Hornby announce TT:120

[spamcan61]

55 minutes ago, The Black Prince said:

Doesn’t America also have all sorts of radio/electrical interference rules to get through as well? I guess with a new product they would want to keep things as cost effective as they can. 

Yes, FCC CFR 47 plus things like UL listing. Mind you I assume the TT sets will use the same controller+PSU as the existing OO ones 

[Dix120]

10 hours ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Having seen photos of the TT-tracks display it is a great showcase and no surprise people express interest.  Will you also plan to showcase the Peco track / range at Long Beach?  (Sorry, a bit far off to be asking, but I believe Walthers stock it).  Presumably by 2024 there’ll be quite a bit of Hornby product to show, based on current schedules.

 

Have you seen the TT:120 Sub-Forum here on RMweb?  Be good to have a TT-tracks topic linking to the website there if you wanted one, as it shows what can be done (as you’ve seen already, it makes sense to keep the Trade / Product discussions separate from the modelling Forums).  Just a thought, Keith,

 

Haven't seen that forum yet. I will check it out.

 

I've had the Peco products for a  month or more now. Slowly working on a  new corner module. Still working out how to interface the Peco track to the Tillig Bedding Track pieces we use to join the modules together.  When I figure that out I will replace the track on one of my legacy modules (the Farm module). I think that will remove the last of the poor Tillig Bedding track turnouts from the mainlines. 

 

I am looking forward to running the new Hornby product on our display. There is not too much on our display (except for the rear industrial area) that screams North American so the models should not look too out of place. Changing a station model, a few support structures and details may be all that is needed. 

 

Sad to say we have not had any public TT-Tracks displays this year. We had two multi weekend private displays earlier this year and hope to have another one this fall. The only public TT-Scale display was the GuiTTar case layout at the Nanaimo show.

 

Next years TT-Tracks displays will have Hornby and Peco TT-Scale products on them.

 

With the Peco and Hornby announcements I think the future of TT-Scale is looking good. Now only if a company would start making North American equipment.

[Johan DC]

20 hours ago, The Black Prince said:

I suspect there will be a splurge of advertising when stuff arrives into stock, it’s one thing to drum up interest and conversation but you’d want to convert that to sales and some people (at least those already in the hobby) still aren’t 100% on pre-ordering - even if no money is exchanged at the point of pre-order.  
 

There’s also the “must have it now nature” that online retail is becoming. People will see something they like and want it tomorrow etc, again no point spending lots of cash selling the product now if you haven’t got anything on hand to sell them. 

Today Sam from Sam's trains mentioned it in his monthly newsvlog. Seems to me he might give it a try when it arrived, also some mixed but mostly positive comments. 

 

I think there will be, like you say, a splurge (had to look that one up) when they're available in shops at Hornby.

I will pass for now, too many other things on pre order that Will arrive around the same time. But I got the membership, it's free after all, and might try it some day. 

 

The thing with Hornby is they sometimes have original ideas (small industrial locs, TTS, Era 1, live steam...) and then don't really go through with it. 

 

Edited October 18, 2022 by Johan DC

[rob D2]

1 hour ago, Johan DC said:

Today Sam from Sam's trains mentioned it in his monthly newsvlog. Seems to me he might give it a try when it arrived, also some mixed but mostly positive comments. 

 

I think there will be, like you say, a splurge (had to look that one up) when they're available in shops at Hornby.

I will pass for now, too many other things on pre order that Will arrive around the same time. But I got the membership, it's free after all, and might try it some day. 

 

The thing with Hornby is they sometimes have original ideas (small industrial locs, TTS, Era 1, live stream...) and then don't really go through with it. 

 

excellent ! can't wait for the " it doesn't crawl ", " it has no sprung buffers " and " it doesn't  have proper bearings ". 

All vital aspects when running on carpet .

 

[leonk]

2 hours ago, Johan DC said:

Today Sam from Sam's trains mentioned it in his monthly newsvlog. Seems to me he might give it a try when it arrived, also some mixed but mostly positive comments. 

 

 

 

For 3 pounds I expect my track to have sleepers made from unobtanium! 

['CHARD]

3 hours ago, Johan DC said:

The thing with Hornby is they sometimes have original ideas (small industrial locs, TTS, Era 1, live stream...) and then don't really go through with it. 

 

 

I had no idea they invented that!

[RateTheFreight]

I’ve taken the plunge and pre-ordered a blue 08. 
 

