NoelG

122 over nine months ago. Along side donor chassis. Made up see through Grills inspired by seeing the MM pre-production sample at SDMRC show. Test fitted side grills before painting Start painting Transfers. Choose CIE Broken Wheel roundal up front with the IR logo on the side The wire grab rails and walkway rails were a challenge Twisted eyes and a few hours last night saw them done Fiddley. My fingers were numb after this Painted all the rails black and fitted the pre-painted cab door grab rails which will be weathered in due course I do like this odd ball hybrid livery transitioning from the CIE super train era to the IR era before the tippex stripes were added Almost finito, just the wipers left and the old tail lamp Just about finished. The see through vent grills exposed the internal white sound speaker which will be painted black, or replaced with a smaller sugar cube speaker so you can see through the loco. Relatively content with the way 122 turned out. The MM versions are perhaps only 1-5 weeks away, but I enjoyed making my own kit bashed version of 122 to join B121 on the layout with the incoming MM 121's. This one has WheelTappers DCC sound with its ESU Full Throttle features for prototypical driving characteristics (ie coasting, braking, acceleration, train loads, thrashing, etc).

How to install decoder in MM 121 loco. Link Below: https://www.derg.ie/albums/pdf/Decoder_How_To_MM121.pdf

Yes top pic is straight out of the box from SF, before weathering. I was quite impressed with the quality of the van as produced.

Silverfox's Weed spray van has had a significant upgrade & refresh in terms of finer detail, glazing, etc. This one got some weathering treatment before heading off to sunny climbs. Was quite impressed with this coach.

Cheers, Ah but that was a special ISPR edition model 531B. I got distracted a few weeks ago driving it a lot. In truth I flipped the image horizontally so it would match the 'before' one above. Not also the grill has the steps on one side of the bonnet, and the boxes behind the cab are different. Eagle eyes you are. I'm only verbally lexdysic, not visually.

Not exactly a GUV, but a repaint of a Lima 50ft parcel van. No problem painting over the existing body and lining, just a wash with warm soapy water before priming with Hycote plastic grey primer (same as Halfords but 40% less expensive and easier to buy). Prep for surgery to enlarge the windows Mark out the changes Time to drill, cut and fill. Primer - Hycote (same formulation as Halford plastic grey primer) Resprayed as a CIE brake parcel van circa 1060s. Keen systems sprung gangways added along with kadee no 148 whisker couplings. Some BR stock lends itself to tweaking into Irish CIE stock, especially 2 axle wagons and stanier coaches

Was sad to hear this news. Aidan is in a better place now free from pain and illness. He seemed a really decent human and a gentleman, and was a very talented modeller. Condolences to his loved ones for their loss.

These gorgeous Murphy Model 121 class locos are a feat of engineering and design to fit so much inside such a small narrow body, double flywheel centre drive, AWD,AWP . . . AND have the open see through grills on the bonnet sides. Just like the prototype you can see right through the loco. Pristine straight out of the box she looks a little fisher price, but even the light weathering makes for a very pleasurable 1968 looking loco. These were the First GM built locos bought by Irish Railways (CIE) in 1961 due to their reliability and task ability. Later incarnations include a cab at both ends (ie 141 & 181 class), and the later GM 071 and GM 201 classes that still run the railways today. Many of the older 1950s metrovics (ie A and C class) proved unreliable, so were reengined later with GM/EMD engines and served long careers into the 1990s.

B135 got aged a little. Got ride of the pristine fisher price look. I really like this livery now. It fits in well with the 1960s era coaching stock and goods wagons I like to run. When the railways were interesting before boring uniform stock, bogie goods, and fitted stock came in. Hail the days of loose coupled goods trains. These 121 class were often seen hauling mixed rakes of passenger and 2 axle goods wagons.

Installing a driver in 121 cab proved tricky and painful for the driver who had to undergo major surgery to fit. The main body comes off the chassis easily using 4 screws but boy you have to handle it with kid gloves there are so many delicate detailing parts. Getting the Cab off the main body was a serious challenge (ie without damaging anything). Took the cab door grab rails off beforehand to protect them and in advance of weathering tomorrow. One of them had fallen off in the box anyway. Both arms had to be loped off as well as tighenting his waist but a little LLP plastic surgery later and repainting and he was good to go. It's a tight fit in there most driver figures will not fit in there, too wide with limbs and hips. The arm on the floor will be dedicated to model medical science. Anyway now there is no empty cab and there is a driver clearly visible Put everything carefully back together again in advance of weathering her tomorrow and gave her a test run to be sure all is working ok including the lights. These are exquisite models and a credit to Murphy Models design. Will put the door grab rails back on after weathering. The tablet catcher seems to lack the presence it had on the 141, 181s. Looking forward to weathering her tomorrow. Hope I gave the driver enough food rations cause he's not coming back out of there any time soon. Stunning hidden detail inside the cab

Cheers, Yes that's good to hear. All too often sound project developers have never seen the prototype in real life, nor even a video of it in operation that they are coding a project for. Not a clue how they operated nor were driven. It's good to know this sound project is designed by railwaymen who both know models and the actual prototypes.

