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

[connollystn]

5 minutes ago, NIRCLASS80 said:

Can’t wait for the IR images.

Poor NIRCLASS80 - I'm afraid you'll have to be very patient. It's taken them almost two weeks just to show the first three liveries. Think I'll be in my grave by the time they've uploaded the photos of the IR liveried As.

[Warbonnet]

To quell the fraught debate about the correct shade of black, we're revealing two black beauties to you this morning, A12 and A55.

A55...

And A12 (A bit of a personal favourite I must say...)

Regarding the handrails, they are indeed plastic and we have instructed the factory to improve the packaging protection in this area which they are doing to prevent the bending in these pics. This will also include the tablet catchers being in the correct position too as the ones on A12 got a bit bent as can bee seen.  They are also improving the yellow end on A12 to take care of any fuzziness. 

Grab them both here, folks! Perfect haulers of our grey bubbles, CIE cravens and more... https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive/availability_pre-order?

[Garfield]

41 minutes ago, NIRCLASS80 said:

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. 

They're plastic. Unfortunately, the samples appear to have been drop-kicked all the way across Asia by the carrier which resulted in some wonky cab-front hand rails. The main shipment of locos will be better handled, but we're also getting the factory to take extra care with them just in case...

[scahalane]

A12 is looking particularly nice.

[connollystn]

Fantastic stuff. Surprisingly, the As look really well in this livery. Can't see these guys hanging 'round too long.

[mphoey]

On 25/6/2021 at 4:00 PM, DiveController said:

And the driver's gone on a smoke break again with the Carroll's. You'll never get that A class moving ...

 

However, joking aside, a set of appropriately attired drivers, guards, station master, signalman not all in dayglo would be very useful accessories pack at this point for everyone's locos.

Maybe a 1960s, 1980s and 2000s attire would suit all modelers? Sitting and standing passengers too for that matter ...... 

ah now they would never keep up stock levels if they gave us them

 

wonder will irm do a spare parts pack for these with tablet catchers horns and railings in it 

[John-r]

Glad I ordered A12 it looks stunning, simple but effective.

[jhb171achill]

Absolutely superb! Every detail totally realistic!

 

 

[jhb171achill]

7 hours ago, Irishswissernie said:

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

No, never yellow, nor white - always the light green “eau-de-nil”.

Photo reproduction often shows it to look faded or even whitish, but in real life the livery was only for five years and they never got the chance to fade. 
 

Silverfox models seem to use a whitish colour on the green, or black numerals on the silver - both are wrong.

Some locos in the above livery had this waistline light green band, others didn’t. Same, exactly, as in the 1960s some black locos had yellow panels and others didn’t. And in the 1990s some engines had dayglo panels and others didn’t.

But these waistlines, plus “snails”, plus numbers, were always “eau-de-nil” only, on either silver or green locos.

 

[RedRich]

CIE Hoffmann even on the axle box covers. A55 looks really imposing in the all black livery.

Rich,

[Edo]

The 2 black A's were the first two I ordered waay back in 2018?/early 2019 

Delighted the run is selling so well

 

[connollystn]

Don't want you guys to think that I've been spending my whole day scutinising the pictures of the As but the windscreens look like they're flat, either that or I need glasses (of wine preferably).

[BosKonay]

13 minutes ago, connollystn said:

but the windscreens look like they're flat, 

as opposed to?

 

[jhb171achill]

Just to show the green…. I know I’ve posted before…..

 

Dark and post-1955 light

I might add - while the “A” & “C” classes might or might not have the waist lining, I don’t think any B101s did.

[GSR 800]

1 minute ago, jhb171achill said:

Just to show the green…. I know I’ve posted before…..

 

Dark and post-1955 light

the latter pic does a good job of showing how hard the light green is to pin down, with the loco and coach barely in shot looking a great deal for vibrant than the other, which has been faded slightly.

Theres the scaling effect of it all for us at 00 gauge too..

[enniscorthyman]

My God,all of the liverys are looking class.However I have just ordered 036 in IR livery to bolster the fleet.

[connollystn]

52 minutes ago, BosKonay said:

as opposed to?

 

...being curved - following the contours of the cab ends. Have never been up close and personal to the pre-EMD converted As so it's news to me if the windscreens in the original prototypes were flat.

[GSR 800]

42 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

I might add - while the “A” & “C” classes might or might not have the waist lining, I don’t think any B101s did.

 

[Warbonnet]

2 minutes ago, connollystn said:

...being curved - following the contours of the cab ends. Have never been up close and personal to the pre-EMD converted As so it's news to me if the windscreens in the original prototypes were flat.

