Hornby announce TT:120

[Keith Addenbrooke]

21 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

Pleased to say it does run on the Peco track despite the flanges looking a little heavy. 
Excuse the dull patch on top of the boiler but it’s been freezing in a van for hours and as quickly as I wipe it off it returns 🥶 The paint is perfectly good. 

 

Peco top Hornby underneath 

 

 

The draincocks were in a separate pack. 

 

Detail is nice and it runs nicely straight out of the box. The flanges could be finer but apart from that very well done. It’s a shame they aren’t going to be in the shops as I think they would appeal to those tight on space. 
 

 

Thanks @PaulRhB, particularly helpful to see the Peco / Hornby track comparison, and very good news for all interested in TT:120 to hear the flanges are OK with the narrower Peco clearances (and for me personally as I’ve bought Peco track 😀).

 

I think I’d also like to offer a “Well done, Hornby” at this point - I think TT:120 is a great development and Hornby have “gone big”, so great to see product now arriving and creating good first impressions.  Keith.

 

Edited December 12, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke

[Jeff Smith]

Are there cheaper DCC chip options to those offered by Hornby?

[Delta_Who]

First photos (bar the packaging but I can forgive them for being more eco-friendly) look stellar! Anxiously awaiting the HSTs now. Perhaps a TT western layout is possible :o

[Hroth]

35 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

 

 

 

People used to looking at the underside of OO gauge locos and stock are going to have to re-educate their brains. The back-to-backs look sooooo wide!!!

 

I'm so jealous that the Scotsman pre-orders have arrived first....  🤪

 

 

 

[5Dublo2]

13 minutes ago, Jeff Smith said:

Are there cheaper DCC chip options to those offered by Hornby?

 

For Sound: When / if Hornby start selling separate sound chips then probably not (as in the OO gauge world, TTS decoders have always been cheaper than the 3rd-Party versions)
For non-Sound: Not sure Hornby have  Next-18 decoders available yet either, so right now you more or less have to go with 3rd-Party offerings. If you look at Hornby's non-sound 8-Pin decoders for OO-gauge then you can definitely get cheaper 3rd-party decoders for them, so I would expect the same to be true for Next-18


 

[andrewshimmin]

4 hours ago, PeterStiles said:

The cardboard is fairly good. My Satan's Express is three years old now and the cardboard is in much better condition than the loco...

Woah, Satan's Express?!?! Hornby got dark suddenly!!! 😜

[Delta_Who]

2 minutes ago, andrewshimmin said:

Woah, Satan's Express?!?! Hornby got dark suddenly!!! 😜

 1:666 scale

[Hroth]

28 minutes ago, Jeff Smith said:

Are there cheaper DCC chip options to those offered by Hornby?

 

8 minutes ago, 5Dublo2 said:

 

For Sound: When / if Hornby start selling separate sound chips then probably not (as in the OO gauge world, TTS decoders have always been cheaper than the 3rd-Party versions)
For non-Sound: Not sure Hornby have  Next-18 decoders available yet either, so right now you more or less have to go with 3rd-Party offerings. If you look at Hornby's non-sound 8-Pin decoders for OO-gauge then you can definitely get cheaper 3rd-party decoders for them, so I would expect the same to be true for Next-18


 

 

Hornby don't appear to have a Next-18 DCC decoder at present. A quick scout around ebay turned up Next-18 decoders at £21 plus.  I'd wait until the first brave soul blogs about installing sound before considering it...

 

[Steamport Southport]

6 minutes ago, andrewshimmin said:

Woah, Satan's Express?!?! Hornby got dark suddenly!!! 😜

 

Never mind that, I sold my soul to Santa!

 

Now he makes me spend all my money on trains....

[Mark Saunders]

3 minutes ago, andrewshimmin said:

Woah, Satan's Express?!?! Hornby got dark suddenly!!! 😜

According to the Marx brothers everyone knows there ain’t no sanity Claus!

