Hornby announce TT:120

[Porfuera]

Another couple of things that appear to have been dropped from the catalogue are the BG Mk2e coaches and the GBRf liveried Class 50, although all these are still in the shop but with dates of Spring next year.

 

And they're going to bring out a 'Y' point - that's something I'd like to see from Peco.

[teletougos]

On 03/04/2024 at 08:18, irishmail said:

Why is there negativity toward TT:120? , espesially comments about the range not being compimentry or locos with nothing for them to haul.

 

 

 

Because a lot of people are whiny and want everything yesterday. 

 

Put them together in a group online, and there's an incentive to catastrophise, because it is also human to want attention, whether or not it is deserved. 

[teletougos]

20 hours ago, britishcolumbian said:

I still have to wonder if that was conceived around acquiring what work Mehano had begun on a 1:120 scale Class 66...

I've been looking for a 3-D print of a 66 shell, as I have identified the right chassis and have two of it now. 

[teletougos]

16 hours ago, britishcolumbian said:

 Cuba could get you a very interesting mix, use a Roco M62 and a resin kit of an Alco FA for your mainline power, an ex-DR railbus, the 1937 AAR standard steel boxcar and other NA kits for your passenger and freight stock. 

Cuba switched its political allegiances (and where it bought its trains) around the same time the American hobby largely abandoned TT and East Germany took it up.  This makes it an interesting prototype. 

[teletougos]

20 hours ago, Johan DC said:

FYI, Accurascale has their first TT set in stock. It’s their Research team, also avaible in OO. 

I wonder if that's a subtle hint? 

[Chris M]

If Accurascale brought out a TT:120 loco Hornby would not be happy at all. It wouldn't surprise me if Accurascale were quietly working on some TT:120 items; there is more space for new models there than anywhere else.

[Railpassion]

2 minutes ago, Chris M said:

If Accurascale brought out a TT:120 loco Hornby would not be happy at all. It wouldn't surprise me if Accurascale were quietly working on some TT:120 items; there is more space for new models there than anywhere else.

Pannier and B set would, perhaps, be most likely. 

[Pmorgancym]

3 minutes ago, Railpassion said:

Pannier and B set would, perhaps, be most likely. 

That would be clever thinking, because what you need to do is sit down and think what could you build a layout around, look at what else is available

[Pteremy]

1 hour ago, teletougos said:

 

 

Because a lot of people are whiny and want everything yesterday. 

 

Put them together in a group online, and there's an incentive to catastrophise, because it is also human to want attention, whether or not it is deserved. 

 

'What goes with what' is one of the first steps most people take in developing model railways as a hobby, after the simple pleasure of watching something (anything) go round and round has waned. Hornby are doing a good job in getting new products to market, particularly alongside the bluetooth DCC push. But it is difficult to see any coherence in the timing of releases, particularly if you want to attract established modellers. TBH there is more coherence to the expanding Era 1 00 range, where existing regional/era preferences may not be a significant deterrent to developing a sideline interest and, perhaps of relevance, there is unlikely to be any competition. 

[teletougos]

45 minutes ago, Pmorgancym said:

That would be clever thinking, because what you need to do is sit down and think what could you build a layout around, look at what else is available

Is that because some GWR branchlines only used Panniers ?  

 

I think there would be a market for small branch layouts in TT. Hornby seem to have targeted primarily mainline stuff so far, but looking at TT3, most of the layouts are branches of one kind or another, and they're regular crowd pullers at shows. 

 

 

Edited April 5 by teletougos

[Steamport Southport]

40 minutes ago, teletougos said:

Is that because some GWR branchlines only used Panniers ?  

 

I think there would be a market for small branch layouts in TT. Hornby seem to have targeted primarily mainline stuff so far, but looking at TT3, most of the layouts are branches of one kind or another, and they're regular crowd pullers at shows. 

 

 

 

Well, they did have about 2000 of the things!

 

When you only had about 4000 locomotives that's half of them.

 

And people wonder why GWR enthusiasts are obsessed by Panniers....

 

 

 

Jason

[Robin Brasher]

The first TT:120 layout I have seen at an exhibition is the Hatley St George layout at the Lymington Model Railway Exhibition on Saturday 30 March 2024. This layout received a lot of favourable comments. I thought that the locomotives were better looking than the Graham Farish N gauge locomotives and they ran better. I also thought the Hornby points were more realistic than the N gauge set-track points. I think that TT:120 scale is the largest scale that you can take to an exhibition in one piece in a medium size hatchback, Once you go on to 00 gauge you need at least two boards and it takes me ages to align the track when taking an 00 gauge layout to an exhibition. My main interest is Southern but I have just made use of the existing north eastern region locomotives and Mk1 coaches for my own layout. I am still unashamedly  playing with trains rather than counting rivets because that is what I and some visitors to exhibitions enjoy.

Edited April 5 by Robin Brasher
corrected spelling

[shunny]

1 hour ago, Chris M said:

If Accurascale brought out a TT:120 loco Hornby would not be happy at all. It wouldn't surprise me if Accurascale were quietly working on some TT:120 items; there is more space for new models there than anywhere else.

I think it might be the opposite and they would be happy, firstly it vindicates their belief in the scale as viable if another manufacturer starts production. Secondly if more people take an interest because say accurascale are doing models then those modellers will end up buying some Hornby products as well so sales actually increase. 

[Chris M]

24 minutes ago, shunny said:

I think it might be the opposite and they would be happy, firstly it vindicates their belief in the scale as viable if another manufacturer starts production. Secondly if more people take an interest because say accurascale are doing models then those modellers will end up buying some Hornby products as well so sales actually increase. 

