Hornby TT gauge is announced

[ntpntpntp]

@joe cassidy   I had a Triang Big Big Train set back in the mid 70s, I remember running it outdoors around Grandad's front garden paths   A blue Hymek diesel and a couple of coaches, red plastic track.  Battery powered O gauge.

Almost tempted to buy a set again just for nostalgia

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155179541751

[maridunian]

Another factor that needs to be taken into consideration concerning the success of TT is the availability of rolling stock.

There are often posts on here about the difficulty in buying complete rakes of, for example, BR Mk1 coaches in N.

If the availability of TT coaches is better than that of N gauge coaches that might persuade some people to at least dabble in TT.

It's difficult to buy stock from many suppliers in many scales except at launch time. Twenty years ago it was normal to expect to be able to buy 'core' models from suppliers or shops for years after initial launch. I do understand that the many, many model shops there used to be were in effect a financial buffer for the manufacturers, buying and holding stock until punters came along. By cutting out the middleman, manufacturers receive all the margin and punters might get a cheaper product, but the price we've paid is long term availability.

A quick skim through Hornby's ~200 wagons in their OO range suggests that keeping designs available for years after launch is their policy (as is Peco's for N Gauge wagons).

Mike

[silly moo]

I think that the first phase of the TT launch will go well with lots of people buying a set to just see what it is like. It's up to Hornby to keep the momentum going by releasing more locos and rolling stock in the next phases. If sales in the first phase are poor then I expect they will cut their losses.

I'd be very tempted by a set with a tank engine and could see myself building a micro layout. For instance, TT would be good to go round the bottom of the Christmas tree.

Interesting times 

[jpendle]

For instance, TT would be good to go round the bottom of the Christmas tree.

We have an LGB Christmas train set running round ours.

I think you need a bigger Christmas Tree 

John P

[Dickydcc]

Were I starting from scratch, then TT might be an option but now I have my collection well on the way I won't be burying any. I notice that Hornby have carried over from OO the awful trailing bogie on the Pacifics where the wheels don't actually touch the track. It looks to me as if they are pitching for those that want an extended train set?

[joe cassidy]

They are pitching for the "family market".

[ntpntpntp]

I notice that Hornby have carried over from OO the awful trailing bogie on the Pacifics where the wheels don't actually touch the track.

They certainly do appear to be flangeless.  I wonder why, and when did that come in on their OO models?*  Old Triang/Hornby Pacifics have flanged trailing wheels.

https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/news/hornby-tt-model-prototypes-examined/



* Reading old threads on RMWeb it seems people wanted the Pacifics NOT to have pivoting trailing trucks (the real thing has a cartazzi arrangment), so if there's no pivot and not a lot of room for sideplay then you need flangeless wheels slightly above rail height to cope with sharp trainset curves

[njee20]

Saw the samples at Kings Cross too, I thought it looked good. Discernibly bigger than N. Actually surprisingly so, I was worried it would look very similar. Simon Kohler was manning the stand, and when someone said "is this new scale a Hornby initiative?" He said "yes. Peco are doing some similar track, but really it's us.". So they're certainly not seeing it as a collaborative project between multiple companies.

I thought they track looked very poor. But sectional track can do, and it was of course hastily laid for the exhibit. The stock looked good. I'm not really interested  in either an A3 or A4, so I didn't pore over them, but they had more presence than N certainly.

[Skyline2uk]

Saw the samples at Kings Cross too, I thought it looked good. Discernibly bigger than N. Actually surprisingly so, I was worried it would look very similar. Simon Kohler was manning the stand, and when someone said "is this new scale a Hornby initiative?" He said "yes. Peco are doing some similar track, but really it's us.". So they're certainly not seeing it as a collaborative project between multiple companies.

Can't say I am surprised Hornby regard the Peco track as "similar" to their own,  or that they have done their own in house at all.

It seems very modern Hornby to try and corner the market in all areas.

Oh well, let's see how it actually gets on.

Skyline2uk

[PLD]

I wonder how many of us could be called "Collectors" rather than "Modellers"?

