IRM A Class Now In Production! Here's why you should get your pre-orders in sooner than later...

[Warbonnet]

Hi everyone,

First day back after the Christmas holiday coupled with lockdown blues? Well, we do have some small bit of news to cheer you all up....

Our A Class is officially in production! We commenced production after official sign off a number of weeks ago. Chinese New Year does occur halfway though production, but the process is under way and these beauties are due in stock in May of this year.

With the locomotives now in production we advise you get your pre-order in ASAP. Here's why....

 

Now that production is underway, we have confirmed final production quantities for each running number with the factory. This production figure cannot now be increased, so there is only a finite amount of each running number left to order.

As we have seen with the recent Murphy Models 121, there has been greater demand for Irish outline models in recent times, with many running numbers and liveries of that locomotive selling out very quickly indeed. We have tried to cater for this as best we can, but in the level of demand we saw on the MM 121 was only truly witnessed after we confirmed figures for the A Class with the factory. Therefore, we recommend you place your order sooner, rather than later, to avoid missing out.

Remember, we offer flexible terms if you wish to spread payment between now and delivery in May. If you wish to avail of this option, email us sales@irishrailwaymodels.com before ordering and we will get this set up for you.

So, if you fancy the ultimate Metro Vick in your life, place your pre-order here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive

Cheers!

Fran

[connollystn]

Finally! I can throw my Lima 'A' Class into the fire.

[Noel]

33 minutes ago, connollystn said:

Finally! I can throw my Lima 'A' Class into the fire.

@WRENNEIRE will be send you to the bogie of eternal stench if you throw out a collectors item like the Lima 215 paper weight. I'll have to dispose of these three rubbish heaps

SF A class on 'horrible hornby chassis plus Lima CIE 215 from about 1975.

Hornby hymek horror show

[jhb171achill]

I think the grey roofs are worse! 

I recall when those O'Hymeks came out I considered buying a couple, but I was moving towards Austrian 009 at the time.........now that's all gone!

[ttc0169]

Great to see this finally happening- have you decided on what locomotives will be released first ?

[DJ Dangerous]

2 minutes ago, ttc0169 said:

Great to see this finally happening- have you decided on what locomotives will be released first ?

Yeah, the A Class! 

[mphoey]

On 31/1/2021 at 12:48 PM, ttc0169 said:

Great to see this finally happening- have you decided on what locomotives will be released first ?

all of them

I presume now that production has started we might see some really interesting in build pictures to wet our appetites for them

[mphoey]

i assume now that production has started that you have final numbers of each loco and you could technically put up the remaining numbers available after preorders on each loco on the site which may help for people to know which locos to buy before they are gone

[Warbonnet]

Sorry guys, missed this. Yes it's looking like we will be landing them all together! 

Cheers!

Fran

[connollystn]

Very quiet on this thread, what's the latest update on the release of the most important model ever for the Irish railway modeller?

[DJ Dangerous]

10 minutes ago, connollystn said:

Very quiet on this thread, what's the latest update on the release of the most important model ever for the Irish railway modeller?

You mean the B&I ferry?

I think this is the wrong thread for that.

[BosKonay]

Factories are just slowly returning to work from the new year holidays. In the coming week we should have a solid shipping date. 

[DJ Dangerous]

2 minutes ago, BosKonay said:

Factories are just slowly returning to work from the new year holidays. In the coming week we should have a solid shipping date. 

Great news - then I'll know exactly when I need to start blocking calls from my bank manager.

[Noel]

1 hour ago, connollystn said:

Very quiet on this thread

Very content and happy waiting until May. I'm sure all in good time, quiet is sometimes good, announcements about announcements can cause fatigue.

1 hour ago, connollystn said:

Very quiet on this thread, what's the latest update on the release of the most important model ever for the Irish railway modeller?

Was the Bachmann/MM 141/181 not the most important model ever (ie the game changer catalyst without which we wouldn't be speculating about time scales for epic new models)? The much anticipated A class certainly is worthy of the title as the mort important model in the last 14 years (ie since 141/181), but indeed multiple steps up in terms of detail and performance.

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by Noel

[connollystn]

Hi Noel. The most important model was the Murphy Models [Lima] 201(new). In terms of prototypical locomotives the A Class is the most important model. There were so many A class locomotives about that they turned up everywhere - even in places that didn't have railway tracks.

[DJ Dangerous]

Would ye all stop???

The most important model to date, in my opinion, is IRM's P42 chassis.

Many of the models have been game-changers or catalysts, but because of P42, modellers everywhere lost their shit and bought up every single 071 that had been gathering dust on retailers shelves.

121's were lashed out of it because modellers were starved of locos to haul their P42 rakes.

Hopefully, there will be about three times as many A Class locos on offer as there were 121's, and that will bridge the gap to the next rolling stock.

