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IRM A Class; Our First Locomotive!

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Warbonnet

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4 hours ago, Warbonnet said:

029 got the air brakes. We might go full crazy and do it in the future release!

i need my bed....

Fran

Quite correct, Fran.

.....and for getting the right answer you can have an extra hour in bed tonight!

10 hours ago Warbonnet said:

Bump!

I think after that April Fools thing, folks may have disregarded this for a minute

I can't remember now who started that thread

Edited by DiveController
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Four years ago when I was just about to order half a dozen A class locos from SF, Fran discretely mentioned to me that "a friend" of his might be doing something special in the line of a quality RTR A class model. IRM had not yet launched in public back then, but this model locomotive and its incredible spec must mark the culmination of a dream for the IRM team. A major milestone and dream come true. Well done guys, walking before you ran so you could learn along the way while maintaining quality and innovate. Not alone have you raised the bar, you are perhaps redefining what the bar means. Congrats on getting here. :)

. . . this not the end, not even the beginning of the end, but it is surely the end of the beginning - and the best is yet to come. :tumbsup:

Respect for what you have achieved with this young start up business. 

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 along with random failures built into the chip to force rescue by modeller operators..

Spot on Robert! I'm afraid that until they put a good american diesel engine in them, these locos were not too good. As a  result, most significant stations had "Pilot Locomotives" (there were pages in the WTT of the hours when they were on duty and where). What today is referred to as a Thunderbird Loco.

So, I've found a use for the older As in my collection - "standing pilot".

Thanks, Robert!

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Looking at the line up of the CAD A's on the IRM site, it's fairly easy to select which locos to purchase, and which I can do without.....But I know damn well it's going to be very difficult to resist buying a livery I never intended buying, once pictures of fully finished models emerge.... 😅

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2 minutes ago, aclass007 said:

Looking at the line up of the CAD A's on the IRM site, it's fairly easy to select which locos to purchase, and which I can do without.....But I know damn well it's going to be very difficult to resist buying a livery I never intended buying, once pictures of fully finished models emerge.... 😅

And your namesake made this cut :)

https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive/products/007-a-class-locomotive

 

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9 minutes ago, flange lubricator said:

Yes but what shade of green..........................................................................................................

There's forty!

Serious point: a single "A" was repainted out of (filthy!) silver into the darker green (as on buses and carriages pre-'55) with a midway line. I think, but would have to check, that it was A46. The rest got the normal lighter green as on carriages.

I may have read somewhere that a second had it too for a very short while, but I've yet to see any verification of this.

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6 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Serious point: a single "A" was repainted out of (filthy!) silver into the darker green (as on buses and carriages pre-'55) with a midway line. I think, but would have to check, that it was A46. The rest got the normal lighter green as on carriages.

I think several were in the darker green but unlined, correct?

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8 minutes ago, DiveController said:

I think several were in the darker green but unlined, correct?

I don't think so, Dive - a reference in an old "Irish Railfans News" implies that A46 (or whatever one it was) was the only one to get the dark green. For all railway applications (but not buses), the lighter shade was by then the norm. Nothing railway had received the darker shade in several years.

I have no idea why one loco was dark green. Probably leftover paint and / or a mistake by someone in the paint shop.

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1 minute ago, enniscorthyman said:

What can one say,only super.

Couldn't agree more.

20 minutes ago, BosKonay said:

I will delve into the Catacombs and find out if A46 was the dark green one or not. Are you planning the one dark green and one lighter green?

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Fabulous! Can't wait.

A question re the frame for the CAWS pickup coils. Will these be part of the diecast chassis or plastic pieces that could possibly be deleted? The version that A39 currently wears only came in some time around the mid 1990s. Previous to that it comprised of two separate frames (over each rail) which were of a thinner profile. And of course no loco had them before 1984 (i.e. A23R and A39R wouldn't have had them).

Mark

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On the question of light V dark green, can I quote the following:" ....the following emerged over the next few months in the dark green livery with waistband : A10, 11,15,24,25,34,45,51,54,57,59 &60. So by late 1959, one loco us in light green (A46) , 13 in light green, and the rest in varying stages of the fifty million shades of silvery grey!"

