Hornby announce TT:120

[andrewshimmin]

Amongst the things I gleaned from the video:

- the Easterner should be out on 30th Jan

- some individual locos (e.g. 4472) and carriages (e.g. Mark 1s and Pullman's) are nearly ready for sale (they showed them boxed up). LMS carriages also coming fairly soon.

- they have some wagons on the way soon too.

- the Class 43 will have working lights and should be in production soon.

- Class 66 is still being designed so sounds like later on in the year

- Duchess seems to be some way away still (maybe end of the year or next year?)

- Digital sets are coming about May

- flex track is ready for production

- Track packs are in the warehouse (not sure why not released for sale yet)

- An 0-6-0T is ready for tooling and another is coming soon. Sounds like a terrier might be coming sometime, not sure if that's one of the ones coming soon (an Austerity 0-6-0ST and a GWR pannier have also been mentioned elsewhere).

- Some surprise products and bundles are in the works.

- I think Simon hinted that a Hall might come at some point (and a Harry Potter version) but I might have misunderstood.

- Southern locos will come too.

 

 

 

 

[Jeff Smith]

A while ago I was building back to back roundy layouts with 16.5 track for On30 and O-16.5, each using the other as the fiddle yard - only the On30 side got built but it occurs to me that the same concept could see back to back Continental and British either in a U, L or roundy configuration.

[SeanTT]

14 hours ago, andrewshimmin said:

Amongst the things I gleaned from the video:

- the Easterner should be out on 30th Jan

- some individual locos (e.g. 4472) and carriages (e.g. Mark 1s and Pullman's) are nearly ready for sale (they showed them boxed up). LMS carriages also coming fairly soon.

- they have some wagons on the way soon too.

- the Class 43 will have working lights and should be in production soon.

- Class 66 is still being designed so sounds like later on in the year

- Duchess seems to be some way away still (maybe end of the year or next year?)

- Digital sets are coming about May

- flex track is ready for production

- Track packs are in the warehouse (not sure why not released for sale yet)

- An 0-6-0T is ready for tooling and another is coming soon. Sounds like a terrier might be coming sometime, not sure if that's one of the ones coming soon (an Austerity 0-6-0ST and a GWR pannier have also been mentioned elsewhere).

- Some surprise products and bundles are in the works.

- I think Simon hinted that a Hall might come at some point (and a Harry Potter version) but I might have misunderstood.

- Southern locos will come too.

 

 

 

 

I emailed Simon to clarify about track packs and he said "the Track Packs they are still on schedule to arrive in April" 

 

they have individual pieces of track in the warehouse it would appear but not boxed up Track Packs etc

[Michanglais]

I have a question regarding the BR blue/grey HST.

 

Would it have run with a Tourist Guard Second or an ordinary Second next to the power car? I ask this because I'm not sure about when the Guard's compartment in the power car was taken out of use and the compartment added to the Mk3 coach.

 

From the images shown of the blue/grey HST, it looks as tho the guard's compartment is still in place (presuming this will be the final version released) - did the sets run with this still in place even tho the guard's compartment had been added to the Mk3?

 

I'm generally a continental modeller but HSTs were my first love so I'm keen to get my hands on one but I'm not familiar with UK 'Eras', which are different to continental ones and I'm not sure where I could find this information out.

 

Cheers,

Michael

[andrewshimmin]

42 minutes ago, SeanTT said:

I emailed Simon to clarify about track packs and he said "the Track Packs they are still on schedule to arrive in April" 

 

they have individual pieces of track in the warehouse it would appear but not boxed up Track Packs etc

 

This is the one thing which I find quite frustrating. I think the track packs should have been prioritised to be ready as soon as the sets were.

[Taigatrommel]

14 minutes ago, Michanglais said:

I have a question regarding the BR blue/grey HST.

 

Would it have run with a Tourist Guard Second or an ordinary Second next to the power car? I ask this because I'm not sure about when the Guard's compartment in the power car was taken out of use and the compartment added to the Mk3 coach.

 

From the images shown of the blue/grey HST, it looks as tho the guard's compartment is still in place (presuming this will be the final version released) - did the sets run with this still in place even tho the guard's compartment had been added to the Mk3?

 

I'm generally a continental modeller but HSTs were my first love so I'm keen to get my hands on one but I'm not familiar with UK 'Eras', which are different to continental ones and I'm not sure where I could find this information out.

