‘Project 42’ and Plough Lead Way in IRM’s 2018 New Programme
The wait is finally over. March 3rd has arrived, and we can now reveal the most ambitious range ever announced by Irish Railway Models. It’s disappointing we could not do this at our planned IRM Social event, but we’re sure that our 2018 range will warm you up with excitement during this cold snap!
We are releasing no less than six completely new models over the next 12 months, not including the Tara Mines wagon due in June! We have put the Taras on pre-order, and almost 20% have sold already. Remember, you get 10% off a rake (all five red oxide packs) if you use the discount code you got in the ballast packs bought from us directly. Click here to secure your pre-order.
CIE Fertiliser Wagon
Project 4 will be the distinctive CIE bogie fertiliser wagon, an iconic Irish wagon which could be found across the system for over 30 years. This will be the first wagon in our ‘Project 42’ series, which sees a number of wagon releases based around the humble 42ft flat wagon.
A total of 90 were built by CIE to carry pallets of fertiliser from the IFI plant near Arklow, Co. Wicklow across the country. The IRM release will consist of multiple packs of two wagons in a variety of markings to allow the formation of a prototypical train. The Ferts are due late Q2 2018.
CIE Ballast Plough Van
Book-ending the ballast hopper wagons already made by IRM, the CIE ballast plough van will be project 5. Four of these vans were built by CIE in 1978 and were used to spread the ballast dropped from the hopper wagons.
These will be highly exclusive, made in very limited numbers and will be released in packs of two vans in original CIE yellow livery and the later IE livery they wore before withdrawal in 2013.
The vans will feature a full lighting package including interior lights and tail lamps with analogue switch and DCC operation. CAD is complete, and this will be in stock in Q3 2018.
Guinness Train
The ubiquitous CIE 42ft flat wagon, as used as the chassis on the fertiliser wagons, allows us to offer a variety of authentic freight train formations. Guinness trains, featuring keg cages and loads to replicate another iconic Irish freight flow, forms IRM project 6 and they are due in Q3.
Modern Spoil Train
We want to offer something else from the current scene to complement our Tara Mines wagon, so project 7 will see the modern spoil train complete with the spoil containers used on current permanent way traffic across the country. This is also due in Q3.
Weedsprayer Pack
Another current train (and a gricers favourite!) due in Q3 is Project 8, which will be the weedsprayer train with tanks and CIE container. The train will be a special triple pack made in a limited production run. The weedsprayer coach itself is under consideration as a future model, subject to demand. If you want it, let us know!
Iconic Liners
Finally, thanks to a collaboration with C-Rail Intermodal, the iconic Bell liners will be available for the first time in accurate RTR format, with 40 ft containers on IRM 42ft flats being released. These containers will use new tooling from C-Rail to give an alternative pattern to other Bell releases. These containers will have new identities not previously released by C-Rail. We are also looking into other containers that ran on the flats, such as B&I containers. The headboard will be a separately applied item that comes in a baggie.
There will be packs of flats featuring the humble CIE 20ft container, which is being tooled as part of our weedspray train. The 20ft container will be released as a separate standalone item too to pose on the back of trucks and yards on your layouts. The liner packs form IRM project number 9 and they are due in Q4. Bare wagons may also be released later, allowing customers to add their existing containers.
The container, Guinness and spoil wagons will be released in packs of two with a variety of running numbers. Prices for all new releases will be confirmed in the coming weeks.