Also:" from 1960 the lighter version began to appear on all locomotives on a wide scale".

Off course, some might consider the source of this information to be very unreliable ......one JHB 171 Achill!!

Yes, you! January 5 2013 on this very forum.

Chuckling,

Glover

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50 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Couldn't agree more.

I will delve into the Catacombs and find out if A46 was the dark green one or not. Are you planning the one dark green and one lighter green?

Their will be "Apple Green with lining" and darker "Ripe Apple" Green liveries. 

Yes, I'm so looking forward to the Battle of Green 2018/19 ....

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1 minute ago, flange lubricator said:

I think A42 was the last green A class ???

Yes I believe it was the last A Class in service to carry the green livery. It was involved in the Mullingar smash in December 1963 and when it re-emerged from the works repaired a year or two later it was in the dark green livery mentioned above, which it had until the late 1960s, it should have been repainted into the black colours but Inchicore staff painted it green so making it a little unique.

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52 minutes ago, ei6jf said:

Fabulous! Can't wait.

A question re the frame for the CAWS pickup coils. Will these be part of the diecast chassis or plastic pieces that could possibly be deleted? The version that A39 currently wears only came in some time around the mid 1990s. Previous to that it comprised of two separate frames (over each rail) which were of a thinner profile. And of course no loco had them before 1984 (i.e. A23R and A39R wouldn't have had them).

Mark

Hi Mark,

The CAWS will be plastic detail parts that will only be applicable to locomotives that carried them in each livery, so it will be added or deleted to whichever loco is suitably modelled.

Cheers!

Fran

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52 minutes ago, Glenderg said:

Their will be "Apple Green with lining" and darker "Ripe Apple" Green liveries. 

Yes, I'm so looking forward to the Battle of Green 2018/19 ....

 

47 minutes ago, Eiretrains said:

Yes I believe it was the last A Class in service to carry the green livery. It was involved in the Mullingar smash in December 1963 and when it re-emerged from the works repaired a year or two later it was in the dark green livery mentioned above, which it had until the late 1960s, it should have been repainted into the black colours but Inchicore staff painted it green so making it a little unique.

There you go. It was A42, not A46.

This one WAS unique, so if you're doing a dark green one, it has to be A42 itself! And it had the lining, I believe, so a dark one without lining would therefore not be correct in real life.

Clarification solved, before I get round to delving through paperwork; if only all queries were resolved as easily....

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13 hours ago, iarnrod said:

Brilliant announcement and sure to be a winner for IRM.

Will the Supertrain models have tablet catchers and older type windscreens?

Website seems to show updated windscreens for this version but CIE Supertrain liveried ones ran most, if not all, of their lives in this livery with older type windscreens.

Fair play lads in any case. The missing piece in the main CIE model loco fleet has just been filled.

 

 

018 will have the original windscreens and staff catchers.

Cheers!

Fran

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Variation details have now been enhanced on each model spec

https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive/products/a1-a-class-locomotive

for example, listing snatchers, caws, panel information.

When we get a moment post show, we'll be updating the CAD models to be specific 100% to each model, as well as publishing a complete variation and detail matrix per model helping with choices!

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7 hours ago, trainboy said:

I have to say ‘A’ class decision. l’ll be in for five or more of the beauties. Expecting the usual great quality from IRM.

Thanks Trainboy, expect nothing less! We are really going to push the boat out on these as you can see in the specs and finally give the metrovicks the model they truly deserve after all these years! 

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9 hours ago, Warbonnet said:

018 will have the original windscreens and staff catchers.

Cheers!

Fran

Thanks Fran. This is like the Irish equivalent of the Hattons Class 66 announcement with so many liveries and detail variations. Simply amazing, but a long overdue model for any Irish modeller, so glad to see it will get the high specs treatment that IRM are now renowned for.

I'm looking at six of the CIE Supertrain ones to start with, but I know that once the liveried examples become available that other examples will more than likely find their way into my collection. And to think this is only the first run of the models......2019 will be an expensive year for the Irish railway modeller community. Not complaining personally but my bank account will be.

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