Hornby announce TT:120

[D9020 Nimbus]

However Tillig indicate the radius of the curved bit (only) while U.K. manufacturers typically quote the equivalent radius, which isn't the same thing as there are short lengths of straight track too. Given it's the same length (166mm) and angle (15 degrees) as a Hornby point then it's equivalent radius should be the same, I'd have thought.

[teletougos]

Barely a squeak of Hornby TT at the Ally Pally show, which I actually managed to get into London for. 

Edited March 20, 2023 by teletougos

[Porfuera]

53 minutes ago, Pacific231G said:

Tillig's double slip does seem to be a very tight radius. 310mm (12.2 inches) equates to 426mm for 16.5 mm so equivalent to a radius a bit less that 17 inch for 00/H0. I found in H0, when trying to "improve" on Minories using Peco slips to shorten the throat, that they were equivalent to their small radius  turnouts which made coaching stock lurch rather than flow.

 

I also can't help thinking that the smaller the scale the less extreme compression you can get away with visually. Looking back at plans for TT-3 from the 1950s/1960s the general advice seemed to be to not simply reduce every dimension to 3/4 of its 4mm scale equivalent.  Peco seem to have embraced this with their TT "medium" turnout having a nominal 3ft radius so equivalent to a 5ft radius in 00/H0 and closer in equivalent length to their large radius 00/H0 turnouts. 

 

310mm is Hornby's second radius so should be OK for larger locos but as you mentioned it might make the coaches lurch a bit.

 

Tillig make a longer one: https://www.tillig.com/eng/Produkte/produktinfo-83391.html

 

Hornby's points are 631mm so this is larger than those while maintaining the same 15 degree angle but it might require some extensive rejigging of the plan because of the extra length.

 

It appears to be electrofrog which the small one currently isn't. I think the large one looks better, too - the small one has a lot of rail squeezed into a small space, which looks crowded and a bit toy-like.

[Pacific231G]

It does look better but I've never seen one with a cast common rail like that. Is it a type of double slip used in Germany?

I abandoned ideas of using Peco's slip (to be fair I have an SMP copper clad slip that is just as sharp) or indeed any of their small radius points simply because I couldn't square having corridor coaches with one buffer halfway between the buffers of the next coach and the corridor connections displaced laterally by three quarters of their width (or worse).

It's one of my pet bugbears that modellers worry about every detail of a carriage being spot on yet accept a yawning chasm between them that would send any passenger trying to move around the train to their death!

Edited March 21, 2023 by Pacific231G

[Porfuera]

8 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

It does look better but I've never seen one with a cast common rail like that. Is it a type of double slip used in Germany?

 

It's one of my pet bugbears that modellers worry about every detail of a carriage being spot on yet accept a yawning chasm between them that would send any passenger trying to move around the train to their death!

 

Surely there are always going to be manufacturing compromises with RTP track in order to keep costs down. You could say the same thing about Hornby's points and crossings with their big lumps of brown plastic in the middle.

 

Similarly people have to compromise on space to achieve what they want - for example, Hornby's curves are impossibly tight for most real-world situations. Not everyone is lucky enough to have an entire garage or loft space to have sweeping curves and reasonable-length stations with full-length trains running through the landscape. Most people are stuck with a small board in a spare room if they're lucky and have to compromise somewhere.

Edited March 21, 2023 by Porfuera

[D9020 Nimbus]

The big one is described as a "Baseler" outside double slip. I'm pretty sure the Tillig points are based on German practice.

[Grovenor]

18 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

It does look better but I've never seen one with a cast common rail like that. Is it a type of double slip used in Germany?

Yes, very much so, common in Germany Austria and Switzerland in a variety of detail variants.

http://www.norgrove.me.uk/images/66162-WiesbadenDS.jpg

[Les1952]

 

Two of the latest three arrrivals - the other being a Ferkeltaxi railbus set by Kres.  This gives another impression of just how much smaller the UK loading gauge is than the German- the BR80 is quite a small loco by Continental standards.

 

You can tell the BR80 is one of Roco's earlier models in TT gauge with the rather prominent worm visible in the cab and the citcuiboard visible at the other side.  Still at under £100 including postage from Germany its price compares well with the Hornby stuff that is to come.  I'll wager my J94s won't be as cheap, though they will be a bit less tall.