 

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=marx+brothers+sanity+clause&view=detail&mid=E103739DE78A6F07C908E103739DE78A6F07C908&FORM=VIRE&PC=APPL

[Jeff Smith]

18 minutes ago, 5Dublo2 said:

 

For Sound: When / if Hornby start selling separate sound chips then probably not (as in the OO gauge world, TTS decoders have always been cheaper than the 3rd-Party versions)
For non-Sound: Not sure Hornby have  Next-18 decoders available yet either, so right now you more or less have to go with 3rd-Party offerings. If you look at Hornby's non-sound 8-Pin decoders for OO-gauge then you can definitely get cheaper 3rd-party decoders for them, so I would expect the same to be true for Next-18


 

The Hornby ones currently available have flying leads with connectors.  Are there any without leads that plug straight in?  My only previous experience with installing chips was with leads that had to be soldered.

 

I should add, for control only, no sound.

Edited December 12, 2022 by Jeff Smith
Added info

[Michanglais]

1 hour ago, BRTrainz said:

Saw your earlier post in thread about reliability.

Mainly interested in the Profi coupling as I think you can lift coupled stock straight out of a train like with rapidos?

My layout will eventually be on a flat tabletop without any inclines so no worrys about that for me.

I am somewhat curious about the (I assume NEM?) magnetic couplings you mentioned - what brand are they?

Definitely not ordering a bulk pack of Profis before testing a few of them.

 

You should be good on a flat surface (by all accounts... they seem very popular with people in N who have permanent layouts, anyway), unlike my roller-coaster! Yep, you can just pick a vehicle up without any wiggling and twisting. 

 

The magnetic couplings I use are indeed for NEM sockets but you have to pull them apart to remove a vehicle from a consist, they're surprisingly strong magnets for their size. 

 

There are a few people who do them - I get mine from a French guy (given that I live in France...) https://www.tj-modeles.fr/shop/prestashop/fr/ He makes them to order and what I really like about them is that he doesn't just stick to the NEM standards, he also offers longer and shorter couplings so you can be sure of getting fully close-coupled stock that runs very reliably, even in push mode (it's surprising how different manufacturers 'interpret' the NEM 'standards'...). 

 

His site is in French (strangely, it used to be in English) but Google Translate may work on it if you don't speak French. As an English-speaking alernative, you could try 'Hunt' couplings https://www.westhillwagonworks.co.uk/hunt-couplings-c-2/ but they don't offer quite such a wide range of lengths as TJ-modeles. If you want to see the Hunts in action, there are tons of vids on YouTube for the OO and N (therefore TT) versions.

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

 

[Michanglais]

Is this the first of many?

 

 

 

 

[APOLLO]

As a once Tri-ang TT fan, I am amazed at the very visual difference in size with the TT3 stuff.

 

This vid has confirmed that it's not for me, but good luck to Hornby and all who purchase TT120.

 

Brit15

[CF MRC]

2 hours ago, VOYAGERBOI said:

Quite why an LNER A1 locomotive is hauling K type Pullman cars built for the Southern Railway I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter to me.

The Queen of Scots Pullman was made up of K class cars (not sure about the names chosen by Hornby). To be strictly correct, these should not be fitted with curtains for a pre-war train. 
 

Tim

[luke_stevens]

3 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

<snip>

Yes, I know it's a hamster I couldn't find a guinea pig.... 😛

<snip>

 

I had the same problem with Microsoft Windings in '95. I wanted to send an Easter Bunny but had to settle for an Easter Elephant instead...

 

Luke

[BRTrainz]

1 hour ago, Jeff Smith said:

The Hornby ones currently available have flying leads with connectors.  Are there any without leads that plug straight in?  My only previous experience with installing chips was with leads that had to be soldered.

 

I should add, for control only, no sound.

Hattons has a 18 pin decoder that appears to plug straight in with no harness for 17 quid:

https://www.hattons.co.uk/241234/hattons_originals_dcr_18pin_direct_18_pin_4_function_1_1amp_direct_plug_decoder_with_back_emf/stockdetail

Bachmann 36-567A and Zimo MX618N18 appear to be other no harness options.

