Tara Mines ore wagon ‘blues’

The second batch of the highly detailed Irish Railway Models (IRM) ‘OO’ gauge Tara Mines wagons have arrived, including a new model representing the original blue version.

ZINC ore concentrates are shipped three times a day between the Tara Mines near Navan in County Meath and Dublin Port, using heavy vacuumbraked bogie ore tippler wagons introduced in 1977 when production commenced at the mine. The wagons were first painted in a light blue livery with Tara legends applied to the sides, a livery which gave way to the red bauxite colours of today.

The wagons are massively built to cope with heavy mineral ore and equipped with a cover designed to contain the load which is considered to be an environmental hazard.

Two types of cover have been used: a corrugated type fitted from new and a smooth, slightly domed type applied after overhaul. The ore concentrates are loaded by chute in a controlled environment and the lid fitted before the wagons leave the loading area.

The wagons are unloaded with a tippler at Dublin Port after the cover has been removed using the lifting points which are modelled on both types of cover. That harsh commodity and its corrosive effects faded the attractive blue Tara livery to a dull grey which was replaced with red oxide following a major overhaul.

The blue wagons were hauled by A Class locomotives without exception including those painted in Super Train livery and with Irish Rail legends. IRbranded A Class locomotives continued to provide haulage of the trains following overhaul and repainting of the wagons until their replacement with 071 Class locomotives in the mid-1990s.

Irish Model Railways decided against releasing the Tara Mines ‘blues’ in the first batch because its brandnew A Class locomotives were still in development. Five different twin packs of uniquely numbered Tara blue wagons are now available together with three packs of the red oxide version of the wagon with new running numbers for those modellers wishing to add to their fleets.

Body assembly

In common with the full-size wagons, IRM tooled a heavy-looking body fitted out with separate end rib mouldings and close-fitting covers making for a robust model with little chance of the sides bowing inwards. Despite the heavy construction, detailing is refined with the correct style of ribs moulded in the wagon sides and are well-defined.

The distinctive shape at the ends of the wagon resulting in a gap between the headstocks and body along with the rounded corners between ends and sides are all well represented. The ballast weight is clipped to the wagon interior allowing the underframe to be fully detailed with numerous small components produced with injection

moulded plastic. The lack of a detailed interior is of little consequence because the wagons are run with their covers fitted both empty and loaded – modellers don’t have to worry about loading them!

Underframe detail

Whilst the body appears, quite correctly, massive in its proportions, the opposite can be said of the underframe fittings which are composed of delicate injection moulded parts which are fitted together very neatly. Brake cylinders, pipework and the various linkages are neatly modelled with no sign of moulding flash or distortion.

The underframe moulding includes truss detail and is a close fit to the

body. Plastic sections in trussing, linkages and the headstocks are commendably thin and well defined, yet durable, nothing having come adrift in the box.

Brake wheels are fine mouldings neatly coloured and with legible printed detail. Sprung buffers are fitted with plastic heads which do have a tendency to rotate in their shanks, a common problem with sprung buffers. This may be of little importance with round buffers. However, given the quality of today’s toolings, it remains a detail that has to be addressed by many manufacturers with sprung oval and rectangular buffers.

Bogies, wheels and couplings

Provision for modelling 21mm gauge has been built in the detailed Y33 Sambre et Meuse bogies which have brake linkages and brake blocks fitted for 21mm gauge. The wheels have long axles allowing the wheels to be moved on the axles for modelling 21mm gauge. A special wheel puller tool will be needed to achieve this job because one wheel of each axle is bonded to the axle which takes some moving, not a job that can be done with fingers!

The axle ends run in metal bearings and are capped with axle end detail which can be observed rotating when the wagons are on the move. Spare axle cap details are supplied with the wagon

detailing packs should one go missing.

Kinematic close coupling cams are incorporated in the underframe moulding and are lightly sprung. NEM coupling pockets are integrally moulded with the cam arms and supplied with slim line tension lock couplings which do produce quite a wide coupling gap. However, with the wagons being operated in block rakes, the NEM compatible coupling bars supplied in the box can be used to replace tension lock couplings within the rake for tighter operation of the models.

Overall finish

The blue Tara Mines wagons are effectively new models, with different covers tooled for them compared to the red oxide versions which have been released before. The blues are evenly painted, without flaws or variation in the colour between different parts, topped with an eggshell matt finish ready for weathering. Printed livery elements are sharp and with good colour depth including number and wagon data.

The packs of red oxide wagons are also neatly finished in pristine condition, with no blemishes being observed on both review samples.

Again, printed details are sharp and carefully researched for each wagon number. The second batch of three packs match previously released models for colour and printing.

Perhaps the most impressive feature of this second batch, is the price being held at €79.95 (£68.95) for each pack of two wagons. This will be welcomed along with the chance to model the trains using the five twin packs of the blue wagons and IRM’s new A Class locomotives together with additional wagons to build up the red oxide fleet.

Produced by Irish Railway Models

www.irishrailwaymodels.com

£

RRP €79.95 (£68.95)

Irish Railway Models recently released the second batch of its detailed Tara Mines bogie ore tippler wagons in ‘OO’ gauge, including the new Tara blue wagons. Traction was provided by A Class locomotives until the mid-1990s.

A comparison of the two types of cover applied to the models, the blue version being the original type.

The model has the look and feel of the heavy construction of the full-size wagons. No interior detail is required because the wagons run with the covers in place, both when loaded and empty.

Five packs of two individually numbered wagons make up the first release of the Tara ‘blues’, whilst three packs of red oxide wagons are available – all with different running numbers.

The additional red bauxite wagon packs allow the strengthening of modellers’ collections following the first batch released a few years’ ago.

No. 31021 finished in red oxide with patches for the wagon number and data.

Rotating axle ends and separate brake block details are fitted to the Y33 Sambre et Meuse bogies. They are available separately with wheels for €14.95 (£12.74) for two pairs, in three colours and are sufficiently wide enough for 21mm gauge modelling.

No. 31015 shows off its Tara branding and neatly applied livery including authentic printed details.

Tara branding as applied to the blue wagons. The livery faded to a dull grey colour in time which would make an interesting painting project.