Mark 2b, By Accurascale and IRM!

[stovepipe]

Some Mk2b goodness

 

 

 

[BR Blue]

32 minutes ago, Henners84 said:

Is it just me or are others assuming there will be a subsequent mk2a and mk2c release from accurascale? Reason for thinking is most of the prototypical rakes (and supported by accurascales own examples) are a mix of various mk2s (a, b, c, etc). Mixing/matching with Bachmann /Hornby stock will look wrong in my opinion (detail, colour, coupling and height differences) 

I would guess a 2C is very likely as there is much commonality with the 2B.  The 2A is much less likely, it is less similar (it is shorter for instance) and Bachmann already do a reasonable model. 

 

I intend to run 2Bs with my Bachmann 2As but as mentioned previously there will be height and spacing difficulties.  I was going to modify my Bachmann 2As anyway - the height, lighting and lack of very close coupling are all issues I am going to address. I just need some 2Cs to complete a typical rake behind my 50s.

[Michael Hodgson]

34 minutes ago, stovepipe said:

 

 

No tailboard on the last carriage, dropped buckeye no tail lamp .... 4-5! 

Where's the rest of me train?

[Henners84]

Anyone know why the coaches on Facebook are £10 cheaper than the ones on accurascales website? Are the Facebook ones maybe ex vat or is there a special Facebook deal I have missed? 

[E100]

 

2 hours ago, Accurascale Fran said:

Hi everyone,

 

Scottish 2b TSO allocations
From 1988 P5: Polmadie x3
From 1989 P5: Polmadie x1, Craigentinny x2
From Spring 1990 P5: Inverness x1, Polmadie x2, Craigentinny x2
From Summer/Autumn 1990 P5: Inverness x2, Craigentinny x4
From Spring 1991 P5: Inverness x4, Craigentinny x1

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

 

Phew as long as they didn't end up on the WHL  

[mckinneyc]

So happy! I've something now to go behind my NIR blue 201. Always thought the later NIR livery looked amazingly smart on the Mk2s, 80s and 450s.

[McC]

7 hours ago, Henners84 said:

Anyone know why the coaches on Facebook are £10 cheaper than the ones on accurascales website? Are the Facebook ones maybe ex vat or is there a special Facebook deal I have missed? 

 

Facebook defaults to only showing the ex-VAT price on everything unfortunately! 

[adb968008]

10 hours ago, Henners84 said:

Is it just me or are others assuming there will be a subsequent mk2a and mk2c release from accurascale? Reason for thinking is most of the prototypical rakes (and supported by accurascales own examples) are a mix of various mk2s (a, b, c, etc). Mixing/matching with Bachmann /Hornby stock will look wrong in my opinion (detail, colour, coupling and height differences) 

The transpennine would be a good starter, most times I saw that rake it was a couple of TP coaches in a Blue/Grey rake.

 

I’m noodling the NSE rake, its really going to need a BFK to finish it, I could use a Bachmann b/g  (reverse of above), but I always recalled these being fairly uniform.

 

 

 

[Accurascale Fran]

10 hours ago, Growling said:

 

There is certainly some ;-) going on on the Facebook comments when mk2c was mentioned.

 

I don't think you will be far wrong with the whole lot being done in good time especially re; lighting and coupling points.

 

The truth is out there (in Northern Ireland actually...)  

[BR Blue]

3 minutes ago, Accurascale Fran said:

 

The truth is out there (in Northern Ireland actually...)  

And I found it in the form of NIR FO 903

[cheesysmith]

I wonder if we can expect the 80 class DEMU next?

[brushman47544]

11 hours ago, Accurascale Fran said:

 

This one still has the early OHL flashes…

 

10 hours ago, stovepipe said:

 

 

 

Please keep this photo to hand Fran as this TSO (Inter-City branding, part smoking/non-smoking and early OHL flashes) is perfect for the mid-late 70s with Westerns and 50s.

[Accurascale Fran]

3 minutes ago, cheesysmith said:

I wonder if we can expect the 80 class DEMU next?

 

If these coaches sell well then it's possible. We do have to be a tad cautious though as NIR is a niche within a niche. So, let's see how the loco hauled stock sells first.

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

[woodenhead]

11 minutes ago, Accurascale Fran said:

 

If these coaches sell well then it's possible. We do have to be a tad cautious though as NIR is a niche within a niche. So, let's see how the loco hauled stock sells first.

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

You'll be needing to do the BREL International train next

[Accurascale Fran]

Just now, woodenhead said:

You'll be needing to do the BREL International train next

 

I'll convince @McC one day that they'd be a great idea! (bit of love for those....) 

[dj_crisp]

I've ordered 4 TSOs (3xNSE, 1xb/NSE) - thank you for releasing a great coach! And leaving some space for a few Mk2c's LOL   I'm going to pause my Bachmann 2a refresh just so I can paint match

 

Just a thought and I wonder if you can top this all off by inventing a buffer beam height coupling for between rakes?

 

cheers

Will

[murphaph]

10 hours ago, Matt said:

Hmm sounds like tooling for a 2b could have allowances to cater for different toilet window / roof vents for producing a 2c then....?!  Less likely the 2a due different length and more substantial differences. Time will tell but a 2c would go down well with me - particularly if included a TSO with a buffet bay as per highland lines

The tooling looks like it is planned or already exists as a 2c is part of one of the NIR packs. The roevac vents are clearly visible on the roof etc.:

https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/mark-2-coaches/products/nir-mk2b-pack-corporate-intercity-1

 

[No Decorum]

1 minute ago, dj_crisp said:

I've ordered 4 TSOs (3xNSE, 1xb/NSE) - thank you for releasing a great coach! And leaving some space for a few Mk2c's LOL   I'm going to pause my Bachmann 2a refresh just so I can paint match

 

Just a thought and I wonder if you can top this all off by inventing a buffer beam height coupling for between rakes?

