A Class Update April 2021

[BosKonay]

A few weeks ago we sent out an email advising on the production progress of the A Class, which as made great strides in recent months.

After a long slog of research, design, tooling, testing, tooling correction and decoration creation and correction, we are now finally in the latter stages of production before delivery.

Of course, at each stage of the process there are always little factors that can trip you up, often outside our control, and a couple have surfaced since we last updated you.

Once such area was some of the tampo printing, which we were not fully happy with, particularly with their clarity and crispness. We have instructed the factory to go back and correct these issues which they are currently doing. Perhaps we're a bit too perfectionist at times, but we want these looking the very best and accurate that they can be.

Secondly, in the wake of the blockage of the Suez Canal by the "Ever Given" container ship last month, there is now a shortage of shipping containers in China, which will cause delays in shipping out any goods from the Far East right now. We have been advised by our shipping partner that normality in this regard will take 6-8 weeks to be restored.

So, what does this mean for the As? We had hoped to have these delivered to Dublin by late May/early June, but with these hiccups we now envisage delivery of late July. We are very sorry for this delay, but between demands for better quality, finish and shipping delays we hope you can understand the reason for this slight delay. We thank you for your patience and assure you that they will be worth this additional blip.

With A23r already sold out and others not too far behind the demand for these beauties is very strong indeed. Order yours by clicking here!

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[Georgeconna]

Hope the container cost rise does not effect your bottom line on these yokes and possibly affect future developments, Kick in the teeth if it did and all the good work wasted.

I always wonder what the people making these in China think of us, all these good little boys in Ireland getting some toy trains to play with when in reality it is.....Well we know don't we....;)

 

 

 

 

[DoctorPan]

Oh well, bright side of this is, I'll get to pay off my outstanding balance and probably order another A!

[Ironroad]

That took the air out of the room somewhat but the strive for perfection is appreciated.

On the other hand does this also mean that you will also push back any announcements of future plans, the suspense is killing.

Thank you

Edited April 30, 2021 by Ironroad
typo

[murphaph]

I prefer to wait a bit longer than be disappointed with the quality Given the shipping container shortages it seems to make perfect sense to use the "bought time" to rectify any issues rather than approve the shipment only for it to sit in China waiting for a container anyway.

[DJ Dangerous]

Those posters for the assembly line...

Will we get one of those free with every two A Classes that we buy?

[NIRCLASS80]

Does this mean the Deltic will end up the first locodelivered by the team?

[ttc0169]

Thanks for the update,gives me more time to invest in more sound chips for the A

[Warbonnet]

19 hours ago, Ironroad said:

That took the air out of the room somewhat but the strive for perfection is appreciated.

On the other hand does this also mean that you will also push back any announcements of future plans, the suspense is killing.

Thank you

We might stick to our announcement date for one of them at least so we can keep that on schedule too. I think that’s quite likely actually.

16 hours ago, NIRCLASS80 said:

Does this mean the Deltic will end up the first locodelivered by the team?

Nope, A will still be first!

Cheers!

Fran

[DJ Dangerous]

11 minutes ago, Warbonnet said:

We might stick to our announcement date for one of them at least so we can keep that on schedule too.

Road Liner Trucks, green Dublin buses or the B&I ferry?

[Horsetan]

It's terribly good:

 

[Horsetan]

Easy to get to the insides of it. I mean, just look at that. Sheer class....:

 

[Horsetan]

Wheel diameter comes out at 12.7mm (measured over the tyre treads) according to my digital calipers, so it is a question of obtaining P4 profile disc wheels of similar diameter for regauging to 21mm.

Plastic-centred wheels (such as Gibson or Ultrascale) means insulation is already taken care of but, if you're using solid metal wheels such as those available from Branchlines, then they must have insulating bushes for the axles. Anyone with a lathe and a profile tool can turn down the IRM wheels to the P4 profile anyway. 

Some means of extending the pickups to reach further out to touch the regauged wheels will also be necessary. 

[murphaph]

I'm guessing you only need P4 profile wheels if you are regauging to P4 standards as opposed to TOM (Twenty One Millimeter like EM standard), no? Don't most EM folks just push the wheels of their 00 diesel locos out (where axle length permits)?

[Horsetan]

49 minutes ago, murphaph said:

I'm guessing you only need P4 profile wheels if you are regauging to P4 standards as opposed to TOM (Twenty One Millimeter like EM standard), no? Don't most EM folks just push the wheels of their 00 diesel locos out (where axle length permits)?

Strict EM profile is supposed to be slightly different to "standard" (whatever that means) OO, I think. Then there's EMF which is not far off P4 (virtually same tyre thickness) but has deeper flanges.

I've only ever gone with the P4 profile for 18.83 and 21mm, so not using the looser TOM.

Edited October 25, 2021 by Horsetan