Hornby announce TT:120

[andythenorth]

12 minutes ago, Howzatt said:

As an original user of Triang TT (aged 5), I think this is a fantastic idea from Hornby. Just think of the huge TT:120 layout you could get into a space currently planned for 00. This has to be a brilliant way forward for many modellers, especially so, if they are at the planning stage of a new layout.

 

This board matches the Hornby OO track mat size, 1200x1800 mm.  The TT:120 track shown is the Peco flexitrack.  The TT:120 stock is Roco. 

 

And if you look at the mix of OO/HO on the board, I'd guess I'm squarely in the Hornby target market for TT:120 🙃

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by andythenorth

[APOLLO]

Well, Ill be blowed, TT is back !!

 

I started with Tri-ang TT3 back around 1959 / 1960 with a Jinty, 2 suburban coaches, a bright yellow Shell tank wagon and a circle of track on a 4' x 3' board. By 1971 I had at least one of everything Tri-ang made, several BEC and GEM whitemetal locos on Triang chassis and much larger layout which all gave me lots of enjoyment. Triang had pulled the plug on TT a few years earlier, my TT stuff was getting worn out (especially the ghastly Triang pointwork. So when we moved house I stored it all (still have it) and went OO, (and later American O). I never regretted that.

 

A new scale (for British outline) - 1:120, so my old TT3 can stay as is - in boxes kept only for sentimental reasons. The new range offered (and models promised) looks good, a bit for (almost) everybody. Perhaps not for me alas, I need to start offloading stuff and not buying new - BUT you never know. TT stood for Table Top, and we have a big nice table in the conservatory !!!.

 

Lastly a thought on modern retailing. We once had 3 model shops in Wigan, now none. Wigan town centre is dying by the month (as is virtually every UK town centre). And it ain't just model shops we are loosing. A very large modern (built in the late 80's) shopping centre (The Galleries) has just closed and demolition has started. It will be replaced with 300 affordable (tiny) homes, a leisure centre and a small market hall. The swish new Grand Arcade centre 15 or so years old has lost its two anchor shops, (Marks & Spencer & Debenhams) and there are several empty units already. Like it or lump it the future of retailing is on line, next day delivery etc. Hornby know this and have chosen this route for their new range. I'm not a fan of all this but I don't make the rules, the market does.

 

I wish Hornby every success with this venture - a very bold one indeed in todays troubled times, and I hope in a few years that they don't again "do a runner" on TT as they did in the 60's, leaving many in the lurch.

 

Brit15

 

 

 

 

[norfolkchinaclay]

28 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

One can only hope that they don't f*ck mess up the shade of blue on this one....

SK - are you listening?

 

Perhaps they will be super generous and include snowploughs for BOTH ends...

[newbryford]

Just now, norfolkchinaclay said:

Perhaps they will be super generous and include snowploughs for BOTH ends...

 

Ploughs? ("Oh b*gger" said someone at Hornby HQ)

[GordonC]

2 hours ago, Mel_H said:

Hornby have said they will continue to supply OO to the trade and continue to develop it. Having a clean-sheet approach with TT:120 means that customers can have lower prices than if they were sold through the trade (there's the mark-up for the shops, plus the cost of reps, invoicing/credit control, sending the items out, dealing with trade enquiries - all something that ultimately the customer ends up paying for, whether it's Hornby or Bachmann.

 

That's one reason why smaller, leaner organisations, often run by people as a 'hobby' (no offence intended) can produce OO stuff for lower prices. They don't have the overheads, or need to apply the mark ups when they are dealing with only a relatively small number of model shops, or not at all.

 

I'm all for model shops, but how many have a massive range of 'O' gauge? Not many, from the ones I've visited over the last couple of years. It's only the handful of 'big' players, which given the cost of stock isn't surprising.

 

Hornby's made a business decision that's not too dissimilar to the 'newcomers' in 'OO' which get praise (quite rightly) on this forum.

 

 

 

The thing is that we've all seen the standard of products that Hornby have been producing recently and been largely underwhelmed by them. If a newcomer did that they wouldn't be in business for long

[Coldgunner]

1 hour ago, adb968008 said:

At 14 pages its set the thread on fire, but only a handful are saying they are in.

 

Iirc Steampunk had a similar response.

 

I'm slightly tempted to pick up a set to dip my toes in. Depends if I can get a decent price and the sets are decent quality build-wise. I think the price point is a little high for a starter set.

[meatloaf]

Just now, Coldgunner said:

 

I'm slightly tempted to pick up a set to dip my toes in. Depends if I can get a decent price and the sets are decent quality build-wise. I think the price point is a little high for a starter set.

Join the club. I got the A4 set for £165 with the 15% discount. 

[Coldgunner]

I'll take a look, I need to think it over.

[andythenorth]

Just now, GordonC said:

 

The thing is that we've all seen the standard of products that Hornby have been producing recently and been largely underwhelmed by them. If a newcomer did that they wouldn't be in business for long

They're good at what they're good at.  I find some of their choices odd (pricing on HAAs?), but there's nothing wrong at all with a lot of what they produce, at the price it sells for.  They make some odd choices, but I don't have any sense they've stacked the whole thing into the wall.  Maybe I missed something.

[Hilux5972]

Looking at the Pullman sample, it appears they have finally got a much better Umber colour than the far-too-dark OO Gauge colour. Dare we hope this translates over to OO as well?

[Mr chapman]

Well damn! That's a power play! 

Fair play Hornby, I'm in. 

 

Looking at the Hornby track vs the peco track the points look a lot less fine. Is the Hornby stuff code 55? A rebrand? 

[tramcard]

At long last a scale that is the same for UK and contnental rolling stock. Also a decent layout in the confined spaces the modern world has moved us into.

