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

[enniscorthyman]

The green looks really well.

I might be tempted  to get one along with silver at a later stage.

[connollystn]

I wonder which version of the A class that one of the guys at IRM will be posting pictures of today [Tuesday 06 July 2021]?

[BosKonay]

4 hours ago, enniscorthyman said:

The green looks really well.

I might be tempted  to get one along with silver at a later stage.

Not wishing to contribute to the FOMO, but the run is over 65% presold already, with 3 versions sold out, and 4 more 'imminently' going the same way (literally a handful of models left )

[connollystn]

Think what's accelerating the sales is the posting of updated photos of the models on this thread.

[Barl]

The pictures so far show what a stunning model this is. Have to say A46 in dark green is my favourite so far and I'm glad I've ordered one, but A30 is looking very tempting too - was someone a little heavy handed with the front handrail on A46? 

[Warbonnet]

A46 of course...

We have decent stocks of A42 left, but A46 is somewhat endangered sales wise with not many left. So, if you fancy one, we're advise grabbing it sooner than later. https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive/availability_pre-order?

Cheers!

Fran

[Patrick Davey]

Yummmmmm

This was my first order, good choice! The light green band makes a big difference I think?  All liveries are fab but this plus the B&T (my other order) are standout for me!

Great work IRM

Edited July 6, 2021 by Patrick Davey

[connollystn]

Is that the right shade of Dark Green? Looks more black than it does green.

[Warbonnet]

14 minutes ago, Barl said:

The pictures so far show what a stunning model this is. Have to say A46 in dark green is my favourite so far and I'm glad I've ordered one, but A30 is looking very tempting too - was someone a little heavy handed with the front handrail on A46? 

Yes, fit on these handrails will be improved on the production models you guys receive! 

[Westcorkrailway]

29 minutes ago, Warbonnet said:

A46 of course...

We have decent stocks of A42 left, but A46 is somewhat endangered sales wise with not many left. So, if you fancy one, we're advise grabbing it sooner than later. https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive/availability_pre-order?

Cheers!

Fran

Will look good next to the maebh model coming 2026

31 minutes ago, Barl said:

The pictures so far show what a stunning model this is. Have to say A46 in dark green is my favourite so far and I'm glad I've ordered one, but A30 is looking very tempting too

A30 silver looks propperly good, shame that the prototype looked like that for about 20 minutes!

[scahalane]

Was there a 3rd green livery as per preproduction model I mentioned yesterday that the A class carried. See pic of A29 at Glanmire Rd for reference.

If so would be nice to see in any future runs.

 

46 preproduction.2jpg

[Noel]

Jeapers were getting very fussy. IRM/AS may be victims of their own success so far have they raised the bar and our expectations. I’ll be crushed if the windscreen wipers don’t operate automatically when it rains on my choo-choo layout. Glad I ordered A46, looks the biz, I’m just barely old enough to have travelled behind that livery.

[connollystn]

You don't look a day over 75!

[murphaph]

Which of the IRM A Class liveries could have been seen at the same time as the last of the steam engines were still plying their trade?

[Warbonnet]

1 minute ago, murphaph said:

Which of the IRM A Class liveries could have been seen at the same time as the last of the steam engines were still plying their trade?

hI Murphaph,

Silver and greens would have been the most suitable for the steam/diesel transition.

Cheers!

Fran 

[Bumble_Bee]

On one hand, great news to hear that the run is 65% sold already, on the other hand, nightmare for me because I don't get paid until the 15th so will probably miss out on getting a second A class 

 

(Plus Hattons genesis are due next month AND a lot of Transformers pre-orders I have waiting so its about to be a VERY expensive summer  haha) 

[BosKonay]

12 minutes ago, Bumble_Bee said:

On one hand, great news to hear that the run is 65% sold already, on the other hand, nightmare for me because I don't get paid until the 15th so will probably miss out on getting a second A class 

 

(Plus Hattons genesis are due next month AND a lot of Transformers pre-orders I have waiting so its about to be a VERY expensive summer  haha) 

Just choose 'Manual Payment' at the checkout, your order is then held for you, pending payment when the stock arrives, or by instalments in the mean time if you prefer. Hope that helps!