 

Cheers,

Michael

The guard's van space remained right up to and into privatisation in the power cars that were built with it.

[Ravenser]

11 minutes ago, Michanglais said:

I have a question regarding the BR blue/grey HST.

 

Would it have run with a Tourist Guard Second or an ordinary Second next to the power car? I ask this because I'm not sure about when the Guard's compartment in the power car was taken out of use and the compartment added to the Mk3 coach.

 

From the images shown of the blue/grey HST, it looks as tho the guard's compartment is still in place (presuming this will be the final version released) - did the sets run with this still in place even tho the guard's compartment had been added to the Mk3?

 

I'm generally a continental modeller but HSTs were my first love so I'm keen to get my hands on one but I'm not familiar with UK 'Eras', which are different to continental ones and I'm not sure where I could find this information out.

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

 

There would be a TGS at one end only. Since there are power cars at both ends , there would have been a FO at the other end. My experience on the ECML in the 80s was that the first class accomodation was at the concourse end at KX , and the TGS at the country end of the train. (First class at the London end was fairly standard operating procedure and I think still is. On push /pull sets  the loco is normally at the country end of the train)

 

The guards compartment was taken out of use quite quickly as being next to the engine was found to be very unsatisfactory for the guard. 

[Pacific231G]

20 minutes ago, andrewshimmin said:

 

This is the one thing which I find quite frustrating. I think the track packs should have been prioritised to be ready as soon as the sets were.

Peco?

[Ravenser]

3 minutes ago, Taigatrommel said:

The guard's van space remained right up to and into privatisation in the power cars that were built with it.

 

 

I can't quickly find references for where in the production run the guard's compartment was omitted. But since HST sets were still being built until 1982, the guard's compartments were out of use very early

 

P.S Platform 5 spotters books quote the TGSs being built from 1980 onwards

[andrewshimmin]

I forgot to say that in the YouTube video Hornby also said other sets will be coming - they mentioned a green 08 with some wagons.

[andrewshimmin]

30 minutes ago, Pacific231G said:

Peco?

 

You can buy Hornby track pieces just not the packs at the moment. The packs come with a slight saving and are much vaunted in the Hornby literature and advertising - but not available.

Peco track is available as you say but not the same geometry as Hornby so would rather stick to one system for simplicity. The Hornby points seem to work better for old Triang TT stock (for mine, anyway).

[Pacific231G]

36 minutes ago, andrewshimmin said:

 

You can buy Hornby track pieces just not the packs at the moment. The packs come with a slight saving and are much vaunted in the Hornby literature and advertising - but not available.

Peco track is available as you say but not the same geometry as Hornby so would rather stick to one system for simplicity. The Hornby points seem to work better for old Triang TT stock (for mine, anyway).

Indeed. I have some old Tri-ang stock left over from my childhood and I was thinking of using a motor bogie under a metre gauge railcar but it didn't like (as in derailed every time) my Tillig and Peco H0m points which I assume are  to the same NEM standard (they being gauge rather than scale related) as TT:120. 

[JohnR]

1 hour ago, andrewshimmin said:

I forgot to say that in the YouTube video Hornby also said other sets will be coming - they mentioned a green 08 with some wagons.

 

Now this IS good news. Assuming they have an appropriate selection of wagons, and not the usual random selection of stuff.

[frobisher]

2 hours ago, Ravenser said:

I can't quickly find references for where in the production run the guard's compartment was omitted. But since HST sets were still being built until 1982, the guard's compartments were out of use very early

 

43002-55 should all have been delivered with guards office in place, no exhaust deflectors

43056-123 probably also the same

43124-198 would be to the revised spec with no guards office plus roof exhaust deflectors delivered 1981+

[Ravenser]

1 hour ago, Pacific231G said:

Indeed. I have some old Tri-ang stock left over from my childhood and I was thinking of using a motor bogie under a metre gauge railcar but it didn't like (as in derailed every time) my Tillig and Peco H0m points which I assume are  to the same NEM standard (they being gauge rather than scale related) as TT:120. 

 

I have seen in a 3mm context that the check rails on Peco have to be filed /modified to take Triang TT3

[Porfuera]

17 hours ago, andrewshimmin said:

Amongst the things I gleaned from the video:

- the Easterner should be out on 30th Jan

- some individual locos (e.g. 4472) and carriages (e.g. Mark 1s and Pullman's) are nearly ready for sale (they showed them boxed up). LMS carriages also coming fairly soon.