 

I have read a few replies where the presumptiion is that Hornby are bonkers. Well for once I think they have got it right. I mean 120 x 12 is 1440 and standard gauge is 1435! Modern manufacting means the detail will be fine, and train lengths can be more realistic.

 

Personally I have reckoned this was the way Hornby ought to go. Not in a million years did I think they would. Looks like others are going to follow. Obvioulsy Peco had been tipped off with their announcement of gnuine 1:120 12mm track ahead of Hornby.

 

N is just too fiddly and OO is a tight fit on 8x4.

 

I might even think of actually buing new stock rather than current second hand approach.

 

For once, well done Hornby. (although the ghost of triang must be smiling!)

[TravisM]

2 hours ago, adb968008 said:

At 14 pages its set the thread on fire, but only a handful are saying they are in.

 

Iirc Steampunk had a similar response.

I’m sorry but I’m at a complete loss as to why there’s a sudden interest in TT when OO/4mm is very much in vogue, O gauge on the rise and some outstanding models being created or on the drawing board in N gauge. The only true benefit I see with TT, is that the scale remains constant in the UK and Europe, but I bet someone will prove me wrong there.

Edited October 10, 2022 by jools1959

[Jeff Smith]

Hornby points are probably dead- frog, PECO can be !ive-frog, surely a big advantage.

[andythenorth]

18 minutes ago, tramcard said:

I have read a few replies where the presumptiion is that Hornby are bonkers. Well for once I think they have got it right.

Those replies are broadly from the same few people who also contributed endless "but why?" in the Peco and Heljan TT:120 announcement threads, and in the recently added TT:120 forum.  Their axes must be really really sharp now after all that grinding. 🪓 😉

 

And then of course a few new ones, who've missed the first 10 rounds of this, but see the Hornby announcement and have some 'valuable' thoughts to share 🙂

 

People, where would we be without them eh? 🙃

 

"I told you it wouldn't work" isn't a good look, but some people will insist on wearing it, in advance. 👍  A sort of emperor's-new-clothes, but in reverse.

 

Me, I enjoy something new in the hobby, and don't suffer the affliction of hoping other people's ideas fail.   

Edited October 10, 2022 by andythenorth

[Mb1984]

Surprised they haven’t done the class 800 and some sort of freightliner wagon.

[sammyboy]

This is exciting stuff! I am already a N Gauge modeller (I have been for about 12 years after changing down from OO), but after seeing Hornby's hour long video on YouTube earlier tonight, I might just consider giving TT:120 a go.

 

I'd like to build a 'Minories' terminus layout in this scale on a long shelf above my existing door sized 'roundy-roundy' N Gauge layout...

 

Sam

[andythenorth]

2 hours ago, adb968008 said:

At 14 pages its set the thread on fire, but only a handful are saying they are in.

The Peco TT:120 thread has 51 pages, and that's basically for flexitrack, a pair of points and a couple of buildings.

 

This thread might be a 'hold my beer' situation. 🎢

 

I'm in for the record.  The analogy between Steampunk and TT:120 doesn't hold up.

Edited October 10, 2022 by andythenorth

[Delta_Who]

39 minutes ago, Hilux5972 said:

Looking at the Pullman sample, it appears they have finally got a much better Umber colour than the far-too-dark OO Gauge colour. Dare we hope this translates over to OO as well?

If they did... I've got quite a few ready for ebay listings xD

[InterCity80s]

15 minutes ago, Mb1984 said:

Surprised they haven’t done the class 800 and some sort of freightliner wagon.

 

The Class 800 is listed as coming in Phase 3/4 in the Hornby brochure.

[Vanguard 5374]

20 minutes ago, jools1959 said:

I’m sorry but I’m at a complete loss as to why there’s a sudden interest in TT when OO/4mm is very much in vogue, O gauge on the rise and some outstanding models being created or on the drawing board in N gauge. The only true benefit I see with TT, is that the scale remains constant in the UK and Europe, but I bet someone will prove me wrong there.

OO gives a track gauge of just over four foot, TT (when not 3mm to the foot) gives a far closer track gauge like you would get with P4. And that is straight out of the box.

 

Add to that space in houses is getting smaller, that’s why I moved when Peco did their announcement.

[Il Grifone]

Pondering this, I am wondering how they are getting the works to fit, seeing we have had 00, TT-3 and British N to a larger scale than the rest of the world to solve this problem, resulting in a narrower than scale track gauge.

[Coldgunner]

IIRC the Next18 decoders are pretty small, and some of the moters for N gauge ain't too bad. With modern manufacturing techniques, wiring being mostly on PCB's a stuff like smaller phone speakers. Technology seems to have caught up to the requirements.

[Vanguard 5374]

1 minute ago, Il Grifone said:

Pondering this, I am wondering how they are getting the works to fit, seeing we have had 00, TT-3 and British N to a larger scale than the rest of the world to solve this problem, resulting in a narrower than scale track gauge.

British OO and N both set their standards many years ago, many have been refined and altered but they’re still mongrel standards compared to the rest of the world. Triang did this with TT3, and as such it was not used outside of the UK as far as I know.

 

If mechanisms to fit models had been available all of those years ago, we would see British outline HO scale as a dominant market player instead of OO. Modern advancements allow for TT to be correct at 1:120.

[OOgaugeJaf]

I hope this does not sink Hornby. Probably would have been better off entering the N gauge market. 
 

I cannot see many folk making a complete move from their current preferences of say N, OO or O when they have amassed decent diverse collections. Possibly more a little side project. 
 

I think there is so much untapped potential models highlighted in the wish lists that Hornby could have tackled.