to our old friend, weathering.

A bit like the "silver" laminates, A, C, E, and B101 locos, and tin vans - they looked "silver" about ten minutes into their first journey, then dirty light grey thereafter! Or white wain numerals or logos - nothing, but nothing, ever painted white on any railway vehicle stayed that way long.....

So only the one colour of CIE logo - though a "weathered" version of this and many other logos, if commercially available, would greatly add authenticity to many models.

[Warbonnet]

Amazing to see that our first loco project, the A Class, is over 20% sold out already! We are due a first tooling sample in mid September, and we think it will be evident at how special these beauties will be then!

As you can see below, it's going to be well worth the wait!