[connollystn]

The Hatton's Genesisses look really good with lots of detail. They've certainly raised the bar when it comes to producing pre-1960s passenger coaches [subliminal message]

[jhb171achill]

36 minutes ago, connollystn said:

The Hatton's Genesisses look really good with lots of detail. They've certainly raised the bar when it comes to producing pre-1960s passenger coaches [subliminal message]

Now THOSE in CIE livery are EXACTLY what a green or silver “A” needs behind it! 

[Garfield]

3 hours ago, scahalane said:

Was there a 3rd green livery as per preproduction model I mentioned yesterday that the A class carried. See pic of A29 at Glanmire Rd for reference.

If so would be nice to see in any future runs.

 

46 preproduction.2jpg 272.53 kB · 6 downloads

The pre-production model displayed at the Blackrock exhibition was hand-painted for the event and the green paint used was not an exact match for the real A46. The production locos are colour-matched to samples of the correct colours. 

Some of the locos with the lighter of the two green shades also had the eu-de-nil band, so that's definitely one for the future...  

[Bumble_Bee]

12 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Now THOSE in CIE livery are EXACTLY what a green or silver “A” needs behind it! 

Agreed  

 

I wish Hattons released a rake of unpainted coaches similar to how Dapol do with vans/wagons etc. Not only would it be handy for us Irish modellers fighting over shades of green, but also for anyone interested in making their own fictional livery for their own railways. 

I've seen lots of great custom painted wagons with great liveries and ideas behind them, but not many custom coaches. 

 

(Also, forgive if this is going too far into derailment territory, but I wonder if it would be possible for IRM and Hattons to work together on a commission batch of coaches similar to how MM has done with Bachmann in the past, and how Rails of Sheffield does with Dapol etc)

[jhb171achill]

What’s badly needed, indeed essential, for running with As is the tin van.

Plus a GSWR 1910-20 period bogie; many of these lasted into black’n’tan days with final examples lasting until 1974.

[connollystn]

Anyone purchasing the Crossley engined As will have something to pull behind them. You can have one hauling the broken down other.

[Westcorkrailway]

2 hours ago, connollystn said:

Anyone purchasing the Crossley engined As will have something to pull behind them. You can have one hauling the broken down other.

Better yet, a steam locomotive pushing the the "new" diesal into a siding. Good shunting idea

[Westcorkrailway]

3 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

What’s badly needed, indeed essential, for running with As is the tin van.

Plus a GSWR 1910-20 period bogie; many of these lasted into black’n’tan days with final examples lasting until 1974.

Leaked GSWR 4 wheel coaches from IRM

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/255038374370?hash=item3b6178c1e2:g:No4AAOSwdpxg3ylh

[jhb171achill]

They look quite neat! Easy to reverse the "snails" at each end to be the right way round - they'd hardly cut the mustard behind a high-class "A", but a very nice little "2-ft-rule" train all the same.

Someone on here, a few years ago, made a very nice 6-wheeler or short bogie by putting two of those 4-wheelers together.....

[Westcorkrailway]

1 hour ago, jhb171achill said:

They look quite neat! Easy to reverse the "snails" at each end to be the right way round - they'd hardly cut the mustard behind a high-class "A", but a very nice little "2-ft-rule" train all the same.

Someone on here, a few years ago, made a very nice 6-wheeler or short bogie by putting two of those 4-wheelers together.....

I think a green line along the side above the snail would have gone a long way to making them neater. 

 

Might be something for those buying A46 to pull

[popeye]

6 hours ago, Garfield said:

The pre-production model displayed at the Blackrock exhibition was hand-painted for the event and the green paint used was not an exact match for the real A46. The production locos are colour-matched to samples of the correct colours. 

Some of the locos with the lighter of the two green shades also had the eu-de-nil band, so that's definitely one for the future...  

The green colour on A29 is the shade of green I was expecting but the A42 model does not have the same

apple green shade and A46 looks very dark.

I think the white background doesn't help, maybe if they were photographed on a layout in good light they

might look different.