My model railway journey started with a OO layout in my parents garage. It had minimal scenery, no fixed location or timeframe but provided countless hours of joy of watching anything & everything running round with the odd bit of basic shunting too. As I got older I could appreciate the base concept of grouping running sessions around models from the same era but the same pure joy of watching trains go by never dissipated & even became therapeutic during exam stresses etc of my teenage and early 20’s years.
 

Since then I’ve aspired to build all manner of ‘proper’ layouts dabbling in everything from N gauge to OO9 to coarse scale O gauge (which I still love & collect) but have never got round to it despite buying copious amounts of stock. I’ve had plenty of time & resource to do something but never have which tells me something. As someone who works on the railways I have an interest that spans railway history & so struggle to focus on one particular era which in turn I think has contributed to not building a ‘proper’ time & place based layout. 
 

Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing the skilled work of others & all that goes with it (although I’m not a fan of rivet counting) however I’m rapidly concluding that even if I could do that, it wouldn’t satisfy that same thrill I got from that early garage layout. That might cast me as someone not serious about the hobby however I’d argue it’s very much a hobby of each to their own hence my love of coarse scale o gauge tinplate. 
 

I’ve now got my own young son and have concluded that the space I have isn’t big enough for OO but could be for the ‘track mat’ style layout in TT which wouldn’t be far off what I grew up with. Perhaps he’ll become interested in it or perhaps he won’t in which case I’ll have something basic I can enjoy with a hopefully ever expanding range. 
 

Gregory 

[Johan DC]

5 hours ago, 'CHARD said:

 

I had no idea they invented that!

Thanks. My heart is in OO, but my hands/fingers are more of the G gauge kind I'm afraid.

[Michanglais]

Don't know if anyone has come up with this yet (this thread is very long and I'm too lazy to read through it all) but, now that the EP for the 08 is out there somewhere, I'd love to see an image of it sat between an OO and N pairing of 08s. Just to really see the difference.

 

I'm a Brit abroad and have gotten into Swiss and French in HO and N. I did dabble with some British OO through nostalgia but couldn't get over the scale issues (I suppose that goes for N, too). Anyway, this TT thing has got me excited with its correct proportions and it's a scale I've always liked but have been put off by the prototypes modelled in Europe. However, I'd love to relive some of my childhood memories just watching an HST in Swallow flying round a loop of Tillig ballasted track on the floor (no room left for a proper TT layout).

 

That being said, I have emailed Hornby about VAT issues. As they're selling directly from their site, I don't know if they're going to be deducting UK VAT for us EUers (and the rest of the world, for that matter). It seems some shops are doing it so I feel they should follow suit - tho I guess they're VAT registered in France and items would perhaps arrive DDP. I'd be a bit miffed to pay VAT twice. No response as of yet...

 

 

[britishcolumbian]

Just now, Michanglais said:

That being said, I have emailed Hornby about VAT issues. As they're selling directly from their site, I don't know if they're going to be deducting UK VAT for us EUers (and the rest of the world, for that matter).

I've placed a preorder and VAT was removed when I input my Canadian address. I'd guess with the coming EU requirement that sellers charge the VAT of the destination country, you'll be charged French VAT?

[Michanglais]

8 minutes ago, britishcolumbian said:

I've placed a preorder and VAT was removed when I input my Canadian address. I'd guess with the coming EU requirement that sellers charge the VAT of the destination country, you'll be charged French VAT?

 

Thanks for your response. That would be excellent! I'm kinda still hoping for confirmation from Hornby tho because I'm guessing they must be VAT registered in France because of their European models/brands - the French post office is notorious at slapping French VAT on even if it has already been paid (for instance, Hatton's are French VAT registered and so 'collect' VAT for the French tax authorities at the time of purchase but try explaining that to the French post office who are the VAT 'collectors' for the govt).

 

All that being said, there's time yet. I don't intend to place any orders (at the risk of losing out) until I've read reviews and seen production images. One thing I am concerned about is how they're going to deal with their couplings. The images so far seem to suggest some models with body-mounted couplings and others with bogie-mounted. I'm very much used to buffer-to-buffer coupling and wouldn't want to go back to trainset gaps in-between coaches. There are solutions out there but it'd be nice if Hornby made the effort to go full NEM...

 

Sorry, that turned into a very mixed post!

 

 

[009 micro modeller]

6 hours ago, RateTheFreight said:

Since then I’ve aspired to build all manner of ‘proper’ layouts dabbling in everything from N gauge to OO9 to coarse scale O gauge

Just to give you more options to think about, 009 is I would say significantly easier to do now than it was a few years ago, depending on what sort of prototype you want to model.

[Michanglais]

13 minutes ago, Tim Dubya said:

 

Is that a tax with all the internal organs still attached and cooked in garlic?