 

The BR80 is now out of stock at Roco, though Elwira and Donnerbucsch Koln are both showing at least 10 in stock.   When I can set the layout up again in May after the NRM N-gauge show I'll experiment with Dapol Easi-shunt couplers on these two.  My BR vans may have manifested themselves by then also.

 

Les

[Porfuera]

My last two wagon purchases arrived this morning (a third 12T Tank and a brake van) - lovely models but they arrived  in two separate parcels at the same time. And obviously I'm not the first person to have this happen.

 

This means in total I've received four wagons in three parcels with free postage on all of them as far as I can see from my credit card statement. They were all pre-orders so it is not like Hornby (or possibly the external company that handles their shipping - CCL Logistics?) didn't have advanced warning of what they were going to be sending me. Plus the packing boxes all seem to be much larger than they need to be for what is inside them and extra padding is required to stop the contents from bouncing around.

 

I'm by no means an expert in this area but surely sending orders out in this way is inefficient (both in terms of packaging materials and postage) and must eat into Hornby's profits? All I can think of is that they have done the sums and for some reason it works out cheaper for them to do it this way than it would do if they co-ordinated the individual orders with the deliveries and sent each delivery out in a single parcel.

 

This is not a whinge - I'm happy as long as my orders turn up in one piece - I'm just a little confused by the business model...

Edited March 22, 2023 by Porfuera

[Michanglais]

I have a question regarding the HSTs.

 

From what I can gather, there are 7 different coaches in both the BR Blue/Yellow scheme and IC Swallow scheme (tho Hornby's site seems to have a habit of sometimes 'not listing every item per era').

 

I'm faaaaaar from an expert on HST formations but I'm under the impression that the initial configurations were 7-car on the Western Region and 8-car on the Eastern. I am aware that in the latter years there were a lot of variations but I don't know when these started occurring. 

 

If there are 7 different running numbers available, does that mean 4 x 2nd/Standard, 1 x Buffet, 2 x 1st?

 

Does that mean we're looking at Western Region models (and if so, what's the 'E' doing in front of the coach number on the Blue/Grey versions, unless these images really are 'place-holders' (tho, the 'E' number is repeated in the descriptions of the B/G versions)? 

 

Anyone got any ideas? I kind of want to build a full-length model of each but would that mean having 2 x one of the running numbers (presumably 2nd/Standard?)?

 

Any clarification would be greatly appreciated!

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

 

 

 

[philsandy]

On 18/03/2023 at 17:04, Porfuera said:

I didn't realise how tiny they are until I coupled them up to the loco and the carriages - they almost look like they're the wrong scale.

 

Here's a short video of them behind Blink Bonny. I put them between the tender and the coaches to give the couplings a bit of a test. Apologies in advance for the camera work!

 

I'll see if I can clear off the dining room table and get something better. That should also get me some brownie points from the Domestic Authority!

 

 

 

My Mobil tank wagon arrived on Saturday and I thought the same. They are actually 10T and not 12T as stated in the catalogue. I'm sure they are correct, it's a TT model of a small tank wagon. I have three 14T tanks in 00 and these are much larger behind a 00 loco. 

The NE brake van arrived this morning, this is noticeably bigger than the Mobil tank. 

 

Edited March 22, 2023 by philsandy

[Porfuera]

The "TT6015 21T Mineral Wagon, B314633 - Era 5" is now available for pre-orders.

 

In the first issue of the TT:120 Club magazine, three variants were listed, as follows:

 

TT6015 21-ton mineral wagon Era 5
TT6016 21-ton mineral wagon Era 4
TT6017 21-ton mineral wagon Era 6

 

It seems that it is only the first of these that can be pre-ordered since the other two variants are still not in the shop as far as I can see. Therefore I assume those will be released later rather than all being released together as suggested in the magazine.

 

Cheers, Neil.

[Porfuera]

13 hours ago, Porfuera said:

My last two wagon purchases arrived this morning (a third 12T Tank and a brake van) - lovely models but they arrived  in two separate parcels at the same time. And obviously I'm not the first person to have this happen.

 

This means in total I've received four wagons in three parcels with free postage on all of them as far as I can see from my credit card statement. They were all pre-orders so it is not like Hornby (or possibly the external company that handles their shipping - CCL Logistics?) didn't have advanced warning of what they were going to be sending me. Plus the packing boxes all seem to be much larger than they need to be for what is inside them and extra padding is required to stop the contents from bouncing around.