It's difficult to buy stock from many suppliers in many scales except at launch time. Twenty years ago it was normal to expect to be able to buy 'core' models from suppliers or shops for years after initial launch.

I think those two comments are largely inter-connected and the latter is perhaps a symptom of the former...

Remember the old days; you could walk into any model shop, and it was a safe bet you could buy an LMS liveried 4-6-0 off the shelf there and then... It would be a Black 5 numbered 5041 because that's all Farish ever did, but it was pretty much constantly available. If you had more than one and wanted a different number, or wanted another variant, you got out the tools and applied some transfers or assembled a white-metal kit to fit the chassis.

Now, most shops will still have an LMS 4-6-0 on the shelf most of the time, but it might be a Black 5, or a Jubilee, or a Royal Scot, and the identity will vary batch-to-batch; yet buyers complain it's not the exact number they want in the condition they want. They clamour for 'New' types and when re-runs are produced grumble that we're being exploited or cheated somehow or fobbed off with repeats...

[Hector Lawn]

Now, most shops will still have an LMS 4-6-0 on the shelf most of the time, but it might be a Black 5, or a Jubilee, or a Royal Scot, and the identity will vary batch-to-batch; yet buyers complain it's not the exact number they want in the condition they want. They clamour for 'New' types and when re-runs are produced grumble that we're being exploited or cheated somehow or fobbed off with repeats...

Jeez, I'd like to know where you do your shopping - I've been waiting for a re-run of Black 5's for several years now to no avail and I certainly can't remember the last time Jubilees or Royal Scots were produced either!

Hector

[bluedepot]

i wonder if hornby international brands (lima, jouef, electrotren) will go in for tt?  there doesn't seem to be any french or italian tt scale currently.


tim

[ntpntpntp]

i wonder if hornby international brands (lima, jouef, electrotren) will go in for tt?

Arnold already has a small range of TT.  Looking at the catalogue pages there's more than I was aware of, though the majority of the 11 pages online are spare parts

https://uk.arnoldmodel.com/catalogue/tt-scale

[bluedepot]

thanks i will have a look!

definitely wont be buying though! must stop spending money!

tim

[D9020 Nimbus]

I don't think Heljan will move into N gauge. Back in 2008 they had a stand at Model Rail Scotland where they were supposed to be canvassing interest in producing models of a class 26 and 27 in N. Being interested, I went to the stand. I have never seen two such disinterested people. They weren't taking names or even making any record of how many were interested. Needless to say, the models didn't appear, and were later produced by Dapol.

The track seems to be related to Tillig in some way. The standard straight is 166mm, exactly the same, and the radii up to 390mm are also the same. The abbreviations for some of the yet to be released items in the catalogue are also related — ABW for the Y-point, from "Außenbogenweiche". But the points are different. The standard Tillig EW1 points are 129.5mm long. Hornby's are 166mm, the same as the Tillig EW2 points, and have a compensating curve of 640mm radius. But that curve isn't in the Tillig range, and the Tillig EW2 points are live frog, non-latching, and not fitted with Rail joiners as they're for use with flexible track.

The Tillig EW1 points are also non-latching but can be used with an additional hand operating mechanism. If I'm interpreting the German in the catalogue correctly, they're also what Peco would call "unifrog", while Hornby's points are latching and dead frog — looks quite a long dead frog to me.

From my POV, one of the strengths of TT is those couplings. Unlike the N gauge ones, at least those on most British models, they couple and uncouple reliably. They can be uncoupled from below using a ramp — there's one in the initial range — and from above using a magnet on a stick that Tillig sell for just less than €5. Try finding an uncoupling ramp in the Farish catalogue. And in my experience the Fleischmann ramps have a success rate of about 10% on most U.K. models, apart from Peco and Minitrix.

The track range is already as big as Peco Setrack N and could soon have a Y point which Setrack doesn't have even though it's been around more than 50 years (and the Setrack points are radius 1 while most models require radius 2).

I'm planning to buy an 08, some wagons and some track, although initially I'll run it on the Tillig ballasted track I have for the DR TT layout I've.been planning for some time.

FYI, Hornby TT:120 track is supported by the latest update to AnyRail 6—quick work!