They were indeed flat panes and not curved. 

 

[connollystn]

Thanks Warbonnet, despite looking at hundreds of photographs of them I never noticed. Hadn't seen the locomotive (first image of the A55) from that viewpoint before. It's amazing what you can learn when you look at a model of a prototype. The differences between the 141s & 181s weren't obvious to me until I got the models.

[iarnrod]

The IRM A Class looks to be the most detailed and highly accurate Irish loco released so far. I can't spot one error here among any livery variant. When the only issue is that they look too clean, I think the IRM lads are onto a winner.

I would seriously love the IRM lads to release similarly detailed versions of all the main Irish diesels over time. The bar has been set seriously high with these models.

After the 121's turned up plagued with detail and livery errors, the A class models are like a breath of fresh air.

Edited July 7, 2021 by iarnrod

[jhb171achill]

37 minutes ago, GSR 800 said:

 

Now THAT is interesting; first I can recall seeing with a waistline.

But note also: the DARK green - I think! I certainly did not think that ANY of those got the dark green. One for IRM Towers' Research Dept. for the RTR B101 released next month!

40 minutes ago, GSR 800 said:

 

Now THAT is interesting; first I can recall seeing with a waistline.

But note also: the DARK green - I think! I certainly did not think that ANY of those got the dark green. One for IRM Towers' Research Dept. for the RTR B101 released next month!

AND no red buffer beam..........experimental, I wonder?

[murphaph]

It looks light green to me lol.

[Garfield]

6 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

 

Now THAT is interesting; first I can recall seeing with a waistline.

But note also: the DARK green - I think! I certainly did not think that ANY of those got the dark green. One for IRM Towers' Research Dept. for the RTR B101 released next month!

AND no red buffer beam..........experimental, I wonder?

Looks to be the same shade of green as the coaches, @jhb171achill? Yay, fun... 

[jhb171achill]

7 minutes ago, Garfield said:

Looks to be the same shade of green as the coaches, @jhb171achill? Yay, fun... 

Could be - further research needed on THAT one!

Like I mentioned before - COULD be the colour slide. There is absolutely no mention that I am aware of in IRRS journals of a 101 in the dark green, but even the IRRS Journal (the "paper of record"?) had the odd error or omission in it.

[GSR 800]

12 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Could be - further research needed on THAT one!

Like I mentioned before - COULD be the colour slide. There is absolutely no mention that I am aware of in IRRS journals of a 101 in the dark green, but even the IRRS Journal (the "paper of record"?) had the odd error or omission in it.

fairly certain that is the lighter green, having looked at a great deal of the CIE green locos I'm convinced there was some level of lack of uniformity, though a deal of it is down to the photos themselves, lighting, fading etc

[jhb171achill]

59 minutes ago, GSR 800 said:

fairly certain that is the lighter green, ………though a deal of it is down to the photos themselves, lighting, fading etc

Yes, that’s exactly what it is.

[GSR 800]

22 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

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!

Similar situation with a picture of a Mogul in Second Glance

10 year old me was certain some woolwiches were going around in a light blue!

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, GSR 800 said:

Similar situation with a picture of a Mogul in Second Glance

10 year old me was certain some woolwiches were going around in a light blue!

One of Fry's slides is so bad it shows a purple - yes, you heard - "A" class with a lifting train approaching Naas in a cutting, with blue and purple grass on its sides, and browny purple rails and ballast.

Since the sky is a mauve colour, I am thinking there may still be operational "A"s on Mars........

Edited July 8, 2021 by jhb171achill

[Westcorkrailway]

8 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

One of Fry's slides is so bad it shows a purple - yes, you heard - "A" class with a lifting train approaching Naas in a cutting, with blue and purple grass on its sides, and browny purple rails and ballast.

Since the sky is a mauve colour, I am thinking there may still be operational "A"s on Mars........

Are you sure it wasn't colourised 

[jhb171achill]

3 hours ago, Westcorkrailway said:

Are you sure it wasn't colourised 

It wasn’t QUITE that bad!!

[Patrick Davey]

Any more A class reveals today..........???

[BSGSV]

20 hours ago, Warbonnet said:

They were indeed flat panes and not curved. 

And they still are!

[BosKonay]

https://irishrailwaymodels.com/products/a30-a-class-locomotive

Ok, something shiny

[Patrick Davey]

1 hour ago, Patrick Davey said:

Any more A class reveals today..........???

I guess that answers that then!!!  Gorgeous models folks....... too gorgeous really.......