 

I know some of you probably find that racist, and it may be, but I still haven't forgotten 1066 (and all that). 😜

 

 

 

For the amount they charge - it might as well be!

[Pete the Elaner]

14 hours ago, melmerby said:

I went to a (bit of a dingy) model shop in East/North East London (somewhere out on the Central line).

I was in the shop 30 -45mins and in that time no one asked if they could help me.

There were some boxes out which you could browse through, mainly etches & detailing stuff, which I did browse.

There seemed to be more interest in the back of the shop about other things other than customers.

But I eventually left feeling totally ignored.

I was so impressed by the (lack of) customer service that I have even forgotten the name of it!

 

Central Line? Sounds like the model shop in Leytonstone. I'm guessing that was a while back because it closed a few years ago after the owner died.

[Pete the Elaner]

I think Hornby have missed a trick with this one.

The track looks like their OO range simply scaled down, so you can build a smaller train set.

TT should also allow you to build something more realistic in the space currently available, with more gentle curves etc.

Some flexitrack with longer points/crossings would allow this, especially with correctly proportioned sleepers. Track has been laid on concrete sleepers for over 50 years too. These would attract other customers & would be easier to introduce with a range than at a later date.

Maybe Peco have this planned (I've not seen any of their TT images yet).

[Hobby]

Wouldn't be much use to the train set brigade they are aiming at, flexi track isn't as easy as set track on a trackmat! Seriously, though, Peco will do the things that you ask in due course, so no need for Hornby to do it?

[andythenorth]

I have some of the Peco TT:120 track, I think it's excellent. 

 

There is currently only one point radius, but there's possibly another radius planned.

[MoonM]

12 hours ago, rob D2 said:

excellent ! can't wait for the " it doesn't crawl ", " it has no sprung buffers " and " it doesn't  have proper bearings ". 

All vital aspects when running on carpet .

 

Maybe he'll invest in a table for his TT gauge? 

[The Stationmaster]

2 hours ago, Tim Dubya said:

 

Is that a tax with all the internal organs still attached and cooked in garlic?

 

I know some of you probably find that racist, and it may be, but I still haven't forgotten 1066 (and all that). 😜

 

 

I can never forget 1066 and all that because one of my progenitors was on the winning side (I often wonder if he was an archer who fired a certain well know arrow??)😇

 

1 hour ago, Pete the Elaner said:

I think Hornby have missed a trick with this one.

The track looks like their OO range simply scaled down, so you can build a smaller train set.

TT should also allow you to build something more realistic in the space currently available, with more gentle curves etc.

Some flexitrack with longer points/crossings would allow this, especially with correctly proportioned sleepers. Track has been laid on concrete sleepers for over 50 years too. These would attract other customers & would be easier to introduce with a range than at a later date.

Maybe Peco have this planned (I've not seen any of their TT images yet).

While I haven't seen anything running on it I have seen the Peco TT120 track close up and it looks pretty good.  Way ahead of the Hornby stuff (which doesn't look to be difficult of course) and the Peco buildings also look good when nicely finished.  

 

The only thing I wonder about is whether the Hornby wheels, with what look like (in photos) some quite hefty flanges, will be happy with it and whether the production of consistent back-to-back dimensions on Hornby TT120 will be any better than it is on some of their 00 offerings?

[BRTrainz]

2 hours ago, Michanglais said:

 

Thanks for your response. That would be excellent! I'm kinda still hoping for confirmation from Hornby tho because I'm guessing they must be VAT registered in France because of their European models/brands - the French post office is notorious at slapping French VAT on even if it has already been paid (for instance, Hatton's are French VAT registered and so 'collect' VAT for the French tax authorities at the time of purchase but try explaining that to the French post office who are the VAT 'collectors' for the govt).

 

All that being said, there's time yet. I don't intend to place any orders (at the risk of losing out) until I've read reviews and seen production images. One thing I am concerned about is how they're going to deal with their couplings. The images so far seem to suggest some models with body-mounted couplings and others with bogie-mounted. I'm very much used to buffer-to-buffer coupling and wouldn't want to go back to trainset gaps in-between coaches. There are solutions out there but it'd be nice if Hornby made the effort to go full NEM...

 

Sorry, that turned into a very mixed post!

 

 

I suspect the images of stock with non-NEM bogie mounted couplings are just placeholders photoshopped from the OO equivalent.

[Jezzarick]

Certainly a lot of doom mongering & people not understanding who the market is for this range.