I personally am inclined to go for the Zimo MX618N18 if I decide to go DCC as Zimo decoders are supposed to have excellent motor control but it seems to be out of stock everywhere ATM.

[TEAMYAKIMA]

30 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

As a once Tri-ang TT fan, I am amazed at the very visual difference in size with the TT3 stuff.

 

This vid has confirmed that it's not for me, but good luck to Hornby and all who purchase TT120.

 

Brit15

Yes, but the relationship with 12mm gauge track is so much better. Virtually 100% spot on, so much better than TT3 or OO or N for that matter

[meatloaf]

5 minutes ago, BRTrainz said:

Hattons has a 18 pin decoder that appears to plug straight in with no harness for 17 quid:

https://www.hattons.co.uk/241234/hattons_originals_dcr_18pin_direct_18_pin_4_function_1_1amp_direct_plug_decoder_with_back_emf/stockdetail

Bachmann 36-567A and Zimo MX618N18 appear to be other no harness options.

I personally am inclined to go for the Zimo MX618N18 if I decide to go DCC as Zimo decoders are supposed to have excellent motor control but it seems to be out of stock everywhere ATM.

The Bachmann ones a rebadged zimo, but at almost £40

 

[BRTrainz]

27 minutes ago, meatloaf said:

The Bachmann ones a rebadged zimo, but at almost £40

 

Ah, wondered if that was the case with it looking so similar.

[luke_stevens]

Costal DCC also have a few in stock.

 

Dapol Imperium abd DCC Concepts at around the £25 mark.

 

No connection, just a happy customer :)

 

Luke

 

 

[britishcolumbian]

8 hours ago, Michanglais said:

Just a quick word on the Fleischmann/Roco Profi couplings - they're expensive, a bit ugly and, in my and many people's experience, aren't particularly reliable unless you've got extremely well-laid track and very gentle trasitions into any inclines. Otherwise, they have a bit of a tendency to leave half a train behind and the uncoupling can be very random - not always the same coaches/wagons, not always in the same place on the layout. 

In which case you'd be spending money to get exactly what you already have with the Tillig couplings... but the Tillig couplings can be made to be reliable on uneven track by making sure their height is adjusted precisely on the pole.

[Jeff Smith]

So, are we looking for N scale decoders for TT120?

[RAF96]

Next 18 and Next 18 S are direct plug decoders, that is the spec. The spec also states that the loco and decoder shall be designed so that incorrect orientation is not possible and that precaution must be designed in to allow N18 and N18S decoders to be interchangeable. E.g. speaker installed as part of the PCB or if no sound then to provide other functIonality.

[Michanglais]

7 minutes ago, britishcolumbian said:

In which case you'd be spending money to get exactly what you already have with the Tillig couplings... but the Tillig couplings can be made to be reliable on uneven track by making sure their height is adjusted precisely on the pole.

 

In my own case, as I model French and Swiss HO and N (yay! correct scale/gauge ratios) - HO for full-detailing, both ends and N for operations, my interest lies in the 'correct' proportions of TT:120. I don't intend to build a layout, rather have some fully detailed-up examples of locos like 37s and 47s, some of my childhood faves before I went Continental, then moved Continental. That being said, even in N, the magnetic couplings I use are so discreet it doesn't bother me to see an 'end-of-train' coach with a coupling on it. I find the Tillig couplings ugly and unsightly. If I were to go for running TT, I'd still convert to the magnetic couplings, which would be even more discreet in TT than they are in N.

Clearly, it all depends what your individual requirements and preferences are - in HO, even my coaches have full bufferbeam detailing and their coupling mechanisms removed, clearly that limits them to diorama display. In N, I just want to see trains running, perfectly close-coupled and have no need for the automated uncoupling (I presume) Tillig couplings offer. 

 

All comes down to individual preferances and requirements, really.