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Irish Footbridge - Expression of Interest

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RobertRoche

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13 minutes ago, Warbonnet said:

Hi everyone,

There has been some silence on this project and I must admit that's down to IRM, and not Robert, so apologies to both Robert and all of you who are interested in this footbridge for that. 

We were so impressed with Robert's design and attention to detail that we approached him with a view to mass produce his footbridge design rather than do a small run 3D print, which he has very graciously agreed to. So, this will be a new scenic accessory from IRM! 

What's more, we are working on a modular concept for the bridge, allowing for various spans and orientations, giving you greater flexibility to fit in on your layout! The plan is that it will fully painted and with the bare minimum for assembly. We are currently working with our factory to get this production ready, and we will have a full update and launch including specs, prices, ordering information and more later this year, so please bare with us on that. 

We will have more details in due course, but with the design being so good and now with a factory fit and finish, it promises to be a must have for any Irish layout!

Cheers!

Fran

Well done to all involved! A fantastic achievement for Robert and something that all modellers including some doing English layouts would enjoy. 

I'll order one for Kinsale junction!

Edited by Westcorkrailway
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Well done to Robert for designing this product and well done to Irish Railway Models for undertaking its manufacturer.  Hope both parties have a clear agreement  with each other to ensure a smooth passage to market!

 

Looking forward to this product for my junction station where I will deploy one that serves four platform roads (three staircases). 

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  • 5 months later...
On 12/5/2021 at 9:57 AM, Warbonnet said:

Hi everyone,

There has been some silence on this project and I must admit that's down to IRM, and not Robert, so apologies to both Robert and all of you who are interested in this footbridge for that. 

We were so impressed with Robert's design and attention to detail that we approached him with a view to mass produce his footbridge design rather than do a small run 3D print, which he has very graciously agreed to. So, this will be a new scenic accessory from IRM! 

What's more, we are working on a modular concept for the bridge, allowing for various spans and orientations, giving you greater flexibility to fit in on your layout! The plan is that it will fully painted and with the bare minimum for assembly. We are currently working with our factory to get this production ready, and we will have a full update and launch including specs, prices, ordering information and more later this year, so please bare with us on that. 

We will have more details in due course, but with the design being so good and now with a factory fit and finish, it promises to be a must have for any Irish layout!

Cheers!

Fran

Hi Fran and all 

This sounds so good for Irish modelling one of the problems for model Irish railways is getting some one to do the design work, If i may be so bold but if we have any more talented modellers out there, then I suggest that Fran and co have a few quiet social meetings with these people to discuss how this can benefit everyone and not just us on this forum.

Who knows what might happen, it could be the start of a much larger Irish based resin building series like those from Bachmann, but under the IRM label? Knowing how popular anything Irish is in America I would be interested to know how many requests for these footbridges are from Americans and does selling Irish model railways to America feature in anyway for the future?   

Good luck with this project, now that IRM are behind this at least I feel more than happy that I will be able purchase more than the two I was thinking about much earlier. ( I can feel the razor saw getting ready to make a few adjustments to one of them) :D

 

Colin R 

   

 

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2 hours ago, WaYSidE said:

Sorry Robert, i missed this post, yes i would love a footbridge. if I am not too late.

Not to worry, Irish Railway Models will be producing the footbridge - IRM will provide all the updates on it!

2 hours ago, Colin R said:

This sounds so good for Irish modelling one of the problems for model Irish railways is getting some one to do the design work, If i may be so bold but if we have any more talented modellers out there, then I suggest that Fran and co have a few quiet social meetings with these people to discuss how this can benefit everyone and not just us on this forum.

My personal view of this is that it would be difficult for IRM to take on a third party design unless it is of something quite simple. My footbridge design is relatively simple in comparison to a locomotive or wagon. I did a lot of work on the 3D model of the footbridge but there is probably a lot more work involved in getting it through the manufacturing stage. I would love to model a loco or wagon and then have it produced by IRM, however IRM have high standards to uphold. IRM have told the stories of the products that they have released so far and it is obvious that accuracy to the prototype is extremely important to them. I've done some work on a loco, but unless I had access to the prototype, I imagine that the CAD model would not be accurate to the real thing.

I think that IRM do rely heavily on the modelers that are out there for reference, background etc.  It would be more difficult for them to find a railway modeler who can create a CAD design to a high standard, of an item that will be popular. There are railway related items that would be quite simple to model - it is a case of the right model, at the right time and the level of detail required for that model. That is how I think it works.

Edited by RobertRoche
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Hi Robert don't put your self down one of the hardest bits in doing a production run is the prototyping to see how it is going to look in reality, most big manufactures now use 3D printing to make sure they get all the detail right before they make the moulds, for the production run. It used to be a very highly skill job to be a tool maker, My cousin before he retired used to have such a job.

Cad Cam productions methods are used a lot more than people realise. your 3D work can in theory be used by a mould maker to produce the finish moulds for the kit.

I do realise that to produce such a model may require someone to sit down and think in terms of the best way to go ahead in the production of the moulds, as a rough guess I would think you could be looking at something around 15 to 20 separate moulds before all the bits are glued together at the final end of the production line.     

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On 27/10/2021 at 11:48 PM, RobertRoche said:

Not to worry, Irish Railway Models will be producing the footbridge - IRM will provide all the updates on it!

thanks, Robert, I think your footbridge is one of the nicest models of anything to do with Irish rail ,  since i saw the post the other day, i just keep wondering where a foot bridge will fit on layout, found three spots at least,

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 12/5/2021 at 9:57 AM, Warbonnet said:

Hi everyone,

There has been some silence on this project and I must admit that's down to IRM, and not Robert, so apologies to both Robert and all of you who are interested in this footbridge for that. 

We were so impressed with Robert's design and attention to detail that we approached him with a view to mass produce his footbridge design rather than do a small run 3D print, which he has very graciously agreed to. So, this will be a new scenic accessory from IRM! 

What's more, we are working on a modular concept for the bridge, allowing for various spans and orientations, giving you greater flexibility to fit in on your layout! The plan is that it will fully painted and with the bare minimum for assembly. We are currently working with our factory to get this production ready, and we will have a full update and launch including specs, prices, ordering information and more later this year, so please bare with us on that. 

We will have more details in due course, but with the design being so good and now with a factory fit and finish, it promises to be a must have for any Irish layout!

Cheers!

Fran

is this the last announcement for this year that we have been waiting on

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