 

I'm by no means an expert in this area but surely sending orders out in this way is inefficient (both in terms of packaging materials and postage) and must eat into Hornby's profits? All I can think of is that they have done the sums and for some reason it works out cheaper for them to do it this way than it would do if they co-ordinated the individual orders with the deliveries and sent each delivery out in a single parcel.

 

This is not a whinge - I'm happy as long as my orders turn up in one piece - I'm just a little confused by the business model...

 

I just tried placing a pre-order for some wagons and it looks like this process has changed since the last time I placed a wagon pre-order (on 15th Feb, I think).

 

Previously, when I was ordering individual wagons, as long my pre-order total after the club discount was applied (i.e. the amount I was actually going to pay) came to £50 or more then postage was free for every item. It didn't even matter if the wagons were scheduled for release at different times, the postage on each individual item was free.

 

Now it seems that no matter how many different wagons you group together in a pre-order, £3.95 postage is applied to each wagon. Postage is only free if you buy multiple copies of the same wagon and the total for that order comes to more than £50 - but any other wagon orders of less than £50 in that same basket will still have postage applied.

 

For example, a while ago I pre-ordered one of each TTA and the postage was free. If I try that now then £3.95 postage appears to be applied to each TTA, so effectively a total of £11.85 postage for three wagons. So I guess if you pre-order ten different wagons you'll be charged a total of £39.50 postage. Obviously you don't pay until each one is despatched.

 

Presumably you would try to claim back the postage if two or more arrive on the same day (as happened to me on Saturday and again on Wednesday) but I don't know whether you would be able to do that if they all arrived on different days. For example, last Saturday I received two wagons in one box and then on Wednesday I received the remaining two wagons in two boxes - even though, as we know, all the wagons were released at the same time and my credit card was charged four times on the same day (once for each wagon). Would that count as one delivery or two or three?

 

I guess Hornby have noticed that they're losing money by not sending everything in one box so they're making sure they get their postage up front. But unless something has changed with their logistics then I assume that wagons will still be sent out piecemeal as they are at the moment rather than all together to a single address.

 

The only small positive seems to be that (as far as I can see) the way that the free postage is calculated now appears to be slightly lower. It now seems to depend upon the order amount before the discount is applied being over £50 (i.e. the amount you'd pay if you weren't in the TT:120 Club) rather than what you're actually charged after the discount has been applied. So if you order more than £50 of the same wagon but then the discount is applied and you end up paying less than £50 then you still appear to get free postage. So I guess the boundary for free postage is now effectively 15% lower.

 

Cheers, Neil.

Edited March 23, 2023 by Porfuera

[Michanglais]

Yet another question!

 

I've now got my complete circuit of Tillig ballasted track and am desperate to run my short rake of maroon Mk1s. I was going to wait for the BR Blue 08 (eeek, I know, what a combination but TT is for play for me!) but that could still be a few months off.

 

So I've been considering the A4 Silver King. As I've previously mentioned, I'm not a steamer but, well, why not? 

 

Anyway, I was just wondering, before placing my order, whether there had been the quality control issues on this locomotive as seem to have happened with the Scotsman and Easterner releases? 

 

I'm a bit extra wary living in France because of the hassle of returns. And out of my four Mk1s, one is missing its corridor connections (still no reply from customer services after ten days).

 

Any advice/reassurance welcomed!

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

 

 

[Moxy]

BR Toad E brake van is back in stock again.

 

https://uk.Hornby.com/products/br-dia064-toad-e-brake-van-era-4-tt6012

[Michanglais]

 

Tillig circuit complete - tested with TJ Modèles magnetic close-couplers by pushing the rake of coaches with quite a bit of force - enough to get them to make a full circuit, they're certainly very free-running. No issues on the 396mm radius curves.

 

The straight sections will easily accommodate an 8-car HST, which is probably the longest train I'll run, my intention being to rely on 08s to haul 2 to 4 car rakes as stock movements to allow Mk1s, Mk2s, of all types to be hauled, while keeping purchasing costs down by not having to build full rakes, but representing many liveries). 

 

My only concern is whether the Mk3 substructure fairing will scrape on some of the uneven track (due to warped, century-old parquet). I'll have to wait a while to test that I guess!