 

I'm 27 but I've been "modelling" since I was a tiny boy, this suits me perfectly because:

• Smaller than OO Gauge (which what I currently model) means I can fit more into the same space - perfect as I dislike the size of N-gauge & 00 really is just too big for a proper layout
• Cheaper (so far) than OO gauge, I'm fine with railroad less detail models as long as the price matches, I want a locomotive thats broadly representative I really dont care about accuracy
• International standard, means I can model railrays from around the globe potentially on the same scale, no mix and matching HO with OO etc

What I would like to see, as other commenters have pointed out, is snap track to put together and take layouts apart much easier than sodding individual fishplates.

 

I mostly model GWR so once I see the Castle out (and any tank engines like Panniers or Prairies) then I'll be jumping in.

 

I completley see this as a range targeted at new-comers to the hobby & for families with the train sets, or for those like me who want something between 00 & N, I do not see it in the slightest as a competitor to 00 & nor should it be.

[irishmail]

4 hours ago, Michanglais said:

Don't know if anyone has come up with this yet (this thread is very long and I'm too lazy to read through it all) but, now that the EP for the 08 is out there somewhere, I'd love to see an image of it sat between an OO and N pairing of 08s. Just to really see the difference.

 

I'm a Brit abroad and have gotten into Swiss and French in HO and N. I did dabble with some British OO through nostalgia but couldn't get over the scale issues (I suppose that goes for N, too). Anyway, this TT thing has got me excited with its correct proportions and it's a scale I've always liked but have been put off by the prototypes modelled in Europe. However, I'd love to relive some of my childhood memories just watching an HST in Swallow flying round a loop of Tillig ballasted track on the floor (no room left for a proper TT layout).

 

That being said, I have emailed Hornby about VAT issues. As they're selling directly from their site, I don't know if they're going to be deducting UK VAT for us EUers (and the rest of the world, for that matter). It seems some shops are doing it so I feel they should follow suit - tho I guess they're VAT registered in France and items would perhaps arrive DDP. I'd be a bit miffed to pay VAT twice. No response as of yet...

 

 

Hi,  From what I can gather, I think Hornby, like Hattons are registered for VAT payment with certain EU countries.

https://support.Hornby.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4403093130770-New-improved-and-easier-ordering-from-EU-countries

 

Well I hope so anyway as I am interested in ordering some TT:120 items from them.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Regards,

John

[irishmail]

It has been asked about the couplings espesially for the coaches if they are body or bogie mounted, so I emailed Hornby yesterday and had a response this morning.

 

My intial email question,

Hi,  

Could you please advise if at all possible, how the couplings are going to be fitted to the new range of TT 120 coaches?

Will they be body mounted (which will be better for the close couplings to work) or fixed to the bogies as per the images on the Mk1 and Mk3 coaches?

I look forward to your response and clarification in relation to this.

Kind regards

 

Hornbys reply,

Hi there John,
These will be Sprung Kinomatic Couplings which attach to the underside of the body/chassis, These will not be bogie mounted.
Hope this helps! 

Kind Regards,

 

Regards,  John

Edited October 18, 2022 by irishmail

[Ravenser]

3 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

I can never forget 1066 and all that because one of my progenitors was on the winning side (I often wonder if he was an archer who fired a certain well know arrow??)😇

 

While I haven't seen anything running on it I have seen the Peco TT120 track close up and it looks pretty good.  Way ahead of the Hornby stuff (which doesn't look to be difficult of course) and the Peco buildings also look good when nicely finished.  

 

The only thing I wonder about is whether the Hornby wheels, with what look like (in photos) some quite hefty flanges, will be happy with it and whether the production of consistent back-to-back dimensions on Hornby TT120 will be any better than it is on some of their 00 offerings?

 

Have you seen the flanges in N?  But Peco code55 seems to cope, and I'm not aware of any issues.

 

TT-120 wheels are going to have deeper-looking flanges than we are used to in OO , simply because in a smaller scale you won't be scaling down an RP25/110 wheelset pro-rata. So long as the flanges are no deeper than N in absolute terms there is no issue

 

Also - remember that Hornby have an existing TT involvement via Arnold on the Continent . There is no obvious reason to use coarser wheel than they already use on Arnold TT. Peco will have had those to play with , along with samples of Tillig and Roco, when designing the track

 

All the signs are that Hornby are simply taking established NEM TT standards as used on the Continent and applying them to this range

 

[Jeff Smith]

I remember reading somewhere that Hornby sells a lot of track.  Many Hornby buyers wouldn't use anything else, probably in the belief that it is the only compatible choice.  These are the buyers that TT is initially aimed at.  Pre-ballasted plastic track would have been a lot tougher but stops the owner moving the layout to the next permanently laid and loosely ballasted level.