J-Lewis

Yes it was definitely an interesting watch and worth checking out. I really liked how open they were being. Really refreshing and a good indicator for future communication. Nice to see a glimpse of the livery sample Class 66 and the assembled test shot for the J50 too.

A continental manufacturer like MTB feel like a more likely candidate for another entrant to the UK market. They’ve already got some suitable bogies and mechanicals in their European diesels. I’d wager something like a Class 20 or another UK loco that also made an appearance in Europe would be a potential prototype.

It might be worth bearing in mind that it’s only been 18 months since the launch of the range. So Hornby have made pretty good progress despite having all the same supply chain headwinds as all the other manufacturers. Unless I’m mistaken, the TT range has seen more brand new models released in that time than any other manufacturer in any scale? We know 5’s are on the list of upcoming locos, along with 0-6-0 tanks etc. so it would seem reasonable to expect them to appear over the coming years. Let’s see what the next 18 months bring? At that point we should have a good spread of locos across a number of eras, and if there is still no DMU announced by that point then you can say ‘told you so’. ;)

Hornby seem to be doing a good job of planning for variations in these new models, the Class 50 and 66 have shown that already, and the CAD for the Class 37 also looked very good. It seems likely their Pannier tank will also allow for variations? Toad brake van would make sense as a companion to the Pannier and Castle, we shall see what the ‘GWR phase’ brings :) I’m hopeful we also get a standard BR 20T brake van soon as well.

Who knows, but when the Pannier tanks arrives (rumoured to be next year) we will find out. In the 18 months since launch Hornby have certainly shifted somewhere in the region of 10,000 between Blink Bonny’s and William Whitelaws et all, so a similar number of pannier tanks over 3 years seems reasonable.

Physical TT catalogue has also been confirmed for the new issue of Hornby magazine due in shops on Thursday. So presumably the PDF version will be available around the same time?

The new Class 37 is shaping up nicely. I was very pleased to see the split headcode version being shown, I’m hoping for both headcode styles in the first releases. I loved my old Lima Green split headcode 37 and it would be great to get a TT version.

Drat. If they stick to that price then I will be ordering a blue and grey HST set after all. It’s too good to pass up. I’d been determined to wait until later because the HST is a little outside my era.

it seems reasonable to expect prices and preorders for phase 3 at least. Given that it should start being delivered early next year. We know the Class 37 is pencilled in for 1st quarter 2025 based on the sound file list for HM7000.

Not sure it’s a fair comparison. On the one hand there is Playtrains which don’t appear to have sold well at all, and were always a bit of an odd strategy given the widespread availability of Tomy Tomica trains and Brio wooden trains, plus Thomas range from Bachmann etc. so a lot of competition in that ‘first train’ market for kids. The TT range is an existing scale with reasonably widespread support across the channel, but zero competition here, so a wide open field. The first models appear to have been very successful, and the sheer volume of sales and positive feedback from purchasers would suggest it’s off to a flying start. Given that the ‘right decisions’ are usually based on profits, it’s surely likely that Hornby will continue to flog the TT horse for the foreseeable future? Next month is the big reveal of the next phases. If it turns out to be a damp squib then perhaps you have a point, but if the announcement brings firm dates and prices for phases 3 & 4 then I’d expect a lot of naysayers to quietly change their tune. We shall see what happens.

I’ve managed to resist so far, it’s a beautiful model but outside of my planned era. Just so tempting though. I did grab a class 50 before my discount ended, and I notice the shop page has been updated with new images for that one too, so hopefully not too long to wait now.

Needs a couple of years to develop a loco, so we are probably not going to hear about any competition until late this year or sometime next. Almost certain to be some though, don’t forget there are multiple manufacturers working in TT scale, all of whom have suitable mechanisms ripe for powering UK outline locos. My money would be on MTB being the first into the market, given that they were the only manufacturer to back US TT scale, and that they have a clear gap in the market for smaller diesels like the Class 25/26 or the class 20.

That’s an assumption that the ‘train set crowd’ is a thing? I mean obviously the TT sets have sold like hot cakes, but surely you have to factor in that everyone starting in TT120 is doing so from a blank slate, so clearly everyone jointing the scale will need to buy a set? It’s not like TT is a train set quality product. The detail on the locos is far beyond the average train set, and the ages of the average TT modeller seems to be somewhat outside the typical younger demographic for train sets?

The class 66 is confirmed as an Arnold release in European liveries and spec (including rubber traction tyres). The recently released Arnold container wagons are suitable for UK outline too, so cross pollination seems to be factored into Hornbys planning. :)

I see that Sam’s Trains has decided that results of a poll on his channel means that nobody is buying TT? 😂 Hornby is definitely behind schedule with their releases, but they appear to have sold an absolute ton of A1’s and A4’s over the past year, the sets have been selling consistently, and ebay sales look pretty strong over the past year too. Sam seems to have missed the evidence for those restocked sets taking the product slots that would have been booked for the newer locos. A victim of their own success as it were. However, I’d guess we are almost certainly at (or close to) saturation point for those initial locos and ready for the new ones, and provided the big April announcement comes with some concrete release dates for phase 3/4 and some new announcements it should be onwards and upwards for the scale. The goal is wide open for Hornby at this point.

I’ve not received my BP tankers yet, but hopefully they are on route by now. Seems like sales for these have been really successful. They are incredibly detailed models. Love the different ladders and other details, really a step up from my last TTA wagon which was a basic Hornby Texaco tank from a Jinty train set!

Are you sure you’ve not been charged postage? They just add it to the shipping invoice on my orders, it’s not shown during the pre-order process, the postage is shown as £0.00 in the preorder total but £3.95 is added on shipping.

As long as you’ve ordered three identical wagons they will be sent together. Otherwise it will be £3.95 per wagon. I had a dispatch email about this order yesterday from CCL who seem to be the shipping partner for Hornby. So once you get that e-Mail you should have your wagons next day.

I expect Railtec will have some transfers out for these soon. :)

More pictures

My ESSO tankers have arrived. Hornby are not combining pre-orders so everything is shipped separately (at £4 per package). Not ideal. The model is fantastic. Beautifully detailed, includes seperate air hoses, and very detailed under frame.

I didn’t realise Hornby ever offered free postage except for on orders over £50? Did you have free postage on a lower value order?

Sounds like you need a friendly UK based helper to combine everything into one package for shipping.

I’ve ordered a few different models and sets direct from Hornby, it’s worked smoothly for me. What’s your bad experience with it?

Esso wagons back in stock. About 40 of them available when I checked just now.