[Westcorkrailway]

1 hour ago, connollystn said:

Hi Noel. The most important model was the Murphy Models [Lima] 201(new). In terms of prototypical locomotives the A Class is the most important model. There were so many A class locomotives about that they turned up everywhere - even in places that didn't have railway tracks.

To be fair the lima 201 was the biggest step up in irish railway modeling. The MM 141 was also a big step up but not as big a step as the lima 201.

[Noel]

2 hours ago, Westcorkrailway said:

To be fair the lima 201 was the biggest step up in irish railway modeling. The MM 141 was also a big step up but not as big a step as the lima 201.

Yes it was the first model that looked like a prototype and past the duck test, even if it ran as rough as clock work tractor, back in the the mid 1970s I thought this model was the 'bees knees and the cats whiskers'   This Lima CIE 215 pretend A class yoke was an even worse runner than the Lima 201, but probably the fastest model loco in history.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Noel

[connollystn]

THAT is the stuff nightmares are made of.

[BosKonay]

That's better

[connollystn]

Much better.....

[ttc0169]

As a matter of interest how is production coming along ?

Are we still “on track” for a May delivery?

[BosKonay]

1 minute ago, ttc0169 said:

As a matter of interest how is production coming along ?

Are we still “on track” for a May delivery?

We are

[murphaph]

They look cracking but to be honest I thought they looked cracking the first time round lol.

You kind of have to pinch yourself to be sure it's all real.

Cannot wait to see these in the flesh. I was not much of a fan of the prototype but I love the model. 

[Noel]

10 hours ago, BosKonay said:

That's better

10 hours ago, BosKonay said:

That's better

 

 

Phew https://www.derg.ie/smileys/bow.gif

 

[gm171 kk]

Does anyone have any info on the A classes that ran preserved in the late 90s? 

A3 seems to have been knocking about in black and tan for a few years in Inchicore (not sure if it did a mainline run) and A39 did a few railtours on the network in CIE silver? 

[Mayner]

13 minutes ago, gm171 kk said:

Does anyone have any info on the A classes that ran preserved in the late 90s? 

A3 seems to have been knocking about in black and tan for a few years in Inchicore (not sure if it did a mainline run) and A39 did a few railtours on the network in CIE silver? 

The ITGs webs site contains detailed information of their two A Class in preservation including railtours and restoration work carried out on the two locos.

https://www.irishtractiongroup.com/itglocos/003

Edited March 4, 2021 by Mayner

[Bumble_Bee]

I have been wanting to pre-order for ages but I can't make my mind up which one I want haha. 

 

Does anyone have a quick/handy guide on which liveries ran with which type of trains etc? I'm more of a steam era modeller so Diesels are all greek to me  

[Ironroad]

Steam engines were still in use and when the A class was introduced in silver livery, and steam was still around (phasing out rapidly) when the green liveries appeared.  I think you can safely run A's in these liveries hauling similar rolling stock as was hauled by steam. Much has been said elsewhere on this site about the variety of rolling stock in use in that period, there was little standardisation.   

[Irishswissernie]

A39 Gort 27 March 1999 Photographer G Roose

 

On 4/3/2021 at 8:10 PM, gm171 kk said:

Does anyone have any info on the A classes that ran preserved in the late 90s? 

 

[DJ Dangerous]

12 hours ago, Bumble_Bee said:

I have been wanting to pre-order for ages but I can't make my mind up which one I want haha. 

 

Does anyone have a quick/handy guide on which liveries ran with which type of trains etc? I'm more of a steam era modeller so Diesels are all greek to me  

 

If you sort ascending / old to new like this, you know which liveries were oldest.

[Garfield]

1 hour ago, DJ Dangerous said:

 

If you sort ascending / old to new like this, you know which liveries were oldest.

 

This might come in useful, too...  

[DJ Dangerous]

14 minutes ago, Garfield said:

 

This might come in useful, too...  

 

Much better!

Never thought of scanning one of those, d'oh!

[Bumble_Bee]

4 hours ago, Garfield said:

 

This might come in useful, too...  

Thats brilliant!! Thanks for sharing. Maybe I will go with the later models since I was born in 1995 (sorry if that just made everyone feel old haha). I do love the day-glo panels after all! 

 

My layout is a fictional preservation railway so technically anything goes in terms of mixing/matching new and old stock of different liveries etc anyway. I just wasn't sure if some of them were used more for freight or passenger work with specific liveries/branding.

[connollystn]

@Bumble_Bee. I intended sticking to the IR liveried era, however, some of the liveries look better on some locomotives and coaches than they do on others. When the 121s were released I had every intention of just getting one or two of each of the IR/IE liveried versions but bought the greys and the black & tans instead. So, like yourself, I like to mix my stock from different eras - not hung up on what exactly ran with what in what year and at what time.