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NIR 80 Class DEMU


33lima
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Superb models. I am glad to see that the livery includes the black band along the bottom of the sides. So many good models in this livery, and some not so good, have this black band missing, which spoils the whole perspective of the livery. Too much grey. 

Like 33lima, I also built an 80 Class in the early 1990s when I was living in Portrush, but the InterCity paint job went horribly wrong, and to this day the unit has never been completed. I live in hope though, that one day it will get finished.

To remind us of what things used to be like in the mid 1990s, here are links to some video taken back then. This was in pre digital days, so the quality is not particularly good, but the nostalgia is. Enjoy.

 

 

 

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I knew it, I should have put in a 'smiley' back there! That was just my ironic way of making the point that Translink is, in a sense, a re-incarnation of the much-maligned UTA (with Belfast Corporation Transport/Citybus thrown in), though having a much less unfavourable funding environment to cope with than its predecessor (which was crippled by inherited debts and spending limits and still managed to design and build innovative railcar trains).

 

PS nice vids there guys! I used to love the sound of MPD engines roaring in harsh disunity as a set climbed up Dhu Varren bank out of Portrush and hope someday to hear a decent recording. It's great you guys are now capturing while you can the throaty rattle that was the hallmark of the 'thumpers'. 

 

On the subject of videos, the latest set's new owner, TrainModel, is working with a friend on a video showing this and his other NIR stock, which should also be worth watching out for. This was all I could manage, if nothing else it shows the unit could cope with my terrible trackwork, which of course is designed to replicate badly-maintained UTA trackage :)

 

Some useless info Lima, TrainModel is not a member of this forum but his video will be on this  forum soon

http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/2345-NIR-80-Class-DEMU

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A little bit of information.  Perhaps because I was working in NIR at the time prototype practice followed model railway practice for the application of the stripes. The grey and the blue were painted without worrying about the join between the two, then the "white, black, white, yellow" stripes were added as one transfer (sticky back plastic).   Nowadays the application of vinlys is quite common but NIR was one of the first and used a Danish firm who provided a similar service to the airline industry at that time. Starting in the morning, all the blue seats were removed from a three car set, and the interior of each set was refurbished with vinyl covering the earlier style plastic "wood effect" laminate with a cream colour vinly with designs here and there. The seats were replaced with red seats (from an earlier set) and within a 24 hour period an entire 3 car set was cosmetically refurbished inside. All 22 sets got this treatment over a four week period approx 1990 or 1991 (can't remember). All the Suburban sets were repainted externally in that year also.

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Very interesting. With my InterCity/Corporate livery, I have gone the other way. I dislike using transfers over raised detail like door handles, hinges etc., as they never seem to want to lie flat. I have tried using all sorts of transfer softening fluids, but without the success I would like. With one exception, all my InterCity/Corporate liveried coaches have had the yellow and white stripes masked and sprayed on, with the black being a Letraset stripe.

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When 69 was being painted into sandite livery, the, "8069," on the front was replaced by, "8096," by accident at York Road. This was fixed, though the, "69," on the front is smaller than the, "80," presumably because they ran out of the right size of transfers or whatever.

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  • 3 weeks later...

More 80 Class from the 1990s. The first clip is an attempt to record a complete journey on the Portrush branch with 82. Unfortunately time ran out at Portstewart.

 

 

The second clip is again at Killagan with 90 on a Service working to Belfast. Check out the bouncing front bogie on the jointed track.

 

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Great videos, pics and info there guys! Especially great to see these units in the liveries that suited them best, back in the 1990s. They looked like trains and they sounded like trains, powerful and rather dangerous; somehow I just can't warm to the CAF units, all very pretty but it's like trams or toy trains against the real thing.

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A little bit of information.  Perhaps because I was working in NIR at the time prototype practice followed model railway practice for the application of the stripes. The grey and the blue were painted without worrying about the join between the two, then the "white, black, white, yellow" stripes were added as one transfer (sticky back plastic).   Nowadays the application of vinlys is quite common but NIR was one of the first and used a Danish firm who provided a similar service to the airline industry at that time. Starting in the morning, all the blue seats were removed from a three car set, and the interior of each set was refurbished with vinyl covering the earlier style plastic "wood effect" laminate with a cream colour vinly with designs here and there. The seats were replaced with red seats (from an earlier set) and within a 24 hour period an entire 3 car set was cosmetically refurbished inside. All 22 sets got this treatment over a four week period approx 1990 or 1991 (can't remember). All the Suburban sets were repainted externally in that year also.

 

I wondered what all those blue seats were doing dumped on the platform in York Road when I took these pics on 8 Feb 1992:

 

post-15566-0-21789200-1388434570_thumb.jpgpost-15566-0-82313200-1388434584_thumb.jpg

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