Here's another using consist pair of locos both running sounds with slightly different engines.

Not just great sound, but great prototypical driving features including heavy, medium and light load acceleration, coasting braking and scale stopping distances. Automatic notching with option for manual control using F7-Throttle hold feature, rarely needed as the load functions handle scale notching really well when trains are starting off. Some fab and really useful features that I like are the cascading wagon buffer clashes running up the length of a stopping train, and the converse, cascading wagon coupling snatch as a loose coupled goods train starts off taking up the slack one wagon at a time. Like the way the RPM increases briefly after stopping to top up brake reservoir

Hi Fran @Accurascale Fran That is so good to read and hear. Like the look of that function list especially the inclusion of F5-Drive hold, F6-Load/Shunting, F8-Brakes. All too often new sound projects focus exclusively on sound only, to the detriment of prototypical driving features that simulate acceleration of heavy trains, coasting and scale like braking, etc. Presume these will be ESU LokSound V5 decoders which have ESU's new 'Full Throttle' driving features. Unfortunately another manufacturers recent ESU decoder completely lacked any of ESU's prototypical driving features, not even drive hold was included, so it is great to see the IRM decoder project for this A class will have driving functions making full use of ESU's full throttle capability. Simulating a heavy train starting off with slow accelataion, and thrashing, like wise coasting along for some good distance after throttle reduced to zero, requiring brake function to bring a train to a stop at a signal or station platform really adds to the prototypical enjoyment of driving a sound enabled model loco. Apologies for the long winded point, but its a passion of mine and it was unfortunate to see other suppliers recently miss the whole point about prototypical driving features that these new LokSound V5 decoders facilitate but only if programmed as part of the sound project. Independent decoder developers such as Keith and Neil really make use of these prototypical driving features.

Great to see a re-run of this your first superb product in different livery variations. Many who missed out on the original wagon 4 years ago will be well pleased to see this.

Hi Kieran, loved the dubbing of the loco sound. You can tell the difference between a real loco engine sound and a decoder sound a mile off. There is a deepness and richness to the real thing. Nice clip

Creating and managing a DCC consist - Two Murphy Model diesel model locos paired as a double header. Join and leave a consist. Driving two independent locos prototipically into a consist (double header). Two become one.

Creating and managing a DCC consist - Two Murphy Model diesel model locos paired as a double header. Join and leave a consist. Driving two independent locos prototipically into a consist (double header). Two become one.

Spoiler alert - DCC sound symphony video. Had so much fun playing with these ESU LokSound V5 running on wonderful MM 121 locos. DCC sound really adds to the prototypical operation of these superb models. Can't wait for the Black'n'Tan livery due very soon. No connection with WheelTappers just a very happy customer for some years. Great service. Cost seems about the same as the manufacturers own decoders, but has far more comprehensive sound functions and some truly wonderful prototypical driving features due to the FULL TROTTLE feature of LokSound V5 decoders which includes: PowerDrive, Light, Medium and Heavy Train loads, coasting and prototypical braking distances. Good support for Consisting with light arrangements, as well as push pull operation. The video explains. I understand there is an option to get a pair of matched decoders, one with sound, one non-sound to save expense of two sound decoders in a 121 pair (ie LokSound+LokPilot). Enjoy.

Nice weathering on some of the containers too, especially the freight liner one.

Some enjoyable covid projects from 2020 - enjoyable to work on these past months, and whiled away the hours. Hornby Respray Provincial Wagons exGSWR brake van kit Kitbash ex-GSWR plough now brake van Provincial Wagons Bulleid open beet wagon kit Dapol Conversions to CIE wagons Weathered CIE Wagons (Dapol Donors) MM B134 light weathering Hornby respray Rebuilt Dutch GSV (IFM Kit) Provincial wagons 20ft container kit on 3D IFM chassis Provincial wagons double beet wagon kit Weathering IRM Ballast wagon Weathering IRM 40ft B&I container Weathering IRM Fertiliser Wagon Weathering Murphy Models 182 - the first MM loco I ever owned bought back in 2008 from Malahide Fry Museum Silverfox RPSI Dutch GSV kit Here's looking forward to 2021 with A class, and more MM 121s before this year end.

Would be interested in two assuming they are complete kits with decals, etc.

RPSI Murphy Models 121 class B134 got a light weathering

Just about finished rebuilt IE/IR Dutch GSV (exCIE) kit suitable to run with my Bachmann/MM IE/IR mk2a coaches. I seem to be collecting GSVs and EGVs Like brake vans, I just like them, they ran with every train and had purpose in the moment of people and/or goods.