 

cheers

Will

That’s as good idea and will have the chaps at Accurascale tearing their hair out. Just in case they don’t go completely bald, what about flexible gangways joined magnetically so that they always touch?

 

20 minutes ago, Accurascale Fran said:

 

If these coaches sell well then it's possible. We do have to be a tad cautious though as NIR is a niche within a niche. So, let's see how the loco hauled stock sells first.

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

You’re right to be cautious. Passionate desire expressed on here does not necessarily translate to commercial sales. NIR might be a niche within a niche (I have just managed to find a very, very discrete link to a site where I can pay for the NIR coaches in sterling). There is another way of looking at it though: NIR is the other British Railway.

 

For my part, I’m delighted by these coaches appearing. I have two 111 Class locomotives (illustrated above). Whilst they “rode on the backs” of Irish models, the attention to detail on them is fantastic. The only thing which fails to put them ahead of any current 00 models is that the fans aren’t powered and powered fans are, as yet, merely a twinkle in Bachmann’s eye. The 111s were a tour de force by Murphy Models. Lighting control as complete as I could wish and different light clusters on my two. If ever locomotives sold themselves, these did.

 

All the same, what is there for them to pull? I managed to get a rake of ballast hoppers repainted into NIR yellow. Also, I have a train of preserved green MK. IIs (real ones pictured above). Instead of pottering around with ballast hoppers or hauling trains of drunks happy party goers around, they’ll be able to open up on the main line. I’m so glad now that I gave in to temptation. Did I mention that they have excellent sound installed?

 

Time for a cold shower.

[Henners84]

Interested to hear people's thoughts on this because I don't expect people to agree. I contacted accurascale last night via their website who commented there would not be a mk2a product from them. I didn't ask about the mk2c. Whilst understand the mk2a would need different tooling parts, it does feel a bit of a miss to me. 

I love accurascale's products. I personally don't need the detail to be 100% accurate to prototype but I very much enjoy seeing the detail there. In my mind my model railway needs to evoke my past memories accurately so detail is great and models need the right look and feel and proportion and finish. I probably would not notice a slightly different air vent. However I do recall the mk2 rakes having a combo of centre door and non centre door stock. Having all centre door or all non centre door feels wrong to me as it is not the illusion I recall. I can fix for this by adding a mix of Bachmann and accurascale stock but I feel the detail of accurascale's model will make the Bachmann coupled next to it very toy like and spoil the illusion I'd like to achieve (it will emphasise Bachmann's lack of detail - harder to see if the accurascale product does not exist). So I am in two minds. I don't thin the Bachmann and accurascale models will look good together. So do I get a rake of accurascale mk2bs and spoil the illusion I want of some centre door coaches. Or do I stick with Bachmann and fix that illusion by tactically using coridor mk2a coaches to represent the non centre door mk2bs. The Bachmann route is certainly not correct but it may actually be a better compromise of the illusion I am going for. And after all model railways are about compromise and illusion. That's why I feel accurascale have missed a trick here but maybe its just me? 

[McC]

For those customers in the UK wishing to buy the NIR sets in Sterling / Local delivery - here is the link again https://irishrailwaymodels.co.uk/

[Csalem]

1 hour ago, Accurascale Fran said:

 

If these coaches sell well then it's possible. We do have to be a tad cautious though as NIR is a niche within a niche. So, let's see how the loco hauled stock sells first.

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

Will you be going for a niche within a niche within a niche and doing the numerically small fleet of Irish Rail Mark 2b carriages? Think there were about 3 or 4 of them (along with more Mark 2a and a few Mark 2c) 

[stovepipe]

2 hours ago, brushman47544 said:

This one still has the early OHL flashes…

 

Please keep this photo to hand Fran as this TSO (Inter-City branding, part smoking/non-smoking and early OHL flashes) is perfect for the mid-late 70s with Westerns and 50s.

 

And on that subject, I found in the Harris book that the 'Inter-City' branding began to be applied to the Mk2b from Nov 1970. I think in the early days it was two seperate words, but became hypenated before long. 

[brushman47544]

3 minutes ago, stovepipe said:

 

And on that subject, I found in the Harris book that the 'Inter-City' branding began to be applied to the Mk2b from Nov 1970. I think in the early days it was two seperate words, but became hypenated before long. 

 

Yes, unlike the Mk2a coaches, unbranded Mk2bs had a very short timespan. Presumably as the newest passenger coaches at the time, BR wanted to display the new Inter-City brand as much as possible.

[McC]

While Harris’s book is correct that this was introduced in 1970 it did not appear to be applied en mass to the 2b fleet until about 1973, and even then there are examples of coaches into the 1980s that are unbranded for whatever reason. These are also useful fodder for people that want to apply other branding such as NSE, Inter-City, ScotRail, and so on, especially in non standard positions (the NSE logos in particular seemed to move about a bit).

[cheesysmith]

Lets be honest, they may not admit it, but the 2c will follow on from this. There was only 111 2b made, and a further 250 2c. Don`t think they will be going to all this effort for just 111 coaches (plus the Irish versions) do you?

Edited August 27, 2021 by cheesysmith
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