 

I'm not sure about sidings. The unevenness of the floor precludes me from having points in N scale - coaches simply 'jump' the rails. I may use the same method in TT of simply having a few parallel lines either side of the through track for stock display/storage. The couplings make for very easy stock transfers from the 'sidings' to the mainline.

 

Eventually there will be powered diorama 'shelves' for all my 3 scales but that's for the future. 

 

Just awaiting motive power now to be able to play... 

 

[PeterStiles]

1 minute ago, Michanglais said:

The unevenness of the floor precludes me from having points in N scale

surely Kato Unitrack would be ok in N even on a dodgy floor? (and also allow you wired points)

[Michanglais]

1 hour ago, PeterStiles said:

surely Kato Unitrack would be ok in N even on a dodgy floor? (and also allow you wired points)

 

Believe me, I've tried :) 

 

To be honest, the main issue is that the floor is at its most uneven just where I'd want to fit the points. (It's most uneven coming off the bends and even with a long straight between the end of the curve and the point to 'straighten out' the bogies, I could never get satisfactorily consistent running.) 

 

I do have a tendency to just set a train running and go in and out of the room, etc. so it needs to be a pretty reliable set-up to avoid messy accidents. 

 

I may give points a go in TT but the Hornby TT coaches are lighter than my Continental N coaches so I'm not too hopeful...

 

Really the circuits are just for fun and display - I'll be using Peco track (and then there will be points) on my dioramas. 

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

 

[MartinRS]

12 hours ago, Michanglais said:

Anyway, I was just wondering, before placing my order, whether there had been the quality control issues on this locomotive as seem to have happened with the Scotsman and Easterner releases? 

I haven't had much time to test the locos I have bought. Both of my A4s negotiate radius 2, 3 and 4 track without any problems. The pony truck on my A3, Night Hawk, derails on radius 2 track though. I must find time to contact Hornby about this.

 

My plan was to build up rolling stock from the broad BR green period, with the intention of creating a BR (ex GCR) layout. I have already deviated from my plans, having bought two A4s and placed an order for a blue Class 08. If Hornby start shipping GWR stock in BR livery then I can see me favouring an exGWR, exGCR joint line. I can understand why the roll-out of stock is so slow, though I do find it frustrating, even though I don't have much free time at the moment.

[Ben B]

Really rather pleased with my two new brake vans, though they did arrive in seperate parcels on two different days (seems par for the course, looking at other recent posts on here).  A purchase of a 2nd-hand Arnold Kof means I've now a train of sorts to try running, until the 08 turns up.  Still, I'm going for a preservation-themed micro, so starting with a shunter and brake van rides seems appropriate :)

[leonk]

Hobbyco in Sydney has now pushed their expected arrival date on the Scotsman set back to 1 June.  
I don’t know what their strategy is but it’s not the 80s anymore, it’s not hard for people to buy from other countries.

 

I’ve had enough, bought a Bink Bonny on eBay with postage from the UK for less than the Australian RRP.  

[teletougos]

On 25/03/2023 at 04:55, leonk said:

Hobbyco in Sydney has now . . . 

 

I’ve had enough, bought a Bink Bonny on eBay with postage from the UK for less than the Australian RRP.  

Chassis any good for a TGR M class ? 

[leonk]

2 hours ago, teletougos said:

Chassis any good for a TGR M class ? 

That’s exactly why I brought it 😀 

Already got a test 3d print waiting for it.

[Porfuera]

21T mineral wagons for Era 4 and Era 6 have been added to the shop for pre-order:

 

https://uk.Hornby.com/products/21t-mineral-wagon-p200781-era-4-tt6016

 

https://uk.Hornby.com/products/21t-mineral-wagon-b316500-era-6-tt6017

 

Cheers, Neil.

Edited March 28, 2023 by Porfuera

[Porfuera]

Cross-post from the Hornby Bluetooth decoders thread - apologies to anyone that has already seen it there.

 

On YouTube at 12:00 UK time tomorrow (29th March) there will be a live demo and Q&A of the HM7000 HM|DCC system.

 

The start screen on YouTube is currently also showing the TT Talk logo (see below) - I don't know whether or not that is an indication that there will be TT:120 info/updates or whether it will be purely HM7000.

 

Cheers, Neil.

 

 

Edited March 28, 2023 by Porfuera