[jhb171achill]

33 minutes ago, Westcorkrailway said:

I think a green line along the side above the snail would have gone a long way to making them neater. 

 

Might be something for those buying A46 to pull

Actually, that raises an interesting (and convenient for modellers!) livery detail.

In the very late 50s, possibly as a result of surplus dark green paint when the lighter colour appeared, some secondary stock especially in West Cork, plus on the west Clare section, was turned out in plain unlined dark green, exactly as per those models. On the West Clare they didn't even have a "snail", but on the 5'3" they tended to have either one or two snails, plus the number.

This didn't last - none of the vehicles thus adorned (and there weren't many) seemed to make it beyond 1961 or so.

Secondary stock on the GSR also went unlined after 1933 or so, as did NCC stock after about 1940 and possibly before.

[Garfield]

4 hours ago, popeye said:

The green colour on A29 is the shade of green I was expecting but the A42 model does not have the same

apple green shade and A46 looks very dark.

I think the white background doesn't help, maybe if they were photographed on a layout in good light they

might look different.

Welcome to the wonderful world of trying to get reliable colour data from old film stock.  

Here's a photo of A19 at Mallow in June 1961: https://rcts.zenfolio.com/diesel/irish-railways-cie/a/hA10601AC#ha10601ac

And another photo of A19 taken at Limerick Junction just over a year later: https://flic.kr/p/qnWPUn

Meanwhile, here's A1 and A14: https://flic.kr/p/2kLZvBt

All the above were painted the same shade of green.

Basically, images from that era can't be relied upon. As I said in my previous post, the colours were matched to genuine samples of the green used on the real thing, which we are very grateful to have been granted access to.

 

[jhb171achill]

The lighter CIE green, like GNR loco blue or CIE 1980s orange, seems to be unusually susceptible to looking different with different film emulsions, hence the oft-trotted-out myth that there were a million shades and "anything goes".

Nothing beats the critical eye of an artistically-aware eyewitness; of whom few now exist in relation to CIE green!

Personally, I recall the dark green well, both on buses, on Maedb in Cultra, and on the background of the very CIE "snail" which you see to the left as my avatar; this hung in our hall when I was a child - in fact for all of my life, and I saw it daily in all types of light until the early 2000s. It's now in "Headhunter's" Enniskillen Railway Museum.

As for the lighter green, I do remember that, though nothing like as well, as I wasn't often on or about the CIE railways until the later 1960s.

Going through Cyril Fry's colour slides, you could be forgiven for thinking that some CIE green vehicles were light greenish blue, and others almost black, as he seems to have used the cheapest and nastiest colour film - in marked contrast to his model making!

[Irishswissernie]

Just found this one in 'To Upload file" Shows quite well the effect of sunlight and shade on the green hue. A57 Limerick Junction 14 Sept 1960, 10.40am ex Dublin. 

The ' eu-de-nil' band shows as white but wasn't this a very pale yellow or did eu-de-nil mean that the paint didn't smell

Edited July 7, 2021 by Irishswissernie

[connollystn]

Ah! With all this chat about colour schemes and which is the right shade of black etc., it's beginning to sound like an art class rather than a discussion about the A class. Right guys [IRM] - next photos please.

[NIRCLASS80]

Can I just say all the images so far have been fantastic. 
 

Just one question, is the cab front handrail plastic or wire?  It’s the one part that looks very easily damaged if the packaging has any weakness at all. 
 

Can’t wait for the IR images. 

[Bumble_Bee]

34 minutes ago, connollystn said:

Ah! With all this chat about colour schemes and which is the right shade of black etc., it's beginning to sound like an art class rather than a discussion about the A class. Right guys [IRM] - next photos please.

If yis are taking requests like a DJ at a wedding I'll take some pics of the day-glo panelled 90s rave loco's please  

6 minutes ago, NIRCLASS80 said:

Can I just say all the images so far have been fantastic. 
 

Just one question, is the cab front handrail plastic or wire?  It’s the one part that looks very easily damaged if the packaging has any weakness at all. 
 

Can’t wait for the IR images. 

due to the mould line I'm guessing plastic, but to be fair it looks like they could easily be replaced with a wire one if you wanted to