- they have some wagons on the way soon too.

- the Class 43 will have working lights and should be in production soon.

- Class 66 is still being designed so sounds like later on in the year

- Duchess seems to be some way away still (maybe end of the year or next year?)

- Digital sets are coming about May

- flex track is ready for production

- Track packs are in the warehouse (not sure why not released for sale yet)

- An 0-6-0T is ready for tooling and another is coming soon. Sounds like a terrier might be coming sometime, not sure if that's one of the ones coming soon (an Austerity 0-6-0ST and a GWR pannier have also been mentioned elsewhere).

- Some surprise products and bundles are in the works.

- I think Simon hinted that a Hall might come at some point (and a Harry Potter version) but I might have misunderstood.

- Southern locos will come too.

 

Having just watched it this morning I think you're right about the Hall and Harry Potter version - that was my understanding as well.

 

Another thing I thought was interesting was that the TT:120 DCC sets will not have a controller, just a power supply and a cable to connect it to the track. Presumably this will apply to OO sets as well in the future. Control will be via the bluetooth app on a smart device, which will mean that only Hornby-equipped locos and accessories can used on such a layout unless a DCC controller is also wired up to allow for the control of non-bluetooth DCC devices. This is obviously not a problem for anyone already using DCC because they will already have a DCC controller, but it seems to me that anyone starting up in DCC with a Hornby set will be 'locked in' to using Hornby's bluetooth-controlled chips until this form of control becomes available from other DCC chip manufacturers or alternatively they will need to buy a DCC controller to control any non-bluetooth chips, including legacy chips.

 

I assume that Hornby's bluetooth-controlled chips can still be controlled through the track in the normal way...? I can't remember whether I've seen that stated or not, but it would seem a bad idea to have bluetooth as the only method of control since many people will prefer other types of controller to a smart device.

 

Also, anyone with an existing DCC controller will be able to use the Hornby bluetooth app to control their layout if their controller has an RJ12 port and can accept Hornby's bluetooth legacy dongle which "allows for non-Bluetooth® NMRA compliant decoders to be used with the HM7000 system." However, Hornby seem to have shot themselves in the foot slightly because their existing eLink device doesn't have an RJ12 socket and SK seemed to imply that they haven't come up with a solution for that yet.

 

Slightly disappointingly, there is no DCC sound provision with the 08 and other small shunters due to space limitations of the chip and speaker. Obviously people have been putting sound into N Gauge 08s for years but generally surgery is required and so I'll be waiting for braver people than me to get their hacksaws out before I consider it(!).

 

I might be mis-remembering but somewhere near the beginning I thought SK said that they would consider doing a green 08 if there was sufficient demand, but then in response to a question about Smokey Joe and Coca-Cola sets he said that they were already thinking about doing a shunting set with a green 08 and all that was required was to sort out the packaging. If I've got that right then it seems a bit contradictory but then I guess they're trying to be careful not to let too many cats out of too many bags and/or trying not to talk about things that won't be delivered otherwise they'll get the inevitable "...but you promised you'd do xxxx!"

 

Other things that I can remember:

 

Set locos will be just as detailed as the individually-available locos i.e. sets won't contain cheaper versions of locos (and presumably also rolling stock, although The Scotsman's Pullmans weren't lit but then this was made clear eventually).

They're not ruling out the possibility of selling via other routes rather than solely through the Hornby website but they want to see how well TT:120 does first.

Class 15(?), Duchess, Terriers and Pecketts were mentioned (maybe some are already in the catalogue, I haven't checked).

 

Feel free to correct me if I've got any of those things wrong!

 

Cheers, Neil.

[Porfuera]

2 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

Peco?

 

One problem with Peco is that it uses flexi and I sort of  think it won't hold its shape too well if all you want to do is set up a temporary layout on a table or floor for a couple of hours and then put it away after.

 

I'm not knocking it - I have some Peco TT:120 track and points and the only thing that's stopping me from using it is my innate indolence combined with a current lack of anything to run on it - but I can see the advantages of both types.