Looking at it another way,maybe it was the existence of Accurascale and their 00 models was a significant factor that helped to push Hornby to go to TT:120.

[Hobby]

10 minutes ago, Chris M said:

Looking at it another way,maybe it was the existence of Accurascale and their 00 models was a significant factor that helped to push Hornby to go to TT:120.

 

I doubt it, more likely there's little left that would make them money.

[Dunsignalling]

2 hours ago, shunny said:

I think it might be the opposite and they would be happy, firstly it vindicates their belief in the scale as viable if another manufacturer starts production. Secondly if more people take an interest because say accurascale are doing models then those modellers will end up buying some Hornby products as well so sales actually increase. 

 

So long as they didn't all jump in at once, having more than one r-t-r manufacturer on board would certainly give many people greater confidence in the "new" scale. Right now, the vast majority of modellers I know are still firmly in "wait-and-see" mode, especially those old enough to have witnessed the demise of Tri-ang TT3.

 

A lot of people held back from N gauge when it was a one-brand scale.

 

It wouldn't sit well with Hornby's "territorial" attitudes (assuming the new team continues to hold them), but I too reckon it would do them more good than harm. 

 

John

Edited April 5 by Dunsignalling

[D9020 Nimbus]

If Accurascale are planning to try TT:120 (and the figure set doesn't really prove anything), then I could see them starting with wagons — Hornby are always more passenger-focussed, or have been in recent times (Triang always had a good range of wagons, and the "Freightmaster" set was very popular). They have the design work for a 16 ton mineral wagon, which doesn't seem to feature in Hornby's plans, although Peco could upscale their new N gauge model.

 

Peco do appear to have lost some of their enthusiasm for TT:120. There have been no wagon announcements since the 7-plank wagon, while 16 t minerals, iron ore tipplers, and BR ventilated vans have been or are being introduced in N — where Farish have models of similar types. At the present time, none of these have been announced in TT120.

[teletougos]

3 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Well, they did have about 2000 of the things!

 

When you only had about 4000 locomotives that's half of them.

 

And people wonder why GWR enthusiasts are obsessed by Panniers....

 

 

 

Jason

Shows how little I know about UK prototypes. 

[D9020 Nimbus]

5 hours ago, Railpassion said:

Pannier and B set would, perhaps, be most likely. 

Err… Hornby are already working on the TT:120 Pannier, and the recent OO B-set is Rapido Trains U.K.…

[peak experience]

7 hours ago, teletougos said:

 

 

Because a lot of people are whiny and want everything yesterday. 

 

Put them together in a group online, and there's an incentive to catastrophise, because it is also human to want attention, whether or not it is deserved. 

I'm in agreement with you. I'm committed to this scale. I want to know enthused people's thoughts and musings on the subject. the rest, they're like wasps at a picnic. it's tedious. 

 

[M4tt80]

Seeing as the current trajectory is heavily ER based… Dare I dream for a J15 with bated breath…

[Hobby]

5 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

Well, they did have about 2000 of the things!

 And what didn't start out as a Pannier (taken over from other companies in 1923) they converted into panniers! At least they didn't do it to the Welshpool or VofR locos, though they tried their best with the Welshpool ones to imprint their mark on them!

[frobisher]

On 03/04/2024 at 14:34, moawkwrd said:

Poppycock. Hornbys 31 was always in the later phases as a potential model. It wasn’t announced and then delayed. It’s still unconfirmed to this date. There was certainly no price point announced.

 

With respect;

1. Heljan announced their intensions before Hornby announced their range, and did so not knowing the extent of the Hornby range.  Hornby made their announcement knowing Heljan's intensions, whether those models duplicating Heljan's potential development were already in their plans is not something we can know.
2. Just because it hasn't yet got a price point doesn't mean you can't make reasonable assumptions from the 50 and the 66.  Heljan were aiming at a £199 price point, both of those are well below that (the 66 very much so).  Heljan's CAD of their 31 points to taking their 00 approach in this smaller scale, Hornby have gone slighly more "Railroady" (and probably rightly so).
3. At announcement, we had no clear indication of the timescale of Hornby's phases and when this 31 would actually appear. Heljan knew their own timescale.
4. Is "day one" duplication of models a good thing for a new scale trying to establish itself?

 

On 03/04/2024 at 14:34, moawkwrd said:

There was nothing stopping Heljan from continuing with their plan.

 

Apart from commercial considerations obviously...

[Gresley-4498]

On 04/04/2024 at 15:47, e30ftw said:

 

67 seems an odd choice unless they want to sell it with the royal train connection to the Europeans. 73 too, would a 33 not make a bit more sense? could you share a chassis for 26/27 then?

Agreed 37 and 47 much wider range and livery's compared to the 50

 

73s have a lot of livery options and synergies with what has been produced so far including Pullman livery, Caledonian Sleeper (with mk3s), gatwick express (mk2s) Network south east along with all the others.

 

Similar story for 67s as these can also be produced in Pulman, Caledonian sleeper, Royal train (mk3s), Belmond Royal Scotsman, Silver & Diamond Jubilees, EWS. DBS Colas, Arriva etc.

 

 

[Les1952]

3 hours ago, D9020 Nimbus said:

 

 

Peco do appear to have lost some of their enthusiasm for TT:120. There have been no wagon announcements since the 7-plank wagon, while 16 t minerals, iron ore tipplers, and BR ventilated vans have been or are being introduced in N — where Farish have models of similar types. At the present time, none of these have been announced in TT120.

 

Peco almost certainly haven't lost their interest, but their timescales are rather glacial.  I suspect there are more wagons in development, but if we get an announcement before Autumn with an introduction a year later I would only be surprised at how quick they've been....

 

Les