michaelinlondon

Very sad news. It seems to have happened at short notice, as the Tampere ForCity has only just been released, and a new Duisberg tram is still described as "in production" on their web site. Halling were the only reliable supplier of modern image HO trams and ready-made trucks for motorizing kits and static models. (Rietze seems to have lost interest in trams, and stopped offering their motorizing truck a couple of years ago). Tramway modelling has quite a large following on the Continent, so hopefully as you say, the Halling tooling might be an asset which gets sold on to another producer.

I walked the old tram route last year. It's amazing how the Hill of Howth tram still lingers in Dublin folk memory. This may be due in part to this charming little film, made by three local cine enthusiasts just after the tramway closed:

https://ifiarchiveplayer.ie/short-documentary-once-upon-a-tram/