Edited January 20, 2023 by Porfuera

[Moxy]

35 minutes ago, Porfuera said:

I might be mis-remembering but somewhere near the beginning I thought SK said that they would consider doing a green 08 if there was sufficient demand, but then in response to a question about Smokey Joe and Coca-Cola sets he said that they were already thinking about doing a shunting set with a green 08 and all that was required was to sort out the packaging. If I've got that right then it seems a bit contradictory but then I guess they're trying to be careful not to let too many cats out of too many bags and/or trying not to talk about things that won't be delivered otherwise they'll get the inevitable "...but you promised you'd do xxxx!"

 

 

Perhaps the 'sufficient demand' has already reached the level where it is worth their while.

 

I for one would welcome a 'Local goods' type set with an 08 in it, and good to know it's likely to be a green one.

[Michanglais]

47 minutes ago, frobisher said:

 

43002-55 should all have been delivered with guards office in place, no exhaust deflectors

43056-123 probably also the same

43124-198 would be to the revised spec with no guards office plus roof exhaust deflectors delivered 1981+

 

Thanks for the info.

 

It'll be interesting to see what Hornby produce, then. The image (I don't know if it's an OO placeholder or whether the number is what will be produced - I'm kind of new to more 'recent' Hornby - haven't modelled the UK scene for at least 20 years... god, I'm old...) shows 43062 with 'Guard' clearly printed on the door and (I think) fitted with exhaust deflectors (I'm no expert in this matter, but aren't they the black 'lumps' on the roof, slightly overlapping onto the yellow?). 

 

Would this indicate a modified exhaust deflector unit with the wording 'Guard' left in place? Would that place it at a very specific period?

 

All conjecture of course because there's no indication of the 'final' running number in the item description... 

 

Fully prepared to be corrected due to my lack of knowledge in this area!

 

 

[Robin Brasher]

It looks like Hornby have gone to the trouble of putting a Guard's compartment in the Inter City version of the High Speed Train and I think that this train is more suitable for a smaller gauge than 00 due to its size.

 

Turning to Simon Kohler's point about the costs of producing 00 gauge locomotives being the same as TT gauge locomotives I wonder why some of the TT gauge locomotives are cheaper.

 

The 00 gauge City of London costs £241.99 whereas the TT gauge Duchess of Atholl is £145.99 &

The 00 gauge Golden Fleece costs £217,99 whereas the TT gauge Silver King is £145.99

[PeterStiles]

2 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

why some of the TT gauge locomotives are cheaper

Its called a "loss leader" aka.. "get 'em hooked, then whack the price up"

[Chamby]

1 minute ago, Robin Brasher said:

Turning to Simon Kohler's point about the costs of producing 00 gauge locomotives being the same as TT gauge locomotives I wonder why some of the TT gauge locomotives are cheaper.

It’s marketing!  Hornby will be using price to tempt people into TT.  You’ll find that TT pricing will also compare well to N gauge.  Well, for now.  They have to secure a captive market, then expect prices to rise …

[D9020 Nimbus]

When I watched the recording of the latest TT Talk the video was about 2 minutes behind the sound. Anybody else experience this?

[Porfuera]

28 minutes ago, D9020 Nimbus said:

When I watched the recording of the latest TT Talk the video was about 2 minutes behind the sound. Anybody else experience this?

 

I didn't have that problem. I watched the recording of the livestream this morning directly on YouTube (i.e. not via the Hornby website if that is possible and anyway I could only find TT Talk Episode 1 there) and I don't know if it is available on other socials such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc.

 

Maybe there was high internet usage in your area and audio requires less bandwidth so video was slower getting through? I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm completely wrong with that - I worked in IT for many years but I'd be the first to admit that I don't have a clue about networks!

Edited January 20, 2023 by Porfuera

[bradfordbuffer]

2 hours ago, Robin Brasher said:

It looks like Hornby have gone to the trouble of putting a Guard's compartment in the Inter City version of the High Speed Train and I think that this train is more suitable for a smaller gauge than 00 due to its size.

 

Turning to Simon Kohler's point about the costs of producing 00 gauge locomotives being the same as TT gauge locomotives I wonder why some of the TT gauge locomotives are cheaper.

 

The 00 gauge City of London costs £241.99 whereas the TT gauge Duchess of Atholl is £145.99 &

The 00 gauge Golden Fleece costs £217,99 whereas the TT gauge Silver King is £145.99

Think the cost of tt120 is possibly at small returns for future growth..ops! rmweb speculation again ....I'm  a fool!