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Should I go 00 Gauge or TT:120 Gauge?

Delorean1984

By Delorean1984,
in Layout & Track Design

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woodenhead

woodenhead

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8 minutes ago, RobinofLoxley said:

Its a conundrum. If people dont buy much TT stuff its going to be even longer before a decent product range exists.

But we're not the current market, well some will be, but most on here are probably wedded to 4mm and 2mm for the time being.

 

Until Hornby give some indication to it's investors on sales within TT beyond the initial launch sets that we will begin to know the direction of travel.

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Michael Hodgson

Michael Hodgson

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I would say that even if the TT stuff currently on the market happens what interests you, there is still a risk that the manufacturers might pull out of that market should it fail to take off as they hope.  if it proves insufficiently popular what does get produced will be in smaller batches, which pushes up the price.  High prices of course put people off, so the escalation becomes self-fulfulling.

 

I'm not knocking TT, just saying its future is somewhat of a gamble.  The scale does have something going for it, in that you can get more into any given space, but then if space is a concern N scale would be an even better choice, and like OO it is an established market with several brands offering products.

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Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith

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You have not said how old your daughters are, or whether they have shown much interest in the idea of playing trains.  It is of course every parent's/grand parent's hope that the children will be interested in their own interests.  A few years ago I built an 8'x4' roundy DCC On30 layout, my grandson, about 10 at the time, played with it a few times, 10 minutes at a time, and then went back to his primary interests, computers and football.  You could watch the trains (1920s narrow gauge steam) go round or shunt them and to be honest I got bored with it myself - I am more builder than operator, and luckily was able to sell it.

 

It may seem unfair to judge what different families want to do but without knowing your specific circumstances perhaps getting a simple OO or TT120 train set and some extra track to gauge interest first.

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DCB

DCB

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I forgot that the big advantage of DCC over DC, to a 10 year old (or indeed an immature 67 year old)  is the same advantage shared with of Hornby Dublo 3 rail, over 2 rail,  the ability to stage head on crashes.   Thing is Hornby Dublo seemed to survive repeated collisions....   My then 10 year old son loved racing Desmond against Nellie on a double track 00 oval barely more than 3ft X 5ft.   I by contrast only had one transformer back in 1962 and only 1st radius curves but I enjoyed making different layouts on a 6 X 4 board  for my 2 locos 3 coaches and 9 wagons with my 3 points.

 

More Seriously  I had a look at the Tillig catalogue and there are very few steam outline chassis suitable for use with a scratch built or kit body.  There do seem to be six wheel diesel bogies /chassis suitable for tender drive, and several 2-8-2 Tank chassis but the typical British Jinty / Pannier 4F etc chassis seems absent.   Only a short wheelbase small wheeled 0-6-0.  Hornby need to get their TT120  Jinty or 57XX to market pretty quick in my opinion or TT120 could join gauge 2 in obscurity

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Delorean1984

Delorean1984

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Right bit of an update to this. 

 

Size layout board I would be able to fit is 8ft x 5ft. Now should I bother with operating well? I would be able to access all around if I didn't as I won't shove the board right up to the wall so access during building and when operating shouldn't be a problem. Just don't know if an operating well will be more immersive for my daughters as it will round around them with them being in the middle, what's your thoughts? 

 

In terms of theme they are happy to go with locos and trains they like eg they mention scotsman, mallard, Thomas, eurostar, Azuma so basically a right mix and think this makes it a lot easier for me and gonna drop the 90s theme for now. 

 

Now still not decided on gauge, need to do bit more reaserch based on what my daughters mentioned above. I'm leaning towards tt 120 rather than OO but I'm aware that I can probably get most of not all of their trains in OO. Can also fit more on the layout in TT than OO which will make it more interesting for them. 

 

In terms of layout I don't know if to go with basic set track or streamlined or mix of both. I still have @Harlequinlayout that he helped me with (I'll upload here once I've figured how to do it) and wonder if I should adapt that layout to either TT or just go ahead with OO but bearing in mind this was a layout size I think for 10ft x 5ft when it was gonna go in the garage.

 

Anyone got any inspiration for 8ft x 5ft reasonable simple roundy layout in either TT or OO bearing in mind that playability is key, wonder if a yard can be fitted in too? 

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RobinofLoxley

RobinofLoxley

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My opinion is that children would prefer to be inside the layout, and for girls they are just as likely to be interested in populating the platforms with interesting people than shunting wagons. Ditto painting scenery, or making houses from cardboard. (I have a niece and a nephew who nearly destroyed the access hatch on my old layout, they clearly preferred to be inside it rather than outside, but as it was room for one only, they fought over it. Just saying).

 

Hence what I have drawn with the aim of making Superquick platforms etc.

 

From a build point of view I used setrack turnouts to determine track separation but otherwise mainly streamline turnouts because they have more appropriate angles. The layout can work on DC with some switches needed for siding power feeds, but single controller. Its in OO, and honestly I think there's enough track on that board area and that while I might be tempted to put more track down in a smaller scale, actually there would just be a bit more space for scenery, and longer trains relative to scale, on the same layout in TT.

 

The space is big enough for 2 with tricky access for short arms in the corners, having 2 parallel tracks makes for a reasonably simple lift out if needed.

delorean1984 doodle.jpg

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Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith

Posted
Posted

The sidings look a bit too close together.  Once a goods train leaves the sidings the only way back is to reverse in.  It would benefit from another loop, maybe on the double track section so that the loco and goods van could be reversed - however that is steam-age thinking........

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RobinofLoxley

RobinofLoxley

Posted
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30 minutes ago, Jeff Smith said:

The sidings look a bit too close together.  Once a goods train leaves the sidings the only way back is to reverse in.  It would benefit from another loop, maybe on the double track section so that the loco and goods van could be reversed - however that is steam-age thinking........

Thats what happens with -91/2 streamline turnouts. 

 

Apart from what you have pointed out, its full of quirks. I really enjoyed drawing it. Its for kids....

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